News

Report shows high rates of inappropriate antibiotic use continue, despite educational efforts to improve prescribing patterns

The Center for Healthcare Research & Transformation (CHRT) today released an issue brief showing continued high rates of inappropriate antibiotic use, despite a 15-year national outreach campaign by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) to educate providers and consumers on the dangers of antibiotic overuse. According to the CDC, antibiotic-resistant infections in the U.S. create $20 billion in excess healthcare …

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Antibiotics: More Progress to Be Made

In 1995, the Centers for Disease Control (CDC) launched a major initiative to reduce the overuse of antibiotics. While many people think that taking an antibiotic for viral infections is either beneficial or benign, the CDC knew that the overuse of antibiotics was leading to a significant increase in infections that were drug resistant. National efforts like the CDC’s, along …

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Buyer Beware

Many people search websites for information about their health concerns. But, there are many health oriented websites to choose from and consumers don’t always have good ways to sort out the information they are reading. For example, the New York Times magazine ran a small but significant story on the difference between WebMD and the MayoClinic websites. The Times reported …

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IMRT and Patient Safety: The Way Forward

One year ago, the New York Times reported on a series of serious medical errors that had occurred during the administration of Intensity Modulated Radiation Therapy, or IMRT. IMRT is a relatively new technology that uses sophisticated equipment to deliver high doses of radiation to very specific areas of the body, while sparing normal tissue. When administered correctly, IMRT can …

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Credit Suisse Members' Letter 4: Health Care for (Nearly) All in the U.S.

CHRT director Marianne Udow-Phillips explains the implications of the comprehensive U.S. Affordable Care Act for Credit Suisse’s worldwide audience.

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Where is it all headed? Politics and Opinions About the Affordable Care Act

Since the January 31 decision by the Florida court that struck down the entire Affordable Care Act as unconstitutional, there has been endless speculation about what the court ruling means and what will happen next. Some Attorneys General who were party to the lawsuit have asked for an expedited decision by the Supreme Court on the constitutionality of the law; …

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Research to Action

In my role at CHRT, I work daily with the best research minds in the country and I work with communities and “grass roots” groups. I often describe what I do as bridging two worlds and helping to translate and balance between them. The work engages solid research design but in ways that are practical and able to be translated …

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Health Care Reform: Values and Beliefs vs Economics

Ever since Bill Clinton took a turn at health care reform, the issue has often been discussed as an economic one. Bill Clinton first framed the health reform issue in 1992 before he took office. He had famously kept as a center piece of his campaign the idea that “it’s the economy, stupid” and health care became part of that …

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Passions behind Health Care Reform – Illuminated by Tragedy

The terrible shootings in Arizona have been described, mourned and their causes much discussed.  There has been a particular debate about whether these crimes could possibly have been encouraged by some of the more heated political discourse that has occurred in this country over the past year or so. While it seems likely that when all is said and done, …

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