Weekly Nephrology/Health IT News Roundup: August 5, 2011

Sebelius Touts Electronic Health Records in Joplin
The effort to convert patient data in Missouri to EHRs was initially touted as a patient-centered means to eliminate mistakes in prescribing drugs, botching surgeries or making other costly mistakes. But the Joplin tornado offered a compelling example of the ease in which hospitals miles apart can quickly and securely share patient data.
 
Organized Medicine Wants More Medicare E-prescribing Changes
Physician organizations have called for additional changes to Medicare’s electronic prescribing initiative, which they said could penalize doctors unfairly starting Jan. 1, 2012, for not meeting program requirements.
 
Delaware REC Helping State Become a Leader in Health IT Adoption
Delaware’s regional extension center—Quality Insights of Delaware—has helped the state become a national leader in health IT adoption.
 
National Policy Change Reduces Racial Disparity in Kidney Transplants
A national transplant policy change designed to give African-American patients greater access to donor kidneys has sliced in half the racial disparities that have long characterized the allocation of lifesaving organs, new Johns Hopkins research suggests.
 
Senators Introduce Legislation to Extend Immunosuppressive Coverage for Transplant Patients
A bi-partisan group of U.S. senators introduced the Comprehensive Immunosuppressive Drug Coverage for Kidney Transplant Patients Act to extend coverage of immunosuppressive drugs for kidney transplant recipients this week.
 
New Risk for Sudden Death in Dialysis Patients
A low concentration of homoarginine in the blood appears to be a risk factor for sudden cardiac death and heart failure death among diabetic patients who require hemodialysis.
 
Direct Primary Care Model: Cutting Out the Insurer
A small but enthusiastic minority of primary care physicians believe they have found a practice model that can save money, improve patients’ long-term health and drastically reduce administrative hassles: direct primary care.
 
Debt Deal Triggers Nerves In Health Industry; Providers Brace For Cuts
Physicians, hospitals, nursing homes and home health care providers are all bracing for pain as the debt-ceiling agreement kicks in. Kaiser Health News pulls together all the views.
 
FAQ: Debt Deal ‘Super’ Committee’s Impact On Health Spending Explained
This Q&A guide shows how the deal President Barack Obama and Congress struck this week to raise the nation’s debt ceiling could affect federal health care programs.
 
Report: Health Care Spending to Absorb a Fifth of GDP by 2020
A new report in Health Affairs projects that U.S. health care spending will grow to over $4.6 trillion by 2020.
 
U.S. Ranks as Top Spender in Health Care
The United States ranked as the top healthcare spender among 12 advanced nations in 2008, spending $7,538 per capita, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund.