all Cambridge Health Alliance stories

New study finds 45,000 deaths annually linked to lack of health coverage

404132862 — Thu, 17 Sep 2009 16:00:22 -0400

Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with lack of health insurance, according to a new study published online today by the American Journal of Public Health. That figure is about two and a half times higher than an estimate from the Institute of Medicine (IOM) in 2002.

Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, receives excellence in mentoring award from Harvard Medical School

404132862 — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 15:42:52 -0400

Steffie Woolhandler, MD, MPH, a staff physician and Associate Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School (HMS), is a recipient of the 2008-2009 A. Clifford Barger Excellence in Mentoring Award. The Office for Diversity and Community Partnership at HMS sponsors the award, which was recently presented at the thirteenth annual Awards Ceremony, held at the Tosteson Medical Education Center at HMS.

Health, life insurers hold billions in tobacco stocks

50443248 — Wed, 03 Jun 2009 16:56:36 -0400

More than a decade after Harvard Medical School researchers first revealed that life and health insurance companies were major investors in tobacco stocks – prompting calls upon them to divest – the insurance industry has yet to kick the habit, they say.

Researchers find majority of fire and ambulance recruits overweight or obese

50443248 — Thu, 19 Mar 2009 09:58:11 -0400

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM), Boston Medical Center, Harvard University, and Cambridge Health Alliance found that more than 75 percent of emergency responder candidates for fire and ambulance services in Massachusetts are either overweight or obese.

Obesity linked to dangerous sleep apnea in truck drivers

50443248 — Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:31:00 -0400

Truck crashes are a significant public health hazard, causing thousands of deaths and injuries each year, with driver fatigue and sleepiness being major causes. A new study by Harvard researchers has confirmed previous findings that obesity-driven testing strategies identify commercial truck drivers with a high likelihood of obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) and suggests that mandating OSA screenings could reduce the risk of truck crashes.

Inmates suffer from chronic illness, poor access to health care

404132862 — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 16:14:14 -0500

The nation’s prison and jail inmate population struggles with high rates of serious illness and poor access to care, according to the first nationwide study of inmate health and health care.

New study outlines formula for effective community partnerships with a lens on mental health of students in urban schools

404132862 — Fri, 08 Aug 2008 16:05:08 -0400

Addressing and improving mental health outcomes for students is a particularly complex issue in urban public schools. Proposed solutions to critical situations are usually prepackaged suggestions from research conducted outside of the communities seeking help.

A new study approaches community partnerships and their ability to problem-solve in-depth right in their own backyards. In an article published this month in the Journal of Community Psychology, a community-based research group composed of a child psychiatrist, two researchers, and a school principal analyze the key principles to establish successful partnerships and build an alliance for educational systemic change.

NIH awards Harvard Medical School $117.5 million, five-year grant for patient-centered research

404132862 — Thu, 29 May 2008 12:42:32 -0400

The National Institutes of Health today announced that Harvard Medical School (HMS) will receive $117.5 million over the next five years for the establishment of a Clinical and Translational Science Center (CTSC) that will transform patient-oriented, laboratory-to-bedside research at HMS and its affiliated hospitals.

Dramatic increase in ER waiting time for seriously ill patients

404132862 — Tue, 15 Jan 2008 12:21:19 -0500

Patients of all racial, ethnic, and socioeconomic status are facing ever-increasing waits for care in emergency rooms, according to a study published online today by the journal Health Affairs. The problem is particularly acute for those who are severely ill, Harvard Medical School researchers at Cambridge Health Alliance found.

Those least needy most likely to get free drug samples

404132862 — Thu, 03 Jan 2008 12:15:20 -0500

Most free drug samples are not used to ease the burden of the poor or the uninsured, but rather go to those most able to pay for their prescriptions, according to a study by physicians from Cambridge Health Alliance and Harvard Medical School. The study, which is the first to look at the free drug samples pharmaceutical companies provide to physicians, will appear in the February 2008 issue of the American Journal of Public Health.

Almost two million veterans lack health coverage

404132862 — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 17:07:45 -0400

One in every eight (12.2 percent) of the 47 million Americans without health insurance is a veteran or member of a veteran's household, according to a study by Harvard Medical School researchers based at the Cambridge Health Alliance.

Survey: Med students ill prepared for ethical issues faced in wartime

404132862 — Sat, 27 Oct 2007 22:24:17 -0400

A new survey of U.S. medical students shows they receive little training about what they should or should not do in wartime, despite ethical questions over physician involvement in prisoner interrogation and a legal framework making a “doctor draft” possible.

Less than half of U.S. health care workers get flu shots

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:24:12 -0400

Steffie Woolhandler, Harvard Medical School associate professor of medicine at Cambridge Health Alliance, and colleagues at the University of California Los Angeles analyzed data from the 2000 National Health Interview Survey and found that less than half of U.S. health care workers get flu shots.

From a nationally representative sample of 1,651 workers, the overall vaccination rate was only 38 percent. Rates were particularly low in workers who were health aides (e.g. nurses' aides, medical assistants or orderlies), African American, or under 50.

The low flu vaccination rate among health care workers increases their likelihood of contracting the flu and passing it to patients. Health care workers, especially those who are minority, poor, or young, need both better education and improved access to primary care in order to reduce the spread of flu. Inequalities in health care currently undermine our ability to stop flu transmission. Should an epidemic of bird flu emerge, such inequalities will hamstring efforts to contain it.

Teen suicide and antidepressants

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:23:16 -0400

With the recent FDA warning about the use of antidepressants with children and adolescents, doctors and patients are more cautious about treating youth with antidepressants. Parents and doctors are challenged to make a balanced assessment of risk and benefits. Dr. Nancy Rappaport, Dr. Jefferson B. Prince, and Dr. Jeff Q. Bostic of the psychiatry department of Harvard Medical School in their article in the December 2005 issue of The Journal of Pediatrics "Lost in the Black Box: Juvenile Depression, Suicide and the FDA's Black Box" encourage clinicians to pay careful attention to identify and address modifiable risk factors for suicide that include treating depression/ anxiety, storing guns safely, and treating substance abuse. Important risk factors for suicide include depression, stressful life events, substance use/abuse, irritability, agitation, and impulsivity.

The authors detail the FDA concern about the possible association between selective serotonin re-uptake inhibitors (SSRIs-a class of antidepressants) and worsening of suicidal thoughts and/or new onset of increased suicidal behavior. In the FDA review of suicidal data, there are limitations; many of the patients seen in the office of pediatricians and psychiatrists were excluded from the 24 studies (patients who were very sick with depression and were significantly suicidal, and patients with other disorders present, such as ADHD). The FDA examined past records of the patients (rather than interviews), and it was difficult to identify /assess and classify the suicidal intent of the patients. Interestingly, examining large databases between 1990 and 2000 for the changes in antidepressant prescription and adolescent suicides showed that geographical areas where SSRI prescriptions increased, there were reductions in adolescent suicide. In another study, Valuck identified 24,119 adolescents diagnosed with depression and/ or receiving antidepressants. Adolescents treated for longer periods with antidepressants (more than 180 days) were less likely to make suicide attempts than those treated for less than 55 days.

With Dr. Rappaport's experience as a doctor working with high- risk adolescents at school-based health centers and assistant professor of psychiatry at HMS, she was asked about guidelines for parents dealing with depressed teenagers: " It is key that they know that they are not alone, and that probably one of the most stressful problems for parents is to deal with a teenager who has an 'invisible disease' - major depression - that can make it hard for their adolescent to function or want to be alive. Given the recent events, pediatricians and child psychiatrists, families, and patients need to weigh the risk and benefit of treatment to promote growth and avert the debilitating impact of juvenile depression. Medication may be one important aspect (consideration) of treatment," said Rappaport.

Intimate partner violence

70652986 — Mon, 26 Mar 2007 06:18:13 -0400

The study's lead author, Megan Gerber, a practicing physician at Cambridge Health Alliance and instructor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, notes: "Our study hopes to raise physician awareness of how common domestic violence is in practice, especially among women who exhibit adverse health behaviors. Physicians regularly screen for tobacco and alcohol use in their practices, however routine assessment for domestic violence has been much more controversial, and many clinicians do not regularly ask their patients about it."

Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) is a major public health problem in the United States and victims are commonly encountered in medical settings. Many barriers exist to clinician-initiated screening for IPV. However, smoking and problem drinking are conditions that clinicians commonly screen for and both have been strongly associated with IPV in prior studies. By estimating the predicted probability of 12-month and lifetime IPV for a given patient based on whether she presents with these conditions, this study gives clinicians information that can help them identify patients at risk for IPV.