Access to health care is the top issue facing Hawaii Island, assessment finds

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Limited access to health care is the top issue facing Hawaii Island, particularly West Hawaii, a recently completed Community Health Needs Assessment found.

On the neighbor islands, especially for the Big Island and West Hawaii, the No. 1 issue is access to health care, said George Greene, president and chief executive officer of the Healthcare Association of Hawaii, which collaborated with the Healthy Communities Institute to conduct the statewide study on Hawaiis health-care needs.

Because many health services are based on Oahu, Hawaii County suffers from limited access to various types of care, including primary, mental and specialized care, the State of Hawaii Community Health Needs Assessment reads. The assessment, released Wednesday, was compiled by the Healthcare Association of Hawaii and the Healthy Communities Institute.

The islands geography exacerbates the issue by making transportation and the availability of care sometimes difficult to provide.

While data shows there is a lack of both primary care and specialty care available on the island; the shortage is especially severe in Puna, Kau and Waikoloa, according to the report. In the realm of mental health care, the island is facing a shortage in providers as well as a lack of substance abuse and mental health treatment options.

Access to health care is not about having an insurance card and the availability of clinics, said Greene. Its more than that. Its looking at transportation and how we get people to community services, language issues and cultures. Those barriers to health.

The report also pointed out several themes developed from the study of data: All groups experience adverse health outcomes due to chronic illness and health risk behaviors; greater socio-economic need and health impacts are found among certain groups and places in Hawaii; cultural and language barriers inhibit effective intervention for the most affected populations; and community health centers and schools are key community assets for effective interventions.

Individuals from all geographies, race, gender, and age groups experience poor health outcomes, according to the report.

High rates of chronic disease patterns, hospitalizations due to preventable causes and patterns of unhealthy behaviors are evidence.

In Hawaii County, many residents are affected by heart disease and stroke, cancer, diabetes and asthma, according to the report.

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Access to health care is the top issue facing Hawaii Island, assessment finds

Health care enters new era with accountable care organizations

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ROCKFORD A shift is coming in the way hospitals and medical providers care for their patients.

Health systems are forming new partnerships with Medicare, Medicaid and private insurers called accountable care organizations that aim to better coordinate care for patients particularly those with chronic diseases like diabetes and heart conditions. The goal is to keep people healthy and, in the process, reduce health care costs.

ACOs are game-changers, reworking the way providers are reimbursed for services they deliver, tying payments to better outcomes rather paying providers per test or per procedure they order for patients, in hopes of avoiding duplication of services and preventing medical errors.

Were at the point now that health care has become unaffordable to businesses and companies, government, wealthy people, the middle class and the working poor, said Gary Kaatz, president and CEO of Rockford Health System.

Its unaffordable to everybody, so now we get permission to really knock the doors down and develop stuff that hasnt happened in decades.

If they work, ACOs allow providers and insurers to share in the savings of delivering more efficient care, and patients benefit from better care. Theres a bigger focus on patient education as part of these ACOs, and patients can expect more direct contact with providers, even for needs outside of the hospital walls.

Pilot program Rockfords OSF Saint Anthony Medical Center is the furthest along in the ACO process. Its parent company, Peoria-based OSF HealthCare, is one of 32 health systems nationwide piloting the Pioneer ACO Model with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

Peoria, Galesburg, Bloomington and Pontiac started as part of the Medicare pilot ACO last year, but Rockford just kicked off its participation in January, said Dr. Jeff Tillery, vice president of OSF Medical Groups Northern Region. It covers about 6,000 patients.

Over the past year, Tillery said, OSFs central region has seen reductions in hospital readmissions and emergency department visits for patients involved in the pilot ACO.

The goal is to target services to that subset of the population that really needs it, Tillery said. They still have broad access to any services, but its incumbent upon us to engage them in ways to get better health outcomes.

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Health care enters new era with accountable care organizations

Health Care’s New Frontier

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Developing countries face aseemingly insurmountable hurdle inproviding health care totheir rapidly growing or, insome cases, rapidly aging populations, especially as health systems become increasingly overburdened andinfections andother diseases spread. Because access tomedicine inthese regions is amultifaceted challenge, it is best tackled byseveral parties.

Lasting relationships among pharmaceutical companies, governments, nonprofit organizations andcommunity leaders are needed tohelp disadvantaged populations overcome their health care challenges. Together, these parties should take abinary approach, addressing both "hardware" factors which remain constant, such as physical distance totreatment centers andelongated supply chains and"software" factors theintangibles that vary greatly ineach region, such as therole offamily andcultural beliefs.

Through public-private partnerships, China can leverage unique strengths andbe better equipped toexpand access tohealth care.

These principles are especially true inplaces like China's rural Xinjiang province, where life expectancy is stunted at67 years, compared to73.5 forChina as awhole, andlack ofaccess tohealth care undermines well-being. Xinjiang covers nearly 1.7 million square kilometers, but it is home toonly 21 million people, many ofwhom are members ofnomadic tribes.

But thereality is that maintaining thelivelihood andwell-being ofthis area's population andthose inother rural parts ofChina is aserious challenge. Throughout rural China, thespread ofinfectious diseases particularly hepatitis B, which affects millions reflects alack ofhygiene education. TheHealth Ministry cited a9.5 percent increase indeaths caused byinfectious diseases from2011 to2012. Moreover, there is aserious shortage ofhealth care workers: just 1.3 per 1,000 rural inhabitants inChina.

Free medicines are only part ofthe solution. China needs togo beyond donations andreduced-pricing schemes tobuild sustainable health care systems with strong distribution channels andeducation programs forthe public andfor health care workers.

Through public-private partnerships, China can leverage unique strengths andbe better equipped toexpand access tohealth care. This can create asymbiotic relationship, offering benefits togovernment, business andthe local community.

Forexample, Novartis' Jian Kang Kuai Che, or "Health Express," program inXinjiang is apartnership between Novartis andthe local government that aims toexpand access tomedicine, build capacity andeducate thepublic. Health Express achieves this bytraining local physicians inprevention andtreatment ofinfectious diseases andeducating students onhealth andhygiene via atraveling caravan that moves fromschool toschool.

During arecent trip toXinjiang, I met several physicians fromrural hospitals who had received training through Health Express. They told me that inthe past, hepatitis patients had totravel forhours tobe diagnosed andtreated ata city hospital, while many others who were unable tomake thejourney suffered without treatment. Now, with physicians trained ininfectious diseases, hepatitis treatment is possible inrural areas ofXinjiang, andpatient outcomes have improved.

I also met with school children atUrumqi Dengcaogou Boarding School, which is situated ina rural area outside ofthe provincial capital. Thestudents were proud tobe able tobring their new health care knowledge back totheir families. They told me how they had told their parents toquit smoking after learning about theconsequences ofthe habit onhealth.

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Health Care's New Frontier

Gene Therapy Partnering Deals & Agreements By Healthcare Companies Analyzed in New Research Report at ReportsnReports …

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Dallas, Texas (PRWEB) July 07, 2013

The Gene Therapy Partnering Agreements report provides an understanding and access to the gene therapy partnering deals and agreements entered into by the world's leading healthcare companies:

Trends in gene therapy partnering deals Disclosed headlines, upfronts, milestones and royalties by stage of development Gene therapy partnering contract documents Top gene therapy deals by value

The report provides a detailed understanding and analysis of how and why companies enter gene therapy partnering deals (http://www.reportsnreports.com/reports/262461-gene-therapy-partnering-terms-and-agreements.html). The majority of deals are early development stage whereby the licensee obtains a right or an option right to license the licensors gene therapytechnology or product candidates. These deals tend to be multicomponent, starting with collaborative R&D, and commercialization of outcomes.

This report provides details of the latest gene therapy, oligonucletides including aptamers agreements announced in the healthcare sectors.

Understanding the flexibility of a prospective partners negotiated deals terms provides critical insight into the negotiation process in terms of what you can expect to achieve during the negotiation of terms. Whilst many smaller companies will be seeking details of the payments clauses, the devil is in the detail in terms of how payments are triggered contract documents provide this insight where press releases and databases do not.

This report contains a comprehensive listing of all gene therapy partnering deals announced since 2007 including financial terms where available including over 300 links to online deal records of actual gene therapy partnering deals as disclosed by the deal parties. In addition, where available, records include contract documents as submitted to the Securities Exchange Commission by companies and their partners.

Contract documents provide the answers to numerous questions about a prospective partners flexibility on a wide range of important issues, many of which will have a significant impact on each partys ability to derive value from the deal.

For example, analyzing actual company deals and agreements allows assessment of the following: What is actually granted by the agreement to the partner company? What exclusivity is granted? What are the precise rights granted or optioned? What is the payment structure for the deal? How are sales and payments audited? What is the deal term? How are the key terms of the agreement defined? How are IPRs handled and owned? Who is responsible for commercialization? Who is responsible for development, supply, and manufacture? How is confidentiality and publication managed? How are disputes to be resolved? Under what conditions can the deal be terminated? What happens when there is a change of ownership? What sublicensing and subcontracting provisions have been agreed? Which boilerplate clauses does the company insist upon? Which boilerplate clauses appear to differ from partner to partner or deal type to deal type? Which jurisdiction does the company insist upon for agreement law?

The report also includes numerous tables and figures that illustrate the trends and activities in gene therapy partnering and dealmaking since 2007.

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Gene Therapy Partnering Deals & Agreements By Healthcare Companies Analyzed in New Research Report at ReportsnReports ...

Ultraklystron – Jungleness Monster (JazzStep Futurist Mix) – Pre-Klystron Releases (1998-2003) – Video

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Ultraklystron - Jungleness Monster (JazzStep Futurist Mix) - Pre-Klystron Releases (1998-2003)
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Ultraklystron - Jungleness Monster (JazzStep Futurist Mix) - Pre-Klystron Releases (1998-2003) - Video

As Ford’s futurist, Connelly ponders a changing world

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Sheryl Connelly is the rare auto-industry expert who has almost nothing to do with cars. As Ford Motors manager of global trends and the future, her role isnt to look at the industry but outside it, to determine what factors will influence cars in the coming decades. Fast Company magazine recently named Connelly to its list of 100 most creative business people. We sat down with her at Fords Irvine, Calif., headquarters to peer into her crystal ball.

Q: As Fords first and only in-house futurist, what exactly are you trying to achieve?

A: It takes Ford Motor three years to bring a vehicle to market, so even if we have the most ingenious idea today, what feels cutting edge at this point might not be. We have no crystal ball, but we can look to five arenas for guidance: social, technological, economic, environmental and political.

Q: Why those five arenas?

A: You start there because youll never be able to predict the future, but those will be the forces that shape the landscape. It gives us a framework to play in this space of What if? and If so, then what? You talk about the possibilities, and then you explore what it means for the industry what it does to demand, supply, competitors, retail, the distribution network. Only if youve explored all of that do you even ask what that means for Ford.

Q: What timeline are you looking at?

A: The most distant function in the Ford team is advanced product research and engineering. Its trying to figure out what technologies are on the horizon and what to invest in. Their time horizon is 10, 20 years out.

Q: How far into the future are you looking?

A: 2050 is the furthest I go. This work is a delicate balance because you want to be provocative, but you have to be plausible.

Q: What might be on the horizon 37 years from now that youre already contemplating?

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As Ford’s futurist, Connelly ponders a changing world

Jail Break Not Unusual, Inmates Always Want Freedom, Expert Tells Prison Authority Pt.1 – Video

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Jail Break Not Unusual, Inmates Always Want Freedom, Expert Tells Prison Authority Pt.1
A security expert, Olatunbosun Abolarinwa on Tuesday said the recent prison break which led to the release of 175 inmates from the Ondo medium security prison is a wake-up call to the Nigeria...

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Jail Break Not Unusual, Inmates Always Want Freedom, Expert Tells Prison Authority Pt.1 - Video

Jail Break Not Unusual, Inmates Always Want Freedom, Expert Tells Prison Authority Pt.2 – Video

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Jail Break Not Unusual, Inmates Always Want Freedom, Expert Tells Prison Authority Pt.2
A security expert, Olatunbosun Abolarinwa on Tuesday said the recent prison break which led to the release of 175 inmates from the Ondo medium security prison is a wake-up call to the Nigeria...

By: channelsweb

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Jail Break Not Unusual, Inmates Always Want Freedom, Expert Tells Prison Authority Pt.2 - Video