|
|
|
|
Caduceus
Newsletter: Fall 2009.06, Week of September 28 Dr.
Stan Eisen, Director Home
page: Caduceus Newsletter Archives: |
|
|
Table of Contents: 1. Events this
week. |
||
|
1. Events this week |
||
|
·
Monday, September 28 through October 3: Think Pink Week for
breast cancer awareness, coordinated by the CBU chapter of Zeta Tau
Alpha. (See article #2) ·
Tuesday,
September 29, 2009: Neuroscience Seminar Series at UTHSC,
starting at 12 noon -- Robert
J. Ogg, Ph.D., Radiological Sciences, St.
Jude Children's Research Hospital ·
Tuesday,
September 29, 2009: HIV/AIDS Presentation in the CBU Theatre,
starting at 1 p.m. – Dr. Linda Pifer, Department
of Clinical Laboratory Services, University of Tennessee Health Science
Center (Memphis). (See article #3) ·
Thursday,
October 1, 2009 –
University of Memphis
Department of Biology, 4:00 p.m. Ellington Hall Auditorium, Dr. Don Thomason (host, Dr. Lessman), Professor, Dept Physiology,
UT-Memphis, ““What am I going to do with all these data? Surviving nextgen
nucleic acid analysis!” |
||
|
2. The Zeta Tau Alpha
sorority is sponsoring its annual Think Pink Week for breast cancer
awareness, September 28 through October 3.
|
||
|
September 28-October 3 Monday Kiss Away Cancer Come by the Cafeteria & buy a lipstick for $1 & ribbons to put up for those affected by breast cancer. You will receive a Kiss for a Kiss By decorating a poster with your Kisses you will receive some Hershey Kisses 11am-1pm Tuesday Yogurt Eating Contest in the Quad at 12:30pm You were always told not to play with your food, but this is for a good cause! Come see which contestant can eat 10 yogurts first. Pink lids will be sent to Yoplait! Do not forget about Kiss Away Cancer continuing in the Cafeteria from 11am-1pm Wednesday BBQ for Breast Cancer, Bouncing for
Breast Cancer, & Buy a Duck for a Buck because Cancer Sucks! Come out to eat, jump around in an inflatable castle, & spend a buck for a great cause. 11am-1pm in the Quad Thursday Best Chest Contest Real Men wear Pink! Keep your eyes open & spare some change to the guy around campus who has the best “chest” (t-shirt) you see. Their purses will be ready for a donation! Friday Paint the Campus Pink There will be balloons, ribbons, poster with facts, & more to remind everyone to THINK PINK and honor all those who fight against breast cancer! Also, Support Think Pink Week and Breast Cancer Awareness by Wearing PINK! Saturday Ace for a Cure Volleyball game at 1pm in Canale Arena Support the Team & a Cause Come Out, Bring Your Spirit, & Wear PINK!
|
||
|
3. Dr. Linda Pifer will
give a presentation on HIV, AIDS, and STD awareness on Tuesday, September 29,
2009 in the University Theatre. |
||
|
HIV/AIDS PRESENTATION Dr. Linda Pifer, a professor in the Department of Clinical Laboratory Services at the University of Tennessee Health Sciences Center, will be on campus Tuesday, September 29, 1:00-1:50 p.m. in the University Theater to share her research and slide presentation on HIV/AIDS. Dr. Pifer is widely known as an expert on the transmission and effects of the AIDS virus. The campus is invited to join the freshman class and the peer counselors for Dr. Pifer’s outstanding presentation. A preview: Kaposi’s sarcoma, cancer of the capillaries –
|
||
|
4.
William Carey University College of
Osteopathic Medicine (Hattiesburg, MS) has received provisional accreditation
from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation. |
||
|
William Carey University College of Osteopathic Medicine in Hattiesburg, Mississippi received provisional accreditation from the Commission on Osteopathic College Accreditation last weekend and has joined AACOM. We are working to add them to the AACOMAS application service now and anticipate that applicants should be able to submit a designation for WCU COM by noon, Monday, September 21. An online College Information Book page will be added to the AACOM www site at http://www.aacom.org/people/colleges/Pages/default.aspx The college’s own www site is at http://www.wmcarey.edu/Academics/OsteopathicMedicine/1170/OsteopathicMedicine.shtm WCU COM is the twenty-sixth college of osteopathic medicine in the US. Have a good weekend. Tom Levitan |
||
|
5.
How to bargain hunt for health care – from
cnn.news com, September 10, 2009. |
||
How to bargain hunt for health care
updated 8:58 a.m. EDT, Thu September 10, 2009
By
Davis S. Martin Bridget and Scott Bear were expecting their first child, they wanted to know what it would cost so they could set aside enough money in their health savings account.
Knowing in advance what the price tag would be for the birth of their son gave the Bears "peace of mind."
The Omaha, Nebraska, couple went to Alegent Health's Web site and found the My Cost function, entered their insurance information and learned the hospital charges would be around $2,500, Bridget Bear said. When Bridget Bear gave birth to their son, Lawson, on April 2 at Lakeside Hospital -- a healthy 8-pound, 8-ounce baby -- the couple were ready for the bill, she said. Alegent is one of a growing number of hospitals, Web sites, even states, helping patients comparison shop on the Internet before undergoing a medical procedure or test. Hospitals say they're responding to a growing demand from patients who are paying for more of their health care out of pocket, thanks to rising deductibles and the advent of high deductible, consumer-driven plans like the Bears have. In the early 2000s, Bellin Health System in Green Bay, Wisconsin, began receiving more calls from patients wanting to know what a particular procedure would cost, said Jeff Hampton, director of revenue cycle management. "As sad as it sounds, we had to say we didn't know," Hampton said. That's because something like knee replacement isn't one expense but many. There are the surgeon's fee, the operating room charge, equipment and supplies, the hospital bed during recovery, and other costs. Five years ago, Bellin put the information together so would-be patients could get an accurate picture of the final bill. On its Compare Care Line, a Bellin financial adviser provides an average cost from the previous six months for a given procedure and the price range over that time period. "People are shopping around more," Hampton said. "If consumers want to know what the cost of something is going to be, we should be able to give them an answer." Alegent, with nine hospitals in Nebraska and southwest Iowa, started My Cost in January 2007, posting the price of more than 500 tests and procedures along with data on quality of care. Integris Health, a 14-hospital system in Oklahoma City, has a Consumer Price Line number that allows patients to learn what the out-of-pocket costs will be for their procedures. The service started in July 2007 after CEO Stanley Hupfeld had some "secret shoppers" try to get pricing information, said Nicole White, Integris spokesperson. Consumer Price Line receives between 800 and 1,000 calls a month, she said. Sixteen state hospital associations operate Web sites that allow comparison shopping for such inpatient procedures as appendectomies, maternity stays and knee or hip replacements: Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Nebraska, Nevada, New Hampshire, New Mexico, Oklahoma, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Dakota, Texas, Utah, Virginia, Washington, Wisconsin. Other states have their own systems. Minnesota health care providers collaborated on the HealthScores Web site, which allows price comparisons between 110 providers for 103 common medical procedures. The Web site tells what insurance companies pay, on average, for procedures ranging from Caesarean delivery to a colonoscopy. Pennsylvania has detailed price information on cardiac and joint replacement surgeries on its Health Care Cost Containment Council Web site, but the data are several years old. Still, it underscores the enormous differences in prices. For example, knee replacement costs ranged from $11,243 to $97,031 at the state's hospitals. Even individual hopsitals are striving to offer more transparency. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center in Lebanon, New Hampshire, posts very detailed information about prices on the hospital's Web site. Spokesperson Jason Aldous said it's part of the medical center's mission to provide transparency about cost, outcomes and patient satisfaction. The information is only a starting point, though, Aldous said. "We want that to drive you to a more informed conversation" with a doctor, he said. "A bilateral knee replacement is not like buying a car on the lot." But Brad Myers, co-founder of New Choice Health, said health care and car buying are a lot more similar than many people think. The eight-month-old site was created to do for health care what automobile pricing guides did for new car buying 20 years ago, Myers said. New Choice Health, which does not charge for its service, lists the average cost insurance companies pay for 400 different procedures at different facilities across the country. Want to know the cost of a colonoscopy in Cleveland? New Choice Health gives you more than 50 facilities, with prices ranging from $550 to $1,200. How about a PET scan in Portland? The site offers more than 20 facilities with a price range of $1,600 to $2,100. The site is designed for people who are uninsured, individually insured or with a high deductible plan, Myers said. Patients who are not covered in a group plan generally get bills three times as high, he said. He advocates bargaining. "Just picking up the phone will get you 20 percent off. Nine times out of 10, if you want to haggle, it's more like 50 percent off," Myers says. New Choice Health, which went live in January, now gets 40,000 to 50,000
users a month, Myers says. Paul Fronstin, a senior research associate with the Employee Benefit Research Institute, said cost sites such as New Choice Health are crude tools because they don't tell people with traditional plans what they'll pay out of pocket. A lot depends on how much of their deductible they've already spent. Also, people with expensive chronic diseases such as diabetes usually reach their deductible early in the year and are less concerned about price after that, Fronstin said. Childbirth is a perfect procedure to price ahead of time, according to Kathleen Stoll at Families USA. Others are not as clear cut. With knee surgery, for example, patients may not know the exact procedure they need or what complications could arise, she said. Bridget Bear said knowing what hospital fees would be in advance gave her and her husband peace of mind: "We were able to enjoy the anticipation of Lawson a little bit more instead of having to worry about the financial piece of it. |
||
|
6.
Northwestern Health Sciences University
(Minneapolis, MN) sponsors its annual Career Day, Saturday, October 17,
2009. |
||
|
For more information: |
||
|
7. Received this week. |
||
|
Edward
Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine (Blacksburg, VA) ·
Viewbook and application information (posted on
PHP bulletin bulletin board) |
||
|
8. American Association of
Naturopathic Medical Colleges (AANMC) 2-Minute E-News: August 2009 edition. |
||
August 2009
AANMC 2-Minute E-News:
|
||
|
9. “Slipping through
the Net: Social Vulnerability in
Pandemic Planning”, a publication pertaining to the social ramifications of
minimizing morbidity and mortality from disease outbreaks. (Thanks to Dr. Anna Ross for forwarding
this to me.) |
||
|
Free online publication from the Hastings Center: The public health efforts to stem a flu outbreak have potentially serious social ramifications. More importantly and seemingly overlooked in pandemic planning for a virus such as H1N1social context has major implications for the potential effectiveness of public health strategies. In the September-October 2009 issue of the Hastings Center Report, Anna C. Mastroianni argues that to minimize morbidity and mortality, and to prevent the further spread of disease, policies need to take into account the realities of individuals' lives and the social contexts in which they live. "Slipping through the Net: Social Vulnerability in Pandemic Planning" by Anna C. Mastroianni may be downloaded for free (registration required). http://www.thehastingscenter.org/Publications/HCR/Detail.aspx?id=3866 The Hastings Center is an independent, nonpartisan, and nonprofit bioethics research institute founded in 1969. The Center's mission is to address fundamental ethical issues in the areas of health, medicine, and the environment as they affect individuals, communities, and societies. < end quote > http://www.thehastingscenter.org/ |
||
|
10. Samuel Merritt
University (Oakland, CA) and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announce
funding for students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN)
program. |
||
|
Samuel Merritt University and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation announce funding for students in the Accelerated Bachelor of Science in Nursing (ABSN)* program. Ten RWJ scholarships of $10,000 are available to students starting the ABSN program in spring 2010 and summer 2010. Eligibility: ·
Accepted to the SMU’s ABSN
program for spring 2010 or summer 2010 ·
Committed to pursuing
professional nursing licensure through the NCLEX-RN ·
Citizen/permanent resident of the
U.S. at time of application for scholarship Students who are from groups that are underrepresented in nursing or from disadvantage backgrounds. Preference will be given to male and Hispanic students. Application
for the RWJ Scholarship: Robert Wood Johnson
Scholarship Application Application
for admission: *The ABSN program is designed for someone who already has/his baccalaureate in a non-nursing field. The intensive program is completed in 12 months. Anne
Seed, Director of Admission |
||
|
11. Marginalia: Got (coconut) crabs? |
||
|
Coconut crab !!!!!!!!!!!!!
For more information about the coconut crab, go to http://www.coconutcrab.co.uk/ . |
![MCj03936260000[1]](CadFa0906_files/image015.gif){kind=small}
![MCj04158220000[1]](CadFa0906_files/image018.gif)
Dr. Stan Eisen,
650
E-mail: seisen@cbu.edu
http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/
Caduceus Newsletter Archives: http://www.cbu.edu/~seisen/Caduceus.html