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Cervical cancer could be eradicated. But not with Medicaid cuts and anti-vax politics.
Kelcie Moseley-Morris, States Newsroom, Oct. 10
Cervical cancer is one of few cancers that has a known path of prevention after the approval of the first HPV vaccine in 2006. But that also means it falls at the intersection of three cultural issues that are facing strong political opposition — broad access to low-cost or free reproductive health care, access to vaccines for children, and sex education. “We could make (cervical cancer) an eradicated disease,” said Dr. Emily Boevers, an Iowa OB-GYN. “But everything is falling apart at the same time.” Boevers said limitations on Medicaid coverage and the loss of Title X family planning funding will make screenings and vaccines less accessible for the populations that need them the most.
How CT hospitals are expanding maternal care with midwives, rehab and postpartum support
Cris Villalonga-Vivoni, CT Insider, Oct. 9
Several Connecticut hospitals have launched initiatives to improve access to comprehensive maternal care — before, during, and after childbirth. These include increasing access to midwives; a postpartum rehabilitation program to provide physical therapy and other support for patients who undergo C-sections; and orange bracelets labeled “I gave birth” to help health care providers recognize patients with postpartum complications in the weeks after delivery.
Emergency Medicaid spending accounts for less than 1% of program’s expenses, study finds
Nicole Acevedo, NBC News, Oct. 9
Emergency Medicaid spending, an issue partly fueling the federal government shutdown, accounts for less than 1% of the federal health insurance program’s total expenses, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. The study analyzed data from Washington, D.C., and 38 states that reported their emergency Medicaid expenditures for fiscal year 2022. The researchers found that, overall, emergency Medicaid constituted 0.4% of total Medicaid expenditures, at an average cost of about $10 per person. Services covered by emergency Medicaid are lifesaving procedures, including childbirth labor and delivery. Some states also cover dialysis and cancer treatments.
She was dismissed by doctors, and it nearly killed her. How this physician took action
Cara Lynn Shultz, People, Oct. 12
Dr. Bayo Curry-Winchell was a medical student when her symptoms started. She visited seven doctors before one seriously pursued her symptoms and diagnosed her with lupus and a clotting disorder. Later, while giving birth, a nurse dismissed Curry-Winchell when she said something was wrong. It turned out that she was bleeding internally. These experiences led her to create Clinicians Who Care, a crowdsourced list of physicians, nominated by their patients, who vouch for their ability to listen. Curry-Winchell says the problem of dismissing patients, particularly women, is systemic. She recalls learning in medical school of a code used to demean female patients. That code, she said, is WW, or “whiny woman.”
How the biggest health systems in CT are using AI in patient care
Katy Golvala, The Connecticut Mirror, Oct. 14
Doctors at Yale New Haven Health and Hartford HealthCare — Connecticut’s two largest health systems — say a new artificial intelligence tool is transforming how they interact with patients. The tool, called Abridge, records conversations during clinical visits and then uses a large language model to produce after-visit summaries. Barry Stein, a physician and chief clinical innovation officer at Hartford HealthCare, said it’s important to weigh the risk of AI solutions when considering whether to bring them into a health care setting. “As the excitement and the hype has built, there’s also been an increasing consideration for the risk,” Stein said. “We have to be cognizant of that in health care.”