Articles

Interview with Al B. Benson, III, MD, FACP

Both practice guidelines and thought leaders increasingly recommend biomarker tests for optimization of cancer care; there is, however, a gap between these recommendations, the way physicians practice, and the way they think they practice.

At the request of the US Secretary of Health and Human Services, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) will conduct a study on national variation in healthcare spending and utilization for individuals with Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, or no insurance.

A blood-use protocol program at Loyola University Hospital in Chicago has lowered the amount of blood products transfused per patient, which in turn has led to greater patient safety and lowered costs, according to research presented at the College of American Pathologists annual meeting in Chicago.

Removing payment for health insurance deductibles leads to increased, although modest, improvements in the rates of screening for conditions such as cancer and elevated cholesterol (Meeker D, et al. Health Serv Res. 2010. Online doi:10.1111/j.1475-6773.2010.01188.x).

A study comparing the use of computed tomography (CT) versus standard chest x-rays for screening those at high risk for lung cancer found that CT screening resulted in 20% fewer deaths from the disease.