Educational Adequacy In The Twenty-First Century

The Georgetown University Center on Education and the Workforce released new research for the Century Foundation Working Group on Community College Financial Resources about a novel outcomes-based earnings standard for all postsecondary education programs. The report analyzes the value and cost of college programs and establishes a standard that would allow graduates to attain middle class earnings and recoup their education costs within a decade of graduation. 

The report can be obtained at https://cew-7632.kxcdn.com/wp-content/uploads/TCF_EducationalAdequacyReport.pdf.

Cures Parity Action Plan Released

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has released the Mental Health and Substance Use Disorder Parity Action Plan. It was required under statute by the 21st Century Cures Act, and outlines recent and forthcoming actions from HHS, the Department of Labor, and the Department of Treasury. The Action Plan aligns with HHS’ five-pillar strategy to address the opioid crisis.

The plan can be obtained at https://www.hhs.gov/sites/default/files/parity-action-plan-b.pdf.

CMS Innovation Center Model Implementation And Performance

Federal spending on health care—driven primarily by Medicare and Medicaid—is expected to exceed $1 trillion in 2018. The Affordable Care Act created the CMS Innovation Center to test new approaches to health care delivery, known as models that could curb spending while providing better care. We reviewed the center's efforts. A report from the Government Accountability Office (GAO) discusses the center’s efforts to evaluate these models from the standpoint of achieving goals.

The report can be obtained at https://www.gao.gov/assets/700/690875.pdf.

Racial Gap In Premature Death Rates Declining

Years of life lost, a measure of premature death, declined 28% for black Americans and 4% for white Americans between 1990 and 2014, according to a study published on April 25 in the journal PLoS ONE. Whites had a higher proportion of early deaths due to drug overdose than other races, while blacks had a higher proportion of early deaths due to homicide and heart disease.

The article can be obtained at http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0194308&type=printable.

National Prescription Drug Take Back Day

April 28 is National Prescription Drug Take Back Day, an event that aims to provide a safe, convenient, and responsible means of disposing of prescription drugs, while also educating the general public about the potential for abuse of medications.

Locations for doing so can be found at https://apps.deadiversion.usdoj.gov/NTBI/NTBI-PUB.pub?_flowExecutionKey=_c458EC1EB-EE94-AC25-8DF9-4BC072DF5418_k5158939A-599D-CCAF-9BC2-F356A3F54EA8.

The Crisis Of Rising Obesity

A post from the Commonwealth Fund argues that while solutions emphasizing food and diet may help in individual cases, policy solutions are required to fight the obesity epidemic nationally. It is a grave public health threat — more serious even than the opioid epidemic — and still on the rise in the United States. The latest federal data show that nearly 40 percent of American adults were obese in 2015–16, up from 34 percent in 2007–08.

The post can be obtained at http://www.commonwealthfund.org/publications/blog/2018/apr/rising-obesity-public-health-crisis?omnicid=EALERT1391680&mid=thomas@asahp.org.

Call for 2018 Nexus Award Nominations

The National Center for Interprofessional Practice and Education is now accepting nominations for the 2018 Nexus Award, intended to celebrate exemplary interprofessional practice in the US and those who are thinking and acting differently where education and practice connect in health and health care. The submission deadline is Friday, May 18.

More information may be accessed here. 

Supreme Court to Consider Trump v. Hawaii

Tomorrow the Supreme Court will hear oral arguments on the Trump administration’s travel ban. Now in its third iteration, the travel ban prevents most immigrants from seven countries from entering the United States. ASAHP and other organizations joined an amicus brief led by the Association of American Medical Colleges that urges the Court to reinstate the injunction against the travel ban.

The amicus brief may be here. 

Earning An Associate Degree Prior To Transfer For A Bachelor’s Degree

The American Council on Education (ACE) has released a research brief, “The Impact of Earning an Associate Degree Prior to Transfer on Bachelor’s Degree Completion.” It is the third in a series of four that explore outcomes for recent high school graduates who begin their postsecondary education in a community college.

The research brief can be obtained here. 

Growth In Jobs In Health Sector

According to a report from the Altarum Institute, during the period March 2017 to March 2018, health jobs grew by 1.9% and the health share of total jobs was up slightly to 10.75%. In March of this year, health care added 22,400, which is below the 12-month average of 25,300 new jobs per month. Hospitals added 9,900 jobs in March, higher than the 12-month average of 7,200 while ambulatory settings, such as physician offices added 16,200 new jobs, consistent with the 12-month average of 16,700.

The report can be obtained at https://altarum.org/sites/default/files/uploaded-related-files/SHSS-Labor-Brief_April_2018.pdf.

Physician Supply Demand Projections 2016-2030

The United States could see a shortage of up to 120,000 physicians by 2030, according to new data published today by the Association of American Medical Colleges. A report, “The Complexities of Physician Supply and Demand: Projections from 2016-2030” updates and aligns with estimates conducted in 2015, 2016, and 2017. As the U.S. population grows larger and older, other kinds of health professionals will have role to play in meeting demand

The report can be obtained at https://aamc-black.global.ssl.fastly.net/production/media/filer_public/85/d7/85d7b689-f417-4ef0-97fb-ecc129836829/aamc_2018_workforce_projections_update_april_11_2018.pdf.

IPEC Webinar Featuring Student-led Interprofessional Education

The Interprofessional Education Collaborative (IPEC) holds the third event in its 2018 IPEC Webinar Series aimed at highlighting trends and activities in interprofessional education and practice. Taking place on Thursday, April 26 at 2:00pm ET, “Student-led Programs: Opportunities for IPE” features health professions students Lydia Glick and Alvin Babu who will share remarks on the formation, unique extracurricular activities, challenges, outcomes, and next steps related to their student-led IPE efforts at Jefferson University and New York University. Health professions faculty, students, and clinicians will discover best practices and exemplars that they can use to assist with IPE efforts at their home institutions. This free, dynamic webinar is open to deans, faculty, staff, and students from IPEC member schools, as well as non-members, communities of interest, and practice representatives.

Additional information, including the registration link, for this webinar may be accessed here. 

Projected Impact Of Medicaid Work Requirements On Beneficiaries And Spending

New community engagement waivers could impact approximately 1.7 million Medicaid beneficiaries in 10 states, about half of the beneficiaries in those states, according to an analysis by PwC’s Health Research Institute (HRI). Section 1115 waivers which require some beneficiaries to work or otherwise engage in some kind of defined activity for a specified number of hours per week or month, are being approved by CMS, which is encouraging states to develop and apply for them. The waivers could lead to reductions in Medicaid populations, with implications for hospitals and health systems serving high proportions of patients covered by Medicaid.

The report can be obtained at https://www.pwc.com/us/en/health-industries/health-research-institute/publications/pdf/pwc-health-research-institute-medicaid-1115-waivers-insight.pdf.

Economic Impact Of Medical Schools And Teaching Hospitals

According to a new report from the Association of American Medical Colleges (AAMC), U.S. medical schools and teaching hospitals represented by the AAMC generated about 3.1% of the U.S. gross domestic product and supported 6.3 million jobs. Many kinds of allied health professionals work in these teaching hospitals.

The report can be obtained at https://www.aamc.org/data/486632/economicimpactreport.html.

Racial, Ethnic, And Gender Disparities In The Health Care Advantage Program

A new report from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Office of Minority Health examines racial, ethnic, and gender differences on 27 clinical quality and eight patient experience measures for beneficiaries with Medicare Advantage health and drug plans in 2015-2016. The data are from the Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set and the Consumer Assessment of Healthcare Providers and Systems survey. 

The report can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/About-CMS/Agency-Information/OMH/Downloads/2018-National-Level-Results-by-Race-Ethnicity-and-Gender.pdf.

Burden Of Diseases/Injuries/Risk Factors Among U.S. States

An article that appeared in today’s issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association describes a study involving examination of 333 causes and 84 risk factors, demonstrating that health in the U.S. improved from 1990 to 2016, although the drivers of mortality and morbidity have changed in some states, with specific risk factors such as drug use disorders, high body mass index (BMI), and alcohol use disorders being associated with adverse outcomes. In five states, the probability of death between ages 20 and 55 years has increased more than 10% between 1990 and 2016.

The article is available for free from the journal.

2018 Health Insurance Exchange Enrollment Data

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has released the Final Enrollment Report for the 2018 Health Insurance Exchanges showing approximately 11.8 million consumers selected or were automatically re-enrolled in an Exchange plan in the 50 states, plus DC. The amount includes 8.7 million consumers in the 39 states using Healthcare.gov and 3 million consumers in State-based Exchanges.

More information can be obtained at https://www.cms.gov/Newsroom/MediaReleaseDatabase/Press-releases/2018-Press-releases-items/2018-04-03.html.

Transitioning The U.S. National Vital Statistics System Into the 21st Century

The National Vital Statistics System makes it possible to track indicators of health status for the population at the national, state, and local levels, including disparities by age, sex, race and ethnicity, and detailed geography. The data are invaluable for identifying populations at risk, program planning, and developing initiatives to target health disparities. Anew report updates previous histories to reflect developments and changes over the past two decades that have been extraordinary and far-reaching.

The report can be obtained at https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/series/sr_01/sr01_062.pdf.

Geographic Distribution Of Student Debt

According to a report from the Urban Institute, little attention has been given to the geographic distribution of student loans and how it relates to cost of attending college in a state. The states where the largest shares of college students have student debt are in the Midwest and the Northeast. The Western region of the country has the lowest share of college students with student loans. The share of the college-going population with student loans in a state is positively associated with the average cost of attending a public four-year institution.

The report can be obtained at https://www.urban.org/sites/default/files/publication/97751/where_is_student_debt_highest_0.pdf.