Childhood obesity linked to neighborhood social and economic status

June 11, 2010 — 10:50 am

Seattle Children’s, UW, and Group Health study 8,000 King County children

Children in King County, Washington, are more likely to be obese if they live in socially disadvantaged neighborhoods. This is according to a team of researchers at Seattle Children’s Research Institute, the University of Washington (UW), and Group Health Research Institute. Social Science & Medicine e-published the research this week in advance of printing it.

The researchers found obesity most common in children living in neighborhoods with the least-educated females, (more…)

Pilot project strives to reduce obesity in kids

May 12, 2010 — 7:30 am

Can’t see the YouTube video? Check out the video here: Family Wellness Video

With the enormous health concerns caused by the nation’s increasing rate of childhood obesity, researchers are seeking effective ways to help children maintain a healthy weight. That’s a goal of the Group Health Family Wellness Program, a pilot project in its second year. The 12-week program, at Group Health Bellevue and Capitol Hill medical centers, enrolls overweight kids (more…)

Medical home pays off, improving primary care and cutting cost at 2 years

May 4, 2010 — 3:00 am

Links:

If you have trouble viewing the YouTube video please click here: Medical Home Year 2

Health Affairs, May 2010: The Group Health Medical Home At Year Two: Cost Savings, Higher Patient Satisfaction, And Less Burnout For Providers

Health Affairs, May 2010 Report From the Field: Group Health’s Move To The Medical Home: For Doctors, It’s Often A Hard Journey

Group Health patients visit ERs and hospitals less in Health Affairs study

In a two-year evaluation at Group Health Cooperative, transforming primary care into a “patient-centered medical home” model paid off. Published in the May 2010 Health Affairs, the evaluation compared the medical home prototype to Group Health’s other medical centers, showing:

  • The quality of care was higher, patients reported having better experiences, and clinicians said they felt less “burned out.”
  • Patients had 29 percent fewer emergency visits and 6 percent fewer hospitalizations, resulting in a net savings of $10 per patient per month.
  • For every dollar Group Health invested, mostly to boost staffing, it recouped $1.50.

This evaluation prompted Group Health to spread the medical home to all 26 of its medical centers, (more…)

Medical Home Year 2 Findings Video

April 26, 2010 — 10:35 pm

Featured video of Dr. Rob Reid, MD, PhD, an associate investigator at Group Health Research Institute and lead author of the year two medical home evaluation in the May 2010 Health Affairs journal. For more on the study and results go to: http://ghcnews.org/?p=1036 .

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Health Affairs, May 2010: The Group Health Medical Home At Year Two: Cost Savings, Higher Patient Satisfaction, And Less Burnout For Providers

Health Affairs, May 2010 Report From the Field: Group Health’s Move To The Medical Home: For Doctors, It’s Often A Hard Journey

People with diabetes are at higher risk of atrial fibrillation

April 22, 2010 — 1:28 pm

Get the Flash Player to see this player.
Video on Group Health’s YouTube Channel

As the U.S. population keeps aging and gaining weight, diabetes is becoming increasingly common. Some research has associated diabetes with the most common kind of chronically irregular heartbeat, called atrial fibrillation, which can raise the risk for stroke and death. But results of past studies of diabetes and atrial fibrillation have conflicted. Now in the Journal of General Internal Medicine Dr. Sascha Dublin of Group Health Research Institute has linked diabetes to a 40 percent greater risk of developing atrial fibrillation; and she found this risk rises even higher the longer people have diabetes and the less controlled their blood sugar is.

For three years (more…)

Want better health information technology? Ask patients how they want it

April 6, 2010 — 7:01 am

Health Affairs report shows value of patient-centered IT at Group Health

If you can’t see the youtube video below, go to: http://ghcnews.org/?p=932

Hopes are high that health information technology will support care between office visits, boost efficiency and convenience, and help patients lead healthier lives. An evaluation in the April Health Affairs suggests how to make the most of this new approach: Routinely ask patients how they like it and what they want.

“It’s crucial to ask patients whether the health information technology they use is meeting their needs promptly and appropriately and honoring their values and preferences,” said lead author James Ralston, MD, MPH, an associate investigator at Group Health Research Institute and an internist at Group Health Cooperative.

Group Health was an “early adopter” of health information technology that directly engages patients online. (more…)

Health Affairs video about Electronic Health Records

March 31, 2010 — 11:29 am

Co-Authors Drs. James Ralston and Matthew Handley explain their evaluation of Group Health’s use of health information technology, as reported in the April issue of Health Affairs.

They found that biennial surveys of randomly selected patients have helped inform improvements at Group Health, where three in 10 primary-care visits happen online. For more on the evaluation: http://ghcnews.org/?p=957

Get the Flash Player to see this player.

Latest study shows massage eases anxiety, but no better than simple relaxation does

March 15, 2010 — 1:02 pm

A new Group Health Research Institute randomized trial shows that on average, three months after receiving a series of 10 massage sessions, patients had half the symptoms of anxiety. This improvement resembles that previously reported with psychotherapy, medications, or both. But the trial, published in the journal Depression and Anxiety, also found massage to be no more effective than simple relaxation in a room alone with soft, soothing music.

Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH Group Health Research Institute

Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH Group Health Research Institute

“We were surprised to find that the benefits of massage were no greater than those of the same number of sessions of ‘thermotherapy’ or listening to relaxing music,” said Karen J. Sherman, PhD, MPH, a senior investigator at Group Health Research Institute. “This suggests that the benefits of massage may be due to a generalized relaxation response.” (more…)

Severe complications of diabetes are higher in depressed patients

March 1, 2010 — 1:53 pm
Dr. Elizabeth Lin MD, MPH, Group Health Research Institute

Dr. Elizabeth Lin MD, MPH, Group Health Research Institute

Depression raises the risks of advanced and severe complications from type 2 diabetes, according to a prospective study of nearly 4,000 Group Health primary-care patients.

These complications include kidney failure or blindness, the result of small-vessel damage, as well as problems of major blood vessels leading to heart attack or stroke.

The February 2010 Diabetes Care, a scientific journal of the American Diabetes Association, published these findings. Scientists from Group Health Research Institute, the University of Washington (UW) Schools of Medicine and of Public Health, and the Veterans Affairs Puget Sound Health Care System conducted the study.

“Systematic care for both depression and diabetes, as well as regular follow-up with patients’ primary care team, are essential to help control their depression and diabetes well,” said lead author Elizabeth Lin, MD, MPH, a Group Health family physician and GHRI affiliate investigator. “When patients with diabetes also have depression, they have significantly higher risks of developing complications such as amputation, vision loss, kidney failure, heart attacks, and strokes—and even of dying five to 10 years earlier.”

Hospitalization for acute or critical illness linked to greater likelihood of subsequent cognitive decline for older adults

February 24, 2010 — 10:28 am
MPH, executive director of Group Health Research Institute and senior author of the paper

Eric Larson, MD, MPH, executive director of Group Health Research Institute and senior author of the paper

Older patients hospitalized for acute care or a critical illness are more likely to experience cognitive decline compared to older adults who are not hospitalized, according to a University of Washington study conducted among older Group Health members and published in the February 24 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

A large proportion of patients who are hospitalized for acute care or care of a critical illness are older adults. Some studies have suggested that many survivors of critical illness experience long-term cognitive impairment, but these studies did not measure cognitive function before a critical illness, according to background information in the article. (more…)

Older Posts »