Immunization Newsbriefs (c) Copyright Information Inc., Bethesda, MD. Brought to you by the National Network for Immunization Information (NNii). Visit NNii's new website at http://www.immunizationinfo.org.
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January 15, 2003
U.S. IMMUNIZATION NEWS
"Medicare Patients Are Getting Better Care"
Wall Street Journal (www.wsj.com) (01/15/03) P. D6
A report in today's Journal of the American Medical Association indicates that the percentage of Medicare patients who received appropriate care increased from 69.5 percent to 73.4 percent between 1998-1999 and 2000-2001. Increases were seen in the percentage of heart-attack patients being sent home from the hospital with proper prescription drugs, as well as in the percentage of patients receiving flu shots and annual mammograms. In addition, the percentage of Medicare recipients who got pneumococcal vaccines increased from 55 percent to 65 percent. However, Dr. Stephen Jencks, director of the quality-improvement group at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and lead author of this study, noted that more could be done, as many people still are not getting the pneumococcal vaccine, which is recommended for individuals 65 years of age and older. "Health-care systems are still far to tuned to treating the acute illness rather than prevention," he said.
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LEGAL ADVICE. THE DECISION WHETHER OR NOT TO VACCINATE IS AN IMPORTANT AND
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