Vital Signs This Week - December 23, 2004

Due to New Year's, Vital Signs This Week will not be published on December 31. The next issue of Vital Signs This Week will be published on January 7.

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MMS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

1. MMS Welcomes Expansion of Flu Vaccine Guidelines

2. MMS Offices Will be Closed December 24 and 31

EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

3. FMEA and Proactive Risk Assessment

4. Strong Women Live Well: Exercise and Nutrition Strategies for Optimal Health

5. Cancer in Women: A Scientific Update on Ovarian Cancer - Prevention, Screening and Treatment

THIS WEEK IN HEALTH CARE 

6. Red Flags Continue to Go Up Around Painkillers, Celebrex Advertising Halted

7. Governors Urge President Not to Shift Medicaid Costs

8. Tufts, Cigna Ink Deal: Partnership Opens National Network of Doctors, Hospitals

9. Study: 75% of Older Bay Staters Vaccinated; Obesity and Heavy Drinking on the Rise

10. State Board Approves Sale of Three Hospitals to Vanguard

MMS NEWS AND ANNOUNCEMENT

1.  MMS Welcomes Expansion of Flu Vaccine Guidelines
The Massachusetts Medical Society this week praised the Massachusetts Department of Public Health’s decision to further broaden its influenza vaccine eligibility guidelines, as well as its move to rescind the October 27 emergency order. The broadened guidelines now recommend flu vaccine for individuals 50 and older and close contacts of high-risk individuals.

Read the MMS news release.

Revised Flu Vaccination Guidelines

2.  MMS Offices Will be Closed December 24 and 31
In observance of the Christmas and New Year holidays, the Massachusetts Medical Society's office headquarters will be closed Friday, December 24 and Friday, December 31. Normal operating hours will resume on the following Mondays. 

EDUCATION PROGRAMS AND EVENTS

3.  FMEA and Proactive Risk Assessment
January 6, 8 a.m. - noon, MMS Headquarters 
Learn how to conduct a Failure Modes and Effects Analysis more easily and more effectively.

For online registration, visit www.regonline.com/18740   

For more information, contact Linda Prince at (781) 272-8000, ext. 221, or by email at lprince@mhalink.org    

4.  Strong Women Live Well: Exercise and Nutrition Strategies for Optimal Health
January 26, 6:30 - 8 p.m., MMS Headquarters
CME Credit: 1.5 category 1 credits

Jointly sponsored by the MMS and its Committee on Women in Medicine.

For more information, contact the MMS Department of Continuing Education and Certification at (800) 322-2303, ext. 7306, or by email at continuingeducation@mms.org.

Read more about the program.

5.  Cancer in Women: A Scientific Update on Ovarian Cancer - Prevention, Screening and Treatment
February 4, 8 a.m. - noon, MMS Headquarters 
CME Credit: 4 category 1 credits (RM) 

For more information, contact the MMS Department of Continuing Education and Certification at (800) 322-2303, ext. 7306, or by email at continuingeducation@mms.org.

Read more about the program.

THIS WEEK IN HEALTH CARE 

6.  Red Flags Continue to Go Up Around Painkillers, Celebrex Advertising Halted
The over-the-counter drug naproxen, a nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, is the latest painkiller to be cited for increased risk of heart attack, reports The Boston Globe. A flurry of concern over the safety of prescription drugs called Cox-2 inhibitors began in September when Merck pulled its blockbuster arthritis drug Vioxx off the market after it was linked to heart problems. Physicians caution that the small cardiovascular risk recently associated with naproxen, brand name Aleve, could be a statistical fluke and does not indicate a cause for concern. This week Pfizer decided to stop all advertising for its Cox-2 inhibitor pain reliever Celebrex after the Food and Drug Administration announced its “great concern” for the safety of Cox-2 inhibitors.

7.  Governors Urge President Not to Shift Medicaid Costs
According to a Boston Herald report, President Bush is considering shifting more Medicaid costs to the states in an effort to shore up federal budget deficits. “…It is unacceptable in any deficit reduction strategy to simply shift federal costs to states,” said the letter from the National Governors Association sent this week. Medicaid expenses account for an average of 22 percent of state spending.

8.  Tufts, Cigna Ink Deal: Partnership Opens National Network of Doctors, Hospitals
Tufts Health Plan, with 726,000 members in the Commonwealth, has signed on with Cigna HealthCare to jointly offer services on a national scale to large and midsize companies, according to The MetroWest Daily News. "By partnering with Cigna, it gives (Tufts) the possibility to bid on business they couldn't bid on before," said Rick Shaw, a senior analyst with A.M. Best, which tracks health plans. Cigna plans to market its affiliation with the highly regarded Tufts system, and Tufts members will have access to the Cigna network, which includes all 50 states and numbers roughly 400,000 doctors and 4,000 hospitals.

9.  Study: 75% of Older Bay Staters Vaccinated; Obesity and Heavy Drinking on the Rise 
On Tuesday, state public health officials released a report detailing health trends in the Bay State, according to The State House News Service. The report, titled "Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System," found that 75 percent of adults 65 and older received influenza vaccination in 2003, up from only 49 percent 10 years earlier. While Massachusetts has one of the lowest obesity rates nationally, obesity has grown in the Bay State by 70 percent since 1990. The 18 percent binge drinking rate continues to be higher than the national average of 16 percent.

Read the results for Massachusetts.

10.  State Board Approves Sale of Three Hospitals to Vanguard
This week the Massachusetts Public Health Council approved the sale of Saint Vincent Hospital at Worcester Medical Center and MetroWest Medical Center to Vanguard Health Systems based in Nashville, Tennessee, reports TheBoston Globe. The $127 million transaction is part of an attempt by the former owners, Tenet Healthcare Corp., to regroup resources and focus on its core hospitals in California, Florida, Louisiana and Texas.