by Laura DeStefano | Jun 21, 2013 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
In April 2013, in collaboration with the Connecticut Health Foundation, the Institute of Medicine’s (IOM’s) Roundtable on the Promotion of Health Equity and the Elimination of Health Disparities convened a public workshop with community leaders and health policy...
by Laura DeStefano | Jun 14, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
According to the Institute of Medicine report Best Care at Lower Cost: The Path to Continuously Learning Health Care in America, as much as $750 billion—or 30 percent [1]—of health care expenditures may be wasted, including a substantial share from services that are...
by Laura DeStefano | Jun 11, 2013 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
Context Globalization has resulted in countries importing foreign products in numbers never before seen. For example, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) estimates that the products it regulates now originate in more than 150 countries and 300,000 foreign...
by Laura DeStefano | Jun 11, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
Business and government often respond rapidly, without engaging health professionals, in their efforts to solve crises or embrace new technologies. Too often, decisions made prove to be shortsighted. One needs only to look to recent history for unintended...
by Laura DeStefano | May 29, 2013 | Discussion Paper, Perspectives
Introduction We are entering a critical time in health care in the United States. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) changes the American health care system in many ways. Of major importance is the fact that it expands access to health insurance for...
by Laura DeStefano | May 3, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
Health care delivery is changing in virtually every domain—affecting primary, tertiary, and quaternary care; crossing disciplines and engaging all health professions; and involving both processes and outcomes of care. All of these changes are marked by a major...
by Laura DeStefano | Apr 12, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
The obvious answer of “no” to the question of readiness is not just due to the ongoing loss of experienced staff. Loss of infrastructure is bad enough, but even a well-staffed health department needs safe and effective treatment tools when more than 100 high school...
by Laura DeStefano | Mar 22, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
Support for core public health capacity is diminishing; outbreaks of microbial threats are not. In 2012 there were a number of high-profile threats (see the box below) that demanded public health intervention to protect the public. It is well understood that the role...
by Laura DeStefano | Mar 15, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
In October 2007, HSPD 21 called for a nationwide biosurveillance capability. Biosurveillance “in the context of human health is the science and practice of managing health-related data and information for early warning of threats and hazards, early detection of...
by Laura DeStefano | Feb 7, 2013 | Commentary, Perspectives
The first test of penicillin on a human, Constable Albert Alexander in 1941, illustrated the remarkable power of antibiotics to control bacterial infection, only to end in tragedy when all available penicillin was exhausted and Alexander’s infection recrudesced...
