Background: Noninvasive remote patient management (RPM) in patients with heart failure (HF) has been shown to reduce the days lost due to unplanned cardiovascular hospital admissions and all-cause mortality in the Telemedical Interventional Management in Heart Failure II trial (TIM-HF2). The health economic implications of these findings are the focus of the present analyses from the payer perspective.
Methods And Results: A total of 1538 participants of the TIM-HF2 randomized controlled trial were assigned to the RPM and Usual Care group.
Sufficient exercise and sleep, a balanced diet, moderate alcohol consumption and a good approach to handle stress have been known as lifestyles that protect health and longevity since the Middle Age. This traditional prevention quintet, turned into a sextet by smoking cessation, has been the basis of the "preventive personality" that formed in the twentieth century. Recent analyses of big data sets including genomic and physiological measurements have unleashed novel opportunities to estimate individual health risks with unprecedented accuracy, allowing to target preventive interventions to persons at high risk and at the same time to spare those in whom preventive measures may not be needed or even be harmful.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFObjectives: Many women with early-stage, hormone receptor-positive breast cancer may not benefit from adjuvant chemotherapy. Gene expression tests can reduce chemotherapy over- and undertreatment by providing prognostic information on the likelihood of recurrence and, with Oncotype DX, predictive information on chemotherapy benefit. These tests are currently not reimbursed by German healthcare payers.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFPurpose: The primary objective of this phase I trial was to establish the safety profile and pharmacokinetics of cixutumumab administered every 2 weeks (q2w) or every 3 weeks (q3w) in Japanese patients with advanced solid tumors. Exploratory analyses included preliminary antitumor activity.
Methods: Patients received intravenous cixutumumab q2w or q3w (6-week cycle) in a standard 3 + 3 study design.
Increasing life expectancy, the introduction of costly new drugs and contributions from the health fund which do not cover overall costs, all contribute to financial problems for statutory health insurances (SHI) in oncology. Only an evidence-based approach can help to address these problems. In a first step patient-relevant benefits have to be substantiated as a necessary prerequisite for coverage of any treatment by SHIs.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFBundesgesundheitsblatt Gesundheitsforschung Gesundheitsschutz
May 2008
In the political debate, even in academia, the concepts of "profitability" or "efficiency" are thrown around very robustly and freely with no regard for the players themselves. Economically speaking there can be no efficiency without a definition of targets in terms of outcomes and their level of quality. If even the government's Council of Economic Experts itself finds in its assessment of hospital funding that the "reform's target parameters - improving the profitability of service provision - have developed positively", but adds that "whether this also applies to the quality of services provided or to the realisation of healthcare outcomes remains to be seen due to the lack of evidence" [21], this indicates a one-sided and problematic curtailment of the concept even by highly competent bodies.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFFebit AG develops an integrated benchtop instrument for in situ microarrays preparation, hybridization, readout and data analysis.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFConcepts and results are described for the use of a single, but extremely flexible, probing tool to address a wide variety of genomic questions. This is achieved by transforming genomic questions into a software file that is used as the design scheme for potentially any genomic assay in a microarray format. Microarray fabrication takes place in three-dimensional microchannel reaction carriers by in situ synthesis based on spatial light modulation.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGesundheitswesen
November 1995
A close cooperation between all partners according to section 20 IV SGB V is basically welcome. However, in times of financial straits in public budgets, attempts have to be avoided to shift tasks and financial burdens to statutory health insurance (SHI). A series of examples shows that because of the different responsibilities-related to the insured persons on the one hand, and the general population on the other-tendencies to shift burdens to SHI are observed.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGesundheitswesen
November 1993
By imparting competence in social medicine in the interdisciplinary course of studies "Public Health" graduates should be enabled to support social health insurance in finding adequate solutions regarding medical and economic aspects within the scope of planning and forming structures of health care. Thereby rationality in medical care can be increased so that rationing is avoided and reserves in efficiency and be mobilised.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe social obligation of medicine is not limited to the application of technical-curative methods. It rather also encompasses prevention, rehabilitation as well as cooperation with other health professions. Furthermore, medicine is tied into a social, economical and legal framework which has a direct impact on medical practice.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFThe paper describes the performance of continuing education programmes of the Medical Advisory Services in Germany and explains the methodical background. Elements of conceptional structure comprise basic and advanced seminars, professional und special training courses. Realizations of this training concept are described with special regard to demand, utilisation and acceptance with prospects of future.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFGesundheitswesen
March 1992
The medical service and medical supply organizations operating in Germany within the framework of compulsory sickness insurance are based on the principles of common self-administration that is monitored via contracts. The partners to these contracts develop reciprocally adequate ideas on the medical and economic structures of the medical supply system and expand their supply and negotiation strategies by discussing the structures of paid benefits and medical supply. This means there is an increasing need for a medical interpretation of the findings and of the data on the course of a disease and its treatment.
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