Bariatric Times - December 2008 - (Page 34)

News and Trends Bariatric Times • December 2008 ments from children’s television programs would reduce the number of overweight children in the US by 18 percent and decrease the number of overweight teens by 14 percent, economists have estimated in a new study. The researchers used several statistical models to link obesity rates to the amount of time spent viewing fast food advertising, finding that viewing more fast food commercials on television raises the risk of obesity in children. The study appears in this month’s issue of The Journal of Law and Economics. “There is not a lot of evidence that overweight kids are more likely to watch TV than other kids,” said Michael Grossman, professor of economics at the City University of New York. “We’re arguing the causality is how many messages are aired—seeing more of these messages is leading people to put on weight.” The study’s coauthors are Shin-Yi Chou, an economist at Lehigh College, and Inas Rashad, an economist at Georgia State University. But the researchers’ estimate relies on older data gathered in the late 1990s, according to Elaine Kolish, a spokesman for the Council of Better Business Bureaus. Since then, two of the largest fast food chains—Burger King and McDonald’s—and more than a dozen other packaged food companies have signed on to the council’s Children’s Food and Beverage Advertising Initiative, she said, pledging to advertise only their healthier products to children under age 12. As a result, both Burger King and McDonald’s now air ads for children’s meals including apple sticks and lowfat milk. “I can’t help but think that two huge chains advertising apples and milk to kids is going to be affecting children’s preferences,” Ms. Kolish said. Kelly Brownell, director of Yale University’s Rudd Center for Food Policy, said reliable estimates of television’s impact on childhood obesity are hard to calculate because of the many assumptions statisticians must make. “That said, food marketing is a blight on the landscape of our children and has been shown time and again to have a negative impact,” he added. because of today’s economic conditions. One way that bariatric practices can make it easier for patients to accept recommended weight loss treatment in today’s economy is by offering no interest and low interest payment plans from CareCredit. CareCredit features a full range of payment options that allow patients to spread the total cost of care out over time, with low, monthly payments that fit their lifestyle and budget. When patients use CareCredit to pay for weight loss treatment, the practice receives payment within two business days, reducing their accounts receivable and helping them to maintain a healthy cash flow. CareCredit is ideal for co-pays, deductibles, and other expenses not covered by insurance, and is a proven way to provide the financial solution that patients are looking for in today’s uncertain economic times. For more information, call CareCredit at (800) gen saturation is often an early indication of more serious problems, like heart or respiratory failure. Since installing the new monitoring in 2008, the results have been noteworthy. For example, during the first month of the expansion, Sue Bachelder, RN, BN, the hospital’s surgical floor nursing manager, says remote pulse oximetry monitoring likely saved a bariatric surgery patient from suffering postoperative complications. One evening, Bachelder and several other clinicians were trying to stabilize another patient for transport to surgery, when suddenly a nurse’s remote monitoring pager sounded an alarm. Bachelder volunteered to check the patient down the hall. “I found her unresponsive and slumped over the bed,” Bachelder says. According to Bachelder, the patient had removed her oxygen. Due to sleep apnea and sedation her oxygen saturation became dangerously low. “We “Food marketing is a blight on the landscape of our children and has been shown time and again to have a negative impact.” —Kelly Brownell 300-3046 ext. 4519, or visit www.carecredit.com. ROSE MEDICAL CENTER ENHANCES PATIENT SAFETY WITH COVIDIEN TECHNOLOGY DENVER—Rose Medical Center announced it has been expanding its use of remote pulse oximetry monitoring technology. In the first weeks of the expansion, the hospital already prevented several potentially harmful situations for patients, thus noting the vast difference between solving problems and preventing them. Continuous remote monitoring is common in intensive care units (ICUs), where patients are at greater risk. But recent studies show that early detection of physiological instability can dramatically decrease cardiac arrests and deaths in non-acute treatment areas. Increased emphasis on pain control in hospitals has made it more important than ever to monitor respiratory status because narcotics can depress respiratory centers in the body. Based on these studies, Rose extended its safety net of pulse oximetry to all medical, cardiac, surgical, orthopedic, and postpartum floors. Pulse oximetry measures patients’ blood oxygen saturation, and low oxy- PATIENTS DELAY ON TREATMENT DURING SLOW ECONOMY— CONSIDER OFFERING PAYMENT OPTIONS COSTA MESA, CA—In the wake of the economic slowdown and credit crunch, many patients are choosing to delay or decline recommended treatment or care because of concerns about cost. In fact, in a recent survey conducted by the National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC), 22 percent of the 686 respondents say they have reduced the number of times they see a healthcare professional quickly treated her with additional oxygen. She was able to remain on the surgical floor and did well the rest of her hospitalization. I’m not sure what would have happened without being alerted, but I can only imagine it would not have been good,” Bachelder stated. Rose Medical Center relies on Nellcor™ OxiNet™ III remote monitoring technology, manufactured by Covidien. OxiNet™ remote monitoring continuously and cost-effectively monitors up to 24 remote bedside pulse oximeters from a central location. Patients are connected to these bedside monitors, which trigger both audible and visible alarms at the central station when their blood oxygen saturation falls outside a preset level. Optional pagers can directly alert caregivers who are away from the central station. “Remote patient monitoring helps eliminate unnecessary acute episodes and complications by giving clinicians an early indication of oxygenation problems,” says Scott Drake, President of Covidien’s Respiratory and Monitoring Solutions Global Business Unit. “Cardiac monitoring and periodic checks of vital signs can miss adverse respiratory events that may precede something more serious. OxiNet™ remote monitoring detects oxygen desaturations immediately and prompts the medical staff to act in a timely manner.” A study published in the British Medical Journal reported that early intervention can cut the number of heart attacks outside the intensive care unit in half. A separate study published in the Medical Journal of Australia found that early intervention can cut the number of hospital deaths by 26 percent. At Rose, OxiNet™ remote monitoring has helped identify cardiac arrhythmias, and patients have been transferred to the appropriate level of treatment for cardiac problems as a result. It also helped reveal multiple cases of postoperative sleep apnea, which can be harmful when it happens to a patient under postoperative sedation. The clinical staff at Rose also uses continuous pulse oximetry monitoring as a tool for helping to ensure the safety of all post op patients. If a patient removes the sensor and attempts to get out of bed without assistance, the staff is notified by the alarm. Pulse oximetry monitoring also keeps track of patients’ heart rates. This is particularly important for bariatric patients because an increased heart rate can be a sign of a surgical complication. “I can remember one or two bariatric patients who showed increase in their heart rates without any other symptoms,” Bachelder says. “Being able to notice this subtle change before the patient experiences pain allows us to contact the surgeon and intervene quickly to prevent a condition that could become life-threatening.” Remote monitoring is just one dimension of the hospital’s patient safety infrastructure. Besides minimizing risk, it can save money. A study released in 2003 revealed a 32.5-percent reduction in patient care costs for ICU readmissions among patients who received continuous pulse oximetry monitoring versus spot checking. The study found that centralized pulse oximetry monitoring reduced the median cost of an ICU stay by $16,937 per patient. “We haven’t measured the costeffectiveness because it’s a secondary concern to patient safety. However, we recognize that a focus on patient safety always eliminates avoidable negative outcomes that drive up the cost of care,” says Lynne Wagner, chief nursing officer at Rose Medical Center. “When it comes to investing in technology, we always consider the impact on patients first. Furthermore, patient safety is a system of checks and balances at Rose. Nothing replaces the hands-on expertise of our doctors and nurses. But we believe that our clinicians and our OxiNet™ technology augment each other.” http://www.carecredit.com http://www.carecredit.com

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Bariatric Times - December 2008 Table of Contents Patient Management Perspective Diabetes Perspective Interview: ASMBS’s Georgeann Mallory Editorial Message Editorial Board Body Contouring Perspective Meeting Perspective Journal Watch Advertiser Index News & Trends

Bariatric Times - December 2008

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