Recently in Chronic Diseases Category

The constant news stories about our sluggish economy, high rate of unemployment and federal budget deficit are enough to make optimists start seeing the world as half empty. Yet amidst all this negative news, some things are actually working well.

Take Medicare Part D. According to the Congressional Budget Office, the program costs 41 percent less than originally projected and several recent studies show that the program is increasing access to medicines while lowering healthcare costs and improving health. You can watch a great new video on the success of Medicare Part D and the following studies provide even more excellent data.

·         A study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) reports that each year Part D prescription drug coverage saves Medicare about $1,200 in lower hospital, nursing home and other medical for each senior who previously lacked comprehensive prescription drug coverage. According to other experts, this equals about $12 billion per year in savings across Medicare.

·         A study by Harvard Medical School researchers published in Health Services Research found that in the 23 states for which the researchers had data, hospitalization rates declined by 4.1 percent, or by 42,000 annual admissions, across 8 conditions that are sensitive to medication adherence such as diabetes, COPD, asthma and acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Researchers concluded that access to prescription coverage under Medicare Part D has had positive clinical benefits, improving beneficiaries' underlying health, and reducing their need for hospital care.

Lawmakers in DC continue to advocate for mandated rebates in Part D as a way to fix our nation's budget deficit. As I noted in an earlier blog post, if the proposal is adopted, premiums are expected to rise for beneficiaries and thousands of high-quality jobs could be lost. Additionally, mandating rebates in Part D would hamper the biopharmaceutical industry's ability to continue investing dollars in the research and development of life-saving and -improving medicines and vaccines.

Medicare cost savings are just one bright spot in our economy.  Research and development of new medicines and vaccines continues to be a collaborative effort between the government and the pharmaceutical industry. In 2009, the private sector invested $65.3B. Another $30.5B was spent by the National Institutes of Health. Cultivating and maintaining an environment in the US that encourages research and development will allow us to remain a leader in medical innovation, and help our nation move forward.

Medicare Part D's competitive, market-based structure is working well--and should be preserved.

According to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, up to 10% of the US population may have some form of a neurological condition known as Restless Legs Syndrome (RLS).  This medical condition causes them to feel an urge to move their legs, usually associated with uncomfortable and unpleasant sensations in their legs. Their symptoms often begin or worsen during periods of rest or inactivity-meaning they have difficulty relaxing or lying down comfortably. The symptoms are worse or occur only in the evening or night, and are partially or totally relieved by movement (such as walking or stretching), at least as long as the activity continues.  

Unfortunately, some people with RLS quit doing activities they once enjoyed such as taking long trips, going to sporting events, or going to movies. 

RLS is not well understood by the public or even by some who have the condition.  So in recognition of Restless Legs Syndrome Awareness Week, we want to spread the word that there are a number of lifestyle changes and other alternatives-as well as educational resources - that may help.  Only a doctor can diagnose this condition, so it's important for patients to share as much information as possible with their physicians. 

As just a few examples of lifestyle changes that might help, some patients benefit from walking, stretching, taking hot or cold baths, massage, limiting alcohol intake, and avoiding caffeine. 

If you think that you or someone you know might be affected by this condition, it's important to consult a healthcare professional and...pardon the pun...take the first step by learning more.  Additional online resources include: 

RestlessLegs.com; Restless Legs Syndrome Foundation; We Move: Worldwide Education and Awareness for Movement Disorders; National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke

Earlier today I participated in the North Carolina Institute of Medicine's annual meeting where a significant new private-public partnership was announced by North Carolina Secretary of Health and Human Services Lanier Cansler. 

GSK is part of this new initiative called "First in Health."  It's aimed at demonstrating how the "medical home" approach and health information technology can improve care for people with chronic diseases--and hold down the cost of providing that care.

The partnership is being led by Community Care of North Carolina (CCNC). CCNC is a nonprofit known for providing North Carolina's Medicaid program with on-the-ground care management, health information technology infrastructure and population-based health initiatives that have improved quality and saved Medicaid nearly $1.5 billion over just three years. CCNC's performance is in the top 10 percent nationally in HEDIS measures for diabetes, asthma and heart disease, compared to private Medicaid managed care organizations. If you'd like to learn more about CCNC and learn from its experience, take a look at its tool kit.

Now, we are joining with the pharmacy chain Kerr Drug, SAS, Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Carolina and the State of North Carolina Health Plan in an effort to realize similar quality and cost-saving benefits for our employees, their dependents and our retirees.  The objective is to show that by changing the way care is delivered and by increasing the focus on managing chronic diseases, which account for 75% of the nation's healthcare spending, outcomes can be improved and costs can be reduced. To evaluate the program's impact on cost and quality, the Brookings Institution will be performing an analysis.

At GSK, we're excited because we think the First in Health model with its emphasis on a medical home, effective use of health information technology and care coordination will make an important contribution to improving health and keeping benefits affordable.

Stories about health are always in the news. Makes sense--we all want to find ways to maintain or improve our quality of life. My favorite health story of recent weeks was about the beneficial effects of fidgeting. If only this study had been done when I was a kid--I could have had a great comeback for when my mother would constantly telling me to sit still!

The study looked at the role of activities of daily living or incidental exercise--getting up from your desk, chopping vegetables for dinner, drumming your fingers, or tapping your feet--in the subjects' levels of fitness. As it turns out, these activities can help maintain or improve your fitness levels.

This is especially true at work, where so many of us stare at computer screens all day. I get up frequently to walk around, and I spend a lot of time sitting on a yoga ball instead of an office chair, to help fight the effects of non-manual labor.

For the last few years, many companies have taken an interest in getting employees to be more active to improve both health and productivity--and reduce healthcare costs. An article in the LA Times highlights a number of companies--including GSK--for their innovative approach to encouraging employee wellness. 

At companies large and small, employees are being encouraged to get active--with great results! How does your company promote wellness?

In a small town in New Hampshire a young woman is diagnosed with Hodgkin lymphoma, a rare type of cancer. Everyone is shocked because she had been the picture of health. She begins her treatment, which puts in motion a long paper trail. Much time is spent collecting and transporting forms, CAT scans and other documentation between the various treatment facilities.  Her family hears about other cases of the same cancer in their small community. Her sister, Katlyn, begins a quest to unearth the cause of the cancer, channeling Erin Brockovich. The doctor says information by geographic area does not exist--and even if it did, it couldn't be accessed due to patient confidentiality.

After calling public health officials and cancer organizations, Katlyn finally learns that there is a national cancer registry. But data is entered manually from paper files and there is a delay of approximately two years. Katlyn and her family are still looking for answers.

Today Katlyn is a first-year medical student who is passionate about health IT. She envisions a future where her patients and their families will not be burdened by paperwork. Furthermore, they will be able to access electronic databases with epidemiological information on a real-time basis, helping them understand the root cause of diseases.

Katlyn shared her sister's story at a discussion hosted by the American Journal of Managed Care on January 20, 2011--"The Future of Healthcare Innovations and Health Information Technology (HIT),"at the National Press Club in Washington DC. GSK sponsored the discussion, as well as a special issue of AJMC dedicated to HIT.

A panel of experts, led by Dr. David Blumenthal, who is the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (HIT), discussed how patients, payers, providers and the entire US healthcare system will benefit from the automation of healthcare information going forward.

Dr. Blumenthal talked about the HITECH act, which was passed in 2009 and provides over $27 billion to stimulate the adoption of Electronic Health Records (EHR) and Health Information Exchanges (HIE), and begins paying out incentives this year. He emphasized that HIT isn't about computers--it is about improving health and healthcare quality. Enabling key areas of prevention, care coordination and ultimately payment incentives, HIT is the foundation for the healthcare reform legislation. Dr. Blumenthal reinforced the overall promise of HIT, which is to improve the delivery of integrated patient information to physicians (called decision support) so they can make better treatment choices.

January is Cervical Health Awareness Month. Throughout this month, many organizations dedicated to women's health are focusing their efforts on raising awareness about cervical cancer. 

GSK has been a strong supporter of cervical cancer awareness. Last year, we launched a campaign to raise awareness among young women about how to help prevent cervical cancer. Check out our Front Porch video on our You Tube channel.

Cervical cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in the U.S. among women in their twenties and thirties and every 47 minutes a woman is diagnosed with cervical cancer, yet cervical cancer is a preventable cancer.

January often represents a time of year to recommit ourselves to better management of our health. Let's be proactive about our healthcare in 2011 and we can start by reminding ourselves, or the women in our lives, to talk to a healthcare provider about cervical cancer.

What if you hired a personal health coach who knew you as well--or better than--you knew yourself...and came armed with a wealth of health information?  And what if this coach was available 24 hours a day? 

A new interactive virtual health coaching tool called 'HealthCoach4Me' is now available at no cost to consumers at www.HealthCoach4Me.com.  This new website, which we recently launched, offers consumers online health coaching, and can help them set, track, and reach their personal goals for general health and wellness, prevention and management of chronic conditions. 

Health coaching is an increasingly popular method of guiding individuals to discover and address their own uncertainty about health behavior changes, and can help them build their capacity to achieve short- and long-term goals. Health coaching is based on the "whole person" approach and helps individuals identify the motivation needed to get excited about working on their goals.  It also provides encouragement to address obstacles along the way. 

With www.HealthCoach4Me.com, the virtual coach helps break a user's goals down into small achievable steps.  In addition, each user is provided a customized dashboard for tracking progress. 

Please view this press release for additional information.

Today is World COPD Day--a day to raise awareness of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease or COPD.  What is COPD?  What does it mean to have COPD?  COPD is a term used to describe chronic lung diseases that can limit your airflow and compromise your lung function.  COPD includes chronic bronchitis and emphysema.   If you are living with COPD then you may be experiencing common day-to-day COPD symptoms include a cough, coughing up mucus or phlegm, difficulty breathing and shortness of breath, wheezing and chest tightness.  Over time, some patients with COPD suffer from shortness of breath so severe that it interferes with their most basic daily activities including sleeping, talking, and even dressing.

There's no denying that COPD is a serious disease.  In recent in-home research conducted by GSK, patients with COPD described that their disease progression leads to physical and social isolation.  They also revealed that they perceive their disease as both a burden they must deal with and a loss they have experienced.  They characterized the loss as a combination of factors including loss of energy, loss of control, loss of independence and loss of their old self. 

Hearing you have COPD can be incredibly tough, and there is no cure. But it's far from a helpless situation. Start right now by working with your doctor to learn ways to improve your breathing, stay more active, and slow the progression of the disease. If you have COPD, it is important to find out the facts from your doctor to know that you don't have to settle for a life defined by the disease. While some people view a life with COPD solely in terms of limitations, others see possibilities. Living with COPD certainly presents challenges, but many things are still firmly within your control. You'll still be able to make decisions--some big, some small--as you shape the kind of life you want to live with COPD.

As the disease progresses, research participants report they've become more reliant on the Internet as a source of important information on how to help manage their illness and as a means to interact with other people who can share in their experiences.  With more information about their disease, people with COPD feel better able to manage it. 

For the 12 million individuals diagnosed with COPD in the United States, www.copd.com offers easily accessible online destination to help inform them on their disease and its different stages and offer them things to consider that may help them live with COPD.  For caregivers, www.copd.com offers information on how to care for a loved one with COPD.

World COPD Day is an annual event organized by the Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) to improve awareness and care of COPD around the world.

www.copd.com is a website by GlaxoSmithKline. 

Each October for the past 26 years, we've come together as a nation of patients, survivors, family and friends to increase awareness of breast cancer during Breast Cancer Awareness Month.  The next step in awareness is to understand what rights women do or should have when it comes to their breast health.  This year, we've taken steps to outline those clearly with a new Breast Cancer Bill of Rights--a clear, straightforward platform for engaging activists and challenging decision makers. 

Thirty years ago, I promised my dying sister Suzy that I would do everything in my power to end breast cancer forever.  The Breast Cancer Bill of Rights is the next step in extending that promise to all women.

We believe this is a perfect time to focus our energies in this way.  This year's health reform law in the U.S. included several patient protections that marked a significant step in the right direction--enhanced access to mammography, protection for people with pre-existing conditions, and so forth.  But the reality is, even after 2014, when the patient protections are fully phased in, there still will be significant gaps in access to breast health services and issues of quality of care.

As far as breast cancer survivors and advocates are concerned, health reform was just a first step and not the end of the road.  For example, we believe all women should have access to breast screening tools that may save her life.  Women age 40 and older who are enrolled in either Medicare or newly-issued health plans now have access to an annual screening mammogram--with no additional cost.

Yet the benefit isn't guaranteed to women in health plans established prior to September 23.  For at least the next several years, underserved women will continue to rely on a patchwork of state-based safety net programs that are threatened by budget cuts due to the struggling economy.

And while mammography is currently the best screening tool available, it is far from perfect and not effective for some women, particularly those with dense breasts--so we will continue to press for the development of better technologies and for access to additional screening tools as recommended.

The Breast Cancer Bill of Rights outlines our promise to the women we serve.  Among other things, we promise to fight for a woman's right to:

·         Access breast cancer screening tools that may save her life.

·         Fight breast cancer without fear of bankruptcy.

·         Own affordable, quality health insurance.

·         Obtain timely diagnosis and treatment.

·         Receive high quality care, no matter where she seeks medical services.  

It's not acceptable when any woman is denied screening that may save her life, or has to worry about anything other than survival.  We promise to keep pushing until the gaps in health care are filled once and for all.  That's our promise.  Now, what will you promise?

Nancy Brinker is a guest blogger.  She is the founder and CEO of Susan G. Komen for the Cure. In 2010, GSK provided funding to Susan G. Komen for the Cure.

Today we launched HealthCoach4Me™, an interactive consumer health-coaching website.  HealthCoach4Me.com is designed for people who want to take charge of their health, but need help with setting, tracking and reaching personal health goals using small, manageable steps. The website combines novel interactive coaching tools with educational resources to encourage them and help them track their progress in achieving their goals.

"Our goal is to provide tools to help patients achieve better overall health outcomes," said Mark Johnson, vice president, GlaxoSmithKline. "While excellent health coaching tools are offered for specialty areas like smoking cessation or weight management, we believe that HealthCoach4Me takes care management to the next level and enables people to work on a broader set of personal health goals."

Check it out: www.healthcoach4me.com