Princess Health and Princess Health andState will reopen health-insurance enrollment for eight days, starting Friday, citing heavy demand.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andState will reopen health-insurance enrollment for eight days, starting Friday, citing heavy demand.Princessiccia

Affordable Care Act health insurance health reform Medicaid obamacare Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Gusty 19:20 Add Comment

Kentucky will extend its deadline to sign up for insurance under federal health reform, citing a surge of last minute applications. Gov. Steve Beshear announced Tuesday that Kentuckians will be able to enroll from Friday, April 4 through Friday, April 11.

The official deadline had been midnight Monday, March 31 for those using the state insurance exchange, Kynect. People eligible for Medicaid can apply on the exchange at any time. The details on how this special enrollment period will work, including call center hours, will be announced Thursday, according to a news release from the governor's office.

The days between March 31 and April 4 will allow time to adjust computers for the extension, Cabinet for Health and Family Services spokeswoman Gwenda Bond told Mary Meehan of the Lexington Herald-Leader. She also said it will allow "Kynectors" to set up appointments with people in their communities to help process their applications.

Over the weekend, 21,000 people signed up, including 12,000 Monday, state officials said.

As of April 1, 370,829 Kentuckians had enrolled through the exchange; 293,802 of those signed up for Medicaid, and 77,027 signed up for private insurance. When open enrollment began Oct. 1, state officials estimated there were 640,000 uninsured in Kentucky. Some people getting coverage through the exchange were insured but their policies were canceled because they didn't comply with the reform law.

The federal government's website, HealthCare.gov, was reported to be overwhelmed with users on Monday. Bond said Kynect did not experience any "glitches" in the rush to sign up for health insurance on Monday, Meehan reports.

Princess Health and Uncovering the True Health Costs of Excess Weight. Princessiccia

Princess Health and Uncovering the True Health Costs of Excess Weight. Princessiccia

overweight

Gusty 11:16 Add Comment

Is excess weight hazardous to health, or can it actually be protective? This question has provoked intense debate in the academic community, in some cases even leading researchers to angrily denounce the work of others (1). There is good evidence to suggest that excess body fat increases the risk of specific diseases, including many of our major killers: diabetes, heart attack, stroke, heart failure, cancer, and kidney failure (2). Yet strangely, the studies relating excess weight to the total risk of dying-- an overall measure of health that's hard to argue with-- are inconsistent. Why?
Read more �

Princess Health and2014 Around the Bay.Princessiccia

Princess Health and2014 Around the Bay.Princessiccia

Gusty 17:43 Add Comment

After the long grind that was the winter of 2013/14, Around the Bay finally came!  The team had a number of injuries and illnesses leading up to race day, but still walked away performing above expectations.  Here's a summary of our results:

5K RESULTS

In this race, Rob had an excellent performance.  In an extremely deep field he walked away placing 12th OA, and with a HUGE new personal best.  What was his time you ask?  Well, we have left a clue for you--->

Maria also had a great race!  With no training she ran well under 35minutes!

30K RESULTS

First in for H+P was Mike with a massive PB of 2:06!  This was about 20 minutes faster than his previous best.  

Coach Dyce was in next.  Despite a winter of minimal training, and fighting serious jetlag after flying in from Switzerland the day before, he achieved an excellent time of 2:08.

Just seconds behind Greg, also with a time of 2:08, Aaron Mailman was the next H+Per to come into the finish.  Great time? Yes.  But this is even more impressive considering the flu he was battling the entire week before.  

Just behind Mailman, Holger finished with an excellent time of 2:09. 

Graham Dunn, battling a cold, had a great run, coming in easily under 2:25.  

Coming in just after him, Vicki Z, the first female runner from H+P, had an AWESOME time of 2:28 which was a PB by about 14 minutes!

Coming off her early-season marathon, Tracy had an awesome performance of 2:36!  Emily, finishing up just her first year of racing, had an outstanding result, coming in with a time of 2:37. 

Helen, who had a very tough winter of limited training and no long runs still managed to just come in shy of her PB with an impressive time of 2:47.

30K Relay RESULTS

In the 30K relay, new Muscle Mondays coach, Vicky Siemon and her teammate placed FIRST OA!  She finished her 15K with a time of about 57:30 (+ transition).

Coach Gill had an outstanding opening leg for her relay team with Sean.  She ran an impressive 1:02 for 15K (excluding transition) and rocked a new sub-20 5K PB!  This was good enough to put the New Balance-H+P team in 3rd place overall.

Coach Sean ran the 2nd 15K leg in 54:22...and really appreciated all of the cheering along the way from the teammates who made surprise appearances even though they were not racing!

Princess Health and New Position with Nestl�. Princessiccia

Princess Health and New Position with Nestl�. Princessiccia

April fool's

Gusty 04:00 Add Comment

Warning -- Satire -- April Fool's Post

I'm happy to announce that I've accepted a Product Research and Development position with Nestl� Foods.  Nestl� is known for its skillful application of 'neuromarketing'-- using neuroscience to enhance product development and sales-- and the company recruited me for my background in neuroscience and food reward.

As Whole Health Source readers know well, food reward has a major impact on food selection and consumption, and therefore it has huge potential as a product development strategy.  Although product development by the food industry has always relied to some extent on a basic understanding of food reward, corporations still lag far behind the cutting edge of food reward research, and they are therefore missing out on a major opportunity to drive repeat purchase and consumption behavior and increase total sale volume.  I plan to leverage science-corporate synergy to develop food product solutions that people LOVE*.

Even more exciting, Nestl� has asked me to lead a strategic partnership initiative with Coca-Cola to utilize neuromarketing to tailor beverage product development specifically for children, who have a somewhat different set of reward criteria than adults.  We're excited to develop product solutions that kids LOVE* even more than current offerings, by scientifically designing new combinations of flavors, sweeteners, and totally safe habit-forming drugs such as caffeine.

Both companies have been very responsive to my nutritional concerns about processed foods, and so we're working together to make healthier products.  Here are some of the changes we're discussing:

• Adding vitamin C and cod liver oil to chocolate.
• Replacing a portion (1.7%) of the sugar in beverages with stevia across the board.
• Stealthily decreasing the portion size of beverages.  To do this, we'll increase the thickness of the plastic bottles so the exterior of the bottle is the same size, but the actual beverage content is reduced by 0.2 oz.
• Getting these healthy snacks and beverages back into schools where kids can enjoy them!

One of the first things we discussed is getting the advertising department at Nestl� to write guest posts for Whole Health Source.  This will be a fun way for WHS readers to stay informed of current Nestl� products and what we have coming down the pipeline!

April Fools!!!!!!


* Learned Obedience Via Eating

Princess Health and Princess Health andConsumer Reports rates hospitals on safety, puts Somerset hospital last in Kentucky; hospital blames its incomplete data.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andConsumer Reports rates hospitals on safety, puts Somerset hospital last in Kentucky; hospital blames its incomplete data.Princessiccia

hospital safety hospitals rankings

Gusty 12:56 Add Comment

Consumer Reports magazine recently released safety rankings for hospitals across the country, compiled from government data. Miles Memorial Hospital in Damariscotta, Maine, received the best safety rating in the U.S., a 78 on a scale of 100. That was 12 points higher than the hospital labeled Kentucky's safest, Georgetown Community Hospital.

Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital in Somerset received by far the lowest rating in Kentucky, a 20. That was eight points below the next-lowest Kentucky hospital and nine points above Bolivar Medical Center in Cleveland, Miss., which was rated the nation's least safe hospital.

According to a message to the community prepared by Lake Cumberland Regional Hospital officials, "The information used to calculate the Consumer Reports scores does not provide an accurate picture of our hospital's quality and safety performance," because "We learned several years ago that we had not been submitting complete clinical information to Medicare." The hospital employed a clinical documentation improvement program that helped quality scores back into the expected ranges. Because the report featured data from 2009-2012, these improvements were not represented in the results, according to the message. Mark Brenzel, CEO of the hospital, said current information "reflects a much better score for the various quality indicators that they used." The hospital is owned by LifePoint Hospitals of Brentwood, Tenn.

The safety ratings are based on data gathered from the federal Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services. The five categories are occurrences of hospital acquired infections, unnecessary readmissions, mortality, communication about new medications, and appropriate use of scanning. Each categories counts for up to 20 points. Rankings by city, state, and county are available here. Some hospitals have not been rated because they did not have all the valid data measures needed to calculate the score.

"The average score for hospitals is just 51, and 43 hospitals got a score below 30," Consumer Reports said. John Santa, M.D., medical director of Consumer Reports Health, said "It is unacceptable that so many hospitals are doing so poorly. Especially since our ratings show that some hospitals can do a good job at keeping patients safe."

Unfortunately, approximately "440,000 hospital patients a year die at least in part because of preventable medical errors," Consumer Reports said. This figure is based on a comprehensive analysis published in the Journal of Patient Safety, a peer-reviewed medical journal. "What matter is that too many people are dying in hospitals because of medical mistakes, not enough is being done to stop it, and patients need more information," author John James said.

UPDATE, April 4: There are many forms of hospital rankings, some done with questionable business practices such as "licensing fees" they get from hospitals, notes Pia Christensen of the Association of Health Care Journalists.

Princess Health and Princess Health andKentucky hospitals list their community benefits.Princessiccia

Princess Health and Princess Health andKentucky hospitals list their community benefits.Princessiccia

hospitals

Gusty 12:41 Add Comment

Kentucky hospitals estimated that they contributed nearly $2.18 billion to their communities in 2012, up from $1.96 billion the previous year, says a report compiled from information provided by the hospitals to the Kentucky Hospital Association.

The report focuses on how Kentucky's 131 hospitals meet their community needs.

The largest community contribution reported by Kentucky hospitals in 2012 was the $658.8 million they absorbed for bad debt, or money that is owed by patients, but is not paid. Bad debt often occurs when uninsured patients make too much money to qualify for financial assistance or charity care, but still cannot afford the cost of their care, or when uninsured patients can't afford co-pays and deductibles. This amount has almost doubled since 2008, the first year Kentucky Hospital Association did this survey, and the year that the Great Recession began.

The second largest contribution reported for 2012 was $452 million in financial assistance and charity care, which includes caring for patients regardless of the their ability to pay. This amount has more than doubled in the last three years.

KHA cited Julie Lumberg of Louisa is an example of charity care contribution. She had a health condition that doctors were having a hard time diagnosing, and became virtually unable to see and couldn't drive. She was unable to work, lost her health insurance, couldn't afford to pay for COBRA coverage, and was still sick. Because of charity care, Julie was able to go to King's Daughters Medical Center in Ashland for an MRI. She was diagnosed with a brain tumor and was able to have surgery without paying. Julie was up and driving within 14 days.

Kentucky hospitals, which treat an average of 55 percent Medicare patients, said they absorbed a $177.2 million shortfall from the federal program in 2012. Hospitals also reported a $300 shortfall in Medicaid, the federal-state program that covered approximately 830,000 Kentuckians in 2012. A shortfall is the difference in what the treatment cost and what the program paid. The report suggests that under federal health care reform, the Medicare shortfall will rise to $852 million in 2019.

Some hospital contributions to the community fall in the area of community health improvement services such as health education, treatment and/or prevention like health fairs, screening programs and immunization clinics. Kentucky hospitals said they contributed $58.5 million to these types of programs in 2012, up from $43.7 million in 2011.

Molly Rusk is someone who benefited from one such educational program, KHA said in its report. Molly is a 27-year-old woman who weighed too much to ride a mule through the Grand Canyon while on vacation. Upon returning to Kentucky, she attended a free seminar on medical weight loss options by Norton Healthcare in Louisville, enrolled in the program, and lost 60 pounds. She also no longer needs blood pressure or cholesterol medicine

Kentucky hospitals reported a big increase in research investment in 2012: $336.8 million, up from $270.8 million in 2011. They also contribute to education of health professionals. In 2012, they reported spending $141.7 million on health professions education, up from $127.4 million in 2011.

Pediatric care simulator

KHA cited as an example two pediatric care simulators, which are used throughout the state. They were purchased by Saint Joseph Hospital Foundation, part of KentuckyOne Health.  They have been instrumental in improving pediatric education for nurses who use them to practice assessment and intervention techniques, improving pediatric care and outcomes, KHA said.

The hospitals also contribute to their communities by subsidizing clinical services. The 24 neonatal intensive care units in Kentucky are examples of such programs that have received a portion of the reported $31.7 million spent on subsidies in 2012.

Hospitals said they contributed $12.3 million to support community and social service organization to promote health in 2012. As an example, KHA cited support for medical missions around the world by St. Elizabeth Healthcare in Northern Kentucky.

Hospitals said they contributed $3.8 million in 2012 for community building activities to protect or improve the health or safety of their communities. KHA said such programs often address the root cause of health problems, which are often not obviously health-related. One such program is the refurbished porches and ramps built for several needy families in Clay County that were provided by the Manchester Memorial Hospital.

A more obvious way that hospitals give back to their communities is through providing jobs, KHA noted. Kentucky hospitals were one of the largest employers in 2012. They paid approximately $4.1 billion in employee wages and salaries and more than $1 billion in employee benefits in 2012.

Hospitals also stimulate the economy through purchasing of supplies and services, which they said totaled more than $6.4 billion in 2012. They also said they generated an estimated $604 million in state and local taxes, through taxes paid directly or from their 82,488 full and part-time employees.

Princess Health andMuscle Mondays.Princessiccia

Princess Health andMuscle Mondays.Princessiccia

Gusty 10:39 Add Comment

There's no doubt- incorporating strength work into your training regime will help you run more economically, and decrease the odds of developing exercise induced muscle cramping.  

We want you all to reach your full potential, and be as fast as you can be.  That's why we have decided to introduce: 

MUSCLE MONDAYS

What: This will be a circuit-based, full-body strength workout built specifically for runners.  

When: Every Monday, after our interval session (approx 7:40pm).  Come for one workout, or come for both!

Where: Bechtel Park in Waterloo

Cost: FREE (only for H+P club members)

The Coach:

H+P is very excited about who will be coaching Muscle Mondays!  These sessions will be lead by new H+P runner and New Balance tech-rep extraordinaire, Vicky Siemon.  She has extensive experience building and coaching strength training protocols for runners.  She also incorporates these sessions into her own training which have allowed her to achieve numerous running career highlights:

• OCAA athlete of the year across all sports (2011-2012)
• 2nd place at CCAA cross-country nationals (2011)
• A 5K PB of 17:27
• A 10K PB of 35:56

It's going to hurt...but it's also going to be awesome!  

Let's get strong.  Let's get fast.

#cantwontstop