Read AMA Morning Rounds®’ most popular stories in medicine and public health from the week of Sept. 23, 2024–Sept. 27, 2024.
“Body roundness” could be better than BMI for predicting heart health impacts of excess weight
HealthDay (9/26, Thompson) reports, “‘Body roundness’ could be a better measure than BMI at predicting how excess weight might affect a person’s heart health, a new study finds.” Individuals “who developed a high Body Roundness Index during a six-year period had a 163% increased risk of heart disease, researchers found, and even a moderate BRI was linked with a 61% increased risk.” The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.
Medicare to compensate hospitals for providing quality data to support “age-friendly” medical care
Modern Healthcare (9/25, Early, Subscription Publication) reports, “Medicare will begin compensating hospitals for providing quality data to support ‘age-friendly’ medical care as the government seeks to bolster private sector efforts to adapt to the aging population.” Beginning “in January, hospitals will report on a slew of measures to assess whether they are improving care for older patients in emergency departments, operating rooms and other settings.” CMS “laid out the new policy in the Medicare Inpatient Prospective Payment System final rule for fiscal 2025, which it published last month.”
You may also be interested in: Physicians unite to urge lawmakers to adopt 4 crucial Medicare pay fixes.
Almost one in three Americans have undiagnosed iron deficiency, study suggests
NBC News (9/24, Carroll) reports, “Nearly 1 in 3 Americans may have an undiagnosed iron deficiency, a problem that can lead to fatigue, brain fog and difficulty concentrating, a new study suggests.” The “analysis of data from more than 8,000 adults in the U.S. revealed that 14% had low iron blood levels, a condition known as absolute iron deficiency, while 15% had the right iron levels but their bodies couldn’t use the essential mineral properly, known as functional iron deficiency.” The findings were published in JAMA Network Open.
U.S. to make additional at-home COVID-19 tests available at no cost
CNN (9/23, McPhillips) reports, “The U.S. government plans to make more at-home COVID-19 tests available for free this month as the country heads into respiratory virus season with high levels of the coronavirus already circulating.” All households will have the ability “to order another round of four free at-home test kits starting at the end of September at COVIDTests.gov.” CNN adds, “More than 900 million test kits have been delivered directly to U.S. residents through the COVIDTests.gov program, according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.”
FDA approves first at-home flu vaccine
The Washington Post (9/20, Malhi) reported the Food and Drug Administration on Friday “approved the first at-home flu vaccine, a nasal spray that consumers with a prescription will be able to order online starting next year.” According to health experts, the convenience of the product, known as FluMist, could result in higher flu vaccination rates. AstraZeneca, which makes the product, “said it will supply the vaccine to a third-party online pharmacy where people can complete a screening assessment to determine if they are candidates.”
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