Safety-Net Hospitals Fare Better Under New Medicare Reimbursement Rules
New Medicare reimbursement rules provide some relief to safety-net hospitals, shifting the burden of financial penalties toward hospitals serving wealthier patient populations, according to a new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The new rules also reduce the burden of such penalties on hospitals in states that have more generous […]
Obese Mouse Mothers Trigger Heart Problems in Offspring
A diet high in fats and sugars is known for its unhealthy effects on the heart. Scientists now have found that a high-fat, high-sugar diet in mouse mothers before and during pregnancy causes problems in the hearts of their offspring, and that such problems are passed down at least three generations, even if the younger […]
Winter 2019 WashU Alumni Newsletter (pdf) (Links to an external site)
New Advanced Heart Failure Center Opens – This month, after more than five years of planning, the Washington University Heart Failure Center opens at Missouri Baptist Medical Center in west St. Louis County. The center is a collaborative effort between heart failurespecialists in the Cardiovascular Division and cardiologists in the BJC Medical Group, private cardiologists […]
Is Intermittent Fasting the Cure for Diabetes?
(CNN) Three men with Type 2 diabetes used “intermittent fasting” to reverse their dependence on insulin, according to a report published on [October 9th, 2018] — but you shouldn’t try it without medical supervision, experts say. The new case report says the three patients also lost weight, and their HbA1Cs, a measure of blood sugar […]
Summer 2018 WashU Alumni Newsletter (pdf) (Links to an external site)
Mitral Valve Repair & Replacement – At Washington University School of Medicine, interventional cardiologists are seeing a double-digit growth in the number of patientreferrals for evaluation and treatment of complex mitral valve regurgitation (MR).The growth comes as results of the latest participation in clinical trials evaluatingboth mitral valve repair and replacement devices are expected to […]
Lowering hospitals’ Medicare costs proves difficult
A payment system that provides financial incentives for hospitals that reduce health-care costs for Medicare patients did not lower costs as intended, according to a new study led by Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. The researchers assessed what is called a bundled-payment system, in which hospitals are assigned a target cost for […]
Scientists ID source of damaging inflammation after heart attack
Scientists have zeroed in on a culprit that spurs damaging inflammation in the heart following a heart attack. The guilty party is a type of immune cell that tries to heal the injured heart but instead triggers inflammation that leads to even more damage. Further, the researchers have found that an already approved drug effectively […]