Data Stream
Source: ProPublica, March 17, 2016.
10
5
0
$
$1 0.01
00 –
But:
68%
23.3%
0
said they believed it is their
responsibility (not patients’)
to initiate end-of-life
conversations
For example, among 36,329 internal medicine specialists who wrote at least 1,000
prescriptions in Medicare’s Part D program
and received an industry payment in 2014,
brand-name prescriptions steadily rose as
payments rose:
21.3%
20.7%
22.1%
00
75
%
A ProPublica analysis confirms that there
25
is a relationship between payments from
drug and device manufacturers and doctors’
prescribing patterns. Looking at payment
records and doctors’ prescribing choices,
20
researchers found that those who received
larger industry payments also tended to
prescribe a higher percentage of brand15
name drugs.
5,
rated having end-of-life
care conversations as
“extremely important”
30.1%
>$
51%
30
$
$5 1,00
,0 0–
00
In a national poll of 736 primary-care doctors and specialists
examining views on end-of-life and advance care planning
conversations:
35
$
$1 500
,0 –
00
Doctors know it’s important to talk to their patients about
end-of-life care, but it doesn’t make it any easier for them.
Payments, Prescribing
Patterns, and
Practitioners
$
$5 100
00 –
Conversation Stoppers
reported having no
training on these types
of discussions
38
%
say they are sometimes
unsure of what to say in
these conversations
Retractions on the Rise
The number of papers retracted from
scientific journals is on the rise, according
to the Retraction Watch website, which
tracks and publishes all retractions
announced in scientific journals.
In 2015, the number of retractions continued to climb, which has been the case for the past three
fiscal years.
This amounted to a 37% increase from the previous year – in the same time frame, there was only a
5% increase in the overall number of articles published.
Medicare’s recent decision to reimburse
clinicians for end-of-life care discussions and advanced care planning may
boost these numbers, but only 14% of
respondents said they had actually billed
Medicare for these types of visits.
800
700
600
Source: The John A. Hartford Foundation, “Poll:
What’s Preventing Physicians from Talking with
Patients About End-of-Life and Advance Care Planning?” April 14, 2016.
500
400
2013
2014
2015
467
retractions
500
retractions
684
retractions
Source: Retraction Watch, March 24, 2016.
18
ASH Clinical News
June 2016