Emergency Department Visits Involving Dental Conditions, 2018
Oral health contributes to overall wellbeing and improved quality of life. Untreated poor dental health also can lead to negative general health outcomes. According to a statistical brief published on September 30, 2021 by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, there were two million dental-related emergency department (ED) visits in the U.S. in 2018, accounting for 1.4% of the 143 million total ED visits. The vast majority of dental-related ED visits were treat and release (94.5%), with the remaining ED visits resulting in hospital admission (5.5%). Individuals aged 18–44 years had the highest rate of dental-related ED visits overall (1,107.4 per 100,000 population) compared with all other age groups. The rate of dental-related ED visits was more than 2.5 times higher for non-Hispanic Black individuals than for other race/ethnicity groups (1,362.4 vs. 520.9 or less per 100,000 population). Individuals residing in the lowest income communities (quartile 1) had the highest rate of dental-related ED visits (1,069.1 per 100,000 population).
Health Care Spending For Working Americans
Average annual health care spending for individuals with employer-sponsored insurance (ESI) rose 2.9% to $6,001 per person in 2019, according to the Health Care Cost Institute’s annual Health Care Cost and Utilization Report that was released in October 2021. Between 2015 and 2019 spending increased by 21.8% or $1,074 per person. While prices continued to grow each year, utilization of health care services declined slightly in 2019, leading to slower year-to-year spending growth. The report examines four groups of health care services. Of the four major categories, outpatient visits saw the highest spending increase from 2015 to 2019 (31.4%). Spending per person increased 14.8% over five years for professional services. Spending per person on inpatient admissions rose 14.4% between 2015 and 2019. Increases in prices and use led to a 31.4% increase in outpatient spending over five years. Spending on prescription drugs increased 28.4% over five years. Out-of-pocket spending increased $91 per person over five years.
HEALTH TECHNOLOGY CORNER
Near-Infrared Fluorogenic Spray For Rapid Tumor Sensing
The prognosis for a cancer patient who undergoes surgery is better if the surgeon removes all of the tumor, but it can be hard to tell where a tumor ends and healthy tissue begins. Surgical resection of cancerous tissues is a critical procedure for solid tumor treatment. During the operation, the surgeon mostly identifies the cancerous tissues by naked-eye visualization under white light without aid. The outcome heavily relies on the surgeon’s experience. According to an article published on September 22, 2021 in the American Chemical Society’s journal ACS Sensors, a near-infrared pH-responsive fluorogenic dye, CypH-11, was designed to be used as a sensitive cancer spray to highlight cancerous tissues during surgical operations, minimizing the surgeon’s subjective judgment. This fast-acting spray could be a handy and effective tool for fluorescence-guided surgery, identifying small cancerous lesions in real time for optimal resection without systemic toxicity.
Acupuncture In The Ear To Reduce Pain And Opioid Use For Total Knee Replacement Surgery Patients
Patients who have acupuncture during total knee replacement surgery report less pain and need far fewer opioids to manage their discomfort, according to a study presented in October 2021 in San Diego, CA at the annual conference of the American Society Of Anesthesiologists. Results of the study, which occurred in New York City at the Hospital for Special Surgery, showed that 65% of patients who received acupuncture during surgery achieved a low-dose or opioid-free postoperative experience, compared to 9% of patients outside of the study. All patients received the institution’s standard opioid-sparing multimodal analgesic protocol, with the addition of electroacupuncture, a modified form of traditional acupuncture that applies a small electric current to thin needles that are inserted at known acupuncture points on the body. The acupuncture in this investigation was administered during surgery by a physician who is board-certified in medical acupuncture to eight specific points in the ear to provide targeted pain relief in the knee.