Good Health is Good Business

The CDC Foundation is a non-profit organization that connects the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) with private-sector organizations and individuals to build public health programs that make our world healthier and safer. The Foundation produces Business Pulse, a quarterly online series which offers useful CDC health resources to Fortune 500 businesses, executives, employers and employees.

The latest issue, Business Pulse: Healthy Workforce is now available and explores how the CDC can help employers maximize their worker health and safety while improving their profitability and productivity. 

The piece links to many tools that coalitions and employers may find of value including business-focused CDC resources, the Total Worker Health program and the interactive infographic below.

 

Did The CDC's Laxness On One Infection Help Spread Another?

Michael Millenson

Posted 10/25/14 on The Health Care Blog

There’s an infection that afflicts thousands of Americans yearly, killing an estimated one in five of those who contract it, and costs tens of thousands of dollars per person to treat. Though there’s a proven way to dramatically reduce or even eliminate it, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) inexplicably seems in no hurry to do so.

Unlike Ebola, this infection isn’t transmitted from person to person, with the health care system desperately racing to keep up. Instead, it’s caused by the health care system when clinicians don’t follow established anti-infection protocols – very much like what happened when Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital encountered its first Ebola patient.  That hospital’s failure flashes a warning sign to all of us.

CDC Releases Funding Opportunity to Support Partnerships to Improve Community Health

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has released a funding opportunity announcement (FOA) for implementation of population-based strategies that address the greatest predictors of chronic disease, including tobacco use and exposure; poor nutrition; physical inactivity; and lack of access to chronic disease prevention, risk reduction, and management opportunities. Funding is intended for organizations who work through multi-sectoral community coalitions. CDC estimates that up to $150,000,000 may be made available to fund 30-40 awards of $100,000-$4,000,000 per year. Projects may last up to three years. Eligible applicants include government organizations or IRS-recognized nonprofit organizations. Coalitions who have worked with their members and other partners to complete a community health needs assessment in the last three years may wish to consider applying for this cooperative agreement.

DEADLINE: Letters of intent are due June 5, 2014. Full proposals are due July 22, 2014. More information about this funding opportunity is available on the grants.gov website under funding opportunity #CDC-RFA-DP14-1417.

New Employer-facing Diabetes Education Resources from CDC

CDC has recently redesigned and expanded their National Diabetes Education Program website. Check out the site to explore a variety of employer-facing resources related to diabetes education.

New user-friendly landing pages feature the PPOD Toolkit and revised New Beginnings Guide along with Road to Heath, Tasty Recipes, Resources for Asian American, Native Hawaiian and Pacific Islanders, and the Living a Balanced Life with Diabetes Toolkit. The website also includes a new searchable database of resources and links to CDC’s order site to easily order resources.

You can reach out to pca8@cdc.gov with any questions or for more information.

New "Business Pulse" from the CDC Foundation

Check out the latest edition of Business Pulse, a quarterly feature that offers businesses useful resources from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Explore benefits associated with CDC's work to protect Americans - including businesses and their workforces - from chronic threats that impact health and productivity to major health emergencies. You can access the current edition of Business Health - along with all past editions - online. 

National Influenza Vaccination Week

National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a national observance that was established by CDC to highlight the importance of continuing influenza vaccination, as well as fostering greater use of flu vaccine after the holiday season into January and beyond. This year NIVW will be held December 8-14, 2013. Flu vaccination coverage estimates from past years have shown that influenza vaccination activity drops quickly after the end of November. CDC and its partners, including NBCH, want to remind you that even thought the holiday season has arrived, it is not too late to get your flu vaccine. As long a flu viruses are spreading and causing illness, vaccination can provide protection against the flu and should continue. Even unvaccinated people who have already gotten the flu can still benefit from vaccination since the flu vaccine protects against three or four different flu viruses expected to circulate each season. CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. CDC has a number of activities planned during NIVW, including a live Twitter chat on December 9, 2013 from 1-2pm ET. The hashtag for the chat will be #NIVW2013 and you can follow @CDCFlu for more information. We encourage you to participate and also promote the chat with your members, colleagues, and partners. You can find more NIVW materials at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/index.htm.

CDC's Grand Rounds Presents The Future of Cancer Screening: Public Health Approaches

CDC continues its series of Public Health Grand Rounds with “The Future of Cancer Screening: Public Health Approaches.” This session will be available via live webcast from CDC headquarters in Atlanta, Georgia on Tuesday, July 16 at 1 p.m. (EDT) at http://www.cdc.gov/about/grand-rounds/.

Cancer is the second-leading cause of death among Americans and takes a toll on communities across the United States. One of the effective ways to reduce our nation’s burden from cancer is to ensure that high quality screening services are available and accessible to all Americans. Screening for cervical, colorectal, and breast cancers is supported by sound scientific evidence, and helps find these diseases early when they are easiest to treat.

This session of Grand Rounds will explore new ways that public health can increase the rate of evidence-based cancer screening, and decrease disparities in screening rates. Please join us to learn about the effectiveness of screening, successful organized cancer screening programs in the United States and abroad, and opportunities with the Affordable Care Act. The session will conclude with future directions for CDC and the nation’s public health system to improve cancer screening.

CDC Flu Resources

As we are all aware, the 2012-2013 influenza season began early and currently most of the country is experiencing high or widespread influenza activity. This season, as always, high risk patients – especially people 65 and older – should get vaccinated against the flu. If they get flu-like symptoms, regardless of whether or not they got vaccinated, they should get medical attention promptly. Some children are at greater risk of developing severe complications related to flu, including children younger than 5 and children of any age with certain chronic health conditions, e.g. asthma, diabetes, a weakened immune system for any reason, and neurological or neurodevelopmental disorders.

• It's not too late to get vaccinated. Since vaccine shortages have been reported in the media lately, you may find the flu vaccine finder helpful to find a place to get vaccinated in your area. 

• CDC also has audio and video public service announcements(PSAs) that can be posted to your website or linked in social media posts. 

• For a variety of other resources, including up-to-date statistics on this season's flu, visit the CDC's seasonal influenza website.

Six coalitions receive funding for diabetes prevention efforts

NBCH announced today that six member coalitions have been selected to receive $182,000 in funding of grants and stipends to increase awareness and lay the groundwork for coverage of the lifestyle change program that is part of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC) National Diabetes Prevention Program (National DPP). This initiative is a public-private partnership designed to bring to communities an evidence-based lifestyle change program to prevent type 2 diabetes.

The education stipends will support coalition efforts to implement an educational programming series about the National DPP and conduct a market readiness analysis. The seed grants will provide coalitions with the resources to work towards benefit design and incentive strategies to cover the National DPP lifestyle change program using a pay-for-performance approach in their own markets. The four coalitions awarded the education stipends are: the Employers’ Health Coalition in Fort Smith, AR; the Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health; the Louisiana Business Group on Health, and the Oregon Coalition of Health Care Purchasers. The coalitions awarded the seed grants are the Knoxville, TN-based HealthCare 21 Business Coalition and the Memphis Business Group on Health in a joint project effort, and the Virginia Business Coalition on Health.

“Employers need to invest in a culture of health in their workforce and should view diabetes as a coming tsunami,” said Andrew Webber, NBCH president and CEO. “We are working with the CDC and our member coalitions to assist employers and communities in focusing efforts on this chronic disease that can be dramatically prevented by making simple lifestyle changes. Employers can play an important role in educating employees and advancing the awareness of type 2 diabetes prevention.”

This program’s activities are funded through a cooperative agreement between the Community Coalitions Health Institute of NBCH and the CDC.

Two New Federal Government Funding Opportunities

The Agency for Health Care Research and Quality (AHRQ) has announced a new grant opportunity: Estimating the Costs of Supporting Primary Care Practice Transformation under its small grants program This announcement solicits grant applications from organizations that propose to analyze and describe the costs associated with successful efforts to transform primary care practice. With this announcement, AHRQ is interested in adding knowledge about the direct and indirect costs associated with supporting primary care transformation. While proposed projects may utilize the methods of cost-benefit, cost-effectiveness, or cost-utility analyses on the support and maintenance of primary care transformation, given the dearth of current valid information available, AHRQ also is interested in receiving proposals to document the direct and indirect financial costs shouldered by small and medium sized practices in becoming a patient centered medical home (PCMH) and the direct and indirect external costs involved in successful primary care practice facilitation programs. This opportunity may be of interest to coalitions willing to reach out to partners such as traditional researchers, provider groups, or members that are working on PCMH projects.

DEADLINES: Letters of intent are due January 28, 2013; applications are due February 28, 2013.


The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has also announced a new funding opportunity: Building Capacity of the Public Health System to Improve Population Health Through National, Nonprofit Organizations. The purpose of this program is to ensure the provision of capacity-building assistance (CBA) to optimize the quality and performance of public health systems, the public health workforce, public health data and information systems, public health practice and services, public health partnerships, and public health resources. The applicant’s CBA program is expected to demonstrate measurable progress among governmental and nongovernmental components of the public health system towards two or more of the following outcomes: 1) increased adoption of new or proven business improvements leading to management and administrative efficiencies or cost savings; 2) increased availability and accessibility of continuing education and training focused on public health competencies and new skills, including the use of experience-based internships and fellowships; 3) increased incorporation of core public health competencies into employee position descriptions and performance evaluations; 4) increased integration of state-of-the-art technology into data collection and information systems; 5) increased implementation of evidence-based public health programs, policies, and services; 6) improved capacity to meet nationally established standards, such as those for health department accreditation; 7) establishment and maintenance of diverse public health partnerships for meaningful cooperation and achievement of evidence-based public health strategies and interventions, such as the CDC Winnable Battles; and 8) improved quality, availability, and accessibility of public health education materials, training, and evaluation tools and resources. While CDC is looking for applicants with a national scope, coalitions that are involved in community-based public health efforts may be interested in this opportunity.

DEADLINES: Letters of intent are due February 4, 2013; applications are due March 7, 2013. There is an informational conference call on January 29, 2013.

National Influenza Vaccination Week

National Influenza Vaccination Week (NIVW) is a national observance that was established by CDC to highlight the importance of continuing influenza vaccination, as well as fostering greater use of flu vaccine after the holiday season into January and beyond. This year NIVW will be held December 2-8, 2012.

Historically, vaccination activity drops quickly after the end of November. CDC and its partners, including NBCH, want to dispel the myth that vaccination beyond the holidays is "too late." As long a flu viruses are spreading and causing illness, vaccination should continue and can provide protection against the flu. Even unvaccinated people who have already gotten the flu can still benefit from vaccination since the flu vaccine protects against three different flu viruses and more than one flu virus circulates each season. CDC recommends a yearly flu vaccine for everyone 6 months of age and older as the first and most important step in protecting against flu viruses. The flu vaccine is the best way modern medicine currently has to protect against this serious disease.

Vaccine supplies are ample and there are more choices than ever available this year, both in terms of where to get vaccinated and what vaccine to get. Millions of doses of influenza vaccine have been delivered to people safely for decades. This season, the regular flu shot is available along with the nasal spray vaccine. There also is a “high-dose” vaccine for people 65 and older and an intradermal vaccine with a much smaller needle that is approved for use in people 18 to 64 years old.  Once vaccinated, you can enjoy this holiday season knowing that you have taken the single best step to protect yourself and your loved ones against the flu.

To kick-off the week CDC has a number of activities planned including a national media teleconference and radio media tours to get the word out that it’s not too late to get vaccinated. A Twitter chat is planned forDecember 5, 2012 from 1-2pm ET. The hashtag for the chat will be #NIVW2012 and you can follow @CDCFlu for more information. We encourage you to participate and also promote the chat with your members, colleagues, and partners. 

You can find more NIVW materials at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/index.htm, and NIVM activities at http://www.cdc.gov/flu/nivw/activities.htm.

Lastly, don’t forget to share your NIVW activities -- CDC would like to celebrate and share your involvement in the campaign.

CDC Releases Diabetes Report Card

According to the Diabetes Report Card, recently released by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the number of diagnosed cases of diabetes grew by 50 percent or more in 42 U.S. states, and by 100 percent or more in 18 states. A breakdown of U.S. diabetes cases shows especially sharp increases among people in the South and in Appalachian states. In 2010, 18.8 million Americans had been diagnosed with diabetes and another 7 million had undetected diabetes, according to the CDC.

States with the largest increases over the 16-year period from 1995 through 2010 were Oklahoma, up 226 percent; Kentucky, up 158 percent; Georgia, up 145 percent; Alabama, up 140 percent, Washington, up 135 percent, and West Virginia, up 131 percent, according to the study.

Although much of the increase in the number of people diagnosed with diabetes is likely due to more people developing the condition, the study also notes that diabetes treatments have improved, which may mean that more people are living longer with their disease.

Type 2 diabetes, which can be prevented through lifestyle changes, accounts for 90 percent to 95 percent of all diabetes cases in the United States, according to the CDC.

"These rates will continue to increase until effective interventions and policies are implemented to prevent both diabetes and obesity," Ann Albright, director of CDC's Division of Diabetes Translation, said in a statement. Employers and purchasers have an important role to play in designing benefits that help employees effectively manage diabetes.

IBM, CDC and PHDSC collaborate to enable real-time reporting of public health cases

IBM scientists are collaborating with the Center for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the Public Health Data Standards Consortium (PHDSC) to further standardize the exchange and use of public health information to improve health care quality and coordination of care.

Controlling major outbreaks of infections such as whooping cough or tracking circulating flu strains is critical to public health. However, the lack of public health electronic reporting standards results in irregular and delayed reports that often create inconsistencies and duplication of efforts.

According to the news release, IBM Research is working with the CDC and PHDSC to develop a new approach to defining and delivering public health reporting by drawing insights from structured and unstructured data that currently exists in disparate systems. The scientists are creating templates for public health case reports that could work with electronic health record (EHR) systems, allowing critical information in the proper format to be easily shared among local, county, state and federal public health agencies to speed response times to public health issues.

NBCH Survey: Employers' Views on Obesity

According to a recent study, published in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine led by Duke University, 42 percent of Americans will be obese in 2030. And as the number of overweight Americans reaches epidemic proportions, the associated and costly chronic conditions such as diabetes and cardiovascular disease are also rising.

To better understand the business attitudes and needs concerning obesity prevention and control to identify how best to combat this issue, NBCH, with suppport from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the National Safety Council (NSC), conducted a survey more than 500 employers.

While many U.S. employers are addressing obesity in the workplace, there is still much progress to be made as well as a need for tools and resources, especially among small and mid-size organizations.

“Given the amount of time an employee is at their place of work, there is an opportunity to positively influence the choices they make about their health,” said Andrew Webber, NBCH president and CEO. “A workplace that emphasizes health is more likely to have policies that promote healthy behavior such as incentives and access to health resources. While large employers have been at this for some time, small- to mid-sized employers have been less engaged, but are increasingly seeing the value of these types of programs."

The full report including survey responses, conclusions and recommendations for employers can be found on NBCH's website.

“This project was very helpful to us in understanding the small employer perspective,” said Jason Lang, MPH, MS, Team Lead, Workplace Health Programs, Division of Population Health, National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health Promotion, CDC. “We were able to use findings to inform the development of obesity prevention and control strategies and tools for the CDC National Healthy Worksite Program which is focused on helping small employers build comprehensive workplace health programs.”

Embracing social media: CDC offers guide

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has written a social media primer to provide guidance and share the lessons learned in more than three years of creating social media messages in CDC health communication campaigns, activities, and emergency response efforts.

This guide provides helpful information around effectively using multiple social media channels, particularly Facebook, Twitter, and mobile phone text messaging. Here's a link to the CDC's Guide for Writing for Social Media.

According to CDC, U.S. obesity epidemic at a standstill

According to a new report from the CDC, Prevalence of Obesity in the United States, 2009-2010, there appears to have been a slowing down in the rate of increase or even a leveling off of the prevalence of obesity. Given the health risks, it is important to continue to track the prevalence among U.S. adults and children.

This report presents the most recent national estimates of obesity in the United States based on measured weight and height. More than one-third of adults and almost 17 percent of children were obese in 2009-2010. Those numbers are no different than they were in 2003.

"It's good that we didn't see increases," said CDC researcher Cynthia Ogden. "On the other hand, we didn't see any decreases in any group."

New data from CDC: nation's leading causes of death, 38 million Americans are binge drinkers

Two reports were released from the CDC this week that should be of interest to the purchaser community.

Leading killers
Heart disease, cancer, lower respiratory disease, stroke and diabetes are four of the top 10 leading killers in the U.S. The report indicates two major trends: homicides are down and deaths from certain diseases are on the rise as the population ages. The full list and January 11 National Vital Statistics Report can be found here.

Binge drinking is growing problem
New research shows that four times a month, one in six Americans goes on a drinking binge, knocking back an average of eight alcoholic beverages within a few hours. The report finds that drinking too much, including binge drinking, cost the United States $223.5 billion in 2006, or $1.90 a drink, from losses in productivity, health care, crime and other expenses.



States and communities can:

• Implement effective community strategies to prevent binge drinking such as those recommended by the Community Guide.
• Routinely track and report how many people binge drink, how often, and how much they drink when they binge.
• Develop community coalitions that build partnerships among schools, community- and faith-based organizations, law enforcement, health care, and public health agencies to reduce binge drinking.

CDC Releases Heath Risk Assessment Framework

This week the Office of Prevention through Healthcare published an online report, titled, A Framework for Health Risk Assessments Providing Health Promotion and Disease Prevention Services to Medicare Beneficiaries.

The Framework provides guidance that medical providers, wellness vendors and others can use for implementing requirements for Section 4103 of the Affordable Care Act related to the components of the Annual Wellness Visit, including Health Risk Assessment. The Framework is available here.

Comprehensive Workplace Health Programs to Address Physical Activity, Nutrition, and Tobacco Use in the Workplace

The Affordable Care Act’s Prevention and Public Health Fund is supporting a $9 million national initiative to establish and evaluate comprehensive workplace health programs to improve the health of workers and their families. Through a competitive process, two contractors have been chosen to support this initiative. Read on...

Webinar: Overview of the CDC National Healthy Worksite Program

Register Here

Tuesday December 20, 2011

2:00PM-3:00PM EST

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) recently began a program to engage and recruit 70-100 small, medium, and large businesses and lead them through the process of building a core workplace health program. A webinar will be held on Tuesday December 20, 2011, 2PM-3PM EST to discuss the goals, objectives, and activities involved in the National Healthy Worksite Program. Register at: https://www3.gotomeeting.com/register/703198246.