In Brief: Sharp, Scripps Join HIE; UCSF Links Depression To Stroke Risk

Sharp, Scripps Join San Diego Health Connect HIE

Sharp HealthCare and Scripps Health, San Diego’s biggest hospital systems, have joined San Diego County’s health information exchange.

A statement issued by the exchange, San Diego Health Connect, said it now covers about 2.7 million residents countywide. The HIE assembles patient data upon a provider’s specific request and with the consent of patients. Providers can opt out of the HIE at any time. 

"The real-time exchange of medical information between San Diego providers will ensure patients receive timely and cost-efficient care," said Sharp HealthCare Chief Executive Officer Mike Murphy. "Lives will undoubtedly be saved as result of sharing critical patient care information in a secure and confidential manner." 

UCSF Links Depression To Greater Stroke Risk

Researchers at UC San Francisco have found a direct link between patients suffering from depression and their risk for suffering a stroke.

The research, which was published in the most recent edition of the Journal of the America Heart Association, found that adults over the age of 50 who have persistent symptoms of depression are twice as likely to suffer from a stroke as adults who are free from depression.

The study examined the health records of 16,178 men and women over the age of 50 between 1998 and 2010. Of those studied, 1,192 suffered from strokes, with those diagnosed from depression suffering strokes at a much higher rate.

“Because this is the first study to take this approach, we need replication of findings in independent samples, with people of different age groups, and exploring different reasons that depressive symptoms get better,” said senior author Maria Glymour, an associate professor in the Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics at UCSF. “The surprising results make such replications even more urgent.”

The study’s authors concluded that physicians should more aggressively treat symptoms of depression in their patients when they identify them. 

Exchange Premiums Higher In Counties With No PPO

A new study by the Mountain View-based HealthPocket has concluded that premiums for policies purchased on the state health insurance exchanges were higher if issued in counties that did not offer a PPO product. Such plans do not require primary care physician referrals to specialists.

According to the HealthPocket data, the average premium for a 40-year-old exhange enrollee was $327.28 in counties that did not offer a PPO product. But in counties where a PPO was offered, the premium was $325.43, a roughly 6% differential.

HealthPocket also found that premiums in counties that offered only one type of health plan were 8% higher than in counties that offered multiple types of plans.