Guest guest Posted December 30, 2003 Report Share Posted December 30, 2003 US Health Quality, Access Show Need for Improvement Cathy Tokarski Dec. 23, 2003 — Whether they are getting cholesterol and blood pressure levels regularly checked or receiving aspirin when experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, Americans are getting better health care services today than they have in the past. But fewer than half of patients (42%) who smoke and were hospitalized with acute myocardial infarction received counseling to quit smoking while in hospital, and one in five Americans got prescriptions for medications that may have been harmful or inappropriate, a new report released Dec. 22 from the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) finds. Speaking at a news conference to unveil the first annual report on the state of health care quality in the US , Carolyn M. Clancy, MD, director of the US Agency for Health Care Quality and Research (AHRQ), the federal agency that developed the report for Congress said, " We are making progress in enhancing health care quality and access, but we can do more and we need to do more. " Comment: Interesting about the medications.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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