Journal of public health management and practice : JPHMP
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J Public Health Manag Pract · Mar 2020
Cost Comparison Between 2 Responses to Hepatitis A Virus Incidents in Restaurant Food Handlers-New York City, 2015 and 2017.
While the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene (DOHMH) can use agency-wide emergency activation to respond to a hepatitis A virus-infected food handler, there is a need to identify alternative responses that conserve scarce resources. ⋯ Accounting for incident size, collaborating with the clinic network was more expensive than agency-wide emergency activation, though required fewer DOHMH personnel services.
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J Public Health Manag Pract · Jan 2020
Low Utilization of Direct-Acting Antiviral Agents in a Large National Cohort of HIV and HCV Coinfected Medicare Patients in the United States: Implications for HCV Elimination.
Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is common in people living with HIV/AIDS (PLWHA). The advent of direct-acting antiviral agents (DAAs) has made HCV elimination a realistic goal. We conducted a retrospective cohort study using the US Medicare Fee-For-Service claims data and outpatient prescription drug data to assess the HCV DAA initiation and completion among newly diagnosed HIV-HCV-coinfected Medicare patients enrolled in 2014-2016. ⋯ The average time from HCV diagnosis to DAA initiation was 277 days. The overall DAA completion rate was 92% among 2537 patients who used DAAs. Interventions are needed to improve DAA uptake in PLWHA.
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J Public Health Manag Pract · Jan 2020
Leadership Disparities in State Governmental Public Health Workforce: Examining the Influence of Gender.
To determine the extent to which gender disparities exist in either obtaining a leadership position or pay equity among those with leadership positions in state governmental public health agencies. ⋯ While women were represented in similar proportions in the general workforce as in leadership positions, gender disparities still existed within leadership positions. Increased effort is needed to ensure that opportunities exist for women in executive leadership positions and in pay equity. With public health's commitment to social justice and the benefits of diversity to an agency's policies and programs, it is important to ensure that women's voices are equally represented at all levels of leadership.
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J Public Health Manag Pract · Jan 2020
Assessing the Burden of Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome: Validation of ICD-9-CM Data, Florida, 2010-2011.
On October 1, 2015, the United States transitioned from using the International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification (ICD-9-CM) to ICD-10-CM. Continuing to monitor the burden of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) after the transition presently requires use of data dependent on ICD-9-CM coding to enable trend analyses. Little has been published on the validation of using ICD-9-CM codes to identify NAS cases. ⋯ Passive surveillance using ICD-9-CM code 779.5 in either linked or unlinked HDD identified NAS cases with reasonable validity. Our work supports the use of ICD-9-CM code 779.5 to assess the baseline prevalence of NAS through 2015.
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J Public Health Manag Pract · Jan 2020
The National Epidemic of Gun Violence: The Vermont Department of Health Response.
This case study details a 2018 "near miss" school mass-shooting event in Vermont that involved a former student and occurred contemporaneously with the Parkland, Florida, tragedy. The situation "jolted" this rural state's governor, lending urgency to the need to enact sensible gun control laws. He comes to support a series of proactive bills already in the legislature and advocate for further preventive strategies. ⋯ The final results were examined from an evidence-based public health standpoint, acknowledging the lack of gun research by federal agencies since the 1996 enactment of the Dickey Amendment that prohibits the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention from conducting firearms-related research. The case study illustrates the paradox of moving forward on gun safety, where more research is needed, but research does not necessarily influence political leaders or policy. It also demonstrates how prevention of gun violence can be portrayed in a public health framework, drawing upon data and strategies used in upstream preventive efforts in areas such as early childhood development, mental health, and substance misuse.