Virginia Consumer Healthcare Alliance

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From the Alliance

Trump over performed the most in counties with the highest drug, alcohol and suicide mortality rates

This article originally appeared in the Washington Post. THE BIG IDEA: A new study from Penn State University suggests a relationship between the opioid epidemic and support for Donald Trump.  The president-elect performed better than Mitt Romney in many places, but he fared best compared to the Republican nominee four years ago in the[…]

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Can a Death-Predicting Algorithm Improve Care?

This story originally appeared in the Wall Street Journal. Health-care experts often lament that one-quarter of all Medicare spending—$150 billion annually—goes to treating patients in their last year of life. But identifying those patients in advance and cutting back on futile care has been difficult. Can an algorithm help? A[…]

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Opioid crisis in Virginia is real, deadly

This story originally appeared in the Bristol Herald Courier.  Three days before Thanksgiving, Virginia Health Commissioner Marissa Levine proclaimed a public health emergency: She officially declared opioid addiction a “crisis,” which brings a host of public resources to the battle against this increasingly deadly foe. It’s a crisis Lt. Jon[…]

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VIDEO: On The Front Lines of Substance Abuse

On the front lines of substance abuse: “We have to do better” NOVEMBER 27, 2016 – John Shinholser and Honesty Liller of the McShin Foundation in Virginia offer life-saving help to individuals fighting for a second chance. You can find this video at Face the Nation

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Rural Appalachia Faces Growing Cancer Crisis, Research Shows

The study was published recently in the Journal of Rural Health and U.S. News. By Robert Preidt, HealthDay Reporter While the rest of the United States makes major strides against cancer, a cancer crisis is taking hold in rural Appalachia. A University of Virginia (UVA) team analyzed federal government data[…]

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