WINDBER — If people don’t get sick, how can the hospital make any money?
Finding answers to that question is at the heart of an initiative Windber Research Institute leaders are developing to address conditions such as diabetes.
“It’s a strategy to identify patients with chronic illness and direct them to programs that reduce or eliminate the risk of disease,” Chief Wellness Officer Dr. Matthew Masiello said at the institute.
While the state and nearby Conemaugh Health System are working out a chronic illness strategy based on limited preventive programs, Windber’s team is using the World Health Organization’s health promotion and disease prevention model, which starts with all patients completing a simple health survey, Masiello said.
“We can use that to monitor their health risk, follow the patient and refer them to programs,” Masiello said. “If you have the documentation and you are able to code for those health risks, that’s the tool the insurance companies and government needs to address the issues of diabetes and other chronic illness.”
Prevention is an important part of the WindberCare organization’s array of programs for chronic disease. Windber Medical Center offers treatment and support to control the disease, while the research institute has begun studying some risk factors at the molecular level.
“Prevention, treatment and research are three important components,” Masiello said. “We have them all here.”
Prevention starts young, Masiello said, citing KidShape, the Windber-led childhood obesity program proven to help promote healthy living and reduce disease. The elementary school program is funded by Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield, which has contracted with Windber to develop a new program for older children.
TeenShape will debut early next year for high school and junior high students referred by school nurses or doctors.
Highmark also is helping its adult members work on diabetes prevention through the hospital’s wellness program, which teaches at-risk patients how to change their lifestyle by eating better and exercising more. It is one of several classes Windber offers, diabetes educator Tina Friewald said.
Exercise programs at Windber HealthStyles, heart disease intervention through the Dean Ornish Program, and nutrition and disease management classes address different areas faced by those with diabetes.
“I think everyone who goes to the class gets some benefits,” she said.
On the research end, Windber Research Institute scientists are looking at genetic factors that contribute to successful weight loss. They are studying patients who receive lap band weight control surgery from Dr. Kim Marley.
“It has been shown that the treatment is very effective for treating diabetes,” researcher Darrell Ellsworth said.
Scientists are looking for cell markers in tissue and blood samples. The markers are microscopic characteristics common among patients with similar levels of success with weight loss.
“We are looking for gene expression profiles that correlate to reducing the risk factor, predicting which patients are likely to do better with that type of treatment,” Ellsworth said. “For people with trouble, is there a marker, or panel of markers, that tell us these people are going to have trouble losing weight?”
Local News
Related Photos
-
Nurse Barb Whitney puts out materials for a diabetes education class at Windber Medical Center. Randy Griffith
Discussion
Diabetes: Doctors aim to stop disease early
- Local News
-
-
Proposed bill would expand use of traffic-light cameras
Some call it the hand of “big brother,” others are convinced cameras at signal lights would be effective in curbing red-light runners and ultimately saving lives.
-
Minister's trial date set
An issue has been resolved over the report from an examination of a girl allegedly taken by her mother to a Bedford motel to have sex with a traveling minister, clearing the way for a trial.
-
AP: Almost half of new veterans seek disability
America’s newest veterans are filing for disability benefits at a historic rate, claiming to be the most medically and mentally troubled generation of former troops the nation has ever seen.
-
Geistown beginning crime watch program
Residents will patrol Geistown streets in the coming weeks as part of a community watch program.
-
Persons of the Week: Nanty Glo vets will remember fallen comrades
Michael Kurtz, Tom Kasecky and Steve Kasecky will be among members of the Loy A. Douglass Post 3489 of the Veterans of Foreign Wars in Nanty Glo who will be honoring fallen veterans today, Memorial Day.
-
AG candidates face potential conflicts of interest
Both candidates for Pennsylvania attorney general have family ties that could pose a conflict of interest for the one who is elected as the state’s next chief legal officer.
-
Lawmakers: Capitol rallies unpersuasive
Nancy Richey stepped to the podium with a microphone at the Capitol rotunda with the hope that the right people would hear her message.
-
Richland closer to new chief
The search for Richland’s next police chief is winding down.
-
In brief: Thunderstorm downs trees, knocks out power
A late Sunday afternoon thunderstorm brought high winds, hard rain and hail to the Cambria-Somerset region.
- District Deaths May 28, 2012
- More Local News Headlines
-
Beryl Makes Landfall on Florida Coast
Service Dogs Help Wash. Soldiers Battling PTSD
Raw Video: Heckler Bursts in on Blair Testimony
Japan Farmers Plant, Seek Radiation-free Rice
UN Blames Syrian Forces for Shelling Houla
Raw Video: Gay Protest Blocked in Moscow
Vatican in Chaos After Butler Arrested for Leaks
Jimmy Carter Endorses Egypt's Election Results
Biden Addresses West Point Graduating Class
Dozens of Children Killed in New Syria Attack
Raw Video: Activists Allege Massacre in Syria
NJ Man Charged With Murder in Death of Patz
Support, Fun for Kids of Fallen Soldiers at Camp
Fugitive Penguin Caught, Returned to Aquarium
50 Years Later, Underground Fire Still Burning
Light Show Transforms Sydney Opera House
Raw Video: Unruly Passenger Restrained in Miami
Raw Video: Robber Uses Drive-thru Window
Raw Video: Dragon Arrives at Space Station
Calif.'s Coronado Named Nation's Best Beach
