HHS Weekly Report

THIS ISSUE AVAILABLE ONLINE WITH EXPANDED INFORMATION AT:
www.hhs.gov/news/newsletter/weekly

Secretary Thompson's public schedule for the week of February 17-23:

Tuesday, February 19th
Diabetes Prevention Event, HHS Small Auditorium, 1 p.m.

Thursday, February 22nd
Mammography Event, HHS Small Auditorium, 1:30 p.m.

Friday, February 22nd
Nursing Event, Jefferson Junior High School, 1 p.m.

Sunday, February 24th
National Governors' Association Dinner at White House, 7:30 p.m.

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson will join representatives of the American Diabetes Association and the American College of Cardiology for a news conference Tuesday, Feb. 19, to discuss the connection between diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

The event is scheduled for 1 p.m. in the Small Auditorium at the Hubert H. Humphrey Building.

Speakers will focus on the close connection between diabetes and heart disease and the fact that the relationship is not widely known in the public. People who develop Type 2 diabetes have two to four times greater risk of heart and blood vessel disease.

The discussion is especially timely given the recent publication in the New England Journal of Medicine of the results from a major clinical trial conducted with the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP).

The study concluded that millions of overweight Americans at high risk for Type 2 diabetes can delay and possibly prevent the disease with proper diet and moderate exercise, a major clinical trial has found. The oral diabetes drug metformin (Glucophage) also reduces Type 2 diabetes risk, although not as effectively as lifestyle changes.

The DPP compared three approaches -- lifestyle modification, treatment with metformin, and standard medical advice -- in 3,234 overweight people with impaired glucose tolerance (IGT), a diabetes-precursor in which blood glucose levels are higher than normal.

Diet and exercise that achieved a 5- to 7-percent weight loss reduced diabetes incidence by 58 percent in participants randomized to the study's lifestyle intervention group
About 20 million people in the United States have IGT, which raises the risk of developing type 2 diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson's first year on the job was a major success, top leaders with the American Hospital Association say.

"He watched his job change before his eyes and he responded with decisiveness and confidence," AHA President Dick Davidson said in the Feb. 11th issue of the American Hospital Association's "AHA News."

The same issue carries an interview with Thompson in which the Secretary reviews the highlights of his tenure.

The American Hospital Association represents all types of hospitals, health care networks, their patients and communities. About 5,000 hospitals, health care systems, networks, other providers of care and 37,000 individual members belong to the AHA.
Thompson attended the Association's annual meeting in April 2001 and won praise for his reforms creating the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (former HCFA).

"The concept of centers for serving demonstrated that he knew what the fundamental problems with that agency were all about," said Sister Mary Roch Rocklage, AHA chair. "He followed up with an agenda that included looking at the whole regulatory morass with a fresh approach. He wanted the new name to mean something."

Thompson discussed further reforms in his interview, saying, "I'm never satisfied. We're improving operations at CMS. We're going to get a unified bookkeeping system that's going to be very helpful to hospitals and to the medical profession. We're also going to get one computer system.

"We're going to try to change the contracting procedures. We're pushing hard with our carriers as well as the financial intermediaries to do a better job in getting claims through faster. We're looking at ways we can reduce the regulatory burden that have plagued hospitals in the past."

HHS Secretary Tommy G. Thompson is scheduled to visit Jefferson Junior High School in Washington, D.C. on Friday to promote the idea of "Kids in Health Care," encouraging students to consider careers in the health-care field. Education Secretary Rodney Paige is also scheduled to attend.

A primary focus on the discussions will be the growing national need for nurses. The Department of Health and Human Services will release the final report of the National Sample Survey of Registered Nurses on Friday, February 22nd.

The survey shows that although the U.S. population increased by nearly 14 percent from 1990 to 2000, the rate of nurses entering the workforce between 1996 and 2000 was just 4.1 percent, down from more than 14 percent from 1992 to 1996.

If current trends continue, by 2020, the projected shortage will be slightly more than 500,000 nurses nationwide.

The Administration is acting on several fronts to address the shortage. The President's fiscal year 2003 budget includes a total of $15 million, a 50 percent increase above last year's funding, to expand the Nursing Education Loan Repayment program. The increase will support 800 new nursing education loan agreements. The program repays the education loans of clinical care nurses who agree to work for two years in designated public or nonprofit health facilities that face a critical shortage of nurses.

"The nursing shortage in our country is severe and as the demand for health care grows, it's absolutely critical that we encourage more of our nation's top students to choose careers in nursing," Secretary Thompson said. "These funds will help ease the emerging shortage of qualified nurses available to provide essential health care services in many underserved communities nationwide.

In September, the Secretary announced a series of grants and contracts totaling more than $27.4 million to increase the number of qualified nurses and the quality of nursing services across the country. The awards will help to ease the emerging shortage of qualified nurses available to provide essential health care services in many communities nationwide.

President George W. Bush offered the nation a comprehensive view of his plans for improving health care in the United States at the Medical College of Wisconsin on February 11th in Milwaukee.

Focusing on key HHS priorities for the year, the President highlighted his proposals to modernize Medicare - with a prescription drug benefit - guarantee quality care, provide a strong health care safety net and promote research on the frontiers of science.

"You heart may be in Wisconsin, but you've got to keep your address where it is right now; I'm counting on you. He's doing a fabulous job. I love Wisconsin for a lot of reasons: one, you produced Thompson. I love you so much I even come in the winter, which is hard for Texan."

Last updated 19 February 2002
United States Department of Health and Human Services
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