Critics urge UI Health Alliance to sever ties with ‘health bus’
By Vanessa Miller, The Gazette, Cedar Rapids, Iowa | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
UI spokesman
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HealthFair touts itself as a mobile health testing service accredited to provide easy access to six tests aimed at detecting heart disease and stroke risk factors.
For
Another
HealthFair says test results are interpreted by board-certified physicians, and abnormal findings are shared with the patient, who can choose to allow the results to be shared with a partner hospital.
But critics have expressed concern about potential harm that can come from running those tests on people without symptoms, and one advocacy group on Thursday sent letters to 20 hospitals in eight states urging them to sever ties with HealthFair.
"The company's heavily promoted, communitywide cardiovascular health screening programs are unethical and are much more likely to do harm than good," according to
In
"Your institution's sponsorship of HealthFair and promotion of its screening programs directly to the public does a great disservice to the community that you serve and to the public health more broadly," according to the letter. "It is therefore imperative that your institution sever its relationship with HealthFair."
One of the group's primary concerns is the impact false positives might have on patients and on the health care system as a whole.
"For many people, false positive test results from this screening lead to unfounded anxiety and additional unnecessary, risky, and costly diagnostic procedures and treatment interventions," according to the letter.
One example laid out in the letter points to screenings for carotid artery stenosis.
And statistics show a small number of patients who follow up with confirmatory tests suffer strokes or undergo procedures that come with a risk of death.
"Some people might actually go on to get treatment for a condition, and that treatment can harm them when they don't have the condition at all," Carome said.
Financially, false positives can cost patients money and impact a broader population.
"It drives up cost for all of us at large in terms of the insurance premiums we pay," he said.
In the group's letter, Public Citizen researcher
HealthFair did not respond to The Gazette's attempt to reach out Thursday.
Since its partnership began in February, the
One person's results were considered "urgent," and that person was advised to follow-up with a primary care provider or cardiologist within a week, according to Moore. Two people had findings considered "critical" and told they needed to go to the nearest emergency room "because their lives were in danger."
Moore said the
"The decision to proceed with further testing is a result of the review of the test, evaluation of the patient and then a discussion between patient and provider," he said.
A HealthFair website dedicated to the
HealthFair on its website says the health screenings are "very useful in early detection of all types of illnesses and risk factors," and they offer "potentially lifesaving" information that can also save patients money.
Screenings via the HealthFair bus can be scheduled online. The next opportunity is
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