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Asaf Bitton

Bio: Asaf Bitton is an academic researcher from Harvard University. The author has contributed to research in topics: Health care & Medical home. The author has an hindex of 35, co-authored 146 publications receiving 5267 citations. Previous affiliations of Asaf Bitton include University of California, San Francisco & Brown University.


Papers
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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The varying incidence, prevalence, and mortality rates reflect the different levels of risk factors, other competing causes of death, availability of resources to combat cardiovascular disease, and the stage of epidemiologic transition that each country or region finds itself.

901 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: These findings suggest that gastric bypass-induced weight loss may unmask an underlying beta cell defect or contribute to pathological islet hyperplasia, perhaps via glucagon-like peptide 1-mediated pathways.
Abstract: Aims/hypothesis Postprandial hypoglycaemia following gastric bypass for obesity is considered a late manifestation of the dumping syndrome and can usually be managed with dietary modification. We investigated three patients with severe postprandial hypoglycaemia and hyperinsulinaemia unresponsive to diet, octreotide and diazoxide with the aim of elucidating the pathological mechanisms involved.

339 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: This work believes that the development of electronic health records will be critical in seven major areas: telehealth, measurement of quality and efficiency, care transitions, personal health records, and, most important, registries, team care, and clinical decision support for chronic diseases.
Abstract: Most electronic health records today need further development of features that patient-centered medical homes require to improve their efficiency, quality, and safety. We propose a road map of the domains that need to be addressed to achieve these results. We believe that the development of electronic health records will be critical in seven major areas: telehealth, measurement of quality and efficiency, care transitions, personal health records, and, most important, registries, team care, and clinical decision support for chronic diseases. To encourage this development, policy makers should include medical homes in emerging electronic health record regulations. Additionally, more research is needed to learn how these records can enhance team care.

271 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The global economic cost of nonoptimal blood pressure is estimated to be about 10% of the world's overall healthcare expenditures and an ever-increasing proportion of the cost is going to be carried by developing countries.
Abstract: ObjectiveSuboptimal blood pressure including established nonoptimal blood pressure has been shown to have significant economic consequences in developed countries. However, no exhaustive study has been done to evaluate its potential costs, globally. We, therefore, set out to estimate the global econ

260 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: Greater primary care doctor supply was associated with lower mortality, but per capita supply decreased between 2005 and 2015, and programs to explicitly direct more resources to primary care physician supply may be important for population health.
Abstract: Importance Recent US health care reforms incentivize improved population health outcomes and primary care functions. It remains unclear how much improving primary care physician supply can improve population health, independent of other health care and socioeconomic factors. Objectives To identify primary care physician supply changes across US counties from 2005-2015 and associations between such changes and population mortality. Design, Setting, and Participants This epidemiological study evaluated US population data and individual-level claims data linked to mortality from 2005 to 2015 against changes in primary care and specialist physician supply from 2005 to 2015. Data from 3142 US counties, 7144 primary care service areas, and 306 hospital referral regions were used to investigate the association of primary care physician supply with changes in life expectancy and cause-specific mortality after adjustment for health care, demographic, socioeconomic, and behavioral covariates. Analysis was performed from March to July 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures Age-standardized life expectancy, cause-specific mortality, and restricted mean survival time. Results Primary care physician supply increased from 196 014 physicians in 2005 to 204 419 in 2015. Owing to disproportionate losses of primary care physicians in some counties and population increases, the mean (SD) density of primary care physicians relative to population size decreased from 46.6 per 100 000 population (95% CI, 0.0-114.6 per 100 000 population) to 41.4 per 100 000 population (95% CI, 0.0-108.6 per 100 000 population), with greater losses in rural areas. In adjusted mixed-effects regressions, every 10 additional primary care physicians per 100 000 population was associated with a 51.5-day increase in life expectancy (95% CI, 29.5-73.5 days; 0.2% increase), whereas an increase in 10 specialist physicians per 100 000 population corresponded to a 19.2-day increase (95% CI, 7.0-31.3 days). A total of 10 additional primary care physicians per 100 000 population was associated with reduced cardiovascular, cancer, and respiratory mortality by 0.9% to 1.4%. Analyses at different geographic levels, using instrumental variable regressions, or at the individual level found similar benefits associated with primary care supply. Conclusions and Relevance Greater primary care physician supply was associated with lower mortality, but per capita supply decreased between 2005 and 2015. Programs to explicitly direct more resources to primary care physician supply may be important for population health.

238 citations


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Posted Content
TL;DR: Deming's theory of management based on the 14 Points for Management is described in Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982 as mentioned in this paper, where he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.
Abstract: According to W. Edwards Deming, American companies require nothing less than a transformation of management style and of governmental relations with industry. In Out of the Crisis, originally published in 1982, Deming offers a theory of management based on his famous 14 Points for Management. Management's failure to plan for the future, he claims, brings about loss of market, which brings about loss of jobs. Management must be judged not only by the quarterly dividend, but by innovative plans to stay in business, protect investment, ensure future dividends, and provide more jobs through improved product and service. In simple, direct language, he explains the principles of management transformation and how to apply them.

9,241 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The main actions of GLP-1 are to stimulate insulin secretion and to inhibit glucagon secretion, thereby contributing to limit postprandial glucose excursions and acts as an enterogastrone and part of the "ileal brake" mechanism.
Abstract: Glucagon-like peptide 1 (GLP-1) is a 30-amino acid peptide hormone produced in the intestinal epithelial endocrine L-cells by differential processing of proglucagon, the gene which is expressed in ...

2,657 citations

Posted Content
TL;DR: New estimates of the global economic burden of non-communicable diseases in 2010 are developed, and the size of the burden through 2030 is projected, to capture the thinking of the business community about the impact of NCDs on their enterprises.
Abstract: As policy-makers search for ways to reduce poverty and income inequality, and to achieve sustainable income growth, they are being encouraged to focus on an emerging challenge to health, well-being and development: non-communicable diseases (NCDs). After all, 63% of all deaths worldwide currently stem from NCDs – chiefly cardiovascular diseases, cancers, chronic respiratory diseases and diabetes. These deaths are distributed widely among the world’s population – from highincome to low-income countries and from young to old (about one-quarter of all NCD deaths occur below the age of 60, amounting to approximately 9 million deaths per year). NCDs have a large impact, undercutting productivity and boosting healthcare outlays. Moreover, the number of people affected by NCDs is expected to rise substantially in the coming decades, reflecting an ageing and increasing global population. With this in mind, the United Nations is holding its first High-Level Meeting on NCDs on 19-20 September 2011 – this is only the second time that a high-level UN meeting is being dedicated to a health topic (the first time being on HIV/ AIDS in 2001). Over the years, much work has been done estimating the human toll of NCDs, but work on estimating the economic toll is far less advanced. In this report, the World Economic Forum and the Harvard School of Public Health try to inform and stimulate further debate by developing new estimates of the global economic burden of NCDs in 2010, and projecting the size of the burden through 2030. Three distinct approaches are used to compute the economic burden: (1) the standard cost of illness method; (2) macroeconomic simulation and (3) the value of a statistical life. This report includes not only the four major NCDs (the focus of the UN meeting), but also mental illness, which is a major contributor to the burden of disease worldwide. This evaluation takes place in the context of enormous global health spending, serious concerns about already strained public finances and worries about lacklustre economic growth. The report also tries to capture the thinking of the business community about the impact of NCDs on their enterprises. Five key messages emerge: • First, NCDs already pose a substantial economic burden and this burden will evolve into a staggering one over the next two decades. For example, with respect to cardiovascular disease, chronic respiratory disease, cancer, diabetes and mental health, the macroeconomic simulations suggest a cumulative output loss of US$ 47 trillion over the next two decades. This loss represents 75% of global GDP in 2010 (US$ 63 trillion). It also represents enough money to eradicate two dollar-a-day poverty among the 2.5 billion people in that state for more than half a century. • Second, although high-income countries currently bear the biggest economic burden of NCDs, the developing world, especially middle-income countries, is expected to assume an ever larger share as their economies and populations grow. • Third, cardiovascular disease and mental health conditions are the dominant contributors to the global economic burden of NCDs. • Fourth, NCDs are front and centre on business leaders’ radar. The World Economic Forum’s annual Executive Opinion Survey (EOS), which feeds into its Global Competitiveness Report, shows that about half of all business leaders surveyed worry that at least one NCD will hurt their company’s bottom line in the next five years, with similarly high levels of concern in low-, middle- and high-income countries – especially in countries where the quality of healthcare or access to healthcare is perceived to be poor. These NCD-driven concerns are markedly higher than those reported for the communicable diseases of HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis. • Fifth, the good news is that there appear to be numerous options available to prevent and control NCDs. For example, the WHO has identified a set of interventions they call “Best Buys”. There is also considerable scope for the design and implementation of programmes aimed at behaviour change among youth and adolescents, and more costeffective models of care – models that reduce the care-taking burden that falls on untrained family members. Further research on the benefits of such interventions in relation to their costs is much needed. It is our hope that this report informs the resource allocation decisions of the world’s economic leaders – top government officials, including finance ministers and their economic advisors – who control large amounts of spending at the national level and have the power to react to the formidable economic threat posed by NCDs.

1,697 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: 1. Place animal in induction chamber and anesthetize the mouse and ensure sedation, move it to a nose cone for hair removal using cream and reduce anesthesia to maintain proper heart rate.
Abstract: 1. Place animal in induction chamber and anesthetize the mouse and ensure sedation. 2. Once the animal is sedated, move it to a nose cone for hair removal using cream. Only apply cream to the area of the chest that will be utilized for imaging. Once the hair is removed, wipe area with wet gauze to ensure all hair is removed. 3. Move the animal to the imaging platform and tape its paws to the ECG lead plates and insert rectal probe. Body temperature should be maintained at 36-37°C. During imaging, reduce anesthesia to maintain proper heart rate. If the animal shows signs of being awake, use a higher concentration of anesthetic.

1,557 citations