KentuckyOne Health to start around-the-clock online or phone access to health-care providers for $35 a visit on Nov. 1

Hospital group KentuckyOne Health says it will launch a program on Nov. 1 that will let Kentuckians get urgent care at any time by consulting with a medical professional over the phone or web camera. The group says KentuckyOne Anywhere Care is among the first such programs in the nation.

“KentuckyOne Health’s purpose is to expand access to quality health care, no matter where you live in the Commonwealth; is one way we are doing that,” CEO Ruth W. Brinkley said. “We can provide primary care to more Kentuckians, while saving them time, hassle and expense. We can treat conditions before they become more acute, as well as prevent unnecessary and costly emergency room visits.”

The service will cost patients $35 per visit, whether or not they are covered by insurance. "The cost is less than typical urgent care and a fraction of the cost of a normal emergency room visit," KentuckyOne said in a press release. Patients will be able to request a visit online or through a toll-free phone number. They will receive a phone call or video call from a medical provider within 30 minutes, the release promises.

"Patients will have access to board-certified doctors and nurse practitioners," the release says. "If needed, the KentuckyOne Anywhere Care provider will refer patients for a follow-up clinic visit or to an emergency department," and may prescribe medications, but won't prescribe or refill prescriptions for controlled substances.

The system will be operated by Carena Inc., which has been doing such work since 2010 and serves more than 500,000 patients in corporate programs and more than 1 million for the Franciscan Health System in Tacoma, Wash. The firm says it has a 98 percent satisfaction rating among patients.

Before going public, the new service will get a shakedown cruise by serving KentuckyOne employees who live in Kentucky. The group, Kentucky's largest, comprises Jewish Hospital & St. Mary’s HealthCare in Louisville; the Lexington-based Saint Joseph Health System, which includes hospitals in Bardstown, Berea, London, Martin, Mount Sterling and Shelbyville; and the University of Louisville Hospital and James Graham Brown Cancer Center. (Read more)

New website for after-school programs promotes 'Drink Right, Move More and Snack Smart' to fight childhood obesity

To combat the country's childhood obesity epidemic, ChildObesity180, a new initiative from Tufts University, has launched Healthy Kids Hub, a website with resources for out-of-school-time programs, encouraging kids to develop and adopt three universal nutrition and physical activity principles: "Drink Right, Move More and Snack Smart."

The Hub offers free activity, nutrition and equipment support to volunteers, coaches and leaders in out-of-school-time programs, which serve tens of millions of children and have been identified as a promising area for obesity prevention efforts, the site says.

In Kentucky, almost 18 percent of middle-school-age children and 16 percent of elementary-age kids are obese, says a recent report from the University of Kentucky's College of Public Health.

Research shows that foods and beverages, as well as opportunities for physical activity, vary greatly in out-of-school programs, so the Hub promotes greater consistency in such programs and provides resources to help children follow healthy habits while out of school.

The website was launched at the National Afterschool Association convention in Indianapolis last week, according to a release. Visitors to the website can complete a brief survey to get resources tailored to their specific needs. Click here for the website.

Cyber predators have easier access to children because of phones, video games

Child predators have it easier than ever to entice their young victims, due to the ever-growing accessibility of the Internet. "It's a lot easier now than everybody has the Internet in their pocket," Lexington Police Detective David Flannery told Karla Ward of the Lexington Herald-Leader. "Every day that we think of a way to combat it, people are thinking of a way to get around us," Flannery said. "It changes every day, and you have to keep up with it."

Using the World Wide Web to lure children for sex acts has skyrocketed since 1998, when the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received 707 reports of people trying to entice children via the Internet. In 2008, there were 8,787 reports.

"Computers and cell phones remain the primary means of communication, but game systems including Xbox 360, Nintendo DS and Wii also can be connected to the Internet, giving predators another way to gain access to children," Ward reports.

Though parents are becoming more aware, more education is needed, said Erin May Roth, an assistant U.S. attorney and the Project Safe Childhood coordinator for the Eastern District of Kentucky. "What they don't really think about is the fact that their kids are going to sleep with their phone," she said.

Flannery is the only police officer in Lexington assigned full-time to investigate Internet crimes against children. While he does not go into detail about his methods to track down predators, the concept involves pretending. "Anything that a kid can do, we can do," Flannery said.

Sometimes officers from several agencies and departments work together. The Kentucky State Police administers an Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force, the state attorney general's office has a similar unit, and, because cases can involve a number of jurisdictions, sometimes the Federal Bureau of Investigations, the U.S. Postal Service, the Secret Service and U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement are involved.

Mother Frieda Curry, right, discovered her 14-year-old daughter was entangled with a 38-year-old man who initially pretended to be 16. She contacted the Richmond Police Department and found more than 40 text messages and 10,000 pages of messages and videos on the computer. "I was frantic," she said. "I was in the worst state I've ever been in." (Photo by H-L's David Perry)

But Curry, whose daughter is now in college, dealt with the problem and the predator was sentenced in U.S. District Court to 10 years in prison. Thinking about the crimes can be difficult, but "only by shining a light on the problem will we ever hope to find a solution for it," said Assistant Commonwealth's Attorney Lou Anna Red Corn. (Read more)

Four out of five Americans look on Internet to answer health questions; third most common reason to surf

Finding answers to questions about their health is the third most common reason Americans use the Internet, a survey by the Pew Internet Project has found. Emailing and using searching engines are the top one and two reasons respectively.

A national telephone survey conducted Aug. 9 to Sept. 13, 2010, found 80 percent of Internet users search online for health-related information. The most likely groups to access health-related websites are caregivers, women, whites, younger adults, and adults with at least some college education. Those least likely to look for health-related information are African Americans, Latinos, people with disabilities, older adults and adults with a high school education or less.

The Washington Post's Nancy Szokan reports Pew has been monitoring how Americans use the Internet since 2000. "In many ways," Pew Associate Director Susannah Fox said, "the Internet has become the de facto second opinion." (Read more)