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Medicare open enrollment period starts today

Coming changes to Medicare will benefit some recipients but will make coverage more expensive for people with higher incomes. Thanks in part to this year's health care overhaul, everything from benefits and enrollment rules to the number of choices available will be affected beginning Jan. 1.

16 Nov 2010

Medicare's annual open-enrollment period starts in Idaho

Today marks an important day for roughly 15% of Idaho's population, it's the start of Medicare's annual open-enrollment period, the only time of the year beneficiaries can drop or change prescription drug and health care plans for 2011.

16 Nov 2010

Physician-owned hospitals gear up to fight health law restrictions

Doctors are challenging provisions of the new health law that seemed to spell the demise of physician-owned specialty hospitals, a fast-growing phenomenon in states such as Texas where hospital growth is largely unregulated.

15 Nov 2010

World's first remote heart procedure using robotic arm alongside 3-D mapping

The world's first remote heart procedure, using a robotic arm alongside 3-D mapping, is due to take place at Glenfield Hospital in Leicester.

15 Nov 2010

Prolonged use of cell phone increases nickel allergy

Chatting endlessly on your cell phone can lead to an allergic reaction to the nickel in your phone, according to allergists at the annual meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology (ACAAI) in Phoenix, Nov. 11-16. From cosmetics to jewelry, body piercings to tattoos, allergies can lurk in unlikely places, allergists say.

15 Nov 2010

Study shows patient-specific factors delay skin cancer treatment

If detected early, nonmelanoma skin cancers (primarily basal cell and squamous cell carcinomas, the two most common forms of skin cancer) can be easily treated. But when left untreated, these skin cancers can grow and even spread, causing considerably more harm than if they were treated upon initial detection. Now, a new study finds that denial is the top reason why patients delay seeking treatment for skin cancer and shows that this delay results in larger, more serious, skin cancers.

15 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

California has moved quickly to implement key provisions of the federal health care overhaul law, including a health benefits exchange, but the exchange and California's plans could be vulnerable as House Republicans threaten to starve the federal health program of funding.

15 Nov 2010

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

After Republicans in the Texas legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal to opt out of Medicaid last week, experts are trying to determine how serious they are, and whether other states are likely to follow suit, Kaiser Health News reports.

15 Nov 2010

Research on E.Coli bacteria could help develop new vaccine for urinary tract infection

Urinary tract infections are a painful, recurring problem for millions of women. They are also getting more dangerous as bacteria develop resistance to the most common treatments.

15 Nov 2010

Research roundup: Doctors' industry ties; Patient safety and residents' hours; Designing a medical home

Archives of Internal Medicine: Physician Professionalism And Changes in Physician-Industry Relationships From 2004 to 2009 -"During the last 6 years a number of efforts have aimed to reduce, and in some cases eliminate, certain types of physician-industry relationships (PIRs)," including policies "that forbid physicians from accepting samples and receiving food and beverages in offices, limiting company representatives' access to physicians' offices and clinical areas, and banning faculty participation in speaker bureaus and other forms of promotional activity," write the authors.

12 Nov 2010

Changes to flexible spending accounts raise concerns

NPR reports on the upcoming change to flexible spending accounts, when "you'll no longer be able to set aside pretax dollars in that account to use for medicines bought without a doctor's prescription," and looks at the "loophole" that may allow consumers to use FSA dollars on over-the-counter medication if they obtain a prescription for it.

12 Nov 2010

Denial is top reason for patients to delay treatment for skin cancer

12 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Today's headlines include examinations of Medicaid and state budget issues as well as the next round of the congressional health overhaul fight.

12 Nov 2010

Screening colonoscopy rates for women do not increase when offered to be done by female endoscopists: Study

A new study from researchers in Colorado shows that women offered a female endoscopist were not more likely to undergo a screening colonoscopy than those who were not offered this choice. Past surveys have shown preferences for female endoscopists seem to be common among women. In this study, a patient outreach program failed to support the notion that rates of screening colonoscopy can be increased by offering women the option of a screening colonoscopy performed by a female endoscopist.

12 Nov 2010

Working of doctor's office

While undergoing an X-ray, Holly Gage, of Bowmansville, Pa., shared details about her medical concerns with the technician and asked questions about the results, only to find out the technician wasn't permitted to answer them.

12 Nov 2010

Dreaded cod liver oil in a variety of flavours

The stomachs of the generation of 50 year olds and above, will be churning at the thought of their parents and grandparents serving up spoonfuls of the much dreaded cod liver oil. As a practice, parents giving their children cod liver oil has all but died, and yet, as a population, we have seen more and more inflammatory conditions effect people's lives, which are due in no small part to the 'modern day diet', which many of us live.

12 Nov 2010

New leaders in Congress called upon to fix restrictions on flexible spending accounts

Save Flexible Spending Plans today called on the new leaders in Congress to follow through on their campaign promises to fix problems with the health care reform law, including restrictions on employer-provided flexible spending accounts (FSAs).

12 Nov 2010

Veterans and caregivers face ongoing challenges

WebMD: "When veterans with service-related injuries or illness need caregivers, the role typically falls on women, usually spouses or partners," according to a new study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Health Foundation. The study "reports that 96% of veterans' caregivers are women, compared to an overall nationwide finding that 65% of family caregivers are women.

12 Nov 2010

Bristol-Myers Squibb announces first large-scale diabetes initiative to develop self-management program

The Bristol-Myers Squibb Foundation today announced Together on Diabetes: Communities Uniting to Meet America's Diabetes Challenge, a 5-year, $100 million initiative to help patients living with type 2 diabetes better manage their disease beyond the doors of their doctor's office in their homes and communities and for the course of their disease.

12 Nov 2010

Calif. nurses emerge as political force; Iowa official under fire for strict policy on nursing home inspections; new 'homey' facilities for seniors increasing

One of California's most powerful political players these days is a Bay Area-based nurses' union, which helped torpedo Republican Meg Whitman's efforts to become governor and boosted the prospects of the eventual winning candidate, Democrat Jerry Brown.

12 Nov 2010

Doctor News and Research

Medicare open enrollment period starts today

Medicare's annual open-enrollment period starts in Idaho

Physician-owned hospitals gear up to fight health law restrictions

World's first remote heart procedure using robotic arm alongside 3-D mapping

Prolonged use of cell phone increases nickel allergy

Study shows patient-specific factors delay skin cancer treatment

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

Research on E.Coli bacteria could help develop new vaccine for urinary tract infection

Research roundup: Doctors' industry ties; Patient safety and residents' hours; Designing a medical home

Changes to flexible spending accounts raise concerns

Denial is top reason for patients to delay treatment for skin cancer

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Screening colonoscopy rates for women do not increase when offered to be done by female endoscopists: Study

Working of doctor's office

Dreaded cod liver oil in a variety of flavours

New leaders in Congress called upon to fix restrictions on flexible spending accounts

Veterans and caregivers face ongoing challenges

Bristol-Myers Squibb announces first large-scale diabetes initiative to develop self-management program

Calif. nurses emerge as political force; Iowa official under fire for strict policy on nursing home inspections; new 'homey' facilities for seniors increasing

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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