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Sec. of State Clinton discusses Global Health Initiative

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about President Barack Obama's $63 billion Global Health Initiative (GHI) during a speech on Monday at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Reuters' "Front Row Washington" blog reports (Ashburn, 8/16).

18 Aug 2010

Dysphagia impacts length of hospital stay and prognosis

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that hospitalized patients with dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, averaged a 40 percent longer hospital stay than patients without the condition. They also had a generally poorer prognosis. The research is published in the August issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

18 Aug 2010

Virginia creates health law panel, groups prepare for overhaul changes

Virginia has created a task force to slow health costs and implement health care reform even as the state is suing to stop a key mandate in the law, The Washington Post reports. Gov. Bob McDonnell "introduced the 24-member panel, comprised of legislators, health professionals, doctors and insurers, at a news conference Monday afternoon at the Capitol.

18 Aug 2010

Study finds black patients receive fewer opoid medications than whites

Black patients are prescribed fewer pain medications than whites and few women receive medications strong enough to manage their chronic pain, according to a study in the August issue of Journal of Pain.University of Michigan Health System researchers studied nearly 200 patients with chronic pain who sought help from a specialty pain center. Researchers analyzed the number and potency of medicines they were already taking and the adequacy of pain management.

18 Aug 2010

Cigna lobbies to define medical loss ratio on insurers' terms

Cigna has become a player in the insurance industry's lobbying on what should count as medical care under new rules governing health care spending, Kaiser Health News and McClatchy report. "The insurer has stayed in step with larger rivals such as Aetna and WellPoint in an often contentious dialogue with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners — a network of state regulators that's been charged with advising federal officials on implementing the health care law.

18 Aug 2010

Recession led to cuts in health system use

The New York Times: The recession is causing d people in the United States to cut their use of the health care system "much deeper than in countries with universal health care systems," a new report says. "The study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, finds that 'Americans, who face higher out-of-pocket health care costs, have reduced their routine medical care' much more than people in Britain, Canada, France and Germany.

18 Aug 2010

Equinox Surgical Solutions introduces SutureAssist device for streamlining suture management procedures

Equinox Surgical Solutions LLC today announced the launch of their new product, SutureAssist®, designed and developed by a minimally invasive, Board Certified, OB/GYN surgeon Dr. Warren Volker M.D., Ph.D. and his team to improve patient and surgical team safety. This proprietary device lets surgeons and scrub techs acquire, hand-off, dispose of and reload sutures with an efficient, one-handed motion resulting in significantly quicker wound closure and mitigation of both needle-stick risk to the surgical team and post-op needle management liability exposure.

18 Aug 2010

ImPACKD, The Kidney Foundation of Canada launch online resource for CKD patients

Before today, millions of Canadians living with chronic kidney disease did not have a strong online advocacy presence. Improving Patient Advocacy in Chronic Kidney Disease and The Kidney Foundation of Canada are now joining forces to provide an effective resource. Together, they are launching www.impackd.ca, a microsite of www.kidney.ca that is specifically designed for Canadians affected by chronic kidney disease.

17 Aug 2010

HealthGrades honors Eastern Long Island Hospital with Outstanding Patient Experience Award

Eastern Long Island Hospital (ELIH) is among the top 15 percent in the nation for patient experience based on an analysis of patient surveys from 3,775 hospitals across the country by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization. By placing in the top 15 percent, ELIH received the 2010/2011 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award(TM).

17 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 17, 2010

Today's headlines include news about new federal funding to help states regulate rising health insurance premiums and more information about the costs of cancer.

17 Aug 2010

Study examines ways to reduce growing cancer burden in developing world

"The growing burden of cancer in developing countries could be reduced without expensive drugs and equipment, scientists said on Monday, but it requires a global effort similar to the fight against HIV/AIDS," Reuters reports in an article that examines a study published in the Lancet by a group of American scientists who have created the Global Task Force on Expanded Access to Cancer Care and Control in Developing Countries.

17 Aug 2010

Employers can play key role in promoting better health: Report

As the U.S. continues to struggle with both cost and quality issues in an evolving health care system, employers can play a key role in promoting better health and more efficient use of resources, The Health Project reported this week.

17 Aug 2010

Natick VNA offers checklist to help patients make informed choice of home health care provider

Home from the hospital already? As stays for hospital patients grow progressively shorter, even for procedures as serious as repairing a brain aneurysm or inserting a pacemaker, patients' need for highly skilled nursing care at home is growing. Indeed, every week, thousands of these patients are referred to home health care services.

17 Aug 2010

Emdeon and Noridian Mutual Insurance enter strategic relationship

Emdeon Inc., a leading provider of healthcare revenue and payment cycle management solutions, today announced a strategic relationship with Noridian Mutual Insurance Company (NMIC), doing business as Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, and Noridian Administrative Services, LLC (NAS). NMIC provides quality health care coverage and additional supplemental coverage for those seeking medical, life, disability, long-term care and related insurance coverage.

17 Aug 2010

Simple, low-cost interventions reduce most common hospital-acquired infections

Urinary catheters are often left in place longer than needed, and new research shows that reminder systems that encourage hospital staff to remove catheters promptly can reduce the rate of catheter-associated urinary tract infections by 52 percent.

17 Aug 2010

Report cards, disclosures readied or deleted on hospital infections in some states

After several years of delay, Illinois has begun posting hospital infection data on its 'hospital report card' website, including facilities in the greater St. Louis area. State officials say the website — www.healthcarereportcard.illinois.gov — will benefit not only the consumer but also the health care industry. … So far, Illinois reports rates for only central line associated bloodstream infections in hospital intensive care units that occurred last year.

17 Aug 2010

Average selling prices of dental implant fixtures decrease 3.3% in Europe

According to Millennium Research Group, the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, average selling prices of dental implant fixtures and final abutments have decreased 3.3% and 8.1%, respectively, over the past year. This occurred as dentists attempted to maintain profitability during the economic crisis by demanding greater discounts and increasingly purchasing implants from low-cost manufacturers.

17 Aug 2010

New DNA sequencing method can lead to effective individualized medicine

In experiments with potentially broad health care implications, a research team led by a University of Washington physicist has devised a method that works at a very small scale to sequence DNA quickly and relatively inexpensively.That could open the door for more effective individualized medicine, for example providing blueprints of genetic predispositions for specific conditions and diseases such as cancer, diabetes or addiction.

17 Aug 2010

Bariatric surgery can result in sustained reversal of obesity, type 2 diabetes: Study

Results of a large national study show that nearly three-quarters of obese patients with type 2 diabetes who undergo weight-loss surgery are able to stop insulin and other antidiabetes drugs within six months. In the Johns Hopkins study of insured, obese, diabetic patients, researchers also found that in the third year following surgery, average annual health care costs per patient decreased by more than 70 percent. The study is published in the Archives of Surgery this month.

17 Aug 2010

Hospitals address slashed payments, technology investments and rehospitalizations

Boston Herald: Massachusetts hospital officials say that reduced federal and state payments may destabilize health care delivery. The state's combined Medicaid and CHIP program, known as MassHealth, plans to cut hospital reimbursements "by $75 million in its main contract between hospitals and MassHealth, according to the Massachusetts Hospital Association, which cited 'discussions' with the state in outlining the proposed cut to its members over the weekend.

17 Aug 2010