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GE and Intel create new health IT venture focused on home-based care

General Electric Co. and Intel Corp. announced Monday they will create a company to provide new medical technologies for the elderly and chronically ill.

4 Aug 2010

CRICO/RMF achieves highest level of accreditation

CRICO/RMF has been awarded the highest level of accreditation, "Accreditation with Commendation," as a provider of Continuing Medical Education for physicians. This six-year accreditation is the result of an extensive (re)survey by the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education in which CRICO/RMF demonstrated compliance in all 22 of its criteria.

4 Aug 2010

Administration touts Medicare savings report; Republicans complain it misleads seniors

A report issued Monday by the Obama administration found that the new health care law "will save Medicare $8 billion by the end of 2011, and $575 billion over the next decade, largely by improving care quality and preventing waste and fraud." The report also predicts that the overhaul will "extend the life of the program more than a decade.

4 Aug 2010

Celera decreases second-quarter net loss to $6.1 million

Celera Corporation today reported net revenues of $32.6 million for the second quarter of 2010 that ended June 26, 2010, compared to $41.4 million for the prior year quarter. For the second quarter of 2010, Celera reported a net loss of $6.1 million, or $0.07 per share, compared to a net loss of $31.7 million, or $0.39 per share, for the prior year quarter.

4 Aug 2010

Bayshore Home Health announces acquisition of CCT

Bayshore Home Health announced today the purchase of Windsor, Ontario-based home health care company Community Care Therapy Limited. The acquisition expands Bayshore's home care service offerings to include occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech language pathology.

4 Aug 2010

New health law is uncharted terrain for administration, insurers

The White House pressured insurers to begin covering kids with pre-existing conditions as soon as the health overhaul law was enacted, The New York Times reports. But after a few months, some insurers decided to stop offering "child only" plans altogether to minimize their losses. The give-and-take resulted in the White House saying insurers could limit enrollment to specific periods last week.

4 Aug 2010

New York lawmakers trying to revive 9/11 health care bill

Lawmakers are trying to bridge the gap between colleagues on the left and right in a bid to provide greater health coverage for 9/11 workers, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The bill was voted down [in the House] late Thursday night amid angry partisan finger-pointing, and now Democratic Rep. Carolyn Maloney and others have begun weighing options to make the bill more tolerable to factions on the right and left. … Already, Democrats are signaling a shift in strategy.

4 Aug 2010

Missourians vote today on health reform ballot initiative

Missouri voters Tuesday are weighing in on a ballot measure that would ban laws from requiring people to have insurance in a vote that is sure to send a political message but may not have much legal impact, The Associated Press/Columbia Missourian reports. "If it passes as expected, the Missouri measure could send a troublesome signal from a historical swing-state about the most high-profile accomplishment of Obama and the Democratic-led Congress." If it fails, Republicans will get burnt on an issue they have sought to pull into mid-term elections.

4 Aug 2010

Today's OpEds: WSJ on Virginia court ruling; Health law politics; For-profit insurers; Mass. doc shortage; Physician errors

All the smart people in the political, media and legal classes know that ObamaCare is constitutional and anyone who says otherwise is frivolous. This faux consensus, however, does not include a U.S. district court judge in Virginia, who yesterday rejected the Administration's argument that one of the key constitutional challenges should be dismissed outright. Now the case will proceed to arguments on the merits this fall (8/3).

4 Aug 2010

ImpactRx launches smart-phone application for physicians

ImpactRx, Inc., the pioneering force in measuring the impact of pharmaceutical promotion on the behavior of the nation's highest prescribing physicians, today announced the launch of an application for physicians that provides pharmaceutical companies with timely and actionable insight into drug therapy promotion and treatment activity. ImpactRx is leveraging the capabilities of this newly available smart-phone application by using iPhone with its longitudinal physician network.

3 Aug 2010

Advocate Health Care deploys Fusionfx physician portal

More than 5,000 physicians at Advocate Health Care, the largest fully integrated not-for-profit healthcare delivery system in Illinois, will have streamlined access to patient information across Advocate's 11 Chicago-area hospitals with the implementation of Fusionfx, a portal-based workflow solution from Carefx Corporation.

3 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 3, 2010

Today's headlines include reports about a federal judge's ruling regarding the Virginia challenge to the health reform law and about the Senate's latest delay in consideration of a state aid package that includes Medicaid assistance.

3 Aug 2010

Elsevier makes available key articles in support of World Breastfeeding Week 2010

In support of World Breastfeeding Week 2010, Elsevier - the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services - is pleased to open access to selected articles related to breastfeeding from the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health, Midwifery and the Journal of Pediatric Health Care. Midwives and pediatric nurse practitioners play a central role in supporting and advocating for breastfeeding.

3 Aug 2010

TFAH commends U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee's $1.27B approval for prevention and public health

The Trust for America's Health (TFAH) commended the U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee for approving an historic $1.27 billion for prevention and public health for fiscal year 2011. This proposed funding would include $750 million, the second installment of the new Prevention and Public Health Fund that was created by the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

3 Aug 2010

White House predicts overhaul will save $8 billion for Medicare by the end of 2011

The White House says the new health law will save Medicare about $8 billion by the end of next year and $575 billion during the rest of the decade, according to a new report the Obama administration is releasing Monday, The Associated Press reports.

3 Aug 2010

Life insurance company introduces Productivity Solutions program for disability, healthcare management

Greater Georgia Life Insurance Company is pleased to introduce Productivity Solutions – an innovative program that integrates health care programs with short-term disability programs for employer groups with 51 or more employees. Productivity Solutions leverages all of the integration points across health, absence and disability management programs to help improve employee health and productivity, as well as the organization's bottom-line.

3 Aug 2010

Hospitals participate in CMS "pay-for-reporting" program

Beginning next year, consumers across the country will be able to find out how their hospital stacks up when it comes to preventing certain infections under new hospital acquired infection reporting regulations adopted by the Department of Health & Human Services.

3 Aug 2010

Pennsylvania to open high-risk insurance program for uninsured individuals with pre-existing medical conditions

As part of the national health insurance reform, Pennsylvania this week will open a high-risk insurance program for uninsured individuals who have pre-existing medical conditions, Insurance Commissioner Joel Ario said today.

3 Aug 2010

White House report predicts immediate health law benefits for Medicare's solvency; GOP lawmaker reacts

In a report released Monday, the Obama administration said "[t]he new health overhaul law will start producing savings for Medicare right away, and over time add 12 years of solvency to the program's giant trust fund for inpatient care." According to the report, Medicare savings by the end of next year will tally about $8 billion. Savings for rest of the decade would be an estimated $575 billion.

3 Aug 2010

Republicans plan to block health law by withholding implementation funds

Republicans may not have the numbers to repeal the health overhaul, even after the election, but they are increasingly likely to try to "deny the Obama administration the money it needs to implement the law," Politico reports.

3 Aug 2010

Health Care News and Research

GE and Intel create new health IT venture focused on home-based care

CRICO/RMF achieves highest level of accreditation

Administration touts Medicare savings report; Republicans complain it misleads seniors

Celera decreases second-quarter net loss to $6.1 million

Bayshore Home Health announces acquisition of CCT

New health law is uncharted terrain for administration, insurers

New York lawmakers trying to revive 9/11 health care bill

Missourians vote today on health reform ballot initiative

Today's OpEds: WSJ on Virginia court ruling; Health law politics; For-profit insurers; Mass. doc shortage; Physician errors

ImpactRx launches smart-phone application for physicians

Advocate Health Care deploys Fusionfx physician portal

First Edition: August 3, 2010

Elsevier makes available key articles in support of World Breastfeeding Week 2010

TFAH commends U.S. Senate Appropriations Committee's $1.27B approval for prevention and public health

White House predicts overhaul will save $8 billion for Medicare by the end of 2011

Life insurance company introduces Productivity Solutions program for disability, healthcare management

Hospitals participate in CMS "pay-for-reporting" program

Pennsylvania to open high-risk insurance program for uninsured individuals with pre-existing medical conditions

White House report predicts immediate health law benefits for Medicare's solvency; GOP lawmaker reacts

Republicans plan to block health law by withholding implementation funds

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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