Health Care News and Research

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First Edition: July 22, 2010

Today's headlines reflect news about health reform implementation activities, health information technology and sparring opinions about the Massachusetts experience.

22 Jul 2010

Four areas that impact weight, obesity in women identified

The information gap and general lack of understanding of obesity's unique and disproportionate impact on women contributes to the challenges of the 65 million American women who are considered overweight or obese, said the Strategies to Overcome and Prevent (STOP) Obesity Alliance Task Force on Women at a meeting on Capitol Hill today.

22 Jul 2010

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield launches initiative to educate consumers on how to best access ER alternatives

At a time when health care costs continue to rise and hospitals are advertising emergency room availability, it is becoming more important to educate consumers on how to best access ER alternatives and receive the same care with less out-of-pocket cost. If a primary care physician isn't available, retail health clinics, walk-in doctor offices and urgent care centers can take less time and cost about the same as a regular doctor visit.

22 Jul 2010

Correlates of HIV stigma in HIV-positive women: Study

For some women, planning a family can be the first step towards one of life's most rewarding experiences. But a study led by Ryerson University researchers has found strong evidence that some HIV-positive women feel that they are being judged negatively by their healthcare providers for wanting to become moms and feel stigmatized by their physicians due to their medical condition.

22 Jul 2010

VA approves $2.8M for Gulf War Veterans' illness research program

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has approved $2.8 million to fund three new research projects that focus on testing or developing new treatments for illnesses affecting Veterans who served in the Gulf War 1990-1991. The research incorporates recommendations of the department's Gulf War Veterans' Illnesses Task Force.

22 Jul 2010

Study: Patient-centered health care lowers death rates from heart attacks

In 2001, the Institutes of Medicine named patient-centered health care — based on patient preferences and needs — as a major and necessary change in America's health care system to improve the quality of medical care.

22 Jul 2010

Study: 17% of homeless people in Toronto report unmet health care needs

Most studies of healthcare for homeless people have been conducted in the United States, where it's not surprising that lack of money and insurance are the main barriers.

22 Jul 2010

UMHS selects Epic Systems for medical information technology overhaul

The University of Michigan Health System has just embarked on a multi-year journey to completely transform the way its physicians, nurses, other care providers and administrators use information technology in every U-M hospital, clinic and office.

22 Jul 2010

Sec. of State Clinton addresses Afghan women's rights during visit to Kabul

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton "used part of her address to a key conference in Kabul on Tuesday to defend Afghan women concerned that peace efforts with the Taliban could jeopardise their rights," Agence France-Presse reports.

22 Jul 2010

Penn. official urges Bill to prohibit 'health profiling' and limit rate hikes; Nev., Ariz. wrestle with rising costs for public employees' benefits; McCollum releases health plan

"Pennsylvania's insurance commissioner is urging state legislators to pass a bill that would prohibit 'health profiling' and limit rate increases in advance of the 2014 enactment of the main provisions of the federal health-care reform law. Testifying before the House Insurance Committee, ... Joel Ario said he arrived at those recommendations following the department's investigation on the rating practices and premium increases of the top nine health insurance companies operating in Pennsylvania" (Toland, 7/21).

22 Jul 2010

Saskatchewan nursing homes to test improvement program to increase patient care time in hospitals

Three Saskatchewan nursing homes will be the first long-term care facilities to test the effectiveness of an improvement program that has been shown to increase the amount of time providers spend on direct patient care in hospitals.

22 Jul 2010

Calif.'s Anthem Blue Cross president resigns following sharp criticism of rate increases

The Los Angeles Times: Leslie Margolin, the president of California's Anthem Blue Cross, is resigning. "During her 2 1/2-year tenure at the helm of California's largest for-profit insurer, Margolin tried to cast Anthem as a responsible corporate leader that cared for customers and sought to contain costs by forging collaborative relationships with hospitals, doctors and other medical providers.

22 Jul 2010

New telepathology system connects UHN pathologists to Northern Ontario communities

Physicians in three Northern Ontario communities are now virtually linked at all times to pathology specialists at University Health Network (UHN), thanks to a revolutionary new way of diagnosing pathology cases over the Internet.

22 Jul 2010

Accommodating patients may help reduce racial health disparities, improve patient satisfaction: Study

What if an emergency room patient wants a different doctor than the one who reports to their examination room? If the patient is a woman or a racial minority, emergency physicians are more likely to honor their request to see a doctor of their same gender, race or religious background.

22 Jul 2010

Hospital updates: ERs try to shorten waits, Florida Children's Hospital to join with Johns Hopkins

To attract patients, hospitals are increasingly posting wait times for their emergency rooms "on billboards, websites, social media outlets like Twitter and in text messages," The Salt Lake Tribune reports. "It's a competitive strategy, but also a tool for bending the wait-time curve and, hopefully, improving patient care, said Mary Joe Jones, chief clinical nursing officer at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City."

22 Jul 2010

Current myths vs. realities in global AIDS funding

Activists at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna are charging developed and developing country governments with writing checques that bounce to the millions of people in need of lifesaving HIV treatment. Despite the gains in treatment numbers reported by WHO, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition's (ITPC), latest report, Rationing Funds, Risking Lives, documents early warnings of the global pullback on AIDS commitment and funding.

22 Jul 2010

Severe state budget shortfalls trigger Medicaid program cuts

As states face severe budget shortfalls, many have cut home-care services for the elderly or the disabled, programs that have been shown to save states money in the long run because they keep people out of nursing homes. Since the start of the recession, at least 25 states and the District of Columbia have curtailed programs that include meal deliveries, housekeeping aid and assistance for family caregivers, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research organization.

22 Jul 2010

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group reported a second quarter profit jump of 31 percent as enrollment in the insurer's plans went up, The Associated Press/The New York Times reports. "The company's total enrollment grew about 1 percent, to 32.5 million compared with last year, with gains in Medicare and Medicaid businesses offsetting commercial health insurance losses." The company's commercial enrollment fell 440,000 as the sector deals with job cuts and the recession (7/20).

22 Jul 2010

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

The VA Maryland Health Care System participated in a landmark national study of more than 10,251 high-risk diabetic adults across the nation, testing if three complementary treatment strategies can reduce the high rate of heart disease and stroke associated with type 2 diabetes and if these treatment strategies can also slow the progression of eye disease associated with diabetes, the leading cause of blindness in working-age Americans.

22 Jul 2010

Justice Department officials ask for more time to reply to USCA's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul

Lawyers for Barack Obama and other defendants in the U.S. Citizens Association's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul have asked a federal judge in Akron, Ohio for more time to respond to the lawsuit suit because "this case presents claims not yet addressed in other litigation."

22 Jul 2010

Health Care News and Research

First Edition: July 22, 2010

Four areas that impact weight, obesity in women identified

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield launches initiative to educate consumers on how to best access ER alternatives

Correlates of HIV stigma in HIV-positive women: Study

VA approves $2.8M for Gulf War Veterans' illness research program

Study: Patient-centered health care lowers death rates from heart attacks

Study: 17% of homeless people in Toronto report unmet health care needs

UMHS selects Epic Systems for medical information technology overhaul

Sec. of State Clinton addresses Afghan women's rights during visit to Kabul

Penn. official urges Bill to prohibit 'health profiling' and limit rate hikes; Nev., Ariz. wrestle with rising costs for public employees' benefits; McCollum releases health plan

Saskatchewan nursing homes to test improvement program to increase patient care time in hospitals

Calif.'s Anthem Blue Cross president resigns following sharp criticism of rate increases

New telepathology system connects UHN pathologists to Northern Ontario communities

Accommodating patients may help reduce racial health disparities, improve patient satisfaction: Study

Hospital updates: ERs try to shorten waits, Florida Children's Hospital to join with Johns Hopkins

Current myths vs. realities in global AIDS funding

Severe state budget shortfalls trigger Medicaid program cuts

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Study identifies treatment strategies that can slow progression of eye disease associated with diabetes

Justice Department officials ask for more time to reply to USCA's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul

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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