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CCCA to improve Indigenous health services with cultural competency training for NSW GPs and nurses

The Centre for Cultural Competence Australia (CCCA) will provide new online Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultural competency training to health professionals in New South Wales. Initially, 550 employees from the NSW General Practice Network will be trained in cultural competency, in order to improve the provision of health services for Indigenous communities throughout the state.

24 Nov 2010

'Telehealth' devices allow patients to track illnesses from home

Thousands of seriously ill patients are relying on computerized health trackers to help keep them safe at home.

23 Nov 2010

Explaining changes to Part D plans, fixing doctors' Medicare reimbursements, fighting hikes in long-term care insurance

News outlets cover various issues related to Medicare, including reports about prescription drug coverage and the continuing debate surrounding physician pay. Meanwhile, long-term care insurance is also an important issue for seniors.

23 Nov 2010

40% of older Americans skip doses or do not take medications

Advances in the pharmaceutical industry over the past several decades, have lead to thousands of new medications that allow physicians to treat and prevent disease. Many conditions that not so long ago were fatal are now managed effectively and safely.

11 Nov 2010

Families fight to care for disabled kids at home after they reach the age of 21

NPR reports on families who are fighting for continued funding to care for their severely disabled children at home.

10 Nov 2010

Fuisz receives U.S. Patent for new generation of glucose, analyte analyzers

Fuisz Pharma today announced the issuance of U.S. Patent 7,824,612 Bodily fluid analyzer, and system including same and method for programming same.

8 Nov 2010

Sandata announces patent for new caregiver location monitoring solution

Sandata Technologies, LLC, a leading national provider of information technology solutions to the home healthcare industry, today announced that on November 16, 2010, the US Patent and Trademark Office will issue US Patent Number 7835955, "Time and/or Attendance System Using Synchronized Code," an innovative new caregiver location monitoring solution aimed at reducing home healthcare fraud and abuse.

8 Nov 2010

Medicaid pooled trusts keep seniors out of nursing homes

The New York Times reports on Medicaid pooled trusts: "[T]here is a little-known way for some people in certain states to receive home care through Medicaid, without requiring them to impoverish themselves first. Here's how it works: a federal law established in 1993 allows disabled people to put their monthly income or assets — above the amounts Medicaid allows them to keep — into a special type of pooled trust.

8 Nov 2010

One-third of breast cancer survivors rate breast-conserving treatments as fair

A third of breast cancer survivors who received the breast-conserving treatments lumpectomy and radiation rate the appearance of their post-treatment breast as only "fair" or "poor" in comparison to their untreated breast, according to a new University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine study that will be presented today at the 52nd Annual Meeting of the American Society for Radiation Oncology (ASTRO) in San Diego.

3 Nov 2010

City of Butler declares November as Home Care and Hospice Month

Today officially launches Home Care and Hospice Month and VNA of Western Pennsylvania is excited to celebrate the many health-related services that can be brought into a person's home to help restore health and maintain independence.

3 Nov 2010

Medicare Roundup: Courts widen coverage of skilled care; experts give enrollment advice

Two federal courts have ruled that the Obama administration is using overly strict standards to determine whether older Americans are entitled to Medicare coverage of skilled nursing home care and home health care.

3 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 2, 2010

Today's headlines highlights news stories that include speculation about what will become of the health reform law after the election.

2 Nov 2010

LHC Group enters joint venture with Rockcastle Regional Hospital and Respiratory Care Center

LHC Group, Inc., a national provider of home health and hospice, announced today that it has entered into a home health joint venture with Rockcastle Regional Hospital and Respiratory Care Center, located in Mount Vernon, Kentucky to provide home health services in Rockcastle County in the Certificate of Need (CON) state of Kentucky.

1 Nov 2010

Procter & Gamble 2010 first quarter net sales increases 2% to $20.1 billion

The Procter & Gamble Company reported first quarter diluted net earnings per share from continuing operations of $1.02 per share, an increase of five percent and above the Company’s guidance range of $0.97 to $1.01.

27 Oct 2010

Survey finds significant increase in cost of care in nursing homes and assisted living

Nursing home and assisted living rates rose significantly from 2009 to 2010, according to the Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs. Private room nursing home rates rose 4.6% to $229 per day or $83,585 per year, while assisted living rose 5.2% on average to $3,293 per month, or $39,516 per year. These increases come on top of increases from 2008 to 2009 when both nursing home and assisted living costs were up 3.3%.

27 Oct 2010

Telehealth Monitoring System improves health outcomes in patients with chronic diseases

Patients with Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease (COPD), Congestive Heart Failure (CHF), Diabetes, and wounds are often treated and stabilized in a hospital setting then discharged to continue care at home under the supervision of a Certified Home Health Care Agency. Many high risk patients can now be monitored at home through a Telehealth Monitoring System.

27 Oct 2010

Chemed third quarter revenue increases 8.0% to $320.5 million

Chemed Corporation which operates VITAS Healthcare Corporation (VITAS), the nation's largest provider of end-of-life care, and Roto-Rooter, the nation's largest commercial and residential plumbing and drain cleaning services provider, reported financial results for its third quarter ended September 30, 2010, versus the comparable prior-year period.

26 Oct 2010

In tight budgets, states cutting back on Medicaid programs for disabled

More than 1.1 million people in Wisconsin depend on Medicaid health programs for the poor. Medicaid provides health care for one in five Wisconsin residents; the group of programs has expanded faster here over the past nine years than in any state except Arizona.

13 Oct 2010

VNSNY adopts advanced information technology to improve patient care

Unlike most home healthcare agencies, which have restricted the use of computer programs to such non-patient-care items as billing, the Visiting Nurse Service of New York has adopted advanced information technology in order to improve patient care. One of the results, documented in a new publication, is a significant 10% reduction in patient episodes ending in hospitalization, from 37% to 27% over the years 2001-2009.

12 Oct 2010

Challenges in provision of high-quality health care at end of life

Health care in the last six months of life has become progressively more expensive for patients with heart failure both among Medicare beneficiaries in the United States and older adults in Canada, with a high rate of hospitalizations in the final six months of life in both countries, according to two reports posted online today that will be published in the February 14 print issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

12 Oct 2010