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Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report highlights recent Medicaid news in six states

Three insurance companies that cover 60% of people enrolled in Florida "Medicaid Reform" plans have said they will leave the project and have asked to be assigned no new members, a move suspected to be a result of reductions in Medicaid payments to the plans, Florida Health News reports.

1 Sep 2008

Kaiser roundup of health policy-related blog posts

While mainstream news coverage is still a primary source of information for the latest in policy debates and the health care marketplace, online blogs have become a significant part of the media landscape, often presenting new perspectives on policy issues and drawing attention to under-reported topics.

3 Aug 2008

Medical errors costing $1.5 billion annually

Potentially preventable medical errors that occur during or after surgery may cost employers nearly $1.5 billion a year, according to new estimates by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

28 Jul 2008

Shortcuts in using bar coding technology at hospitals undermines systems' safeguards, study finds

Bar coding in hospitals has not yet been proven to reduce medical errors, and shortcuts staff have developed to work around problems with bar codes often undermine the systems' safeguards, according to a report published online Monday in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association, the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

2 Jul 2008

Study says cut to junior doctors' hours does not compromise patients' safety

Research led by a team at the University of Warwick's Warwick Medical School has found that reducing the hours of junior doctors does not compromise patients' safety and could even dramatically cut mistakes on wards but, there are some concerns about reduced educational opportunities for junior doctors which it affords.

1 Jul 2008

Reps. Barton, Dingell to introduce legislation that aims to spur nationwide adoption of electronic health records

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chair John Dingell (D-Mich.) and ranking member Joe Barton (R-Texas) on Tuesday plan to introduce a bill that would promote the adoption of a nationwide electronic health record system, CongressDaily reports.

24 Jun 2008

American Medical Association members say 'secret shoppers' should not be used to gauge quality at physicians' offices

Using "secret shoppers" to evaluate the way physicians manage relationships with patients could get in the way of providing needed care to actual patients, according to more than 12 doctors who testified before an American Medical Association panel, the Chicago Tribune reports. AMA on Sunday held its annual House of Delegates meeting in Chicago.

17 Jun 2008

Pennsylvania Senate Republicans unveil health care plans

Pennsylvania Senate Republicans on Tuesday unveiled a health care proposal that would enhance care provided at community health centers and create a high-risk pool for state residents who are unable to obtain health coverage elsewhere, the AP/Philadelphia Inquirer reports (Raffaele, AP/Philadelphia Inquirer, 6/10).

17 Jun 2008

House panel hearing focuses on health IT privacy, cost concerns

Lawmakers, patient-privacy and health care advocates, and information technology experts on Tuesday "debated ... how Congress can strike a balance between accelerating the adoption of a nationwide system of electronic medical records while protecting patient privacy," CongressDaily reports (Noyes, CongressDaily, 6/4).

8 Jun 2008

HHS releases comprehensive plan to encourage nationwide adoption of health IT

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology at HHS on Tuesday released a cross-agency directive to speed up the adoption of a nationwide health information technology system that would improve health care quality, increase efficiency, reduce medical errors and address concerns of patient privacy and data security, CQ HealthBeat reports.

8 Jun 2008

More aggressive hospital care does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, study finds

More aggressive hospital care -- such as higher numbers of tests and procedures and longer stays -- does not lead to improved patient outcomes in all cases, according to a study released on Thursday, the Seattle Post-Intelligencer reports.

30 May 2008

Hospitals hire 'nocturnists' to improve patient care during night, weekend hours, Wall Street Journal reports

The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how some hospitals have begun "taking steps to improve safety and reduce their own legal liability from mishaps" that occur during "thinly staffed" night and weekend shifts, when patients "suffer higher rates of death, complications and medical errors."

28 May 2008

U.S. Government 'must take lead' in health care IT, former Rep. Johnson writes

There are online tools that "can remember what books you ordered over the last three years," so "why can't your doctor's computer remind him" of the details related to patients' prescription drugs, insurance or other procedures, former Rep. Nancy Johnson (R-Conn.), a senior public policy adviser for Baker Donelson, writes in a Washington Times opinion piece.

28 May 2008

Health Care Coalition pushes for e-prescribing legislation

The technical standards necessary to establish a national electronic prescribing system already have been adopted by physicians and pharmacy software companies, according to a letter to lawmakers from a coalition of health care providers, insurance companies, academics and pharmacies, CQ HealthBeat reports.

28 May 2008

Medical errors - Is healthcare getting worse or better?

Most would say worse. And one of the many reasons is medical errors. Most Americans say the quality of care has not improved, and dissatisfaction among patients and caregivers has increased. The perceptions exist despite the efforts across the country to reduce medical errors.

28 May 2008

Despondent nurse practitioners - disabling postmodern punishment

The essence of postmodernism theme is that of an epochal shift, discontinuity, or rupture with modernity, bringing new social conditions and sociological principles with it (Baudrillard, 1988). Postmodernism views that the authority and status of the medical professionals does not exist anymore in the area of health care consistent with the postmodern message about the deconstruction of traditional centers of postindustrial authority (Cockerham et.al, 1997).

19 May 2008