Veterans Affairs News and Research

RSS

New 'movements' seek to introduce preventive, mental health care in new settings

A nationwide effort to coordinate mental health with primary care is underway, The Philadelphia Inquirer reports. "The idea is to give simple interventions in 15- to 30-minute visits that will address behavioral issues ranging from stress to traumatic reactions that often go untreated." Some clinics have coupled licensed social workers with their other clinical staff; the mental health experts provide services while patients and family members receive physical care.

30 Sep 2009

Promised e-health improvements also come with shortcomings, risks

Efforts to achieve greater efficiency and higher quality in health care through new health information technologies are not without new risks as well.

30 Sep 2009

Abnormal results on outpatient imaging tests may not receive timely follow-up, says report

Abnormal results on outpatient imaging tests sometimes may not receive timely follow-up even when clinicians receive and read results in an advanced, integrated electronic medical record system, according to a report in the September 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

29 Sep 2009

Non-AIDS-defining malignancies more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center have found that non-AIDS-defining malignancies such as anal and lung cancer have become more prevalent among HIV-infected patients than non-HIV patients since the introduction of anti-retroviral therapies in the mid-1990s.

25 Sep 2009

Social disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

Since the introduction of statins to treat high cholesterol, the decline in lipid levels experienced by the wealthy has been double that experienced by the poor. While statins are highly effective in reducing cholesterol and improving heart health, their use may have contributed to expanding social disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular disease, according to research by Virginia W. Chang, MD, PhD, of the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center and the University of Pennsylvania, and Diane S. Lauderdale, PhD, of the University of Chicago, published in the September issue of Journal of Health and Social Behavior.

25 Sep 2009

Research to identify inborn genetic susceptibility to colon cancer metastasis

A prestigious National Institutes of Health (NIH) Transformative R01 Program grant for $4.9 million has been awarded to Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. The five-year grant will fund research to identify patients' inborn genetic susceptibility to the development of colon cancer metastasis. Case Western Reserve was one of only 42 recipients of this competitive new grant designed to support exceptionally innovative, high risk, original and/or unconventional research projects that have the potential to create or overturn fundamental paradigms.

24 Sep 2009

Safety tips for OTC and prescription medications

The beginning of October marks the start of Talk About Prescriptions Month, which is sponsored by the National Council on Patient Information and Education. In support of this annual awareness effort, Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) is sharing tips to help consumers safely take over-the-counter (OTC) and prescription medications.

23 Sep 2009

Study on the ranking of obstetrics and gynecology training programs

A ranking of obstetrics and gynecology training programs based on the maternal complication rates of their graduates' patients found these rankings consistent across individual types of complications, suggesting that these rates may reflect measures of overall quality, according to a study in the September 23/30 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on medical education.

23 Sep 2009

Researching the causes of Alzheimer's disease

The standard explanation for what causes Alzheimer's is known as the amyloid hypothesis, which posits that the disease results from of an accumulation of the peptide amyloid beta, the toxic protein fragments that deposit in the brain and become the sticky plaques that have defined Alzheimer's for more than 100 years.

23 Sep 2009

Department of Veterans Affairs to spend $1.4 billion as its share under ARRA

Secretary of Veterans Affairs Eric K. Shinseki announced today the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) progress in executing more than $1.4 billion as the Department's share of spending under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), more commonly known as the economic stimulus program.

22 Sep 2009

Older adults with vitamin D deficiency at a greater risk of heart disease and death

A new study by researchers at the University of Colorado Denver and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) shows vitamin D plays a vital role in reducing the risk of death associated with older age. The research, just published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, evaluated the association between vitamin D levels in the blood and the death rates of those 65 and older. The study found that older adults with insufficient levels of vitamin D die from heart disease at greater rates that those with adequate levels of the vitamin.

22 Sep 2009

Nasdaq issues deficiency notice to TeamStaff

TeamStaff, Inc. (Nasdaq: TSTF), a national provider of healthcare and administrative staffing services, today announced that on September 15, 2009, it received a notice from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Global Market (Nasdaq) stating that for the last 30 consecutive trading days, the Company's common stock has not maintained a minimum market value of publicly held shares of $5,000,000, as required by the continued listing requirements of the Nasdaq Global Market set forth in Listing Rule 5450(b)(1)(C) (the "Listing Rule").

21 Sep 2009

Four single-letter variations in SNPs increse prostate cancer risk

deCODE genetics (Nasdaq: DCGN) today announced that a team of its scientists and academic colleagues from Finland, Spain, the Netherlands and the United States have today published the discovery of four novel single-letter variations in the sequence of the human genome (SNPs) conferring increased risk of prostate cancer.

21 Sep 2009

Health Net is the national sponsor of the 2nd National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic

Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT) is honored to serve as a national sponsor of the 2nd National Veterans Summer Sports Clinic, to be held Sept. 20–25, 2009, in San Diego.

19 Sep 2009

Perot Systems to provide IT outsourcing and EHR implementation for MHC

Max Healthcare (MHC) (www.maxhealthcare.in) and Perot Systems Corporation (NYSE: PER) (www.perotsystems.com) today announced a 10-year agreement in which Perot Systems will provide IT outsourcing (ITO) and electronic health records (EHR) implementation for MHC.

18 Sep 2009

Top official calls for quicker, improved response to military mental health needs

The Associated Press: "Adm. Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, expressed frustration Wednesday with the pace of government work to heal the mental wounds of war. ... 'Shame on us if we don't figure it out this time around to make sure that doesn't happen,' Mullen said at a defense forum on the nonphysical injuries of war in Alexandria, Va., just outside of Washington.

18 Sep 2009

VA warns veterans not to disclose personal information over telephone

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) is warning Veterans not to give credit card numbers over the phone to callers claiming to update VA prescription information.

18 Sep 2009

Military families to benefit from expansion of Health Net Federal Services

As flu season approaches, Health Net Federal Services, LLC, the government operations division of Health Net, Inc. (NYSE:HNT), is proud to expand the provider network as well as promote awareness, education and resources to encourage all TRICARE North Region U.S. service members, retirees and their families to receive the influenza vaccine and practice preventive measures to avoid the virus this season.

17 Sep 2009

Blue Mountain Hospital implements OpenVista to improve clinical outcomes

Medsphere Systems Corporation, the leading provider of open source healthcare IT solutions, today announced the successful implementation of OpenVista, the company's flagship electronic health record (EHR) at the 11-bed Blue Mountain Hospital in Blanding, Utah.

17 Sep 2009

New technique found that may prevent vision loss

Blocking a protein that battles infection may help thwart a common cause of vision loss in chronic diseases such as diabetes, Medical College of Georgia researchers say.

16 Sep 2009