Healthcare News

RSS

First Edition: November 4, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the super committee's apparent impasse, and details on Mitt Romney's plan to cut the deficit.

4 Nov 2011

Stimulus funds will help build health IT systems, but not sustain them

iWatch News reports on how this finding is raising concern among state officials about how they will keep paying for these systems when the federal money is gone. Meanwhile, KHN -; in partnership with NPR and Oregon Public Radio -; takes a look at how electronic medical records can be used.

4 Nov 2011

Gottlieb to celebrate 50th anniversary in the hospital's newly renovated lobby

Gottlieb Memorial Hospital is welcoming members of the community, local dignitaries and invited guests as it recognizes the 50th anniversary of its founding. A public celebration will be held at 2 p.m. on Friday, Nov. 4, in the hospital's newly renovated lobby, where cake will be served.

4 Nov 2011

KU research to strengthen special-needs families in the military

Raising a child with a mental or a physical disability is tough work for any parent. But just imagine the added stresses for a parent on active duty in the U.S. armed forces: Possible deployments to war zones, base reassignments and recurrent training pose even more challenges to securing quality care and therapy for a special-needs child.

4 Nov 2011

Plans for insurance exchanges in Conn. and Kansas hit some roadblocks

The board developing the state's health insurance exchange--a key piece of federal health reform--is already at work. But consumer advocates unhappy with the composition of the board are still trying to change its make-up, and Democratic lawmakers are open to the idea.

4 Nov 2011

Health law's reproductive health provisions continue to draw criticism

At a Wednesday subcommittee hearing, faith-based providers and some House Republicans lamented new federal rules that they say could erode long-standing "conscience clauses."

4 Nov 2011

UofL intervention program for caregivers of people with IDD

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities living in family or group homes are less likely to receive routine dental care than those living in institutions, according to University of Louisville School of Dentistry associate professor Catherine Binkley, D.D.S., Ph.D.

4 Nov 2011

AHA/ASA honors UH Case Medical Center with Get With The Guidelines-Stroke award

For the third consecutive year, University Hospitals (UH) Case Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines--Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

4 Nov 2011

Parsing the health law's winners and losers, and its chances for survival

The AP reports on some of the measure's unexpected beneficiaries and The Christian Science Monitor details how it could be dismantled. Also, California Healthline follows the money that is lobbying to preserve the measure.

4 Nov 2011

LMG project to strengthen global health care delivery

The Yale Global Health Leadership Institute announces a new partnership with Management Science for Health, as part of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-funded Leadership, Management and Governance Project.

4 Nov 2011

Nicaragua's abortion law becomes issue in presidential election

"Nicaragua is heading for presidential elections, and among the issues dividing people in this mostly Catholic country is abortion," with advocates marching in the streets of the capital Managua to show support for overturning a ban on therapeutic abortions that was instituted five years ago, Al Jazeera reports.

4 Nov 2011

Seclusion should always be the last resort for managing adolescent aggressive behaviour

Seclusion should always be the last resort when it comes to dealing with aggressive episodes involving young offenders with psychiatric disorders, according to staff who took part in a four-country study published in the November issue of the Journal of Psychiatric and Mental Health Nursing.

4 Nov 2011

Roundup: Mental health hospital woes; N.Y. Medicare scam bust

A Miami Herald series "Neglected to Death," focused this spring on critical breakdowns in Florida's enforcement system, including failures by the state's Agency on Health Care Administration to fully investigate deaths or to shut down some of the worst offenders among Florida's 2,850 assisted-living facilities. Although more states are using Medicaid money to pay for some portion of assisted living care for the poor, the federal government has a limited role in the facilities their oversight has been and will likely continue to be a state duty.

4 Nov 2011

Calif. Hospital Association sues over Medi-Cal provider cuts

The trade group for California's hospitals has sued state and federal officials to block a 10 percent cut in government reimbursements for health care providers who treat low-income patients. The California Hospital Association said in its suit, filed in federal district court in Los Angeles, that cuts to the Medi-Cal insurance program will threaten the ability of many hospitals to continue operating skilled nursing facilities.

4 Nov 2011

Commercial disease management models do not reduce Medicare costs in America

At a time when everyone is looking for ways to reduce health care costs in America, using commercial disease management programs to reduce the fee-for-service Medicare costs associated with chronic conditions among senior citizens seems like a practical approach.

4 Nov 2011

Investment in USAID has saved millions of lives, is critical for U.S. security

In this Politico opinion piece, Brian Atwood and colleagues, all former USAID administrators in previous Democratic or Republican administrations and current advisers to the U.S. Global Leadership Coalition, write, "Over the last half-century, USAID has had an extraordinary record of accomplishment. Using less than one percent of the U.S. budget annually, the American people have demonstrated their deepest values through USAID programs, saving tens of millions of lives worldwide with immunization programs, oral rehydration therapy, treatment for HIV/AIDS and work on other diseases."

4 Nov 2011