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U-M hopes to make concept of recycling pacemakers a life-saving reality

Millions worldwide die each year because they can't afford a pacemaker. Meanwhile heart patients in the United States say they'd be willing to donate theirs after death to someone in need.

20 Oct 2010

Health IT sector may face workforce shortage

A top federal health IT official said there is a workforce shortage in the sector that could hinder the widespread adoption of electronic medical records, but federal aide is on the way, for that, too. David Blumenthal, the national health IT coordinator, said federal training programs would meet 85 percent of the demand, which he estimated as a shortage of about 50,000 workers.

20 Oct 2010

HIV/AIDS status grim in Australia: Experts

Reports show that most Australians are complacent about getting AIDS. They feel that unless a person is homosexual or an injecting drug user or a sex worker, they are not at risk.

19 Oct 2010

API Healthcare signs contract with healthcare clients

API Healthcare, the leading healthcare-focused workforce management technology provider, today announced it has recently signed contracts with more than 30 healthcare clients seeking to improve efficiencies, reduce costs and improve patient outcomes with their end-to-end human capital optimization solutions.

14 Oct 2010

MetLife study finds Adult Day Services centers are increasing in the U.S.

There has been significant growth in the number of Adult Day Services centers in the U.S. over the past eight years, according to a new study by the MetLife Mature Market Institute. As reported in "The MetLife National Study of Adult Day Services: Providing Support to Individuals and Their Family Caregivers," there are more than 4,600 Adult Day Services (ADS) centers nationwide, a 35% increase since 2002.

13 Oct 2010

Mobile outreach program by sex workers provides key link to health, support services

A mobile outreach program staffed by current and former sex workers is associated with increased entry to detoxification and residential drug treatment among women in street-based sex work, according to an evaluation led by the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) and the University of British Columbia (UBC).

12 Oct 2010

Minnesota Foundation announces collaborative effort to improve health of underserved populations

In a report released this week, the Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota Foundation highlights the accomplishments of a collaborative effort to improve the health of underserved populations through the training and use of community health workers, titled Community health workers in Minnesota: Bridging barriers, expanding access, improving health.

12 Oct 2010

New, multidisciplinary Senior Adult Oncology Center established at Kimmel Cancer Center

The odds of developing some type of cancer increase with age; sixty percent of cancer in the United States occurs in persons aged 65 and older. At the same time, senior patients may have acute or chronic diseases that make treating their cancer challenging. That's why the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson has established a new, multidisciplinary Senior Adult Oncology Center to provide a comprehensive consultation for senior patients in order to meet those special challenges.

12 Oct 2010

VAP bundle helps eliminate hospital-acquired infection

Critically ill patients on a breathing tube are at risk not only from their injuries or diseases, but also from infections they can contract in the hospital. One of the most common infections is pneumonia from breathing tubes. A study of a new multidisciplinary protocol that has all but eliminated such infections at one hospital was reported on today at the 2010 Annual Clinical Congress of the American College of Surgeons.

7 Oct 2010

Odd foreign bodies removed from patients

Sermo, the world's largest online community for physicians, today announced its weekly hot topic. Of over 200 physician respondents to an online poll and discussion, 85% said they have removed odd foreign bodies from patients.

6 Oct 2010

Group Health gets $2 million to study value-based insurance

The effectiveness of Total Health, a unique benefits program for Group Health Cooperative employees, is the subject of a four-year study that the federal Agency for Health Research and Quality (AHRQ) recently funded. It's part of a trend to integrate care, insurance, and wellness programs and base them on research findings. The goal is to help people stay healthier and control health care costs.

6 Oct 2010

Depressed pregnant women at increased risk of delivering preterm birth and low-birth weight infants

Clinical depression puts pregnant women at increased risk of delivering prematurely and of giving birth to below-normal weight infants, according to a report published Oct. 4 in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

5 Oct 2010

Father of IVF acknowledged with a Nobel prize

Professor Robert Edwards who came to be known as the “father of In Vitro fertilization” (IVF) has won this year's Nobel prize in medicine. He is 85 and has won the 2010 Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine for his pioneering work on the in vitro fertilisation of human eggs that led to the birth of the world's first IVF baby, Louise Brown, in 1978. When he had started off initially his funding request for IVF research was turned down by Britain’s Medical Research Council (MRC) in the 1970s. His co-worker the gynaecologist Patrick Steptoe, died in 1988. Professor Edwards becomes the sole recipient of this award since it cannot be awarded posthumously.

4 Oct 2010

Scientists find several common findings on diabetes management

Diabetes is on the rise. The seventh leading cause of death in the U.S. today, it affects 24 million people, nearly 3 times the number in 1980. Another 57 million have a condition that puts them at heightened risk of the illness.

3 Oct 2010

House passes health bill for 9/11 workers, grandfathering resolution fails in Senate

The Hill's Healthwatch Blog: The House Wednesday approved a bill to cover the health care costs for emergency workers who responded to the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. "The tally was 268 to 160, with 17 Republicans supporting the measure and three Democrats voting against it. … House passage followed months of contentious debate over whether the federal government has an obligation to pay emergency workers sickened by the smoke, debris and toxic fumes caused by the attacks of 9/11.

1 Oct 2010

McDonald’s says reform law provision threatens employee health coverage

The Wall Street Journal: "McDonald's Corp. has warned federal regulators that it could drop its health insurance plan for nearly 30,000 hourly restaurant workers unless regulators waive a new requirement of the U.S. health overhaul. The move is one of the clearest indications that new rules may disrupt workers' health plans as the law ripples through the real world.

1 Oct 2010

BioVigil system can improve hand sanitizer usage

Over 99,000 Americans die each year as a result of Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs). According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control (CDC), hand hygiene is the single most effective way to combat hospital-acquired infections and prevent these unnecessary deaths.

1 Oct 2010

Health reform law bubbling up as campaign issue

The Associated Press: Lawmakers have left Washington to campaign and focus on their messages regarding the economy and health care. "Majority Democrats facing significant losses in the wake of unpopular bills to stimulate the economy and overhaul the nation's health care laws sought to do their party no further harm on Capitol Hill" (Kellman and Abrams, 9/30).

1 Oct 2010

First Edition: September 30, 2010

In today's news, McDonald's may stop providing employee health benefits unless a new health law requirement is waived.

30 Sep 2010

First responders may not be willing to report for work if disaster is a potentially lethal pandemic

Although first responders willingly put themselves in harm's way during disasters, new research indicates that they may not be as willing- if the disaster is a potentially lethal pandemic.

30 Sep 2010