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Henry Schein net sales increase 9.3% to $2.6 billion in Q2 2014

Henry Schein, Inc., the world's largest provider of health care products and services to office-based dental, animal health and medical practitioners, today reported record financial results for the quarter ended June 28, 2014.

4 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 4, 2014

Today's headlines include a variety of health policy stories reflecting developments on the state level.

4 Aug 2014

Clinical trial to look for genetic information in cancer patients

Sanford Health is working to enroll approximately 50 adult patients whose cancer has progressed after the first line of treatment or who have rare cancers without standard treatment options in a clinical trial to look for genetic information that could help customize treatment options.

4 Aug 2014

FSMB takes effort to educate physicians on safe prescribing of opioid analgesics

The Federation of State Medical Boards (FSMB) announced today that the nation's state medical boards have kicked off a multi-state effort to educate health care professionals on the safe and responsible prescribing of extended-release (ER) and long-acting (LA) opioid analgesics for patients with chronic pain.

4 Aug 2014

Consumption of resistant starch may help reduce colorectal cancer risk linked with high red meat diet

Consumption of a type of starch that acts like fiber may help reduce colorectal cancer risk associated with a high red meat diet, according to a study published in Cancer Prevention Research, a journal of the American Association for Cancer Research.

4 Aug 2014

State highlights: Time of turmoil for Georgia hospitals; Oregon Medicaid takes aim at expensive heptatitis C drug

A selection of health policy stories from Gerogia, Wisconsin, Texas, Oregon, Florida, Michigan, Massachusetts, Connecticut and North Carolina.

4 Aug 2014

Research: 'Telephone triage' systems do not reduce overall practice workload

Demand for general practice appointments is rising rapidly, and in an attempt to deal with this, many practices have introduced systems of telephone triage.

4 Aug 2014

LGBT individuals who want to conceive child often face physiological and legal challenges

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender individuals who want to conceive a child may face the same problems as some of their heterosexual and cisgendered peers, such as reduced fertility, but in addition they often face additional physiological and legal challenges to become parents.

4 Aug 2014

Research roundup: The effect of expensive cancer therapies; missed hospital handovers; children's mental health needs

Medicare uses more than a dozen different payment systems to set payment rates for the medical items and services the program covers for beneficiaries.

4 Aug 2014

ACA provides opportunities to increase availability of CR programs in workplace

Through financial incentives and an emphasis on proven health outcomes, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) provides opportunities to increase the availability of cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs—including offering CR as part of worksite health programs (WHPs), according to an article in the August Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine, official publication of the American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM).

4 Aug 2014

Administration says next marketplace enrollment season will have 'bumps'

In a House hearing, the number two officials at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services responds to a critical GAO report and says while improvements to the federal online exchange are being made, it still "won't be perfect."

4 Aug 2014

Medicaid expansion offers financial boost for hospitals

Second quarter earnings reports highlight how health law provisions are helping increase hospital companies' profits.

3 Aug 2014

Medicare drug premiums to rise $1 a month in 2015

The modest increase of the monthly premium to $32 comes even as officials are concerned about the impact of expensive specialty drugs, such as Sovaldi, which cures hepatitis C but costs $1,000 a pill.

3 Aug 2014

Researchers find lap infants at increased risk

In a first-of-its-kind study, researchers at University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital found that lap infants may be at greater risk for death on a commercial airline flight.

3 Aug 2014

Health law critics ask Supreme Court to take case about subsidies

The appeal comes after the Fourth U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond upheld the administration's use of subsidies on the federal insurance marketplaces.

3 Aug 2014

Use of electronic reminders helps reduce risk of surgical site infections

The use of electronic reminders such as text messages, emails or voicemails is highly effective at getting surgical patients to adhere to a preadmission antiseptic showering regimen known to help reduce risk of surgical site infections (SSIs), according to a first-of-its-kind study published in the August issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons.

3 Aug 2014

Health law negatives reach an all-time high

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation's monthly tracking poll, negative views of the health law reach a high point, erasing six months of gradual improvements in popularity.

3 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 1, 2014

Today's headlines include more questions about how healthcare.gov will function during the next open enrollment period.

1 Aug 2014

Depressive symptoms and pain in patients on dialysis may have serious negative consequences

Depressive symptoms and pain in patients on dialysis may have serious negative consequences for patients' health and increase the need for costly medical services, according to a study appearing in an upcoming issue of the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN).

1 Aug 2014

Study confirms benefit of surgical treatment for migraines

Dr. Oren Tessler, Assistant Professor of Clinical Surgery at LSU Health Sciences Center New Orleans School of Medicine, is part of a team of plastic and reconstructive surgeons who report a high success rate using a method to screen and select patients for a specific surgical migraine treatment technique.

1 Aug 2014