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Mount Sinai Hospital earns top rankings on the U.S. News & World Report's Best Hospitals Honor Roll

By earning "top rankings" in six out of 16 medical specialties, The Mount Sinai Hospital achieved "Honor Roll" status in this year's U.S. News & World Report "Best Hospitals" guidebook.

16 Jul 2014

Cedars-Sinai named to Honor Roll in America's Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report

With 12 medical specialties rated among the finest in the nation, Cedars-Sinai has been named to the Honor Roll in the 2014-15 issue of America's Best Hospitals by U.S. News & World Report.

16 Jul 2014

Viewpoints: 'Tradeoffs among access, quality and costs'; Obamacare as a political issue

One of the oft-repeated arguments in favor of the Affordable Care Act is that it will reduce people's need for more intensive care by increasing their access to preventive care.

16 Jul 2014

Survey: More than 10 million people received health law assistance from health law 'assisters'

According to the Kaiser Family Foundation, about 28,000 assisters nationwide were involved in helping as consumers explore their new health insurance options under the ACA.

16 Jul 2014

CHEST to host SimGHOSTS for 4th annual meeting

The American College of Chest Physicians (CHEST) announced today the organization will host SimGHOSTS, The Gathering Of Healthcare Simulation Technology Specialists, for the organization's 4th annual meeting, in its new Innovation, Simulation, and Training Center in Glenview, Illinois, from August 5-8.

16 Jul 2014

North Carolina Gov. leaves 'door open' to Medicaid expansion

The Republican governor said he wants to fix the current system first, but would consider expansion if federal officials allowed the state to craft its own plan.

16 Jul 2014

States grapple with mental illness issues; Oregon moves closer to limiting Medicaid patients' access to new hepatitis C drugs

The numbers, posted daily on the Cook County sheriff's website, would be alarming at an urgent care clinic, let alone a jail: On a Wednesday, 36 percent of all new arrivals report having a mental illness. On a Friday, it's 54 percent. But inside the razor wire framing the 96-acre compound, the faces and voices of the newly arrested confirm its accidental role as Chicago's treatment center of last resort for people with serious mental illnesses (Geller, 7/14).

16 Jul 2014

NBCCEDP program markedly reduces death, illness from cervical cancer

A 23-year old federal program for the early detection and treatment of cervical cancer markedly reduces illness and death among underserved, low-income women, yet its impact has been reduced by the fact that it has reached only 10 percent of the eligible population, finds a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

16 Jul 2014

Telecare intervention leads to improvement in chronic musculoskeletal pain

A telephone-delivered intervention, which included automated symptom monitoring, produced clinically meaningful improvements in chronic musculoskeletal pain compared to usual care, according to a study in the July 16 issue of JAMA.

16 Jul 2014

VA makes disability payments without evidence to cut backlog

The Department of Veterans Affairs is making disability payments to thousands of veterans without adequate medical evidence they deserve the benefits as the agency attempts to cut a huge backlog of claims, a department watchdog says.

16 Jul 2014

HHS offers $100 million in funds for states Medicaid programs to improve payment systems

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is offering the assistance in hopes that states will be able to streamline processes in ways that will ultimately lead to better patient care.

16 Jul 2014

Florida hospital to pay $1M settlement in false claims case

The settlement comes in what has been a closely watched Medicare overbilling case filed against Halifax Hospital.

15 Jul 2014

Help wanted: CEO for hard-to-manage federal insurance website

Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell is expected to name someone to oversee the operations of healthcare.gov to keep it from becoming a joke again on late night TV. Also in the news is an examination of the small business marketplaces.

15 Jul 2014

Fact checker finds Dems' rhetoric on Hobby Lobby decision overheated

The Washington Post's Glenn Kessler says in some cases the responses from Democrats "has gotten way ahead of the facts." Meanwhile, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., says the House Republicans push to sue President Barack Obama has no legal merit.

15 Jul 2014

Mass. measure introduced to restore some protections after High Court decision

The bill, which was filed by State Senator Harriette L. Chandler, seeks to buttress existing laws and add new protections for women entering and leaving abortion clinics. It would do so within the confines of the Supreme Court's recent ruling on abortion clinic "buffer zones."

15 Jul 2014