Health Care News and Research

RSS

Viewpoints: Turning to new legal challenges to ACA; is the law working?; Medicaid problems in N.C.

The Supreme Court's term ended in June with another Affordable Care Act ruling, and the ACA survived largely unscathed. Burwell v. Hobby Lobby has important ramifications for women's health and religious freedom but does not invalidate a single section of the law.

11 Jul 2014

Study explores key pathways for establishing successful accountable care organizations

Strong leadership, reliable health care coordination and first-rate information technology are key for academic medical centers seeking to establish successful accountable care organizations, according to a Johns Hopkins study published in the journal Academic Medicine this week.

11 Jul 2014

Longer looks: Doctors' misunderstanding of test results; the medical facts about birth control

[Gerd] Gigerenzer, director of the Harding Center for Risk Literacy in Berlin, is an expert in uncertainty and decision-making. His new book, Risk Savvy, takes aim at health professionals for not giving patients the information they need to make choices about healthcare. But it's not just that doctors and dentists can't reel off the relevant stats for every treatment option. Even when the information is placed in front of them, Gigerenzer says, they often can't make sense of it (William Kremer, 7/6).

11 Jul 2014

Are insurers using drug tiers to cherrypick healthier enrollees?

Critics charge that some plans continue to discriminate against sick people by putting certain drugs in the highest-cost drug tiers, requiring consumers to pay big out-of-pocket expenses.

11 Jul 2014

Self-competence seems to decrease quality of life for children living with cardiac pacemaker

For children and teens living with a cardiac pacemaker, a low sense of self-competence seems to contribute to decreased quality of life, reports a study in the July Journal of Developmental & Behavioral Pediatrics, the official journal of the Society for Developmental and Behavioral Pediatrics.

11 Jul 2014

McConnell counters Medicare ad with one of his own

Also, the Washington Post fact-checks another ad which positions Sen. Lamar Alexander, R-Tenn., as a key Obamacare opponent and claims the health law increased insurance premiums 50 percent.

11 Jul 2014

Va. lawmakers to take up Medicaid debate in September

State Republican legislative leaders who opposed expansion of the health care program for low-income residents announced that they will call the legislature into session to weigh the governor's proposal.

11 Jul 2014

Prisons cut health care costs, but aging inmate population threatens budgets

Health care for prisoners has long taken a bite out of state budgets, but a new report from the Pew Charitable Trusts says prisons have cut back on those costs. They've outsourced some health services, used tele-medicine, and simply incarcerated fewer people. But the aging of the inmate population threatens to drive those costs right back up (Gorenstein, 7/9).

11 Jul 2014

Those with mental illness face 80% unemployment

But, the report says that while 60 percent of those with mental illnesses want to work, only 2 percent of people in the public mental health system get help to find work.

11 Jul 2014

Palliative care delivered early during hospitalization can cut costs for critically ill patients

Palliative care delivered early during hospitalization can help cut costs for critically ill patients, finds a new study in Health Services Research.

11 Jul 2014

Wall Street seeks big bang from urgent care

Urgent care has mushroomed into an estimated $14.5 billion business, as investors try to profit from changes in health care, reports The New York Times.

11 Jul 2014

Medicare providers say they lose millions due to excessive audits

Health care providers say they're losing millions that are tied up in appeals because of the increasing number of Medicare audits. Meanwhile, the trade group representing family physicians complains about Congress' failure to fix Medicare's outdated physician payment formula.

11 Jul 2014

Insurers test new payment models for health care providers

The patient-centered medical homes model, which has been the hallmark of one such experiment by CareFirst BlueCross BlueShield, is among the approaches receiving attention for reducing costs and reducing hospitalizations.

11 Jul 2014

HHS grant to support new model of care for patients with complex cancer

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has announced a three-year grant to University Hospitals Case Medical Center Seidman Cancer Center totaling $4.7 million to support a new national model aimed at improving care for patients with complex cancer.

11 Jul 2014

Pennsylvania releases statewide guidelines on use of prescription opioids for chronic non-cancer pain

On behalf of Governor Tom Corbett, the Pennsylvania Departments of Drug and Alcohol Programs and Health, in partnership with the Pennsylvania Medical Society, today released statewide guidelines to address the use of prescription opioids to treat chronic non-cancer pain.

11 Jul 2014

Congressional Democrats introduce legislation to undo Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision

With only a limited calendar to work with, Democrats view this push as an important aspect of the 2014 congressional campaign.

11 Jul 2014

Sigma-Tau Rare Disease seeks EMA approval for use of Oncaspar for ALL treatment

Sigma Tau Pharma Ltd. (hereinafter referred to as Sigma-Tau Rare Disease), today announced the submission of an application to the European Medicines Agency for use of its pegylatedL-asparaginase, Oncaspar (pegaspargase) for the treatment of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) as part of a multi-agent chemotherapeutic regimen.

10 Jul 2014

Survey: People with new health law insurance are generally happy

About 9.5 million Americans gained coverage during the health law's open enrollment period, and the uninsured rate for working-age adults fell from 20 percent to 15 percent, according to a survey by the Commonwealth Fund.

10 Jul 2014

National Psoriasis Foundation to double the number of researchers studying psoriasis

National Psoriasis Foundation will double the number of researchers studying psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis while also cutting in half the number of people who say these chronic conditions are a problem in their daily lives as part of its new five-year strategic plan and mission to cure psoriatic disease and improve the lives of those affected.

10 Jul 2014

90.7% of non-cannabis users meet criteria for problematic drug use, shows study

Of emergency patients who reported any drug other than marijuana as their primary drug of use, 90.7 percent met the criteria for problematic drug use.

10 Jul 2014

Health Care News and Research

Viewpoints: Turning to new legal challenges to ACA; is the law working?; Medicaid problems in N.C.

Study explores key pathways for establishing successful accountable care organizations

Longer looks: Doctors' misunderstanding of test results; the medical facts about birth control

Are insurers using drug tiers to cherrypick healthier enrollees?

Self-competence seems to decrease quality of life for children living with cardiac pacemaker

McConnell counters Medicare ad with one of his own

Va. lawmakers to take up Medicaid debate in September

Prisons cut health care costs, but aging inmate population threatens budgets

Those with mental illness face 80% unemployment

Palliative care delivered early during hospitalization can cut costs for critically ill patients

Wall Street seeks big bang from urgent care

Medicare providers say they lose millions due to excessive audits

Insurers test new payment models for health care providers

HHS grant to support new model of care for patients with complex cancer

Pennsylvania releases statewide guidelines on use of prescription opioids for chronic non-cancer pain

Congressional Democrats introduce legislation to undo Supreme Court's Hobby Lobby decision

Sigma-Tau Rare Disease seeks EMA approval for use of Oncaspar for ALL treatment

Survey: People with new health law insurance are generally happy

National Psoriasis Foundation to double the number of researchers studying psoriasis

90.7% of non-cannabis users meet criteria for problematic drug use, shows study

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

Latest News