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White House: More than 1 million now enrolled in Obamacare

Nearly 1 million people signed up for health insurance through the federal Obamacare exchanges between Dec. 1 and the Dec. 24 deadline for getting coverage by the start of the new year, according to figures released by the administration Sunday. The 975,000 people who enrolled during that window bring the total number of federal sign-ups to more than 1.1 million since the rocky rollout of the government's Healthcare.gov website on Oct. 1 (Allen, 12/29).

30 Dec 2013

White paper outlines pitfalls of administering Medicare Part D

Compliance is a particular concern for Health Plans and Pharmacy Benefit Managers in the Medicare Advantage and Managed Medicaid markets. With regulations continually changing in response to Health Care Reform, payers can minimize the risk of sanctions and increase plan ratings (and thus, revenue) by employing automated checks and balances, a less burdened internal system and best practice enforcement, according to a new white paper published by TMG Health.

28 Dec 2013

New research defines roles and responsibilities of patient navigators

New research out of the George Washington University Cancer Institute (GWCI) defines the roles and responsibilities of patient navigators. With the rapid growth of patient navigation, the paper seeks to develop a framework to describe similarities and differences across navigators and clarify their place in the health care system, leading to greater standardization of the profession.

28 Dec 2013

Integration of Parma Community General Hospital and EMH Healthcare into UH system receives approval

University Hospitals (UH) has received final approval from state and federal government regulators this week for the integration of Parma Community General Hospital and EMH Healthcare into the UH health system.

28 Dec 2013

Preoperative tests increasing for Medicare patients undergoing cataract surgery, despite lack of benefits

The elimination of extensive routine preoperative tests and consultations represents an area of potentially large health care savings across many disciplines, particularly for low-risk patients being evaluated for cataract surgery. It is also a major theme of the Choosing Wisely campaign from the American Board of Internal Medicine.

28 Dec 2013

PCORI awards $93.5M to patient-powered research networks to boost efficiency of health research

A network of children's hospitals, data partners, and specialty networks led by The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia was recently approved for an award from the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) to develop and expand its work as part of PCORnet: the National Patient-Centered National Clinical Research Network.

28 Dec 2013

FIDELITY project compares surgical treatment of degenerative meniscal tears to placebo surgery

The Finnish Degenerative Meniscal Lesion Study (FIDELITY) compared surgical treatment of degenerative meniscal tears to placebo surgery.

27 Dec 2013

New Jersey ranked last in efforts to control smoking and tobacco use by children

The Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids, a coalition of public health organizations, has ranked New Jersey 51 in the nation, including Washington D.C., in protecting children from smoking and tobacco use.

27 Dec 2013

A valuable guide for diabetic patients

McCord Research, Inc., founded by Darlene McCord, Ph.D., FAPWCA, has produced a valuable guide to help people with diabetes take care of their feet for a lifetime. Dr. McCord has over 30 years of experience in the skin and wound care industry. Ten years ago she also created the most successful skin and wound care product line in North America.

27 Dec 2013

Robert Wood Johnson Partners selected as new Accountable Care Organization

Robert Wood Johnson Partners has been selected as one of 123 new Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) in Medicare, providing approximately 1.5 million more Medicare beneficiaries with access to high-quality, coordinated care across the United States, Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

27 Dec 2013

Walgreens receives perfect score from CEI index for commitment to diversity and inclusion

Walgreens received a perfect score of 100 percent on the 2014 Corporate Equality Index (CEI), a national benchmarking survey and report on corporate policies and practices related to LGBT workplace equality, administered by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation.

27 Dec 2013

Streptococcus biofilms persist on objects, surfaces in daycare center for longer periods after cleaning

Numerous scientific studies have concluded that two common bacteria that cause colds, ear infections, strep throat and more serious infections cannot live for long outside the human body.

27 Dec 2013

Researchers catalogue compassionate words and actions in doctor-patient conversations

"Good to see you. I'm sorry. It sounds like you've had a tough, tough, week." Spoken by a doctor to a cancer patient, that statement is an example of compassionate behavior observed by a University of Rochester Medical Center team in a new study published by the journal Health Expectations.

27 Dec 2013

MD Now opens new urgent care center in Sunrise, Florida

MD Now Medical Centers, the fastest growing Urgent Care company in Florida today announced the opening of its newest urgent care in Sunrise, Florida at the corner of West Oakland Park and Nob Hill Road.

27 Dec 2013

SLU professor offers 6 tips to relieve stress

Have you made a New Year's resolution yet? Consider this - as we inch closer to the New Year, William Manard, M.D., assistant professor in the department of family and community medicine at Saint Louis University suggests making a broad lifestyle change by better managing your emotional health.

27 Dec 2013

ICSA awards 2014 ONC HIT certification to Acumen EHR system

Acumen Physician Solutions, a market leading EHR and practice management system for nephrology, announced today that its product Acumen EHR, Version 7.0 is compliant with the ONC 2014 Edition criteria and was certified as a Complete EHR.

27 Dec 2013

State highlights: Mass. compounding pharmacy agrees to $100M victim settlement over meningitis outbreak; Texas grand jury clears late-term abortion provider

The Massachusetts pharmacy whose tainted steroid injections were blamed for a deadly outbreak of fungal meningitis has agreed to pay more than $100 million to victims and their families, according to lawyers involved in a tentative settlement.

26 Dec 2013

Medicare drug program gets Senator's scrutiny after vulnerability report

A Senate committee chairman said he is concerned about the "serious vulnerabilities" detailed in a ProPublica report about scams that target Medicare's popular prescription drug program.

26 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: 'Parade of delays' on health law; McConnell on White House 'stunts;' update on SHOP exchange

If the website malfunctions in October and November were infuriating to supporters of health care reform, the continuing parade of delays that followed it have simply been depressing. They have contributed to the impression that the Obama administration is desperately trying to keep the new system from spinning out of control, countering the good news that 1.2 million people have signed up for insurance through the federal and state exchanges. ... Having cracked once on this subject, the White House will be pushed to do so more forcefully by the law's critics when the policies take effect next month. This should be the last concession (David Firestone, 12/23).

25 Dec 2013

Madison Dearborn Partners signs definitive agreement to acquire Ikaria

Madison Dearborn Partners announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement under which it will acquire a majority ownership position in Ikaria, Inc., a leading provider of proprietary and innovative therapies for the critical care units in hospitals.

25 Dec 2013

Health Care News and Research

White House: More than 1 million now enrolled in Obamacare

White paper outlines pitfalls of administering Medicare Part D

New research defines roles and responsibilities of patient navigators

Integration of Parma Community General Hospital and EMH Healthcare into UH system receives approval

Preoperative tests increasing for Medicare patients undergoing cataract surgery, despite lack of benefits

PCORI awards $93.5M to patient-powered research networks to boost efficiency of health research

FIDELITY project compares surgical treatment of degenerative meniscal tears to placebo surgery

New Jersey ranked last in efforts to control smoking and tobacco use by children

A valuable guide for diabetic patients

Robert Wood Johnson Partners selected as new Accountable Care Organization

Walgreens receives perfect score from CEI index for commitment to diversity and inclusion

Streptococcus biofilms persist on objects, surfaces in daycare center for longer periods after cleaning

Researchers catalogue compassionate words and actions in doctor-patient conversations

MD Now opens new urgent care center in Sunrise, Florida

SLU professor offers 6 tips to relieve stress

ICSA awards 2014 ONC HIT certification to Acumen EHR system

State highlights: Mass. compounding pharmacy agrees to $100M victim settlement over meningitis outbreak; Texas grand jury clears late-term abortion provider

Medicare drug program gets Senator's scrutiny after vulnerability report

Viewpoints: 'Parade of delays' on health law; McConnell on White House 'stunts;' update on SHOP exchange

Madison Dearborn Partners signs definitive agreement to acquire Ikaria

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

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