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Research roundup: Benefits of smaller practices; Rx price growth; fixing Medicare claims reviews

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services within the Department of Health and Human Services has taken steps to prevent its contractors from conducting certain duplicative postpayment claims reviews - reviews of the same claims that are not permitted by the agency - but CMS neither has reliable data nor provides sufficient oversight and guidance to measure and fully prevent duplication.

16 Aug 2014

WHO taps UTMB to lead emerging infectious disease vaccine efforts

The world experts on vaccine development at the University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston have received an international designation acknowledging their unique niche in a sphere where research, government regulation and big pharma often collide.

16 Aug 2014

Assessing stroke survivors for medication self-administration ability may predict memory disorder

Kessler stroke researchers and colleagues have identified an association between over-optimistic estimation of one's own ability to take medications accurately, and memory loss among stroke survivors.

16 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Enrollment 'plummeting'?; Arkansas' 'boondoggle'; move Medicare to Obamacare exchanges

In the latest leg of their endless journey to find bad news about the Affordable Care Act, conservative analysts and websites have seized on some ambiguous figures to declare that enrollment is "plummeting," "shrinking," "sinking rapidly"--choose your headline. The most charitable interpretation of this claim is that it's based on extreme cherry-picking. The most accurate interpretation is that it's wrong (Michael Hiltzik, 8/13).

15 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 15, 2014

Today's headlines include a variety of updates regarding health policy and the health care marketplace.

15 Aug 2014

Researchers now have a clear picture of bacterial immune system

Bacteria's ability to destroy viruses has long puzzled scientists, but researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health say they now have a clear picture of the bacterial immune system and say its unique shape is likely why bacteria can so quickly recognize and destroy their assailants.

15 Aug 2014

Cases of Ebola virus in West Africa continue to rise

Since the Ebola virus outbreak was first reported in March there have been nearly 2,000 cases and over 1,000 deaths in Guinea, Liberia, Nigeria, and Sierra Leone. This makes it the most serious Ebola epidemic to date.

15 Aug 2014

Young inner-city children appear to suffer from food allergies

Already known for their higher-than-usual risk of asthma and environmental allergies, young inner-city children appear to suffer disproportionately from food allergies as well, according to results of a study led by scientists at the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

15 Aug 2014

Ebola virus disease poses new challenges for healthcare professionals

The outbreak of Ebola virus disease that has claimed more than 1,000 lives in West Africa this year poses a serious, ongoing threat to that region: the spread to capital cities and Nigeria-Africa's most populous nation-presents new challenges for healthcare professionals.

15 Aug 2014

Food allergies more common in young inner-city children

15 Aug 2014

Family intervention may attenuate early psychosis

An intervention based around family psychoeducation reduces symptoms and improves functioning in patients at clinical high risk of psychosis or experiencing early first-episode psychosis, say researchers.

14 Aug 2014

Low intake of dietary salt could be dangerous

Findings from a large, four-year study suggest that an inadequate amount of salt in the diet could increase the risk of poor cardiovascular outcomes and death.

14 Aug 2014

Researchers examine reason for patients being discharged from hospice care

About 1 in 5 Medicare patients is discharged from hospice care alive, whether due to patients' informed choice, a change in their condition, or inappropriate actions by the hospice to save on hospitalization costs related to terminal illness.

14 Aug 2014

Researchers show effects of increased and decreased sodium intake on blood pressure

Two reports from a global collaborative study involving hundreds of investigators from 18 countries published today in the New England Journal of Medicine are shaking up conventional wisdom around salt consumption.

14 Aug 2014

More than ½ of emergency department patients age 65 and older are malnourished

More than half of emergency department patients age 65 and older who were seen at UNC Hospitals during an 8-week period were either malnourished or at risk for malnutrition.

14 Aug 2014

Research and planning to meet health needs of people living with HIV

As effective treatments for HIV become more widely available in low- and middle-income countries, there's an urgent need to assess and manage health risks in the growing number of people living with HIV.

14 Aug 2014

Regular exercise linked with decrease in incidence of breast cancer in African American women

Regular exercise, including brisk walking, is associated with a decrease in the incidence of breast cancer in African American women.

14 Aug 2014

Researchers discover new clue to understanding how TB medication attacks dormant TB bacteria

Researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health say they have discovered a new clue to understanding how the most important medication for tuberculosis (TB) works to attack dormant TB bacteria in order to shorten treatment.

13 Aug 2014

MRSA and antibiotic resistance is a major health threat

Antibiotic resistance continues at an alarming rate with the indiscriminate overuse of antibiotics given to humans and animals.

13 Aug 2014

Heart failure is major public health burden in many LMICs

Heart failure is a major public health burden in many low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), with substantial variation in the presentation, causes, management, and outcomes of heart failure across different LMICs, according to a study published in this week's PLOS Medicine.

From CSL Ltd 13 Aug 2014