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MerTK inhibition in leukocytes decreases tumor growth and metastasiss

The tyrosine kinase MerTK plays a prominent role in the body's immune response. MerTK signaling helps "calm" the body's first line of immunity, the macrophage, while it performs the routine duties - clearing cells that die and healing damaged tissue.

9 Jul 2013

Hospital discharge data provides a population-level picture of patient safety events in Pennsylvania

If all medical errors were counted together as a single cause, they would likely rank as the third leading cause of death in the United States. As health care personnel race to improve the quality of their care to save lives and prevent unneeded harm, a new study indicates there is more they can do to learn about what errors are occurring and why.

9 Jul 2013

Washington area hospital group launches its own health insurance plan

In other industry news, the growth of jobs in the health care sector could be a double-edged sword and hospitals seek solution to "alarm fatigue."

9 Jul 2013

First Edition: July 8, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations, including news about a new ad campaign against the health law, more reaction to the administration's delay of the employer mandate provision and states efforts to restrict abortions.

8 Jul 2013

Radiologists must become gatekeepers of medical imaging, says Penn Medicine's Saurabh Jha

Big changes are coming to the US health care system—some in response to the mounting scrutiny of medical imaging. New task force recommendations, the Choosing Wisely campaign, and Affordable Care Act policies are all attempting to curtail overtesting—with CT scans, MRIs and any other screening often ordered unnecessarily—that can drive up medical costs, lead to waste and unnecessary radiation, and prompt undue anxiety about false positive results.

6 Jul 2013

Emergency medical technicians, paramedics in Buffalo area reject Rural/Metro contract concessions

A majority of the emergency medical technicians and paramedics working for Rural/Metro medical services voted to reject the company's final contract offer on July 3.

6 Jul 2013

Regence to offer expanded health coverage to Oregon employers

Regence BlueCross BlueShield of Oregon announced today it will offer expanded coverage to Oregon companies through a Professional Employer Organization initiative with ADP TotalSource.

6 Jul 2013

St. Michael Hospital receives $4.7M grant to conduct policy-driven prescription drug research

An Ontario-wide research network based at St. Michael's Hospital has received a three-year, $4.7 million grant from the province of Ontario to conduct policy-driven prescription drug research.

6 Jul 2013

Affordable Care Act employer mandate requirement postponed for a year

The Administration announced on Tuesday, July 2, that it is postponing for one year the requirement that employers with 50 or more full-time employees provide health insurance to such employees or face significant monetary penalties.

5 Jul 2013

Weekend reading: Taking stock of your body; A designer seeks to improve health care; A researcher's quest to lower suicide rates

Today, I've been on the phone four times, for an average of 24 minutes a call. My last phone call was 22 minutes 23 seconds long, according to the digital time device on my landline. It took me exactly 45 minutes and 10 seconds on the train to reach Brooklyn the other night: I counted the seconds off on my smart phone. My average mile when I ran 5K yesterday was 8 minutes and 45 seconds that showed up on the pedometer. (Nothing to boast about, I know.) ... I am able to hold my plank at the gym for 54 seconds rather than the minute I always thought I could, which I know thanks to my phone's stopwatch. My optimal sleep time is seven hours and 20 minutes and I wake up twice a night: I discovered that from a wristband that measures sleep duration and intensity.

4 Jul 2013

Viewpoints on Medicare: Advantage program offers roadmap to improving the program; Rare bipartisan support for doctor pay fix

Concern about the size and cost of Medicare is understandable. With 10,000 or so baby boomers due to reach age 65 every day for the next 18 years, Medicare enrollment is exploding, and based on our projections, by 2023 -- 10 years from now -- should reach 66 million, up from 50.3. The need to find better ways to deliver quality health care to seniors at a reasonable cost is obvious. What's interesting is that an effective way to do this already exists: the Medicare Advantage program, which some in Washington are seeking to curtail (Daniel Gorlin and John Kaplan, 7/2).

4 Jul 2013

State highlights: Docs prescribe narcotics too often, CDC chief says; Fla. hospices get close scrutiny; Calif. Medi-Cal provider rate bump delayed

The nation's top public health official on Tuesday sharply criticized the widespread treatment of aches and pains with narcotics, saying that doctors are prescribing such drugs too soon, too often and for too long -- putting patients at risk of addiction and overdose. Dr. Tom Frieden, director of the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, said that doctors are relying on these powerful drugs to treat chronic pain when physical therapy, exercise and other remedies would be safer and in many cases more effective (Girion and Glover, 7/2).

4 Jul 2013

Announcement of delay in health law's employer mandate sparks heated -- and contrary -- views

Among range of perspectives offered by commentators: It is "the right thing to do" but the wrong way; "administration has undermined its sole claim to greatness;" "doesn't have much effect."

4 Jul 2013

AMA president says docs group will do 'whatever we can' on the health law

In an interview, Ardis Dee Hoven, the American Medical Association's new president, says that there is no formal role, but that the organization has been in touch with the Obama administration about how physicians can help patients get the information they need. Meanwhile, The Hill reports on a consumer survey that finds the health overhaul is not a consistent topic of conversation between doctors and patients.

4 Jul 2013

Short on funds, HHS failed to investigate 1,200 fraud cases last year

HHS was unable to investigate 1,200 cases of suspected Medicare or Medicaid fraud last year because the watchdog agency inside the department is stretched so thin.

4 Jul 2013

Expertly written, practical handbook of pediatric thrombosis and hemostasis

An expertly written, practical handbook for the clinical assessment and management of children with inherited or acquired bleeding and clotting disorders

4 Jul 2013

Businesses welcome enforcement delay for the health overhaul's employer mandate

Large employers, many of which already provide coverage to full-time workers, cheered the news because it would relieve them of complex new reporting requirements. Businesses with fewer than 50 employees are not subject to the coverage mandate.

4 Jul 2013

New study finds inherited genetic contribution in autism with intellectual disability

Researchers are striving to understand the different genetic structures that underlie at least a subset of autism spectrum disorders. In cases where the genetic code is in error, did that happen anew in the patient, perhaps through mutation or copying error, or was it inherited? A new study in the American Journal of Human Genetics finds evidence that there may often be a recessive, inherited genetic contribution in autism with significant intellectual disability.

4 Jul 2013

UnitedHealthcare to again review Tricare specialty care referrals

The Department of Defense will once again allow UnitedHealthcare to review and authorize every specialty care referral in Tricare. The insurer also notified California that it will no longer sell individual insurance in that state.

4 Jul 2013

State exchanges largely unaffected by delay in employer mandate

Officials in California and Minnesota say that neither the timing, nor the content of insurance coverage offered in their new online insurance marketplaces will be affected by the administration's decision to suspend enforcement of penalties on large employers until 2015.

4 Jul 2013

Health Care News and Research

MerTK inhibition in leukocytes decreases tumor growth and metastasiss

Hospital discharge data provides a population-level picture of patient safety events in Pennsylvania

Washington area hospital group launches its own health insurance plan

First Edition: July 8, 2013

Radiologists must become gatekeepers of medical imaging, says Penn Medicine's Saurabh Jha

Emergency medical technicians, paramedics in Buffalo area reject Rural/Metro contract concessions

Regence to offer expanded health coverage to Oregon employers

St. Michael Hospital receives $4.7M grant to conduct policy-driven prescription drug research

Affordable Care Act employer mandate requirement postponed for a year

Weekend reading: Taking stock of your body; A designer seeks to improve health care; A researcher's quest to lower suicide rates

Viewpoints on Medicare: Advantage program offers roadmap to improving the program; Rare bipartisan support for doctor pay fix

State highlights: Docs prescribe narcotics too often, CDC chief says; Fla. hospices get close scrutiny; Calif. Medi-Cal provider rate bump delayed

Announcement of delay in health law's employer mandate sparks heated -- and contrary -- views

AMA president says docs group will do 'whatever we can' on the health law

Short on funds, HHS failed to investigate 1,200 fraud cases last year

Expertly written, practical handbook of pediatric thrombosis and hemostasis

Businesses welcome enforcement delay for the health overhaul's employer mandate

New study finds inherited genetic contribution in autism with intellectual disability

UnitedHealthcare to again review Tricare specialty care referrals

State exchanges largely unaffected by delay in employer mandate

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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