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Researchers create novel way to enhance MRI

Researchers at New York University and NYU Langone Medical Center have created a novel way to enhance MRI by reducing interference from large macromolecules that can often obscure images generated by current chemical exchange saturation transfer methods.

30 Apr 2013

Medicaid: Texas docs lose money; Jindal adm. official has 'improper contact' with contractor

The first question many doctors ask when new patients call for appointments is how they intend to pay. If the answer is Medicaid, the doctor can expect to lose money. The Texas Legislature has been balancing the state's budget by intentionally paying doctors 40 to 75 percent less for Medicaid patients than what private insurers pay for the same treatment (4/27).

30 Apr 2013

Federal gov't. moves against Nevada hospital for alleged patient dumping

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services gave Nevada 10 days to correct problems at Rawson-Neal Psychiatric Hospital following reports it may have improperly discharged patients and bused them out of state.

30 Apr 2013

CMS plans to increase Medicare hospital payments by 0.8%

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced the proposed increase Friday, which will raise payments for services that elderly and disabled patients receive after being admitted to hospitals.

30 Apr 2013

MRSA circulation among children greatest in hospitals

The hospital environment remains the most common source of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria, show results from a systematic review and meta-analysis looking at nasal colonization in different groups of children.

29 Apr 2013

Colombian antenatal HIV testing rates reveal health insurance paradox

The introduction of subsidized health insurance for poor people in Colombia resulted in decreased access to HIV tests in antenatal care, research shows.

29 Apr 2013

Drug alerts have variable impact on prescribing habits

Direct communication with healthcare professionals, in the form of so-called “Dear doctor” letters, can be effective in reducing inappropriate and unsafe use of medicines, Dutch scientists believe.

29 Apr 2013

First Edition: April 29, 2013

Today's headlines include a report that hospitals are questioning Medicare's rules on readmissions.

29 Apr 2013

DaVita Hospital Services receives Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation

DaVita, a division of DaVita HealthCare Partners Inc. and a leading provider of kidney care services, today announced that DaVita Hospital Services, the company's inpatient kidney care services, has received Ambulatory Health Care Accreditation from The Joint Commission.

29 Apr 2013

SLU study reveals that access to dermatologists limited for Medicaid-insured children with eczema

A recent Saint Louis University study revealed that Medicaid-insured children with eczema, an inflammatory skin condition that affects 20 percent children in the United States, do not have easy access to dermatologists.

29 Apr 2013

Providing commodities not always best solution in food security crises

In a New York Times "Opinionator" piece, journalist Tina Rosenberg examines the Obama administration's proposed changes to the U.S. food aid program, which would provide more flexibility to allow for cash purchases of food locally or from U.S. farmers, as well as end monetization.

29 Apr 2013

USAID report highlights need for better water management in agriculture

"With its recently released Water and Development Strategy, USAID highlights some practical and potentially powerful initiatives both to improve health by expanding access to clean water and sanitation and to improve food security through better water management in agriculture," Isobel Coleman, a senior fellow for U.S. foreign policy and director of the Civil Society, Markets, and Democracy Initiative at the Council on Foreign Relations, writes in the council's "Democracy in Development" blog.

29 Apr 2013

Study examines health issues of residents living nearby drilling operations

Residents living in areas near natural gas operations, also known as hydraulic fracturing, or fracking, are concerned their illnesses may be a result of nearby drilling operations.

29 Apr 2013

Proposed legislation in Congress would improve U.S. global health R&D

Writing in the Global Health Technologies Coalition's "Breakthroughs" blog, GHTC Policy Officer Ashley Bennett describes the recently introduced "21st Century Global Health Technology Act, which would make several important and welcome changes to global health research and development programs" at USAID.

29 Apr 2013

Opinion pieces address World Malaria Day

On Thursday, the international community recognized World Malaria Day, observed annually on April 25. This year's theme was "Invest in the future. Defeat malaria."

29 Apr 2013

Practice Greenhealth recognizes Virginia Mason with 2013 Partner for Change, with Distinction Award

Virginia Mason Medical Center has been recognized with the 2013 "Partner for Change, with Distinction" Award by Practice Greenhealth, the nation's leading health care membership community that empowers its members to increase their efficiencies and environmental stewardship while improving patient safety and care.

29 Apr 2013

Upcoming symposium to offer highlights of 150-year history of Hospital for Special Surgery

An upcoming symposium will offer highlights of the 150-year history of Hospital for Special Surgery and at the same time provide a fascinating look at the evolution of medicine from the "Dark Ages" of the Civil War period to modern medicine as we know it today.

29 Apr 2013

NIH halts large clinical trial of HIV vaccine candidate

"The National Institutes of Health on Thursday halted a study testing an experimental HIV vaccine after an independent review board found the vaccine did not prevent HIV infection and did not reduce the amount of HIV in the blood," Reuters reports (Steenhuysen, 4/25).

29 Apr 2013

GWCI research focuses on real needs of adolescent, young adult cancer survivors

New research out of the George Washington University Cancer Institute focuses on the difficulties of transitioning to adulthood while dealing with the long-term and late effects of cancer and its treatment.

29 Apr 2013

DKT Ethiopia using GIS technology to improve family planning, HIV prevention programs

"In just six years, DKT Ethiopia has transformed its system for tracking contraceptive sales from pins and pencils to computers and satellites and, in the process, helped create a family planning and HIV prevention success story in the Horn of Africa," David Olson, a global development communications consultant, writes in the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog.

29 Apr 2013