Health Care News and Research

RSS

UnitedHealth report examines how doctors get paid

A new report from UnitedHealth Group Inc. takes aim at the way U.S. doctors get paid, saying the nation could save up to $1 trillion over the next decade in health care costs if it were possible to "unleash the potential of payment reform initiatives."

6 Dec 2012

WHO establishes global monitoring framework for NCDs

"The World Health Organization (WHO) established a global monitoring framework for non-communicable diseases (NCDs) at a Geneva meeting on November 9, 2012 -- a little over a year after the U.N. General Assembly adopted a political declaration on NCDs," Management Sciences for Health's "Global Health Impact" blog reports, noting Ambassador Betty King, permanent representative of the U.S. to the U.N. and other international organizations in Geneva, announced the framework in November.

6 Dec 2012

PEPFAR to buy additional 150 rapid TB testing devices

PEPFAR will purchase up to 150 rapid tuberculosis (TB) Xpert testing devices and cartridges to test about 450,000 people for TB, "addressing a need to improve diagnoses of drug-resistant strains of disease, and to identify the disease in HIV-positive people in sub-Saharan Africa and Myanmar, the Office of the Global AIDS Coordinator announced" Tuesday, the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog reports.

6 Dec 2012

Report examines partnership between PEPFAR, Botswana

This report from the Center for Strategic & International Studies (CSIS), titled "Competing Pressures for U.S. PEPFAR In Botswana: Rising Ambitions, Declining Resources," examines how the "partnership will be tested as the United States and Botswana negotiate a complex, multiyear handoff of PEPFAR-supported HIV/AIDS activities and as U.S. financial assistance is reduced," the report summary states.

6 Dec 2012

World Bank study examines quality of health care in India

A study led by World Bank economist Jishnu Das and published in Health Affairs on Monday examines the quality of primary care delivered by private and public health care providers in rural and urban India, a World Bank press release notes.

6 Dec 2012

Overlap in competing budget proposals points way to deal

The Associated Press reports the White House and House Republicans have identified areas of significant overlap that could form the basis for an agreement after posturing gives way to actual bargaining.

6 Dec 2012

Global Post examines unproven, unscientific HIV treatments

Global Post examines how "many HIV patients around the world continue to turn to more affordable but far less reliable treatments" instead of proven -- but more expensive -- therapies, such as antiretroviral (ARV) drugs.

6 Dec 2012

Government announces fraud collections hit record $5 billion

The Justice Department's civil division recovered a record $5 billion in the past fiscal year from companies that defrauded taxpayers, with much of the abuse occurring in the health care and mortgage industries.

6 Dec 2012

Health care programs a clear target in deficit reduction efforts

As negotiators debate proposals to trim entitlement programs such as Medicare and Medicaid, stakeholders ranging from public hospitals to physician groups lobby to protect their interests.

6 Dec 2012

Supreme Court hears arguments in hospitals' Medicare claims lawsuit

A majority of Supreme Court justices on Tuesday sounded skeptical of a suit brought by hospitals to reopen Medicare claims as much as 25 years old because of calculations that were found to have underpaid them.

6 Dec 2012

Johns Hopkins focuses on MRSA, motherhood in November-December 2012 research news brief

Johns Hopkins Nursing researchers focus on MRSA, motherhood, hospital stress, intimate partner violence, and more in the November-December 2012 research news brief.

6 Dec 2012

U.S. must maintain commitment to research outlined in AIDS blueprint

Noting the recent release of the "PEPFAR Blueprint: Creating an AIDS-free Generation", Kim Lufkin, communications officer at the Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC), writes in the organization's "Breakthroughs" blog, "It's commendable that the U.S. government is continuing its legacy as a leader in the fight against HIV/AIDS, as this blueprint indicates.

6 Dec 2012

Studies gauge health law's impact on consumer savings, Rx drug coverage

The Commonwealth Fund concluded that consumers saved $1.5 billion in 2011 as a result of a provision that limits how much insurers can spend on expenses not related to medical care. Meanwhile, Avalere Health found that drug coverage plans offered on health exchanges will vary by state.

6 Dec 2012

Poorer cancer patients less likely to have access to experimental drug trials

Among people with advanced cancer, poorer patients are less likely to be referred for clinical trials of experimental drugs, a new study from the UK suggests.

6 Dec 2012

Maryland P3 Program can improve outcomes of patients with chronic diseases

A new program guide, published by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), features the Maryland Patients, Pharmacists, Partnerships (P3) as an effective model of how health care teams that include pharmacists can improve the outcomes of patients with chronic diseases.

6 Dec 2012

States continue sorting out choices about health exchanges, Medicaid expansion

Kansas, South Dakota and Texas are among the states still making decisions -- or reconsidering old ones -- about the health law's insurance exchanges and the Medicaid expansion.

6 Dec 2012

Vaccine-derived polio outbreak shows gaps in immunization coverage in Pakistan

Though "Pakistan has made a lot of progress this year in wiping out polio," a "recent outbreak of polio there has health officials concerned about the overall effectiveness of the effort to eliminate polio in that country," NPR's "Shots" blog reports.

6 Dec 2012

MSF expresses concerns regarding global vaccination efforts ahead of GAVI forum

"This week, the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) is holding a forum in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania," Guardian health editor Sarah Boseley writes in her "Global Health Blog," noting, "Invited are 700 experts from all the organizations and countries GAVI works with, funding immunization programs across the globe and in some of the poorest places on the planet."

6 Dec 2012

University of Akron devises novel design for future wellness programs

A computer engineering professor at The University of Akron has devised a novel design for future wellness programs. The National Science Foundation praised the proposal and awarded $1.3 million to test and validate the Personal Wellness Management System.

6 Dec 2012

Synthetic marijuana linked to 11,406 of 4.9M drug-related ED visits in 2010

Street forms of synthetic cannabinoids - so-called "synthetic marijuana" - were linked to 11,406 of the 4.9 million drug-related emergency department (ED) visits in 2010, according to a new report by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA).

6 Dec 2012