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'Obamacare' plays starring role in first night of convention (video)

This collection of Kaiser Health News video excerpts show clips in which several speakers cited the 2010 health law as a signature achievement of the Obama administration Tuesday night at the Democratic National Convention in Charlotte, N.C.

6 Sep 2012

Cholera vaccine offers herd immunity, study from Zanzibar shows

"Cholera vaccine gives indirect protection to unvaccinated people in communities where a substantial fraction of the population gets the vaccine," according to a study from the island of Zanzibar in East Africa, published in the Lancet on Tuesday, NPR's "Shots" blog reports.

6 Sep 2012

Blog examines results of independent AMFm evaluation draft report

"In mid-July, ... the near-final draft of the independent evaluation of the Affordable Medicines Facility -- Malaria (AMFm) was released," Victoria Fan, a research fellow at the Center for Global Development (CGD), and Heather Lanthorn, a doctoral candidate at Harvard School of Public Health, write in this post in the center's "Global Health Policy" blog.

6 Sep 2012

Kenya to investigate allegations of forced sterilizations among HIV-positive women

"Kenya has launched an investigation after researchers claimed HIV-positive women were being routinely sterilized without their consent in government hospitals," the Guardian reports.

6 Sep 2012

Will Medicare's quality incentives be big enough to make a difference?

Incentives are among the quality issues coming to the fore as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services prepares to hand out bonuses and penalties based on how hospitals perform.

6 Sep 2012

WHO releases dengue strategy report, sets goal of cutting related deaths in half by 2020

"Saying dengue virus infections and deaths have mushroomed in recent years, the World Health Organization (WHO) recently released a strategy report that sets a goal of cutting deaths in half and reducing cases by 25 percent over the next eight years," CIDRAP reports.

6 Sep 2012

Nearly one-third of under-five children malnourished in southern Afghanistan, survey shows

Approximately one-third of children under the age of five in southern Afghanistan, about one million, have acute malnutrition, "with a level of deprivation similar to that found in famine zones, a government survey has found, despite the hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign aid that has been poured into the region," the Guardian reports.

6 Sep 2012

Medicare’s bundled payment program faces challenges, says economist

For years policymakers have attempted to replace Medicare's fee-for- service payment system with approaches that pay one price for an aggregation of services. The intent has been to reward providers for offering needed care in the most appropriate and cost-effective manner. But many of these programs have known pitfalls, says Stuart Altman, an economist and the Sol C. Chaikin Professor of National Health Policy at the Heller School for Social Policy and Management, Brandeis University.

6 Sep 2012

Abortion rights supporters and foes pack Texas hearing on funding Planned Parenthood clinics

The women's health services provider, meanwhile, asks a federal appeals court to reconsider a ruling that would allow Texas to exclude clinics affiliated with abortion providers from getting funds from the Medicaid Women's Health Program.

6 Sep 2012

Community-based approach to improving sanitation, hygiene practices in Vietnam, Cambodia

In this post in the ONE Blog, John Anner, president of the East Meets West Foundation, discusses how the foundation is helping to improve sanitation and hygiene practices among poor populations.

6 Sep 2012

Aviv acquires post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility in Idaho

Aviv REIT, Inc. announced today that it has acquired a post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility ("SNF") located in Idaho for $6.0 million.

6 Sep 2012

PlusNews examines recently approved grants under Global Fund's Transitional Funding Mechanism

PlusNews examines the recently approved grants under the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's Transitional Funding Mechanism (TFM), stating, "Last week, the Fund announced that 45 new grant applications, from countries such as Burundi, Malawi and Swaziland, have been approved under the TFM."

6 Sep 2012

Pakistan official says progress made in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in tribal area

"Pakistan Tuesday claimed progress in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in a tribal area bordering Afghanistan which had been inaccessible due to unrest for about three years," Agence France-Presse reports.

6 Sep 2012

Modus Five launches Sleep Disorder: a Patient Education Multimedia Course

Modus Five has launched a new educational and user-friendly multimedia software program called Sleep Disorder: a Patient Education Multimedia Course. The software program presents helpful information by using rich graphics, interactive content, videos and animations.

6 Sep 2012

SSM Center for Sleep Disorders, NovaSom announce first AccuSom Deliver partnership

NovaSom, Inc., the leader in home sleep testing and cost-saving solutions for Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) management, announces its first AccuSom Deliver partnership with SSM Center for Sleep Disorders, a service of SSM Health Care - St. Louis, making convenient, efficient Out-of-Center Sleep Testing (OCST) available to patients at seven locations throughout the area beginning October 1, 2012.

6 Sep 2012

Mich. officials to appeal ruling stopping pay deductions to cover school retirees' health care costs

Michigan officials will appeal a ruling that declared unconstitutional a deduction of school employee pay to help pay post-retirement pension health care costs.

6 Sep 2012

Out-of-pocket spending on health care in old age puts significant strain on finances

The protection of the savings of the elderly-one of the primary goals of Medicare-is under threat from a combination of spiraling healthcare costs and increased longevity. As the government attempts to reduce Medicare costs, one suggestion is that the elderly could pay a larger proportion of the costs of their healthcare. But exactly how much would this be and what impact would it have on their finances?

6 Sep 2012

U.S. commitment to foreign assistance, global health to rise or fall with presidential election outcome

In this Lancet opinion piece, Laurie Garrett, a senior fellow for global health at the Council on Foreign Relations, examines a number of social, political, and financial issues at play ahead of the November 6 U.S. presidential election and their implications for domestic and global health programs.

6 Sep 2012

ACOEM awareness campaign helps employers identify and respond to chronic diseases

The American College of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (ACOEM) today announced a yearlong awareness-building campaign intended to help employers identify and respond to chronic diseases that commonly impact worker health and productivity.

6 Sep 2012

Viewpoints: Anti-abortion Democrats praise health law; A defense of the Medicare cost-cutting board

The big question heading into the Democratic Convention is just how forcefully the party will defend the Affordable Care Act, which the president fought to pass and then declined to sell. On Tuesday, an unusually vocal endorsement of the law came from an unlikely source: Anti-abortion Democrats.

6 Sep 2012

Health Care News and Research

'Obamacare' plays starring role in first night of convention (video)

Cholera vaccine offers herd immunity, study from Zanzibar shows

Blog examines results of independent AMFm evaluation draft report

Kenya to investigate allegations of forced sterilizations among HIV-positive women

Will Medicare's quality incentives be big enough to make a difference?

WHO releases dengue strategy report, sets goal of cutting related deaths in half by 2020

Nearly one-third of under-five children malnourished in southern Afghanistan, survey shows

Medicare’s bundled payment program faces challenges, says economist

Abortion rights supporters and foes pack Texas hearing on funding Planned Parenthood clinics

Community-based approach to improving sanitation, hygiene practices in Vietnam, Cambodia

Aviv acquires post-acute and long-term care skilled nursing facility in Idaho

PlusNews examines recently approved grants under Global Fund's Transitional Funding Mechanism

Pakistan official says progress made in vaccinating thousands of children against polio in tribal area

Modus Five launches Sleep Disorder: a Patient Education Multimedia Course

SSM Center for Sleep Disorders, NovaSom announce first AccuSom Deliver partnership

Mich. officials to appeal ruling stopping pay deductions to cover school retirees' health care costs

Out-of-pocket spending on health care in old age puts significant strain on finances

U.S. commitment to foreign assistance, global health to rise or fall with presidential election outcome

ACOEM awareness campaign helps employers identify and respond to chronic diseases

Viewpoints: Anti-abortion Democrats praise health law; A defense of the Medicare cost-cutting board

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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