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Viewpoints: Abortion and birth control issues in N.C. Senate race; replacing Obamacare; cancellations

But on Wednesday in Charlotte, Kay Hagan stood without hesitation next to Janet Colm, chief executive of the Planned Parenthood Action Fund of Central North Carolina, and proudly bashed her opponent, Thom Tillis, for reducing women's rights on abortion and birth control.

17 Oct 2014

Researchers find poor access to outpatient psychiatric care in Boston, Chicago, Houston metro areas

Obtaining access to private outpatient psychiatric care in the Boston, Chicago and Houston metropolitan areas is difficult, even for those with private insurance or those willing to pay out of pocket, a new study by Harvard researchers shows.

17 Oct 2014

Despite rise in use of hospice care, hospital-based services increase for ovarian cancer patients

There have been widespread efforts to improve the quality of life of terminally ill patients. As more patients choose to spend their final days and weeks in hospice care rather than a hospital, the hope is the use of intensive and costly hospital services would decline.

17 Oct 2014

CMS publishes draft coverage decision for Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier

GenomeDx Biosciences today announced that a draft local coverage determination (LCD) for its Decipher® Prostate Cancer Classifier has been published by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) describing a coverage and payment policy for use of the Decipher test in men who have undergone radical prostatectomy.

17 Oct 2014

Coordinated Health launches #Ch435pledge campaign to provide free mammography exams

Each year in Lehigh Valley, an estimated 435 women will be diagnosed with breast cancer and one in eight will be diagnosed with breast cancer in her lifetime, data extrapolated from reports by the National Cancer Institute's SEER program and the Lehigh Valley Planning Commission.

17 Oct 2014

Ebola worries focus attention on public health leaders; administration bolsters its response

With questions emerging about the handling of Ebola patients, a House subcommittee is holding a hearing that will feature testimony from CDC Director Tom Frieden and Dr. Daniel Varga, chief clinical officer and senior executive vice president at Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital.

17 Oct 2014

Study: Nursing home care quality not associated with risk of hospital readmission or death

Nursing home care quality does not impact the likelihood of patients being readmitted to the hospital or dying within 30 days of discharge from hospital to nursing home, according to a new analysis of Medicare data and nursing home performance measures by Penn Medicine researchers.

16 Oct 2014

PAP therapy reduces 30-day hospital readmission rates in cardiac patients with sleep apnea

A study of hospitalized cardiac patients is the first to show that effective treatment with positive airway pressure therapy reduces 30-day hospital readmission rates and emergency department visits in patients with both heart disease and sleep apnea.

16 Oct 2014

Elsevier announces availability of Mosby's Home Health Care

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, today announced the availability of Mosby's Home Health Care. This resource combines trusted home healthcare nursing content with convenient competency management functionality to provide a single comprehensive resource for home healthcare nurses, nurse educators and other home care professionals.

16 Oct 2014

New study reviews modern treatment modalities for early-stage lung cancer

Removal of the entire lobe of lung may offer patients with early-stage lung cancer better overall survival when compared with a partial resection, and stereotactic ablative radiotherapy (SABR) may offer the same survival benefit as a lobectomy for some patients, according to a study from The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

16 Oct 2014

Federal prescription-subsidy program improves drug adherence in breast cancer patients

A federal prescription-subsidy program for low-income women on Medicare significantly improved their adherence to hormone therapy to prevent the recurrence of breast cancer after surgery.

16 Oct 2014

State highlights: Ariz. agrees to settlement on health care for prisoners

Prop. 46 would make it mandatory for doctors to consult the database. California would become one of nine states requiring doctors to check before prescribing painkillers to first-time patients. After passing similar laws, Tennessee and New York saw a significant reduction in the number of narcotics prescriptions written. Studies have verified the correlation, but acknowledge that drug abusers may be turning to street drugs, like heroin. Many doctors in California like the database. Some have called it 'indispensable.' But they don't like being told how to practice medicine (Dembosky, 10/14).

16 Oct 2014

FTC cracks down on companies selling phony health insurance

The firms sold consumers a discount card but it offered no health insurance benefits. Also in the news, a government researcher says federal officials need to monitor billing errors and overpayments to Medicare Advantage plans.

16 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Health law opposition not propelling GOP; keep politics out of the fight against Ebola

As recently as April, Obamacare was going to be the silver bullet for Republicans in this year's midterm elections. The leader of conservative advocacy group Americans for Prosperity said his plan was to make Obamacare "the No. 1 issue in the country." Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., declared that the law would be "a huge disaster in 2014" and the deciding factor in November. Well, that was then. Now, three weeks from Election Day, some GOP challengers trying to knock off Democratic incumbent senators have scaled back their anti-Obamacare ads in favor of new targets such as the economy and national security (10/13).

15 Oct 2014

CDC re-evaluating safety procedures after nurse contracts Ebola

Thomas Frieden, the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, announces that the agency will look again at the protocols for hospitals to see if more training or equipment is necessary to protect health care workers and the public.

15 Oct 2014

Group Health's HMO Medicare Advantage plan earns 5-Star rating from CMS

Group Health's HMO Medicare Advantage plan has earned the highest rating available from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Group Health is one of only 16 plans in the country to receive this rating for 2015.

14 Oct 2014

Viewpoints: Ebola myths; Sen. McCain's 'opportunistic alarmism'; Gov. Jindal on CDC's misspent resources

Hubris is the greatest danger in wealthy countries - a sort of smug assumption that advanced technologies and emergency-preparedness plans guarantee that Ebola and other germs will not spread. It was hubris that left Toronto's top hospitals battling SARS in 2003, long after the virus was conquered in poorer Vietnam. It was hubris that led the World Health Assembly in 2013 to cut the WHO's outbreak-response budget in favor of more programs to treat cancer and heart disease.

14 Oct 2014

State highlights: Md., Minn. see small business health insurance rate changes; Texas sues AstraZeneca over Seroquel marketing

Some small businesses in Maryland will see a small drop in health insurance premiums next year, while others will pay as much as 11 percent more to cover their workers, according to rates released by state regulators Friday. The rates, which go into effect in January, only apply to small firms with up to 50 employees, and not to large or self-insured firms or individuals buying coverage on the state's health insurance exchange. Evergreen Health Cooperative sought no rate increase, and Aetna Health Inc. will raise rates only slightly, according to the rate information released by the Maryland Insurance Administration. Some UnitedHealthcare premiums will drop by about 2.5 percent (Cohn, 10/10).

14 Oct 2014

Nursing home chain agrees to pay $38M to settle government poor care claims

Extendicare, which owns 150 nursing homes in 11 states and denied any wrongdoing, was accused of inappropriate billing and providing inadequate care.

14 Oct 2014

Medicare Advantage plans marked by shortcomings

The New York Times reports that these problem areas include rejection of claims for medical services and limits on prescription drug coverage. News outlets also report on ACOs grades and Medicare Advantage rate shifts.

14 Oct 2014

Medicare News and Research

Viewpoints: Abortion and birth control issues in N.C. Senate race; replacing Obamacare; cancellations

Researchers find poor access to outpatient psychiatric care in Boston, Chicago, Houston metro areas

Despite rise in use of hospice care, hospital-based services increase for ovarian cancer patients

CMS publishes draft coverage decision for Decipher Prostate Cancer Classifier

Coordinated Health launches #Ch435pledge campaign to provide free mammography exams

Ebola worries focus attention on public health leaders; administration bolsters its response

Study: Nursing home care quality not associated with risk of hospital readmission or death

PAP therapy reduces 30-day hospital readmission rates in cardiac patients with sleep apnea

Elsevier announces availability of Mosby's Home Health Care

New study reviews modern treatment modalities for early-stage lung cancer

Federal prescription-subsidy program improves drug adherence in breast cancer patients

State highlights: Ariz. agrees to settlement on health care for prisoners

FTC cracks down on companies selling phony health insurance

Viewpoints: Health law opposition not propelling GOP; keep politics out of the fight against Ebola

CDC re-evaluating safety procedures after nurse contracts Ebola

Group Health's HMO Medicare Advantage plan earns 5-Star rating from CMS

Viewpoints: Ebola myths; Sen. McCain's 'opportunistic alarmism'; Gov. Jindal on CDC's misspent resources

State highlights: Md., Minn. see small business health insurance rate changes; Texas sues AstraZeneca over Seroquel marketing

Nursing home chain agrees to pay $38M to settle government poor care claims

Medicare Advantage plans marked by shortcomings

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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