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AMA details concerns about payment policy changes for Medicare Part C, D

Modern Healthcare details the positions taken by the American Medical Association in response to recent changes proposed by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Also, in related news, a new panel sets to work on improving the physician payment system.

6 Mar 2012

Medicaid: Texas rule lowers pharmacy prescription pay; N.H. gets grant

In Texas, new Medicaid rules mean pharmacies get paid less for filling prescriptions for Medicaid patients. In New Hampshire, however, a new Medicaid grant will help people with disabilities stay in their homes.

6 Mar 2012

RAND researchers outline methods to improve creation of health care performance reports

As health care reform expands the use of "report cards" to grade health care providers, greater attention to reporting methods may be needed to assure the quality of such efforts, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

6 Mar 2012

GOP Medicaid plans trigger wariness among some Republican governors

The Hill reports that the budget plan to soon be unveiled by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., is likely to take a similar approach to last year's block grant proposal and is drawing some concerns. Meanwhile, Politico Pro reports on how Medicaid waivers are helping states leverage money to pay for health reform.

6 Mar 2012

Whole-body CT more effective at determining life-threatening injuries

For assessing severe trauma, single-pass whole-body computed tomography (CT) can prove but not definitively exclude the presence of injuries and should be performed later than 30 minutes after admission to an emergency department for optimal results, according to a study in CMAJ.

6 Mar 2012

State news: Ore. Gov. signs reform bill; Texas seeks early release of sick inmates

If Oregon's Democratic governor is right, the bill he signed Friday will improve health care and reduce costs so significantly that it could help fix the federal budget. The Obama administration is watching with keen interest - and so are critics who say Gov. John Kitzhaber's plan is just another example of government overreach.

6 Mar 2012

Administration officials press forward on implementing health law, shoring up support

But in the midst of all the uncertainty, administration officials are moving steadily ahead in their efforts to shore up political support for the law while implementing as many of the substantive policy changes as they can. Those dual missions are sometimes in conflict. Officials at the Department of Health and Human Services face pressure to cement the foundation of the law in ways that would be difficult to reverse.

6 Mar 2012

Viewpoints: Statins and diabetes; Frightening tobacco warnings; The U.S. dental crisis

We're overdosing on cholesterol-lowering statins, and the consequence could be a sharp increase in the incidence of Type 2 diabetes. This past week, the Food and Drug Administration raised questions about the side effects of these drugs and developed new labels for these medications that will now warn of the risk of diabetes and memory loss.

6 Mar 2012

Male circumcision initiative in Kenya fails to meet target for first time, PlusNews reports

"Kenya's most recent male circumcision rapid results initiative failed to meet its target, and officials are stepping up efforts to identify and fix the problems that could foil the government's campaign to circumcise more than one million men by 2013," PlusNews reports.

6 Mar 2012

Blog summarizes Clinton's Congressional testimony on administration's FY13 budget request

Will McKitterick, a research assistant with the Center for Global Development (CGD), in this "Rethinking U.S. Foreign Assistance" blog post summarizes Secretary of State Hillary Clinton's "grueling marathon of Congressional committee hearings in defense of the FY2013 international affairs budget request."

6 Mar 2012

In shift, Calif. hospitals try to keep patients out of beds

To survive the unprecedented challenges coming with federal health care reform, California hospitals are upending their bedrock financial model: They are trying to keep some patients out of their beds.

6 Mar 2012

New article examines multiple opportunities provided by ACA to improve women's health

A new article by researchers from the Geiger Gibson/RCHN Community Health Foundation Research Collaborative in the Department of Health Policy at the George Washington University School of Public Health and Health Services examines the multiple opportunities provided by the Affordable Care Act (ACA) to improve the health of low-income women through the use of community health centers.

6 Mar 2012

Rep. Sensenbrenner sends 'fact-finding letter' to White House science adviser about bird flu studies

"Representative Jim Sensenbrenner (R-Wis.), a former head of the House committees on science and the judiciary, and currently vice chair of the House Committee on Science, Space, and Technology, last week sent a 'fact-finding letter' to White House science adviser John Holdren, asking pointed questions about how the U.S. government has handled the controversy" surrounding two studies that showed how H5N1 bird flu virus could be manipulated to become transmissible among ferrets, a model for humans, "and questioning whether it should have funded the two flu studies," ScienceInsider reports.

6 Mar 2012

Russia should abandon 'zero-tolerance' approach to drug use and implement proven prevention strategies

Why have effective, "simple tools such as Medication Assisted Therapy and clean needle-exchange services" -- methods that are "very effective in decreasing drug abuse and reducing risk of infection with HIV, hepatitis C and other diseases" – "had so little impact on the policies and programs of the Russian Federation?" Bertrand Audoin, executive director of the International AIDS Society, and Chris Beyrer, a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, write in this New York Times opinion piece.

6 Mar 2012

With 'Super Tuesday' on the horizon, GOP presidential candidates embroiled in health policy, social issues

Also in the news, a new Wall Street Journal poll finds that GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney is experiencing a resurgence, just as President Barack Obama's approval rating hit its highest point since last May.

6 Mar 2012

Zimbabwe parliamentarians lauded for undergoing voluntary HIV counseling, testing and male circumcision

"More than 170 of Zimbabwe's parliamentarians from across the political divide have resolved to undergo voluntary counseling and HIV testing in a bid to encourage the grassroots to follow suit," and "the 150 male members in the 175-member group have also resolved to be circumcised," a Herald editorial states.

6 Mar 2012

Women with breast cancer can benefit from web-based programme

Every day 18 Swedish women are diagnosed with breast cancer. Although there is a real need for support and information, many women struggle and get lost in the deluge of information. In a study of 227 women, researchers at the Sahlgrenska Academy at the University of Gothenburg, Sweden, have developed a web-based programme to guide patients all the way from diagnosis to rehabilitation.

6 Mar 2012

WHO reports more than 900,000 lives saved because of HIV/TB care and prevention guidelines, releases updated version

"An estimated 910,000 lives were saved globally in six years due to guidelines intended to ensure that people living with HIV/AIDS are protected from tuberculosis [TB], the United Nations World Health Organization (WHO) said today, releasing an updated policy on joint prevention, diagnosis and treatment of both diseases," the U.N. News Centre reports.

6 Mar 2012

Cost estimates for health law's subsidies boosted by $111 billion

The new estimate, which represents an estimated 30 percent jump for an eight-year period, triggered calls during hearings last week by key House Republicans for the Obama administration to explain the number.

6 Mar 2012

Dysfunctional family environment increases genetic risk for drug abuse

The risk of abusing drugs is greater - even for adopted children - if the family environment in which they are raised is dysfunctional, according to a new study conducted by a collaborative team from Virginia Commonwealth University and Lund University in Sweden.

6 Mar 2012

Health Care News and Research

AMA details concerns about payment policy changes for Medicare Part C, D

Medicaid: Texas rule lowers pharmacy prescription pay; N.H. gets grant

RAND researchers outline methods to improve creation of health care performance reports

GOP Medicaid plans trigger wariness among some Republican governors

Whole-body CT more effective at determining life-threatening injuries

State news: Ore. Gov. signs reform bill; Texas seeks early release of sick inmates

Administration officials press forward on implementing health law, shoring up support

Viewpoints: Statins and diabetes; Frightening tobacco warnings; The U.S. dental crisis

Male circumcision initiative in Kenya fails to meet target for first time, PlusNews reports

Blog summarizes Clinton's Congressional testimony on administration's FY13 budget request

In shift, Calif. hospitals try to keep patients out of beds

New article examines multiple opportunities provided by ACA to improve women's health

Rep. Sensenbrenner sends 'fact-finding letter' to White House science adviser about bird flu studies

Russia should abandon 'zero-tolerance' approach to drug use and implement proven prevention strategies

With 'Super Tuesday' on the horizon, GOP presidential candidates embroiled in health policy, social issues

Zimbabwe parliamentarians lauded for undergoing voluntary HIV counseling, testing and male circumcision

Women with breast cancer can benefit from web-based programme

WHO reports more than 900,000 lives saved because of HIV/TB care and prevention guidelines, releases updated version

Cost estimates for health law's subsidies boosted by $111 billion

Dysfunctional family environment increases genetic risk for drug abuse

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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