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HHS, CCSC to recognize healthcare professionals with excellence in preventing HAIs

Teams of critical care professionals and healthcare institutions with a record of reducing or eliminating healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) are encouraged to submit their best practices to a national awards program.

19 Nov 2011

States weigh health law's expected positive and negative impacts

Connecticut now has more health benefit mandates than nearly all other states, a consultant told a state board Thursday. And when federal health reform rolls out in just over two years, that could leave the state, not the insurers, with a bill to pay. ... Although it's not yet clear what benefits federal government will require, as many as three-quarters of the benefits that Connecticut mandates could exceed what the federal government requires.

19 Nov 2011

Roundup: Fla. Medicare HMO closed; Tufts and BCBS resume talks

Quality Health Plans, a Medicare HMO with 10,000 Florida members, has been ordered into liquidation after failing to come up with the cash reserves the state says were needed. Its members will be moved to another -- still unnamed -- plan by Dec. 1.

19 Nov 2011

U.S., U.N. food agencies downgrade three Somalia famine zones to emergency status

U.S. and U.N. food agencies on Friday said three famine zones in Somalia had been downgraded to emergency status, as aid had reduced death rates, but "three other areas -- including the refugee communities of Somalia's capital, Mogadishu -- remain in the famine zone," the Associated Press/CBSNews reports.

19 Nov 2011

AHRQ: Primary care experiencing 'diminishing economic margins'

The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality notes in an upcomping installment of its "Facts and Stats Series" that, despite primary care's importance to the health care system, the discipline is facing a number of challenges.

19 Nov 2011

New class of malaria drugs could be used as both prevention, treatment, study shows

"A group of researchers led by Novartis AG have discovered novel malaria compounds that may prove to be more efficient than currently available treatments and could be used as a prophylactic," the Wall Street Journal reports.

19 Nov 2011

New website helps small business owners to review health insurance plans

A greatly expanded website to give small business owners an unprecedented detailed review of their health insurance plan choices was announced today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.

19 Nov 2011

Lancet examines WHO Euro Health 2020 initiative

The Lancet examines Health 2020, "a 'process of consultation' between WHO Euro and its 53 diverse member states" that "will build partnerships to tackle the complex determinants and drivers of health and health equity."

19 Nov 2011

Sony Corporation, Global Fund enter into partnership to implement behavior change projects

"Sony Corporation and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria have entered into a partnership for the implementation of behavior change projects, in which Sony provides state of the art equipment and movies and the Global Fund ensures it gets to agencies best able to reach communities most in need," a Global Fund press release states, noting, "This partnership is the first pilot case that combines pro bono and in-kind contribution."

19 Nov 2011

Aid targeting high mortality diseases 'lays the groundwork' for improving primary health care services

"In recent years, initiatives such as the President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) and the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria have helped rein in some of the biggest scourges," Paul Farmer, co-founder of Partners in Health and chair of the Department of Global Health and Social Medicine at Harvard Medical School, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

19 Nov 2011

GAVI Alliance to fund roll-out of vaccines against cervical cancer, rubella in developing countries

The GAVI Alliance "has agreed to fund the roll-out of vaccines against cervical cancer in developing countries, offering protection against a disease that kills one woman every two minutes," Reuters reports.

19 Nov 2011

PEPFAR announces Nursing Education Partnership Initiative for health in Africa

The U.S. government on Thursday "formally announced the Nursing Education Partnership Initiative (NEPI) in Lilongwe, Malawi," according to a State Department press release.

19 Nov 2011

Victory for seniors: Calif. Adult Day Health Care center lawsuit resolved

Senior advocates had sued the state because of Gov. Jerry Brown's plan to shut down the ADHC program to save money.

19 Nov 2011

Republican senators press to repeal health law's insurance fee

Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, and Sen. John Barrasso, R-Wyo., are battling to undo this annual fee, which is expected to raise $8 billion in 2014 and $14.3 billion by 2018. Also, some Senate Democrats are warning that a provision in the health law could undermine farmers' ability to obtain health insurance and some consumer advocates are warning that a tax rule needs to be re-written.

19 Nov 2011

FAMEDS founder condemns FDA decision on Avastin for metastatic breast cancer

Breast cancer patients, their families and advocates expressed extreme disappointment at today's Food and Drug Administration (FDA) decision to remove the anti-cancer drug Avastin from the approved medication list for treatment of late stage breast cancer.

19 Nov 2011

MedSolutions introduces ICD Surgery Management Program

MedSolutions, a leading provider of quality-driven medical cost management services, today announced the launch of its Implantable Cardioverter Defibrillator (ICD) Surgery Management Program, which uses evidence-based guidelines to ensure the clinical appropriateness of ICD and CRT-D implantation.

19 Nov 2011

FDA revokes approval of Avastin for breast cancer

The commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration on Friday revoked the approval of the drug Avastin as a treatment for breast cancer, ruling in an emotional issue that pitted the hopes of some desperate patients against the statistics of clinical trials.

19 Nov 2011

Gingrich think tank's health industry clients draw scrutiny

The Washington Post and New York Times detail the lucrative business dealings between Gingrich's think tank, the Center for Health Transformation, and health care companies.

19 Nov 2011

CHCWM, Priority Health partner to explore oncology patient-centered medical home

In keeping with society's urgent need for more efficient and effective health care, Priority Health and Cancer and Hematology Centers of West Michigan (CHCWM) have joined forces to explore an innovative oncology patient-centered medical home.

19 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: Waiting for the super committee; TV coverage of Supreme Court's health law session

Congress's bipartisan super committee is heading toward its November 23 deadline with no deal in sight to cut $1.2 trillion from the deficit over 10 years. So it's time to think seriously about the consequences of the default alternative, which would be a $1.2 trillion "sequester," or automatic spending cut, starting in 2013. It's hardly the nightmare of Washington dread.

19 Nov 2011

Health Care News and Research

HHS, CCSC to recognize healthcare professionals with excellence in preventing HAIs

States weigh health law's expected positive and negative impacts

Roundup: Fla. Medicare HMO closed; Tufts and BCBS resume talks

U.S., U.N. food agencies downgrade three Somalia famine zones to emergency status

AHRQ: Primary care experiencing 'diminishing economic margins'

New class of malaria drugs could be used as both prevention, treatment, study shows

New website helps small business owners to review health insurance plans

Lancet examines WHO Euro Health 2020 initiative

Sony Corporation, Global Fund enter into partnership to implement behavior change projects

Aid targeting high mortality diseases 'lays the groundwork' for improving primary health care services

GAVI Alliance to fund roll-out of vaccines against cervical cancer, rubella in developing countries

PEPFAR announces Nursing Education Partnership Initiative for health in Africa

Victory for seniors: Calif. Adult Day Health Care center lawsuit resolved

Republican senators press to repeal health law's insurance fee

FAMEDS founder condemns FDA decision on Avastin for metastatic breast cancer

MedSolutions introduces ICD Surgery Management Program

FDA revokes approval of Avastin for breast cancer

Gingrich think tank's health industry clients draw scrutiny

CHCWM, Priority Health partner to explore oncology patient-centered medical home

Viewpoints: Waiting for the super committee; TV coverage of Supreme Court's health law session

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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