Health Care News and Research

RSS

First Edition: September 20, 2011

In today's headlines, details and analysis of President Barack Obama's debt-reduction plan, which would trim health programs by $320 billion and links such entitlement trims to new taxes.

20 Sep 2011

IQL conference explores development of ACO model

The American Medical Group Association is convening nearly 600 participants, representing the leaders of the nation's preeminent healthcare provider organizations, at IQL 2011: Creating High-Performing Care Organizations, September 19 - 21 at the Encore at Wynn Las Vegas.

20 Sep 2011

Children with false-positive screening results do not have more health care visits

There has been longstanding concern among physicians and policymakers that false-positive results may cause parents to believe that their children are vulnerable to illness, leading them to overuse health care services as their children grow older.

20 Sep 2011

Medication non-adherence interventions should be based on personal systems approach

For medications to be effective, they must be taken in the correct dosage at the right time, as prescribed by healthcare providers. The World Health Organization estimates that half of patients take their medications incorrectly, costing the U.S. health care system and consumers about $300 billion each year.

20 Sep 2011

Leverage mobile technology and social networking to strengthen health systems

Alexander Finlayson, Katherine Hudson and Faisal Ali, all affiliates of MedicineAfrica, a social enterprise providing a platform for health care educational and research partnerships between Northern and Southern collaborators, write in a SciDev.Net opinion piece, "Health scientists in developing countries can use social media to tackle research priorities, ... building networks and sharing the knowledge needed to make strategic progress towards strengthening health systems.

20 Sep 2011

Introduction of free caesarean sections in Congo leads to increase in procedure

"A health policy shift that saw the introduction in May of free caesarean section operations in 35 hospitals across the Republic of Congo -- to curb the growing rate of maternal and infant mortality -- seems to have prompted a proliferation of such operations, according to health officials," IRIN reports.

20 Sep 2011

Global trade negotiations must consider inequalities in access to medicines

Some of the issues to be addressed at the U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) taking place this week in New York "are controversial, including those relating to intellectual property rights for new medicines, diagnostics and medical devices," James Love, director of Knowledge Ecology International, writes in an Al Jazeera opinion piece.

20 Sep 2011

New York Times examines possible entry into global market of generic drugs for NCDs

The New York Times describes how, as the U.N. begins its meeting on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), Chinese and Indian generic drug makers "say they are on the verge of selling cheaper copies" of costly biotech medications used to treat cancers, diabetes, arthritis and other chronic illnesses.

20 Sep 2011

WHO, WEF reports examine cost of treating and preventing, economic burden of NCDs

Low-income countries "could introduce measures to prevent and treat millions of cases of cancer, heart disease, diabetes and lung disease for a little as $1.20 per person per year, the World Health Organization (WHO) said on Sunday" in a report released on the eve of the U.N. High-level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases (NCDs) taking place this week in New York, Reuters reports.

20 Sep 2011

Independent panel calls for stronger financial safeguards for Global Fund

After a six-month review of the financial systems at the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, a seven-member independent panel "recommended a substantial overhaul Monday in the grant organization's practices," the Wall Street Journal reports.

20 Sep 2011

World Bank report examines gender equality, highlights mortality disparity between men and women

The World Bank's annual World Development Report, which was released on Sunday and this year "focuses on gender equality around the world, offers some stark facts about how women and girls fare in developing countries despite decades of progress," the Wall Street Journal reports (Reddy, 9/18). "The most glaring disparity is the rate at which girls and women die relative to men in developing countries, according to" the report, Reuters/AlertNet reports.

20 Sep 2011

'ScienceSpeaks' interviews director of technical leadership at OGAC

The Center for Global Health Policy's "ScienceSpeaks" blog features an interview with Caroline Ryan, director of technical leadership at the Office of U.S. Global AIDS Coordinator (OGAC), where she has worked for seven years. Ryan discusses PEPFAR program implementation, circumcision as an HIV prevention tool and balancing efficiency with the realization of new, but potentially costly, prevention tools.

20 Sep 2011

NCD draft declaration lacks specific targets, calls for nations to adopt recommendations for reducing chronic disease deaths

"World leaders at a meeting of the United Nations on Monday will agree to a deal to try to curb the spread of preventable 'lifestyle' diseases," including heart disease, cancers and diabetes, also known as non-communicable diseases (NCDs), "amid concern that progress is already being hampered by powerful lobbyists from the food, alcohol and tobacco industries," the Guardian reports.

20 Sep 2011

AMGA presents 2011 Acclaim Award to Geisinger Health System

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today presented the 2011 AMGA Acclaim Award to Geisinger Health System for "Transforming Care Delivery: Patient-centric, Value-driven Innovation," a patient-centered system redesign focusing on quality and safety, cost, innovative care delivery, and interdisciplinary care coordination across the large healthcare organization.

20 Sep 2011

Major donors should consider funding for potential malaria vaccine

When the results of a large clinical trial testing the effectiveness of the RTS,S malaria vaccine among children in Africa are made available later this year, "it will be time to start discussing what to do with the vaccine," Orin Levine, executive director of the International Vaccine Access Center at Johns Hopkins University, writes in a Huffington Post opinion piece.

20 Sep 2011

NYU Langone creates new Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health in New York City

NYU Langone Medical Center announced the establishment of its new Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health on the Upper East Side of Manhattan in New York City.

20 Sep 2011

Obama's debt-reduction plan: $3 trillion in savings; changes to Medicare, Medicaid less aggressive than previously considered

The proposal, which is scheduled for release today, will include $320 billion in health care savings, but it will not raise Medicare's eligibility age. Half of its savings result from new tax revenue. President Barack Obama is also sending a warning to congressional Republicans: If they send him a bill that cuts programs for poor and elderly Americans but doesn't impose sacrifice on corporations or ask others to sacrifice, he will veto it.

20 Sep 2011

New UTHealth toll-free helpline for pregnant women to avoid dangerous medications

A new toll-free helpline developed to help pregnant women avoid medications and other substances that can cause birth defects has been launched by The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) for the Texas Department of State Health Services.

20 Sep 2011

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

Johnnie Esco died after a 13-day stay at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville. Her death on March 7, 2008, led to a contentious civil lawsuit, investigations by California's Department of Justice and Department of Public Health – and the exhumation of her body from Arlington National Cemetery. Last week, amid inquiries from The Bee, the state Department of Justice reopened its criminal investigation into Johnnie Esco's treatment at the facility.

20 Sep 2011

ACR launches Simple Tasks campaign to raise awareness on rheumatic diseases

The American College of Rheumatology has launched its Simple Tasks campaign. The initiative aims to raise awareness of the severe impact of rheumatic diseases - such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus and gout - on the U.S. population and to highlight the importance of rheumatologists in the diagnosis and treatment of these diseases.

20 Sep 2011

Health Care News and Research

First Edition: September 20, 2011

IQL conference explores development of ACO model

Children with false-positive screening results do not have more health care visits

Medication non-adherence interventions should be based on personal systems approach

Leverage mobile technology and social networking to strengthen health systems

Introduction of free caesarean sections in Congo leads to increase in procedure

Global trade negotiations must consider inequalities in access to medicines

New York Times examines possible entry into global market of generic drugs for NCDs

WHO, WEF reports examine cost of treating and preventing, economic burden of NCDs

Independent panel calls for stronger financial safeguards for Global Fund

World Bank report examines gender equality, highlights mortality disparity between men and women

'ScienceSpeaks' interviews director of technical leadership at OGAC

NCD draft declaration lacks specific targets, calls for nations to adopt recommendations for reducing chronic disease deaths

AMGA presents 2011 Acclaim Award to Geisinger Health System

Major donors should consider funding for potential malaria vaccine

NYU Langone creates new Joan H. Tisch Center for Women's Health in New York City

Obama's debt-reduction plan: $3 trillion in savings; changes to Medicare, Medicaid less aggressive than previously considered

New UTHealth toll-free helpline for pregnant women to avoid dangerous medications

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

ACR launches Simple Tasks campaign to raise awareness on rheumatic diseases

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®

Latest News