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More medical students seeking MBAs; paramedics providing primary care services

Under heavy pressure from government regulators and insurance companies, more and more physicians across the country are learning to think like entrepreneurs. As recently as the late 1990s, there were only five or six joint M.D./M.B.A degree programs at the nation's universities, said Dr. Maria Y. Chandler, a pediatrician with an M.B.A. who is an associate clinical professor in the medical and business schools at the University of California, Irvine. "Now there are 65," she said.

7 Sep 2011

Ohio man dies from tooth infection after he couldn't afford medicine

A 24-year-old Cincinnati father died from a tooth infection this week because he couldn't afford his medication, offering a sobering reminder of the importance of oral health and the number of people without access to dental or health care. According to NBC affiliate WLWT, Kyle Willis' wisdom tooth started hurting two weeks ago. When dentists told him it needed to be pulled, he decided to forgo the procedure, because he was unemployed and had no health insurance.

7 Sep 2011

Electronic monitoring systems, medical records could improve quality, save money

"Epidermal electronics" - a term coined by researchers who have produced prototype devices at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign - may enable constant medical monitoring anywhere. The devices are part of a growing field, called mHealth, that uses mobile technologies. Simpler forms include smartphone apps for patient education or disease management.

7 Sep 2011

Continued funding from all countries needed to fight HIV/AIDS

"There is no doubt that" a 10 percent reduction in funding from donor governments for the AIDS response in low- and middle-income countries in 2010 from the previous year's levels "is linked to economic strain felt by countries across the globe," a VOA News editorial says.

7 Sep 2011

Health Endeavors launches web-based tool that tracks physician non-monetary compensation

Physician Non-Monetary Comp Tracker is a web-based program that tracks non-monetary compensation, such as events, advertising, CME programs, meals and other areas, from a hospital to a physician.

7 Sep 2011

Mental health care issues confound nation's jails

Three hundred and fifty thousand: That's a conservative estimate for the number of offenders with mental illness confined in America's prisons and jails. More Americans receive mental health treatment in prisons and jails than in hospitals or treatment centers.

7 Sep 2011

Washington woman spearheading drive for suicide prevention for service members

A Washington state social worker is circulating a petition urging federal lawmakers and the military to adopt a policy declaring that service members shouldn't be punished if they seek help for behavioral health issues, such as post-traumatic stress.

7 Sep 2011

Patient quality, care coordination programs surface in California

The University of California, San Francisco's heart failure program is an effort to reduce repeat hospitalizations by giving patients plenty of information and support to help them after they are discharged. Since the program began three years ago, the hospital's readmission rate has dropped by 30 percent. The hospital says the program has also saved Medicare at least $1 million a year.

7 Sep 2011

'No evidence' mutant bird flu virus poses increased risk to humans, WHO and FAO say

After the U.N. Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) "last week voiced concern about the appearance in Vietnam and China of" a mutant strain of the H5N1 bird flu virus, the WHO and FAO on Monday "said in a joint statement issued in response to questions from Agence France-Presse" that "there is no evidence to suggest yet that this new virus strain will have any increased risk to human health," the news agency reports.

7 Sep 2011

DOJ investigates Miss. mental health care; N.H. pharmacists win permission to vaccinate

The Justice Department is now investigating Mississippi's mental health system, seeking to determine whether those suffering from mental illness are receiving appropriate treatment. Justice Department officials are expected to return to the Magnolia State later this month, and it's a safe bet they will make similar recommendations against Mississippi as they have against Virginia and other states, said Region 8 Executive Director Dave Van.

7 Sep 2011

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe urges men to take larger role in HIV prevention

"Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe on Monday opened a national HIV and AIDS conference with a call for the nation's men to take a larger role in the response to the deadly pandemic, not only for their own health but that of women and children," VOA News reports.

7 Sep 2011

U.N. declares famine in sixth region of Somalia, expresses concern over spread of disease

The U.N. "announced Monday that Somalia's famine had spread to a sixth area within the country, with officials warning that 750,000 people could die in the next few months unless aid efforts were scaled up," the New York Times reports.

7 Sep 2011

Settlement in UT Southwestern/Parkland billing fraud; CMS postpones final Parkland ruling

The University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas pays settlement in Medicare and Medicaid billing fraud investigation. Meanwhile, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services says it will wait for state investigation before ruling continued on Medicare funding for Parkland.

7 Sep 2011

Reaching out to legal immigrants who need health care

Kaiser Health News staff writer Marilyn Werber Serafini, working in collaboration with The Washington Post, writes: When Dillon Pefok agreed to coach a men's soccer team in the District's Soccer 4 Jesus church league, it wasn't his intention to teach the players about the 2010 health-care law between drills.

7 Sep 2011

Combination of blood tests and ROMA algorithm receives FDA clearance to treat ovarian cancer

Approval last week by U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clears the path for nationwide use of tools that show the greatest specificity in estimating the risk of ovarian cancer in women with a pelvic mass.

7 Sep 2011

International public health spending ignores neglected tropical diseases, some experts argue

The Bureau of Investigative Journalism examines what some experts are calling a serious inequity in public health spending, writing that neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) "together kill more people than maternal mortality and have a higher disease burden than malaria or tuberculosis (TB) and nearing that of HIV/AIDS. However, despite the severity of the situation, funding for NTDs is just a fraction of that spent on other diseases."

7 Sep 2011

More than 2M people in Pakistani province of Sindh affected by flooding from monsoon rains

"Pakistan's southern province of Sindh is facing disaster once more with heavy rains over the past five days, according to the Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA)," with at least 85 people reported dead and more than two million people affected, IRIN reports.

7 Sep 2011

March of Dimes urges all pregnant women to get influenza immunization

Getting a flu shot during pregnancy protects the mom-to-be from what could be a very serious – even fatal – illness and can protect her newborn who is too young to receive his or her own immunization.

7 Sep 2011

Number of malaria cases in Brazilian Amazon drop 31% in first half of year compared with 2010

Brazil's health ministry on Monday said 115,708 malaria cases had been reported in the first half of this year in the Brazilian Amazon, down 31 percent compared with the same period in 2010, the Latin American Herald Tribune reports.

7 Sep 2011

Anthem proposes double-digit rate increase in Conn.; Mass. bill would cut payments to high-cost providers

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield, Connecticut's largest health insurer and a favorite target of advocates for more stringent regulation of rate increases, is seeking to raise premiums by 12.9 percent next year for more than 45,000 individual-market customers, including some whose plans were the subject of a controversial request that got denied last year.

7 Sep 2011

Health Care News and Research

More medical students seeking MBAs; paramedics providing primary care services

Ohio man dies from tooth infection after he couldn't afford medicine

Electronic monitoring systems, medical records could improve quality, save money

Continued funding from all countries needed to fight HIV/AIDS

Health Endeavors launches web-based tool that tracks physician non-monetary compensation

Mental health care issues confound nation's jails

Washington woman spearheading drive for suicide prevention for service members

Patient quality, care coordination programs surface in California

'No evidence' mutant bird flu virus poses increased risk to humans, WHO and FAO say

DOJ investigates Miss. mental health care; N.H. pharmacists win permission to vaccinate

Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe urges men to take larger role in HIV prevention

U.N. declares famine in sixth region of Somalia, expresses concern over spread of disease

Settlement in UT Southwestern/Parkland billing fraud; CMS postpones final Parkland ruling

Reaching out to legal immigrants who need health care

Combination of blood tests and ROMA algorithm receives FDA clearance to treat ovarian cancer

International public health spending ignores neglected tropical diseases, some experts argue

More than 2M people in Pakistani province of Sindh affected by flooding from monsoon rains

March of Dimes urges all pregnant women to get influenza immunization

Number of malaria cases in Brazilian Amazon drop 31% in first half of year compared with 2010

Anthem proposes double-digit rate increase in Conn.; Mass. bill would cut payments to high-cost providers

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