Health Care News and Research

RSS

South African Health Minister promotes exclusive breastfeeding to fight rising infant mortality rate

Speaking at a breastfeeding conference on Tuesday in Johannesburg, South African Health Minister Aaron Motsoaledi said that "reducing child mortality is one of the most important priorities in our country and central to this is breastfeeding as a child survival strategy," Agence France-Presse reports.

25 Aug 2011

Viewpoints: Perry's health record, Medicare spending slows, postal service's health plan controversy

And now for some good news: Medicare spending growth has been slowing noticeably. ... some evidence suggests it may be a shift toward value in the health-care sector. Various hospital executives have told me they have already begun to prepare for less generous reimbursement from Medicare as the new federal health-care-reform law takes effect.

25 Aug 2011

ICU patients with MRSA infection may face 50% increased risk of death

Does the Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, MRSA, cause more deaths in hospitals than the bacteria that are sensitive to common antibiotics? Opinions have been varied, but now a worldwide study at, among others, Linköping University in Sweden, indicates that the mortality rate can be 50 % higher for intensive care patients infected with MRSA.

25 Aug 2011

Global Fund to resume suspended grants to China

The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, which "froze disbursements of its AIDS grant to China in November and all other grants in May over suspected misuse of the money and the government's reluctance to involve community groups, ... said Tuesday that it was lifting the freeze on financing to ensure that AIDS work in China continued while it worked with government officials, representatives from United Nations agencies and private groups to resolve the dispute," the Associated Press reports.

25 Aug 2011

Patients with liver disease may now access UCSD's new Nevada clinic

Patients in Nevada seeking care for liver disease may now access the university-level expertise of UC San Diego Health System's Center for Hepatobiliary Disease and Abdominal Transplantation.

25 Aug 2011

IMMY, University of Nevada receive FDA clearance for CrAg Lateral Flow Assay

The Food and Drug Administration has cleared a new diagnostic test that will help save the lives of hundreds of thousands of AIDS patients stricken with cryptococcosis, a fungal meningitis.

25 Aug 2011

Healthways to acquire Navvis

Ben R. Leedle, Jr., president and CEO of Healthways, announced that the Company has signed a definitive agreement to acquire Navvis & Company, a St. Louis-based firm providing strategic counsel and change management services both to enable its healthcare system clients to become future-ready clinical enterprises and to align the incentives for all stakeholders.

25 Aug 2011

Roundup: Interim agreement between Planned Parenthood and Ariz. approved; Kan. to release budget plan

Maricopa County Superior Court Judge Richard Gama this week signed off on an agreement between Planned Parenthood and the state that allows most of the 2011 regulations to go into effect while the legal challenge continues.

25 Aug 2011

Constituents try to connect with deficit panel members over possible spending cuts

With the work of the 'super committee' picking up steam, news outlets report on how, while back in their districts for the August recess, some of the panelists are hearing concerns about Medicare and other entitlement programs. Meanwhile, former GOP Senator John Danforth recollects his first-hand experiences with the politics of deficit-cutting commissions.

24 Aug 2011

GetWellNetwork doing well with hospitals

In other health IT news, a study found that Google-type word searches of hospital medical records are better at detecting patient safety issues than searches using numerical billing codes.

24 Aug 2011

Loss of job and health insurance threatens family's health and financial stability

Nearly three-quarters (72%) of people who lost their health insurance when they lost their jobs over the last two years said that they skipped needed health care or did not fill prescriptions because of cost, according to a new Commonwealth Fund report. The same proportion is also struggling with medical bills or medical debt, compared to about half (49%) who lost jobs but not their health insurance.

24 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 24, 2011

In today's headlines, Medicare tries bundled payments and HHS signals that it may give states a second chance to avoid a federally-run health insurance exchange.

24 Aug 2011

Showing PEPFAR effectiveness and value important in face of budget negotiations

With "looming budget cuts for FY2012 and recent reports about the decline in AIDS funding from the USG in FY2010 relative to FY2009 ... now, more than ever, PEPFAR needs to better demonstrate the effectiveness and value of its programs," Nandini Oomman, director of the HIV/AIDS Monitor at the Center for Global Development (CGD), writes in the CGD's "Global Health Policy" blog.

24 Aug 2011

Monsoon rains displace thousands in Bangladesh, create need for food, water and shelter

"Heavy monsoon rains have caused several major rivers in Bangladesh to burst their banks, displacing thousands and affecting nearly a million people in all, according to the country's Disaster Management Bureau (DMB)," IRIN reports.

24 Aug 2011

Idaho governor appears 'open' to state-run exchange, Texas governor is not

Idaho Gov. C.L. "Butch" Otter says it makes sense for his state to accept federal funds and set up its own exchange. But Texas Gov. Rick Perry stands firm in his opposition.

24 Aug 2011

Rick Perry's views on Medicare, other health policy issues draw scrutiny

The GOP presidential hopeful's views on key issues have triggered examination by news outlets. Meanwhile, House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., who proposed sweeping changes to the Medicare program, has opted not to join the presidential primary contest.

24 Aug 2011

Researchers exploring how microwaves may be used to treat malaria

The New York Times describes a research proposal to investigate the use of low-level microwaves to treat malaria that has received a $1 million grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

24 Aug 2011

Creighton University receives NIH grant to address diabetes in adult American Indians

Creighton University School of Nursing has received a $207,000, two-year grant from the National Institutes of Health to address the growing problem of type 2 diabetes mellitus in adult American Indians.

24 Aug 2011

HIV-positive pregnant women across Africa face discrimination

HIV-positive women across Africa are facing discrimination, with many "say[ing] they have been pressured – even forced – not to have children because people assume they will infect their babies," PRI's The World reports. "Across the continent, there have been organized efforts to prevent HIV-positive women from having children," The World writes, referencing family planning programs aimed at HIV-positive women in Kenya, Namibia and Uganda.

24 Aug 2011

PEPFAR releases 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance

PEPFAR recently released its 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance, "which highlights seven program priorities: increasing prevention of mother-to-child transmission coverage and effectiveness; improving and refining the country's approach to treatment; programming for prevention impact; TB/HIV integration; testing and counseling; training new health care providers; and capacity building," according to the Center for Global Health Policy's "Science Speaks" blog.

24 Aug 2011

Health Care News and Research

South African Health Minister promotes exclusive breastfeeding to fight rising infant mortality rate

Viewpoints: Perry's health record, Medicare spending slows, postal service's health plan controversy

ICU patients with MRSA infection may face 50% increased risk of death

Global Fund to resume suspended grants to China

Patients with liver disease may now access UCSD's new Nevada clinic

IMMY, University of Nevada receive FDA clearance for CrAg Lateral Flow Assay

Healthways to acquire Navvis

Roundup: Interim agreement between Planned Parenthood and Ariz. approved; Kan. to release budget plan

Constituents try to connect with deficit panel members over possible spending cuts

GetWellNetwork doing well with hospitals

Loss of job and health insurance threatens family's health and financial stability

First Edition: August 24, 2011

Showing PEPFAR effectiveness and value important in face of budget negotiations

Monsoon rains displace thousands in Bangladesh, create need for food, water and shelter

Idaho governor appears 'open' to state-run exchange, Texas governor is not

Rick Perry's views on Medicare, other health policy issues draw scrutiny

Researchers exploring how microwaves may be used to treat malaria

Creighton University receives NIH grant to address diabetes in adult American Indians

HIV-positive pregnant women across Africa face discrimination

PEPFAR releases 2012 Country Operational Plan Guidance

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

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

Latest News