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First Edition: August 5, 2011

In the news today... The cost of premiums for Medicare's prescription drug program won't rise in 2012. Meanwhile, Medicare data reveal a gap in hospital performance and perception.

5 Aug 2011

P&G fourth quarter net sales increase 10% to $20.9 billion

The Procter & Gamble Company net sales grew 10 percent to $20.9 billion for the fourth quarter and five percent to $82.6 billion for fiscal 2011.

5 Aug 2011

Clinical warning system that uses wireless sensors can track vital signs of at-risk patients

A clinical warning system that uses wireless sensors to track the vital signs of at-risk patients is undergoing a feasibility study at Barnes-Jewish Hospital in St. Louis.

5 Aug 2011

More than 120 hospitals have high death rates for heart failure or pneumonia: USA TODAY

A USA TODAY analysis of more than 4,600 U.S. hospitals has found that 120 of those most highly rated by patients have higher than average death rates for heart attack, heart failure or pneumonia. More than a dozen of these hospitals have high death rates for at least two of those conditions.

5 Aug 2011

USAID swears in new Global Health assistant administrator

Ariel Pablos-Mendez on Wednesday was sworn in as the new assistant administrator for the Global Health Bureau at USAID, according to a USAID press release.

5 Aug 2011

Oxfam interactive map shows 'food price pressure points'

A new interactive map from Oxfam "shows how poor communities across the world are being hurt by high and volatile food prices. This 'food price pressure points map' provides a global snapshot of the impacts of the global food price crisis," according to the website.

5 Aug 2011

Feed the future working to improve drought resiliency

Food insecurity in the Horn of Africa "is driven by cyclical drought, poor land management practices, limited availability of animal health services, food inflation, conflict over land and water, poor hygiene practices, and lack of dietary diversity," Paul Weisenfeld, assistant to the administrator, Bureau of Food Security at USAID, writes in the agency's "IMPACTblog."

5 Aug 2011

Famine declared in three more regions of Somalia

"The famine gripping parts of southern Somalia has spread to three new areas of the country, with the entire south likely to be declared a famine zone within the next six weeks, the United Nations said on Wednesday," Reuters reports.

5 Aug 2011

Kaiser Family Foundation updates Global Health Policy Tracker

The Kaiser Family Foundation's Global Health Policy Tracker has been updated to include a simpler, streamlined format to help users find and track the latest developments on U.S. global health policy issues, according to a press release.

5 Aug 2011

India to use mothers' mobile phones to track child immunizations

"India's health minister announced Tuesday a new initiative underway to boost the country's rate of immunizing newborns by collecting mobile phone numbers of all pregnant mothers to monitor their babies' vaccinations," the Wall Street Journal's "India Real Time" blog reports.

5 Aug 2011

Rates for Calif. pre-existing condition plans drop by an average of 18%

Californians who rely on safety-net health insurance are getting an unexpected break on their rates. The lucky recipients get their coverage through a little-known public program, started last fall, for people with preexisting medical conditions.

5 Aug 2011

Lobbyists, lawmakers stake out positions for debt deal's next phase

As potential candidates for the 'super committee' emerge on Capitol Hill, lobbyists are trying to figure out how to influence the panel's decisions and also are gearing up for major public relations campaigns. Health care interests are likely to be among the most active because they have a great deal at stake.

5 Aug 2011

Health Affairs report describes ground-breaking effort that aims to prevent opioid abuse

Fatal overdoses involving prescribed opioids tripled in the United States between 1999 and 2006, climbing to almost 14,000 deaths annually-more than cocaine and heroin overdoses combined. Hospitalizations and emergency room visits related to prescription opioid pain medicines such as oxycodone and hydrocodone also increased dramatically in the same period.

5 Aug 2011

Appeals court tosses out health challenge brought by New Jersey docs

A U.S. appeals court rejected a bid by group of New Jersey doctors to reinstate their lawsuit challenging the federal health-insurance overhaul. New Jersey Physicians Inc., a nonprofit group, and an uninsured patient identified only as "Patient Roe" failed to adequately plead a concrete or actual injury, the U.S. Court of Appeals in Philadelphia ruled today.

5 Aug 2011

Low fertility causes 'very real problems' for developed nations' economies

"In recent years, nearly every demographic study has painted a dire picture of the world's changing demographics. Yet when the U.N. issued its latest report this past May, it seemed almost sunny," Jonathan Last, senior writer at the Weekly Standard, writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece.

5 Aug 2011

Medicare's recovery audit contractor program collected $575.2 million since 2009

The CMS' Medicare fee-for-service recovery audit contractor program collected about $233.4 million in overpayments from March through June of this year, bringing the total of recouped overpayments since October 2009 to about $575.2 million.

5 Aug 2011

TrustLaw publishes special report on child marriage

TrustLaw, a Thomson Reuters Foundation service, on Thursday published a series of articles, infographics and videos in a special report on child marriage. According to the series homepage, "every day, 25,000 girls under the age of 18 are married worldwide. For many child brides, a future of poverty, exploitation and poor health awaits".

5 Aug 2011

States seek Medicaid waivers, wrestle with funding cuts

Oregon and Utah have waiver requests pending. Meanwhile, in Tennessee, steep Medicaid cuts are leading to the sale of some hospitals. And, in Arizona, a judge will soon decide whether health coverage should be restored for some low-income state residents whose health insurance ceased as a result of budget cuts.

5 Aug 2011

Washington Post publishes leadership roundtable opinion pieces on foreign aid and Somalia

"Amid budget crisis, a defense of foreign aid," Sen. John Kerry: "On one point we must remain resolute: This is not time for America to pull back from the world. This is a time to step forward".

5 Aug 2011

Report says public-public partnerships can provide safe, affordable water to poor populations

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "triggered a political controversy last week when he implicitly declared that even human rights have a market price," Inter Press Service reports, noting Ban "admitted it is not acceptable that poor slum-dwellers pay five or even 10 times as much for their water as wealthy residents of the same cities."

5 Aug 2011