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Viewpoints: Political impact of Ryan plan; would VA health system work for all?; Calif. insurance rates

Representative Paul Ryan is rebutting critics of his plan to turn Medicare into a "premium support" program, pointing to two existing programs that he says prove his approach would be better for beneficiaries. Don't believe it. The two programs he cites as prototypes — the insurance program for members of Congress and the Medicare prescription drug program — differ in critical respects from his proposal to sharply limit federal spending. The losers will be the beneficiaries who have to pay more.

1 Jun 2011

Health IT roundup: Feds monitor privacy breaches and propose changes to HIPPA records sharing

Federal health officials call it the Wall of Shame. It's a government Web page that lists nearly 300 hospitals, doctors and insurance companies that have reported significant breaches of medical privacy in the last couple of years. Such lapses, frightening to consumers, could impede the Obama administration's effort to shift the nation to electronic health care records.

31 May 2011

First Edition: May 31, 2011

Today's headlines include articles on the federal efforts to improve hospital quality, the politics of Medicare and the move by some GOP governors to set up health exchanges.

31 May 2011

Radiant to expand consumer products testing capabilities

Radiant Research, Inc. today announced that it is expanding its consumer products testing capabilities through creation of a new division of Radiant Research devoted to consumer trial conduct.

31 May 2011

AAPA recognizes nation's top five Physician Assistants with PAragon Awards

The American Academy of Physician Assistants today recognizes five of the nation's top PAs with the Academy's highest honor, the PAragon Awards.

31 May 2011

Some Veterans' health jeopardized due to poor infection control

Herman Williams came home safely after fighting in the jungles of Vietnam as a Marine. He was shocked to learn four decades later that his military service had again placed him in jeopardy — this time, because he got a tooth pulled. Williams is among 13,000 U.S. veterans who have been warned in the last two years that their blood should be tested for potentially fatal infections after possible exposures by improper hygiene practices at five VA hospitals in Ohio, Florida, Georgia, Missouri and Tennessee.

31 May 2011

Canadian women more aware of ovarian cancer now, but misconceptions remain

Canadian women know more about ovarian cancer than they did six years ago, but misconceptions remain that could lead to late diagnosis of the country's most fatal gynecologic cancer - a disease that claims the lives of 70% of those diagnosed.

30 May 2011

Study on entire Swedish population affirms significance of hereditary factors for venous thromboembolism

Venous thromboembolism (VTE) is the third most common type of cardiovascular disease after coronary heart disease and stroke. Researchers at the Centre for Primary Health Care Research in Malmö have mapped the significance of hereditary factors for venous thromboembolism in the entire Swedish population by studying the risk of VTE in children of parents with VTE compared with the children of parents who have not had VTE.

30 May 2011

CPS, AAP release joint statement on early childhood caries

Early childhood caries is a serious health problem in North American Indigenous communities that needs immediate attention, say the Canadian Paediatric Society and the American Academy of Pediatrics in a joint statement released today.

30 May 2011

New method can precisely measure quality of life in older age

Maintaining social relationships and mobility in old age are so important for general well-being that some elderly people will go to extreme lengths to keep active, according to research funded by the United Kingdom's Economic and Social Research Council.

30 May 2011

Ad Council, AHRQ launch new multimedia Spanish-language campaign for Hispanics

Conoce las Preguntas, a new, multimedia Spanish-language campaign announced today by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the Ad Council, encourages Hispanics to get more involved in their health care and to talk with their doctors about their medical concerns.

30 May 2011

New position paper examines benefits of actual, virtual natural environments on human health

A new position paper by researchers at the European Centre for the Environment and Human Health and the University of Birmingham has compared the benefits of interaction with actual and virtual natural environments and concluded that the development of accurate simulations are likely to be beneficial to those who cannot interact with nature because of infirmity or other limitations: but virtual worlds are not a substitute for the real thing.

30 May 2011

Politics of Medicare making Democrats, Republicans testy and disputatious

Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said on NBC's "Meet The Press" that he supports the controversial plan by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform Medicare into a voucher-like system in which future beneficiaries — those 54 and younger — would get subsidies to buy health insurance rather than have the government directly pay their doctor and hospital bills.

30 May 2011

McConnell, Romney, freshmen Republicans face tough questions on GOP Medicare plan

Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell said Friday that Medicare reform must be part of an agreement to raise the debt ceiling, despite indications that changing the entitlement will be politically unpopular. Democrats made Medicare reforms pushed by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan a central issue in a special election in upstate New York they won last week.

30 May 2011

High blood pressure becoming more common in young adults: Study

According to a new study about one in five young adults may have high blood pressure. The researchers from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill analyzed blood pressure data from the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health, called Add Health, and compared it with data from the National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey, commonly referred to as NHANES. They focused specifically on the information about adults age 24 to 32.

29 May 2011

Rise of obesity - risks at work

A team of researchers have found that the American workplace is a significant contributor to the obesity epidemic. In the review of shifts in the labor force since 1960 it was suggested that a sizable portion of the national weight gain can be explained by declining physical activity during the workday.

29 May 2011

New smart phone application provides pediatric and adult ER wait times directly to phone

Managing your health just got easier with the launch of Emergency Room (ER) wait times for adult and pediatric HealthONE ERs throughout the Denver metro area. The new Denver smart phone application, HealthONE Fast LocatER, will provide wait times directly to your smart phone as well as locate the nearest HealthONE ER, find a physician, make an appointment request, call 911 and more.

27 May 2011

The Economist examines lack of attention to Plasmodium vivax malaria parasite

The Economist profiles Plasmodium vivax, a type of malaria that affects between 80 million to 390 million people worldwide annually with a cost to sufferers between $1.4 billion and $4 billion each year.

27 May 2011

Parties craft strategies, Medicare spin in aftermath of NY-26 special election results

Because the of what many view as the vote-changing impact that Medicare had on this congressional contest, Democrats and Republicans are considering how to advance their positions toward 2012.

27 May 2011

Research Roundup: Medicaid co-payments, access to docs causes worse health

Disparities In Child Access To Emergency Care For Acute Oral Injury -- This study looked at the "impact of insurance status on dental practices' willingness to schedule an appointment for a child with a symptomatic fractured permanent front tooth." Six researchers posed as mothers of 10-year-old boys who all had the same injury but different coverage: Medicaid/Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) or private Blue Cross dental insurance.

27 May 2011

Health Care News and Research

Viewpoints: Political impact of Ryan plan; would VA health system work for all?; Calif. insurance rates

Health IT roundup: Feds monitor privacy breaches and propose changes to HIPPA records sharing

First Edition: May 31, 2011

Radiant to expand consumer products testing capabilities

AAPA recognizes nation's top five Physician Assistants with PAragon Awards

Some Veterans' health jeopardized due to poor infection control

Canadian women more aware of ovarian cancer now, but misconceptions remain

Study on entire Swedish population affirms significance of hereditary factors for venous thromboembolism

CPS, AAP release joint statement on early childhood caries

New method can precisely measure quality of life in older age

Ad Council, AHRQ launch new multimedia Spanish-language campaign for Hispanics

New position paper examines benefits of actual, virtual natural environments on human health

Politics of Medicare making Democrats, Republicans testy and disputatious

McConnell, Romney, freshmen Republicans face tough questions on GOP Medicare plan

High blood pressure becoming more common in young adults: Study

Rise of obesity - risks at work

New smart phone application provides pediatric and adult ER wait times directly to phone

The Economist examines lack of attention to Plasmodium vivax malaria parasite

Parties craft strategies, Medicare spin in aftermath of NY-26 special election results

Research Roundup: Medicaid co-payments, access to docs causes worse health

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

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