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Adult survivors of childhood CNS tumors have persistent, unmet health care needs

Patients treated in childhood for tumours of the central nervous system have persistent and unmet health care needs even in adulthood, according to a comprehensive study from Karolinska Institutet which investigated an entire cohort of patients in Sweden.

8 Apr 2011

Health Coalition on Liability and Access testifies before House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee

The Health Coalition on Liability and Access (HCLA) testified today before the Health Subcommittee of the House Energy and Commerce Committee in a hearing titled, "The Cost of the Medical Liability System Proposals for Reform, including H.R. 5, the Help Efficient, Accessible, Low-cost, Timely Healthcare (HEALTH) Act of 2011."

8 Apr 2011

NEJM: Perspectives from Aaron, Reinhardt, Iglehart, Annas, Chambers and others

This week's New England Journal of Medicine features perspectives from prominent authors on Medicare and Medicaid. NEJM granted KHN permission to excerpt substantial portions of these columns.

8 Apr 2011

How the pharmaceutical industry is confronting a changing landscape

News outlets report on strategies and trends regarding research and development as well as drug pricing.

8 Apr 2011

Democratic Congresswoman highlights threat climate change poses to public health

Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) "called climate change a bigger public health threat than AIDS, malaria and pandemic flu" before a vote on Wednesday on a bill aimed at thwarting Environmental Protection Agency climate regulations, The Hill's "E2-Wire" blog reports.

8 Apr 2011

House Budget Chair's FY12 budget proposal would significantly cut foreign affairs, foreign aid budgets

House Budget Chairman Rep. Paul Ryan's budget blueprint, which was released earlier this week, would significantly cut the international affairs and foreign aid budgets for FY12 and increase those cuts over the next four years, Foreign Policy's "The Cable" reports, noting that Ryan's budget also would increase "the defense budget by 14 percent over the same timeframe".

8 Apr 2011

House Panel approves Ryan 2012 budget blueprint on party-line vote

The GOP budget proposal's Medicare provisions continue to draw scrutiny and debate about what the program's future should look like, how the plan would change senior citizens' health care costs and what its political implications might be.

8 Apr 2011

First trial to test shared decision making for weight-loss surgery

A video-based decision aid helped severely obese people to make more informed choices about bariatric surgery and reach more certainty about them, according to a trial involving 152 Group Health patients, e-published in Obesity in advance of print. This randomized controlled trial is the first to test shared decision making for weight-loss surgery.

8 Apr 2011

Though Congressional leaders cite progress, current-year spending deal still in play

If lawmakers fail to reach agreement on the 2011 budget, the government will shut down at 12:01 a.m. Saturday. Federal agencies have contingency plans in place in the event this happens. Media outlets report that Medicare and Medicaid would operate normally in the short run. Meanwhile, considerable discussion continues regarding what the political fallout will be and whether the public will hold Democrats or Republicans accountable.

8 Apr 2011

Antidepressant medication improves physical recovery from stroke

A University of Iowa study finds that patients treated with a short course of antidepressants after a stroke have significantly greater improvement in physical recovery than patients treated with a placebo. Moreover, the study is the first to demonstrate that this physical recovery continues to improve for at least nine months after the antidepressant medication is stopped.

8 Apr 2011

House subcommittee plans hearings on ACOs

In related news, Politico Pro reports that five leading health systems announced a plan to partner in sharing electronic health records. These systems note that the ability to share patient data with EHRs is key to success in creating ACOs.

8 Apr 2011

NAFC honors UT Southwestern nurse with Continence Care Champion Award

The National Association For Continence presented Tamara Dickinson, RN, CURN, CCCN, BCB-PMD, with its Rodney Appell Continence Care Champion Award at the Society of Urologic Nurses and Associates luncheon on March 11, held during the 2011 SUNA Annual Symposium in New Orleans.

8 Apr 2011

Longer looks: Could Ryan's plan be a pitfall for Democrats?; the cost of military health care; revealing more about doctors' billing practices

Every week, reporter Jessica Marcy selects interesting reading from around the Web.

8 Apr 2011

Michigan's CQI model improves patient outcomes, reduces health care costs

In a paper published today in the professional health care journal, Health Affairs, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan and the University of Michigan Health System report that their model for collaborative health care quality improvement has measurably improved safety and quality in several clinical areas, and has saved millions in health care costs.

8 Apr 2011

One-third of senior doctors are still working full time

More than 1 in 10 Canadian physicians is age 65 and older, but many doctors remain active in clinical practice after reaching the traditional retirement age, according to a study released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

8 Apr 2011

Study: Hospital adverse-event figures exceed previous estimates

The research, which was published in the journal Health Affairs, used new tools to find that as many as one in three people in the U.S. will experience some type of mistake during a hospital stay. Also, the findings estimate the number of actual hospital errors to be as much as 10 times higher than found by voluntary reporting programs.

8 Apr 2011

Johns Hopkins patient safety expert: Unreliable "outcomes" measures hamper efforts to assure better, safer care

With a push to make hospitals and doctors more accountable for health care quality, more attention must be paid to the accuracy and reliability of measures used to evaluate caregivers, says a prominent Johns Hopkins patient safety expert.

8 Apr 2011

National policy needed to address heath care system for immigrants, ACP says

As the U.S. immigrant population grows it will be necessary to address the vast number of immigrants who do not have access to health insurance coverage, or who face other barriers to accessing health care, the American College of Physicians said in a new policy paper released today at Internal Medicine 2011, ACP's annual scientific meeting.

8 Apr 2011

Roundup: Minn. approves deep health spending cuts; Mass. voters say state health law not working

In a pioneering bid to streamline the state's big health insurance programs, the Legislature's new Republican majority is poised to give thousands of low-income Minnesotans vouchers to buy coverage in the private marketplace.

8 Apr 2011

Opinions: Support antibiotic R&D; foreign aid budget cuts

"The framework for antibiotic discovery, development and approval is broken," Matthew Cooper of the University of Queensland and David Shales, former vice president at Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, write in a Nature comment, calling for "a sustained effort from government and industry to develop new drugs quickly."

8 Apr 2011

Health Care News and Research

Adult survivors of childhood CNS tumors have persistent, unmet health care needs

Health Coalition on Liability and Access testifies before House Energy and Commerce Health Subcommittee

NEJM: Perspectives from Aaron, Reinhardt, Iglehart, Annas, Chambers and others

How the pharmaceutical industry is confronting a changing landscape

Democratic Congresswoman highlights threat climate change poses to public health

House Budget Chair's FY12 budget proposal would significantly cut foreign affairs, foreign aid budgets

House Panel approves Ryan 2012 budget blueprint on party-line vote

First trial to test shared decision making for weight-loss surgery

Though Congressional leaders cite progress, current-year spending deal still in play

Antidepressant medication improves physical recovery from stroke

House subcommittee plans hearings on ACOs

NAFC honors UT Southwestern nurse with Continence Care Champion Award

Longer looks: Could Ryan's plan be a pitfall for Democrats?; the cost of military health care; revealing more about doctors' billing practices

Michigan's CQI model improves patient outcomes, reduces health care costs

One-third of senior doctors are still working full time

Study: Hospital adverse-event figures exceed previous estimates

Johns Hopkins patient safety expert: Unreliable "outcomes" measures hamper efforts to assure better, safer care

National policy needed to address heath care system for immigrants, ACP says

Roundup: Minn. approves deep health spending cuts; Mass. voters say state health law not working

Opinions: Support antibiotic R&D; foreign aid budget cuts

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®

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