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Nurse staffing levels, safety net status both factors in patient outcomes

A new study finds that higher nurse staffing levels can lead to better patient outcomes. However, the study also found this to not always be the case at safety net hospitals. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Mirror reports on hospitals' efforts to reduce readmissions. And, in other news, new research has found that patients are less likely to fill prescriptions when doctors specify brand names instead of allowing generic substitutions.

28 Mar 2011

House Subcommittee to investigate AARP 'financial conflicts'

House GOP lawmakers are scrutinizing how the AARP's interests may have played into the positions the organization took during the health debate.

28 Mar 2011

Differing reports on how businesses, health law are interacting

Reuters reports that Health and Human Services data show the business community is a big winner as a result of the measure's early retiree program. But The Fiscal Times notes that some "corporate giants" are at odds with the overhaul.

28 Mar 2011

How is the health care safety net faring?

News outlets examine the safety net from varying vantage points to see how it is holding up in advance of the health law's coverage expansions and during difficult economic times.

28 Mar 2011

Hospital pricing, mergers grab headlines

In Texas, reports indicate that costs vary widely by hospital. Meanwhile, merger talks begin in Connecticut.

28 Mar 2011

Exploring the donor kidney market

Should you be paid to part with a kidney?

28 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 25, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about mini-med plans and accountable care organizations as well as the ongoing impasse in Congress regarding current year spending.

28 Mar 2011

Asbury Communities offers management and support services for older adults

In 2010, more than 4 million baby boomers turned 50, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. Boomers today represent 28 percent of the U.S. population, or 76.1 million people. With so many people aging, how is the senior living industry going to provide services to this group of older Americans?

28 Mar 2011

Cleveland Clinic, Elsevier to offer physicians with evidence-based clinical content

Elsevier, a world leader in health care and medical publishing and online solutions, today announced a strategic relationship between First Consult and Cleveland Clinic to provide physician-author support of content for First Consult, an evidence-based resource integrated into the clinical workflow to deliver trusted medical information at the point-of-care.

28 Mar 2011

DAW prescriptions can increase annual health system costs to $7.7 billion

Approximately five percent of prescriptions submitted by CVS Caremark Pharmacy Benefit Management members in a 30-day period during 2009 included a "dispense as written" designation.

28 Mar 2011

U.S. FDA approves Yervoy to treat patients with late-stage melanoma

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved Yervoy to treat patients with late-stage melanoma, the most dangerous type of skin cancer.

28 Mar 2011

Study establishes strong link between nicotine and diabetes complications

Scientists today reported the first strong evidence implicating nicotine as the main culprit responsible for persistently elevated blood sugar levels - and the resulting increased risk of serious health complications - in people who have diabetes and smoke.

28 Mar 2011

Financial Times examines rise in public, private sector global partnerships for aid delivery

"New models of financing and delivering development programmes are bringing far-reaching changes to the international public sector," with " traditional government-to-government transactions … giving way to complex networks of partners - some of them from the private sector - to provide everything from antiretroviral drugs and girls' education to emergency food supplies," the Financial Times reports in a piece that explores why such changes are taking place and their implications for future funding.

28 Mar 2011

Science Magazine reports on recent push to make preventing, treating cancer a global priority

Science Magazine reports on the recent push to make preventing and treating cancer a global priority, particularly in developing countries, where it's estimated "less than 5% of the world's cancer resources are spent."

28 Mar 2011

IFC, Gates Foundation work with India’s Bihar State to improve health payments system

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation are working with the government of Bihar state to find ways to make government payments to health workers and health beneficiaries more efficient, transparent, and timely.

28 Mar 2011

Gates discusses foundation's global health priorities in India during visit to country

During a visit to the Indian state of Bihar, Bill Gates, co-founder of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, on Thursday discussed his foundation's work in India and global health priorities, ANI/Sify News reports.

28 Mar 2011

Study finds surgeon availability linked to fewer MVC-related deaths

Researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine claim that the availability of surgeons is a critical factor in public health and suggest that surgery should become an important part of the primary health care system.

28 Mar 2011

GOP presidential candidates lash out at health law

A handful of high-profile Republicans who may be eyeing the White House told hundreds of conservative activists Saturday that most Americans agree with their values, and insisted that opposition to the president's health care overhaul could help the GOP make historic gains in 2012.

28 Mar 2011

China to implement ban on smoking in indoor public spaces

Chinese health officials this week announced the country will move forward in May with a ban on smoking in all indoor public spaces "in an effort to shield the world's most populous nation ... from the harmful effects of the habit," Reuters reports.

28 Mar 2011

Blue Cross Blue Shield facing Justice Dept. questions on hospital agreements

The U.S. Justice Department is widening a probe into whether Blue Cross Blue Shield health-insurance plans are artificially raising premiums in several states by striking agreements with hospitals that stifle competition from rival insurers. Federal investigators and some state attorneys general have sent civil subpoenas to "Blue" health plans in Missouri, Ohio, Kansas, West Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and the District of Columbia, according to people familiar with the matter.

28 Mar 2011