Health Care News and Research

RSS

Longer looks: Health policy picks that will fascinate, captivate

Thirty-four states have some type of HIV-criminalization law. Depending on the state, it may be illegal to expose someone else to HIV, transmit the virus or conceal your own HIV-positive status from potential sexual partners. This criminalization extends even to cases in which condoms were used or when the virus was not transmitted, as well as to acts, such as spitting or biting, that pose minuscule to no risk.

18 Mar 2011

Experts warn radiation fears are diverting attention from public health threats in Japan

Concerns about radiation leaks from Japan's nuclear plant, which was damaged in the recent earthquake and tsunami, might be "diverting attention from potentially worse threats to public health ... like the cold and disrupted supplies of water," Reuters reports.

18 Mar 2011

York Central Hospital welcomes federal grant announcement for new Vaughan hospital

While the $10 million in federal funds announced yesterday are not going directly to York Central Hospital, the organization that is legally responsible for the planning, construction and operation of a new hospital in Vaughan, they will be instrumental in developing the adjacent Campus of Care lands.

18 Mar 2011

U.S. officials discuss proposed foreign aid cuts at House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing

Proposed budget cuts could be "absolutely devastating" for American foreign aid programs, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah said at a House Foreign Affairs Committee hearing on Wednesday, the Associated Press reports.

18 Mar 2011

Despite obesity epidemic life expectancy rises in Europe

Life expectancy in Europe keeps increasing despite the obesity epidemic, with people in Britain reaching an older age than those living in the US, according to an analysis of trends over the last 40 years.

18 Mar 2011

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center earns HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award

Englewood Hospital and Medical Center was identified as a recipient of the 2011 HealthGrades Patient Safety Excellence Award, indicating that its patient safety ratings are in the top 5% of U.S. hospitals.

18 Mar 2011

Opinions: TB funding; BBC World Service funding; direct cash transfer programs

"Prevention and control of tuberculosis on our globe is crumbling" and "[i]t needs fixing," retired pediatrician Elinor Graham writes in a Seattle Times opinion piece. She describes the burden of TB in developing countries and the costs associated with treatments, including those for drug-resistant forms of the disease.

18 Mar 2011

Scientists develop California's first detailed neighborhood database on cancer

Does living in a low-income, densely populated neighborhood such as San Francisco's Tenderloin district predispose you to a higher cancer risk than if you live in an upscale and suburban neighborhood such as San Diego's Rancho Santa Fe? Or vice versa? Scientists at the Cancer Prevention Institute of California now have the data that hold the answers.

18 Mar 2011

Blue Shield of California withdraws planned rate hike

Part of the reason for the decision may have been the result of political and public pressure, but an unexpected development may have made the retreat easier for the company to accept — it's paying out less than expected for claims.

18 Mar 2011

At the one-year mark, implications of health law emerge

Media outlets report on a range of issues related to implementation of the health law and its one-year anniversary — among them, the unexpected importance taken on by waivers, the marketplace impact on health insurance brokers, the geography of the health care workforce issues likely to result from coverage expansions and the continuing problems faced by lawmakers who are trying to repeal the measure's 1099 reporting provision.

18 Mar 2011

ACP: Increase in internal medicine enrollment can ease primary care workforce shortage

The increase in the number of U.S. medical students choosing internal medicine residencies in 2011 is a positive sign toward easing the primary care workforce shortage, according to the American College of Physicians, the nation's second-largest doctors group.

18 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Houston's 'painful' E.R. decision; Arizona's 'war' on kids' health care; protecting elders from abuse

Women are the majority of public-sector employees at the state and local levels and have already lost 320,000 public-sector jobs in the past two years. In addition, the GOP majority is attempting to defund Title X services, which have connected millions of American women to health care since 1970.

18 Mar 2011

MeadWestvaco's Mebane packaging plant earns FSC Chain of Custody certification

MeadWestvaco Corp. announced today that its Mebane, N.C. packaging plant received Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification in February 2011.

18 Mar 2011

What about medical mistakes?

Are California hospitals reporting medical mistakes and infections accurately — or at all?

18 Mar 2011

ANCI signs agreement with Annapolis for healthcare solution

American CareSource Holdings, Inc., the nation's leading ancillary health care network services company, announced today that it has signed and implemented an agreement with Annapolis, Maryland-based Self Funding Administrators Corporation, a third party administrator representing an additional 30,000 covered lives.

18 Mar 2011