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Benioff family gifts $100 million for construction of new UCSF Children's Hospital at Mission Bay

Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff and his family have given a $100 million private gift to help fund the construction of the new UCSF Children's Hospital at the UCSF Mission Bay campus near downtown San Francisco. The gift is both the largest gift the donors have ever made and the largest gift ever granted specifically to the UCSF Children's Hospital.

22 Jun 2010

Walgreen third-quarter sales up 6.1% to record $17.2 billion

Walgreens today announced earnings and sales results for the third quarter of fiscal year 2010.

22 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 22, 2010

In this Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "High-deductible health plans and the health savings accounts (HSAs) that link to them are becoming a familiar fixture on the insurance landscape, even though they get mixed reviews from many consumers and health-policy experts" (Kaiser Health News).

22 Jun 2010

Improving health care for Saskatchewan patients remains a challenge: HQC report

In October 2008 the province's Health Quality Council released its first "state of health care quality" report, called Quality Insight. Key messages in that inaugural report were that limited access to timely data and the absence of an electronic health record were making it hard for HQC, health providers, and system leaders to improve health care for Saskatchewan patients.

22 Jun 2010

Most Americans view paid sick days as basic worker right

Paid sick leave is a benefit prized by American workers but frequently missing on the job — a situation that leads to serious consequences, a new study released Monday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago shows.

22 Jun 2010

Access to Healthcare signs contract with World Diabetes Foundation for new healthcare project in India

Coloplast's donation programme Access to Healthcare just signed a contract with the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) about a new healthcare project in India. The project aims to improve the treatment of diabetic wounds.

22 Jun 2010

Veterans with substance use disorders utilize violent means to commit suicide: Study

Veterans with substance use disorders who die by suicide are more likely to use violent means (such as a firearm) rather than nonviolent means (such as a drug overdose), new research suggests.

22 Jun 2010

Kaiser survey examines views of people who buy health coverage in individual market

People who buy their own insurance report that their insurers most recently requested premium increases averaging 20 percent, according to a new Kaiser survey examining the experiences and views of people who buy health coverage in the non-group or individual market.

22 Jun 2010

Kaiser Permanente recognized as Best Place to Work

Kaiser Permanente, one of the country's largest not-for-profit health plans, has been recognized as a "Best Place to Work" by three publications. In the first half of 2010, the organization was ranked No. 1 by Diversity MBA Magazine for diverse managers, and No. 2 in the San Francisco Business Times' list of "Best Places to Work."

22 Jun 2010

Connecticut is first state in U.S to expand coverage for low-income residents under Affordable Care Act

Connecticut is the first state in the nation to permanently add low-income adults to its Medicaid program under the new Affordable Care Act, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today.

22 Jun 2010

Children with special health care needs at increased risk of oral diseases

At the beginning of 2010, as many as 17 percent of children in the United States were reported as having special health care needs. Behavioral issues, developmental disorders, cognitive disorders, genetic disorders and systemic diseases may increase a child's risk of developing oral disease, according to an article published in the May/June 2010 issue of General Dentistry, the peer-reviewed clinical journal of the Academy of General Dentistry.

22 Jun 2010

Antibody treatment could significantly improve lives following spinal cord injury: Researchers

The United States Department of Defense Spinal Cord Injury Research Program has announced a grant of more than a million dollars U.S. to support research at the Robarts Research Institute at The University of Western Ontario (Western). The spinal cord injury research team of Gregory Dekaban, Arthur Brown, Lynne Weaver and Paula Foster, in collaboration with Brian Kwon of the University of British Columbia and Kyle Petersen of the U.S. Naval Medical Research Center, is working on a new therapy designed to limit the damage caused by inflammation immediately following spinal cord injury.

22 Jun 2010

CIGNA, CareCentrix team up to offer Care Transitions Program to decrease hospital readmissions

According to a recent study, one in five hospital discharges is complicated by an adverse event within 30 days, often leading to emergency care or re-hospitalization. To combat this problem, CIGNA (NYSE:CI) and CareCentrix, Inc., have teamed up to offer the Care Transitions Program to people enrolled in a CIGNA health plan after they've been discharged from the hospital. CareCentrix will provide specialized home nursing services that will help these individuals transition from hospital care to home recovery.

22 Jun 2010

New $20M fund to support Haitian small-, medium-sized businesses announced after first Interim Haiti Reconstruction Committee meeting

Former President Bill Clinton along with Mexican telecom executive Carlos Slim and Frank Guistra, a Canadian "mining magnet," on Thursday announced "a $20 million fund to help support the expansion and creation of small- and medium-size Haitian businesses," the Miami Herald reports.

22 Jun 2010

Research article sheds light on liability concerns and electronic health records systems

Electronic health record systems likely will soon become a fixture in medical settings. Advocates claim they will reduce health care costs and improve medical outcomes, which could be critical since the new health care reform law increases access for millions of Americans. Although benefits of bringing information technology to health records can be substantial, EHR systems also give rise to increased liability risks for health care providers due to possible software or hardware problems or user errors.

22 Jun 2010

Extenders bill in limbo, placing COBRA subsidy and Medicaid enhanced funding in even deeper jeopardy

Efforts to renew the COBRA subsidy extension to help workers who have been recently laid off afford to keep their former employer's health insurance remains in limbo as lawmakers work at a measured pace to extend unemployment benefits and a tax package.

22 Jun 2010

Pfizer announces voluntary withdrawal of Mylotarg from U.S. market following FDA request

Pfizer Inc. today announced the voluntary withdrawal from the U.S. market of the drug Mylotarg (gemtuzumab ozogamicin) for patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML), a bone marrow cancer. The company took the action at the request of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration after results from a recent clinical trial raised new concerns about the product's safety and the drug failed to demonstrate clinical benefit to patients enrolled in trials.

22 Jun 2010

WHO issues comprehensive recommendations on children's medicines

The WHO on Friday issued "its first-ever guidance on how to use more than 240 essential medicines for children under 13," the Associated Press reports. "The data provide information on use, dosage and side effects of medicines as well as warnings about which children should not take them" and possible complications from interactions from drugs taken together, according to the WHO, the news service reports (6/19).

22 Jun 2010

Tentative deal raises cigarette taxes in NY; Many Iowa hospitals close inpatient psychiatric units

Harvard Medical School, which has suffered financially due in part to a sharp decline in Harvard University's legendary endowment, has successfully negotiated a deal in which Boston's major teaching hospitals will contribute $36 million to the school over three years. The hospital money is a small portion of the medical school's $580 million annual budget, but it may represent a larger turning point in the unusual relationship between the country's top medical school and its prestigious hospital partners.

22 Jun 2010

Louisiana becomes first state with a Democrat legislature to oppose requirement to purchase health insurance

Last Friday, June 18, 2010, Louisiana became the first state with a Democrat-controlled legislature to oppose a requirement to purchase health insurance—the centerpiece of President Barack Obama's health reform agenda. Louisiana House Bill 1474, which passed the Louisiana Senate with strong bipartisan support, will soon head to Gov. Bobby Jindal's desk. The measure is modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act now introduced or announced in 42 states.

22 Jun 2010

Health Care News and Research

Benioff family gifts $100 million for construction of new UCSF Children's Hospital at Mission Bay

Walgreen third-quarter sales up 6.1% to record $17.2 billion

First Edition: June 22, 2010

Improving health care for Saskatchewan patients remains a challenge: HQC report

Most Americans view paid sick days as basic worker right

Access to Healthcare signs contract with World Diabetes Foundation for new healthcare project in India

Veterans with substance use disorders utilize violent means to commit suicide: Study

Kaiser survey examines views of people who buy health coverage in individual market

Kaiser Permanente recognized as Best Place to Work

Connecticut is first state in U.S to expand coverage for low-income residents under Affordable Care Act

Children with special health care needs at increased risk of oral diseases

Antibody treatment could significantly improve lives following spinal cord injury: Researchers

CIGNA, CareCentrix team up to offer Care Transitions Program to decrease hospital readmissions

New $20M fund to support Haitian small-, medium-sized businesses announced after first Interim Haiti Reconstruction Committee meeting

Research article sheds light on liability concerns and electronic health records systems

Extenders bill in limbo, placing COBRA subsidy and Medicaid enhanced funding in even deeper jeopardy

Pfizer announces voluntary withdrawal of Mylotarg from U.S. market following FDA request

WHO issues comprehensive recommendations on children's medicines

Tentative deal raises cigarette taxes in NY; Many Iowa hospitals close inpatient psychiatric units

Louisiana becomes first state with a Democrat legislature to oppose requirement to purchase health insurance

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