Health Care News and Research

RSS

WHO endorses rapid TB test

"The World Health Organization endorsed a new, rapid test for tuberculosis Wednesday that cuts the diagnosis time for patients from months to hours," CNN reports (Gray, 12/8).

8 Dec 2010

Aetna to acquire health information exchange firm for $500 million

Aetna, one of the largest U.S. insurers, is expanding its health information technology presence with its $500 million acquisition of technology firm Medicity, Bloomberg reports. "Medicity, based in Salt Lake City, offers technology that helps 760 hospitals and 125,000 physicians in the U.S. exchange medical data, according to the statement." Aetna said it financed the deal with "available resources" that wouldn't affect its financial results (Nussbaum, 12/7).

8 Dec 2010

New Hora de Hablar CARDIO program launched to help better manage heart health

An innovative new program, Hora de Hablar CARDIO – Creando la Atencion Real y Dialogo Inmediato en la Oficina, launched today to encourage patients and health care professionals to actively partner to help better manage heart health through more productive conversations during medical visits.

8 Dec 2010

Researchers develop imaging technology that can accurately identify prostate cancer

Prostate cancer is the most common type of cancer among men, but its diagnosis has up to now been inaccurate and unpleasant. Researchers at Eindhoven University of Technology in the Netherlands, in cooperation with AMC Amsterdam, have developed an imaging technology that can accurately identify tumors.

8 Dec 2010

First Edition: December 8, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include more detail on the deal reached to avoid a scheduled cut in physician's Medicare pay.

8 Dec 2010

California's MRMIB extends Healthy Families contract with MAXIMUS

MAXIMUS, a leading provider of government services worldwide, today announced that an extension of its Healthy Families contract was approved by the California's Managed Risk Medical Insurance Board (MRMIB) on September 15, 2010. The five-year extension will begin on January 1, 2011 and is valued at approximately $360.6 million.

8 Dec 2010

FDLI to launch Food and Drug Policy Forum publication in 2011

In 2011, the Food and Drug Law Institute will launch a new publication — FDLI"s Food and Drug Policy Forum. "The Policy Forum is designed to provide a new electronic marketplace for the exchange of ideas among food and drug law, regulation, and policy professionals," notes Susan C. Winckler, President and CEO of FDLI.

8 Dec 2010

34% of Britons put getting cancer down to fate

Cancer is the nation's number one fear but more than a third think getting the disease is down to fate and there is nothing they can do to avoid it - according to a Cancer Research UK survey out today (Wednesday).

8 Dec 2010

Integrating smoking cessation treatment with mental health care improves abstinence rates in PTSD veterans

Among smokers with military-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), integrating smoking cessation treatment with mental health care for PTSD resulted in higher rates of prolonged smoking abstinence, compared to referral for assistance with quitting smoking, according to a study in the December 8 issue of JAMA.

8 Dec 2010

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, UH College of Pharmacy earn national 'best practices' award

With antibiotic resistance on the rise worldwide, health care professionals are continually seeking to optimize how they combat drug-resistant infections.

8 Dec 2010

Financial Times contrasts 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches to developing country drugs

The Financial Times contrasts the model of drug development for developing countries being used by non-profit groups like the Meningitis Vaccine Project (MVP), which recently rolled out the MenAfriVac, to that of some pharmaceutical companies.

8 Dec 2010

Private insurers more effective in controlling health care spending than Medicare

Private insurers appear to be more effective in controlling health care spending differences between two Texas cities than Medicare, according to researchers from The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) School of Public Health. Researchers found that sharp disparities in per-capita Medicare healthcare spending between McAllen and El Paso were significantly diminished when private insurance paid for health care costs in the under-65 population.

8 Dec 2010

Stars and Stripes looks at barriers to scaling up foreign aid

Stars and Stripes examines the challenges facing the Obama administration's push for boosting non-military foreign aid: "When President Barack Obama's national security team began campaigning this fall to expand U.S. development and diplomacy, they described a desperate need to help American troops charged with winning wars, hearts and minds in Afghanistan, Iraq and worldwide.

8 Dec 2010

CML patients treated with dasatinib associated with better treatment adherence, lower health costs: Study

Patients with chronic myeloid leukemia who were treated with nilotinib are found to be associated with better treatment adherence, less hospitalizations, and lower total health care costs than patients treated with dasatinib, according to a new study released by Analysis Group Inc., a leading provider of health care research and economic consulting.

8 Dec 2010

Study examines impact of poor care coordination on quality, cost of care in America

Many Americans seek medical treatment from a variety of care providers and often must play the role of informing each doctor what the others are recommending or prescribing. This fragmented experience of poorly coordinated care is due in part to a lack of consistent systems and processes in place to coordinate care across providers and facilities.

8 Dec 2010

Respondents overestimate amount U.S. government spends on foreign aid, poll finds

A recent poll found that respondents "vastly overestimate[d]" the amount the U.S. government spends on foreign aid, PBS NewsHour reports. "The median answer was roughly 25 percent, according to the poll of 848 Americans. In reality, about 1 percent of the budget is allotted to foreign aid," the news service writes (Sullivan, 12/6).

8 Dec 2010

School-based ASMA program helps adolescents improve asthma management, quality of life

A school-based intervention program designed for adolescents with asthma significantly improves asthma management and quality of life for the students who participate, and reduces asthma morbidity, according to researchers in New York City, who studied the effect of the program aimed at urban youth and their medical providers.

8 Dec 2010

Health professionals discuss on reducing maternal, newborn mortality, morbidity

On Tuesday 7 December 2010, maternal health professionals from Africa and Asia will be attending a workshop in Liverpool to discuss the effects of 'Making It Happen', a programme with a life-saving training package for health care providers at its heart. Participants will share successes and lessons learned from this maternal and newborn health intervention, to better determine how the programme can be scaled-up.

8 Dec 2010

Most of world's poorest still live in rural areas, despite progress over last decade, U.N. report says

A report from the U.N.'s International Fund for Agricultural Development found that approximately 350 million people living in rural areas have escaped extreme poverty over the past decade, but most of the world's poorest citizens continue to live in rural regions, the BBC reports (Melik, 12/6).

8 Dec 2010

Employers pay more for health insurance, number of uninsured rises

PBS NewsHour: "The price businesses pay for their workers' health insurance has ballooned more than 41 percent over the past six years, according to a new study by the Commonwealth Fund. At the same time, many workers are getting less for the money -- per-person deductibles have risen 71 percent over those same years, according to the report.

8 Dec 2010

Health Care News and Research

WHO endorses rapid TB test

Aetna to acquire health information exchange firm for $500 million

New Hora de Hablar CARDIO program launched to help better manage heart health

Researchers develop imaging technology that can accurately identify prostate cancer

First Edition: December 8, 2010

California's MRMIB extends Healthy Families contract with MAXIMUS

FDLI to launch Food and Drug Policy Forum publication in 2011

34% of Britons put getting cancer down to fate

Integrating smoking cessation treatment with mental health care improves abstinence rates in PTSD veterans

St. Luke's Episcopal Hospital, UH College of Pharmacy earn national 'best practices' award

Financial Times contrasts 'bottom up' and 'top down' approaches to developing country drugs

Private insurers more effective in controlling health care spending than Medicare

Stars and Stripes looks at barriers to scaling up foreign aid

CML patients treated with dasatinib associated with better treatment adherence, lower health costs: Study

Study examines impact of poor care coordination on quality, cost of care in America

Respondents overestimate amount U.S. government spends on foreign aid, poll finds

School-based ASMA program helps adolescents improve asthma management, quality of life

Health professionals discuss on reducing maternal, newborn mortality, morbidity

Most of world's poorest still live in rural areas, despite progress over last decade, U.N. report says

Employers pay more for health insurance, number of uninsured rises

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®

Latest News