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In New York, quiet Medicaid spending talks proceed while a Michigan insurer adds a range of new insurance products

Gov.-elect Andrew Cuomo and the state's health-care union are in quiet talks over Medicaid spending in an effort to avoid a bitter showdown next year over the state budget (Gershman, 12/3).

4 Dec 2010

ProPublica: Drug Co. used ghostwriters to pen work bylined by academics

An investigative news piece finds that ghostwriters write medical studies, editorials and other works for a major drug company.

4 Dec 2010

OpEds: Positions on Fiscal Commission; Reinhardt on Medicare; Defeating diabetes

As a member of this bipartisan commission and co-author of the Conrad-Gregg Bipartisan Fiscal Task Force legislation the panel is based on, I hope this plan will be supported. ... Unfortunately, significant health-care savings are missing from the plan; this is an issue that will have to be addressed soon.

4 Dec 2010

Dispute between hospital, insurer highlight health reform challenge

In Texas, the region's largest insurer and one of the state's largest hospitals are at odds over patient costs while Wisconsin's hospitals give a boost to economy by adding jobs.

4 Dec 2010

Ontario coalition encourages drivers to take precautions to reduce preventable crashes

National Safe Driving Week in Canada is upon us (December 1 - 7, 2010) and during this time, health care and safety advocates are encouraging Ontario drivers to properly and diligently prepare for winter driving to reduce the risk of motor vehicle crashes.

3 Dec 2010

International project on equitable distribution of health resources and priorities within global health

Researchers in Bergen and Seattle will join forces in a project on the equitable distribution of health resources and priorities within global health. The agreement was signed during this year's Transatlantic Science Week held in Washington, D.C. in October.

3 Dec 2010

Loyola nurses honored

Loyola University Health System revenue specialist Judy Williams, RN, CEN, TNS, recently took on a nontraditional nursing role, which resulted in a significant cost savings for the organization. Williams oversees fiscal responsibility for the Emergency Department. In this position, she has identified opportunities to overcome billing obstacles through intradepartmental collaboration and nurse education on proper documentation for reimbursement.

3 Dec 2010

Children with developmental disabilities face obstacles in intervention services

A new community-based study by UC Davis researchers has found that children with developmental disabilities in Southeast-Asian-American families face significant obstacles to receiving intervention services. Barriers include lack of accurate information, language difficulties, lack of trust and limited outreach.

3 Dec 2010

Johns Hopkins patient-safety tools help reduce lethal bloodstream infections

Using a widely heralded Johns Hopkins checklist and other patient-safety tools, intensive care units across the state of Michigan reduced the rate of potentially lethal bloodstream infections to near zero.

3 Dec 2010

NSU receives $1.6 million federal grant to provide better care for homeless

Nova Southeastern University College of Osteopathic Medicine recently received a $1.6 million federal grant to develop an academic program for medical students to provide better care for the homeless by understanding their needs.

3 Dec 2010

New article questions role of amenities in hospital care

From hotel-style room service to massage therapy to magnificent views, hospitals are increasingly touting their luxury services in a bid to gain market share, especially those in competitive urban markets. An important new article, published today in the New England Journal of Medicine, raises crucial questions about the role of amenities in hospital care, explaining that how we decide to value the patient experience can have a significant effect on health care costs.

3 Dec 2010

New pilot program to connect rural health care providers with VA

The Utah Health Information Network (UHIN) today announced a new pilot program to connect rural health care providers in the Moab, Utah region with the Department of Veteran Affairs (VA) to improve access and coordination of patient care for veterans and service members living in rural areas.

3 Dec 2010

Hospital-wide patient-safety programs can improve 'culture of safety'

A prescribed set of hospital-wide patient-safety programs can lead to rapid improvements in the "culture of safety" even in a large, complex, academic medical center, according to a new study by safety experts at Johns Hopkins.

3 Dec 2010

People enrolled in CDHP plan reaches 22 million in 2010: EBRI report

The ranks of people enrolled in either a consumer-driven health plan (CDHP) or a high-deductible health plan (HDHP) reached 22 million in 2010, according to a report released today by the nonpartisan Employee Benefit Research Institute (EBRI). Participation in these account-based health care plans is low, but continues to grow, EBRI finds in its sixth annual Consumer Engagement in Health Care Survey.

3 Dec 2010

Obama praised for enhanced health care reform for Alzheimer's community

According to the Society of Actuaries, the leading cause of U.S. long-term care claims is Alzheimer's, the brain disease that renders over 5 million Americans unable to handle all the acts of daily living unaided. Who cares? Evidently President Obama does, having written a pro-active column in the Fall, 2010, issue of care ADvantage, published by the Alzheimer's Foundation of America.

3 Dec 2010

Number of medical school graduates increasing; average age of physicians stabilizing

Canada experienced the biggest annual percentage gain in the national supply of physicians since the late 1980s, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI). In 2009, there were approximately 68,100 active physicians working in Canada, an increase of nearly 2,700 physicians over the previous year. This represents an increase of 4.1%—more than triple the rate of growth of the Canadian population as a whole (1.2%) and the largest annual increase of the past two decades.

3 Dec 2010

Access MediQuip enters agreement with BCBSTX to provide implant surgical management

Access MediQuip, LLC, the largest provider of surgical implant management solutions in the country and Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas (BCBSTX), the largest provider of health benefits in Texas, announced today an agreement for Access MediQuip to provide specialized implant surgical management services to BCBSTX's vast membership across the State of Texas. Implementation will begin in December 2010.

3 Dec 2010

Democrats confident food safety bill will be resolved despite procedural error; Child nutrition bill set for house vote

The Hill's Healthwatch Blog: "Senate Democrats say an error in the food-safety bill passed Tuesday can be resolved in time to send the legislation to President Obama by the end of the year. Two senior leadership aides confirmed that the bill the Senate approved, 73-25, inadvertently contained tax provisions that, under the Constitution, must originate in the House of Representatives. That means the bill must be passed a second time by the Senate, giving critics such as Sen. Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) another chance to block it" (Rushing and Lillis, 12/1).

3 Dec 2010

More Coloradans lose Medicare Advantage plans, Missouri lawmakers push for doctor's order to buy common cold and allergy meds

The Denver Post: "Nearly 14,000 Coloradans are losing their form of Medicare Advantage plans next year and will need to choose new options, creating a hardship for 1,700 rural Medicare members who won't find similar plans left on the table. Medicare Advantage carriers such as Humana, Anthem, Secure Horizons and MVP dropped some Medicare Advantage plans in Colorado. … The dropped carriers affect 13,936 beneficiaries in Colorado, including 3,832 in the Denver metro area" (Booth, 12/2).

3 Dec 2010

Indiana University to join multi-state program focused on cervical cancer prevention

Indiana will join a multi-state program focused on cervical cancer prevention thanks to an unrestricted gift from GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals to the Indiana University School of Medicine, in partnership with the Kristen Forbes EVE Foundation.

3 Dec 2010

Health Care News and Research

In New York, quiet Medicaid spending talks proceed while a Michigan insurer adds a range of new insurance products

ProPublica: Drug Co. used ghostwriters to pen work bylined by academics

OpEds: Positions on Fiscal Commission; Reinhardt on Medicare; Defeating diabetes

Dispute between hospital, insurer highlight health reform challenge

Ontario coalition encourages drivers to take precautions to reduce preventable crashes

International project on equitable distribution of health resources and priorities within global health

Loyola nurses honored

Children with developmental disabilities face obstacles in intervention services

Johns Hopkins patient-safety tools help reduce lethal bloodstream infections

NSU receives $1.6 million federal grant to provide better care for homeless

New article questions role of amenities in hospital care

New pilot program to connect rural health care providers with VA

Hospital-wide patient-safety programs can improve 'culture of safety'

People enrolled in CDHP plan reaches 22 million in 2010: EBRI report

Obama praised for enhanced health care reform for Alzheimer's community

Number of medical school graduates increasing; average age of physicians stabilizing

Access MediQuip enters agreement with BCBSTX to provide implant surgical management

Democrats confident food safety bill will be resolved despite procedural error; Child nutrition bill set for house vote

More Coloradans lose Medicare Advantage plans, Missouri lawmakers push for doctor's order to buy common cold and allergy meds

Indiana University to join multi-state program focused on cervical cancer prevention

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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