Health Systems News and Research

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New website provides advice on health care and lifestyle options

When Regence member Adrianne Johnson needed to find a primary care physician (PCP), she asked friends for recommendations, and then logged on to myRegence.com to compare those recommendations with feedback from other Regence members who were patients of those doctors. Based on the Member Reviews she read on myRegence.com, Johnson was able to find not just a PCP she was comfortable with, but specialists, as well.

21 Oct 2009

25 hospitals implement Picis' anesthesia information management systems

Strengthening its market leadership in anesthesia information management systems (AIMS), Picis today announced that 25 hospitals have selected Picis Anesthesia Manager this year, including Virtua, the largest hospital system in New Jersey, Sutter Health, Children’s Hospital & Research Center Oakland, University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center and 10 Veterans Administration (VA) hospitals.

21 Oct 2009

5-year global cooperative agreement awarded to IntraHealth International

IntraHealth International has been awarded a new 5-year global cooperative agreement, with a $300 million ceiling, by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) to improve the quality of health services in the developing world by strengthening the health care workforce.

21 Oct 2009

World Medical Association adopts climate change, task shifting resolutions

At its general assembly in New Delhi, India, the World Medical Association (WMA), "a conglomerate of medical associations around the world," approved a plan that aims "to minimise the risk of increased malnutrition deaths, diseases and injuries due to climate change," IANS/Thaindian News reports (10/17).

20 Oct 2009

Diabetes represents a global health threat

The International Diabetes Federation (IDF) released new data today showing that a staggering 285 million people worldwide have diabetes.

20 Oct 2009

Innovative financing for global health issues discussed at Nairobi meeting

As more countries prepare to introduce a voluntary travel tax to help fight HIV/AIDS and other diseases worldwide, Philippe Douste-Blazy, chair of UNITAID and a U.N. special advisor on innovative development financing said at a recent event in Nairobi, Kenya, that "the airline levy gives participating developing nations an opportunity to contribute to treatment in their countries rather than depending on handouts from the developed world," the Standard reports.

19 Oct 2009

Recent releases in global health

In light of a recent Guttmacher Institute report that indicated 70,000 women in developing countries die each year from unsafe abortion, a Lancet editorial outlines ways to reduce deaths, and says, "The current political climate is favourable, because the global-gag rule (the U.S. Government's policy on banning funding of foreign organisations linked to any type of abortion practice) is out of favour" (10/17).

19 Oct 2009

International human migration needs to be factored into infectious disease policy

When people travel, bacteria and other infectious agents travel with them. As about a billion people cross international borders each year, many more billions of the bugs come along for the ride.

19 Oct 2009

UCLA to establish a new Preparedness and Emergency Response Research Center

The UCLA School of Public Health has received a major grant from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to establish a center that will facilitate research to strengthen the ability of federal, state and local public health agencies to prepare for, respond to and recover from natural and human-induced disasters, including terrorism.

15 Oct 2009

African leaders, Chirac unite to fight fake drug manufacturing, distribution

Leaders from Benin, Burkina Faso, the Central African Republic, Congo-Republic, Niger and Senegal on Monday joined former French President Jacques Chirac in Cotonou, Benin, in a campaign against the manufacturing and sale of fake pharmaceutical products, Reuters reports (Lewis, 10/12).

14 Oct 2009

Health care workers raise troubling concern about H1N1 and seasonal flu vaccines

Hospital workers are asking the same questions about the safety and necessity of flu vaccines as the general public, according to a survey conducted by the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists (ASHP).

13 Oct 2009

RelayHealth networks 50 health systems and hospitals to facilitate health information exchange

RelayHealth, a leading provider of healthcare connectivity services, today announced that 50 health systems and hospitals are now contracted for its solutions to facilitate health information exchange (HIE) and care coordination.

12 Oct 2009

Streamwood Behavioral Hospital implements initiatives to improve patient services

Using the findings and research generated by three professional operations surveys, the leadership of Streamwood Behavioral Hospital announced today they will initiate improvements to bring its patient service programs to a "gold standard" of care.

12 Oct 2009

Utah Drug Card statewide prescription assistance program to commence

Utah residents will have access to a new statewide prescription assistance program starting tomorrow. The Utah Drug Card is a free discount prescription drug card program that will offer residents savings of up to 75% on prescription drugs at retail pharmacies.

8 Oct 2009

Lifeline Vascular Access receives re-accreditation from Joint Commission

Lifeline Vascular AccessSM, the nation’s leading provider of vascular access management services, announced today that it has been re-accredited by the Joint Commission - demonstrating compliance with the Joint Commission’s national standards for health care quality and safety.

8 Oct 2009

More than 2m infants, women die from childbirth annually, study says

Each year, more than 2 million infants and women around the world die from childbirth-related complications, according to a study released Tuesday at the International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics world congress in Cape Town, South Africa, the Associated Press reports.

8 Oct 2009

Minimally invasive sling operations for stress urinary incontinence found promising

New, less invasive surgical treatments for stress urinary incontinence in women are just as effective as traditional open surgical approaches, according to Cochrane Researchers. The researchers carried out a systematic review of trials comparing different surgical approaches to treating the condition.

7 Oct 2009

Rapid viral testing might benefit health systems

Rapid viral diagnosis tests for respiratory diseases in children who arrive in emergency departments have the potential to reduce pressures on health systems by enabling doctors to reach a quicker diagnosis, according to Cochrane Researchers. However, they say larger trials are needed to confirm this finding.

7 Oct 2009

Out-sourcing and cash incentives may increase healthcare access in low income countries

Contracting private providers of healthcare services and giving cash incentives to patients are two strategies that have been proposed to increase access to healthcare in low income countries.

7 Oct 2009

Examining the recent winners and losers in the health reform debate

"Pfizer Inc., the world's largest drugmaker, and hospital companies including Community Health Systems Inc. are benefiting from agreements with President Barack Obama that will limit any threat to their profits."

6 Oct 2009