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Study to determine how often chronic Lyme disease is diagnosed and treated

A study soon to be published in The Journal of Pediatrics attempts to determine how often chronic Lyme disease is actually being diagnosed and treated.

2 Sep 2010

More health overhaul policies settling in

The Wall Street Journal: "Almost 2,000 employers and unions will be eligible to submit retirees' medical bills for reimbursement by a $5 billion federal fund, the Obama administration will disclose Tuesday, suggesting the fund will be spread widely but thinly." General Motors, Pepsi, Alcoa and Pfizer are among the major employers that are said to be signing up.

2 Sep 2010

Michigan, New York roll out high-risk pools

In Michigan, enrollment begins today and is open to adults 19 to 64, the Detroit Free Press reports. The pool "will provide comprehensive but not necessarily cheap coverage for people who can prove they have been denied health insurance in the past six months" and is "intended for any uninsured people in the last six months and who had been turned down by an insurer because of a pre-existing health problem.

2 Sep 2010

Insuring your health: Regulators probe allegations of fraud in health credit cards

In this Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "These days, you may leave your dentist's office with more than a toothbrush and dental floss in your bag. Thousands of dentists are offering patients health-care credit cards to cover the work that needs to be done, with seemingly hard-to-resist repayment terms.

2 Sep 2010

Tech News: Feds name health IT certifiers; IBM seeks to crack China's health sector

Federal health officials gave two firms -- the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology in Chicago, Ill., and the Drummond Group in Austin, Texas, -- the power to certify electronic medical record vendors effective immediately, The Hill reports. "As providers move toward mandatory adoption of EHR systems, HHS created an incentive program designed to encourage the transition." Hospitals and doctors can receive payments for achieving "meaningful use," a set of requirements laid out by federal officials.

2 Sep 2010

Also in Global Health News: China's first HIV discrimination case; Congo mass rape; S. Sudan flooding; Kenya's population growth; Family planning in the Philippines

"A municipal court in central China has accepted the country's first lawsuit alleging work discrimination because of HIV status, state media reported Tuesday," the Associated Press reports (8/31). "The lawsuit alleges city officials denied the plaintiff, a recent college graduate, a teaching job after a medical screening revealed he had HIV, the virus that causes AIDS," Agence-France-Presse reports (8/31).

2 Sep 2010

Today's Opinions: Pawlenty's order against the health overhaul, repealing the health law and more about health care costs

The move can be explained in no other way than in being a totally partisan decision, intended to shore up his conservatism in what will be a 2012 battle of who is more conservative to wear the Republican mantle for president (9/1).

2 Sep 2010

World Bank calls for more integrated approach to global water management

"We can't properly tackle global priorities of food security, renewable energy, adaptation to climate change, public health and urbanization unless we manage water better," Julia Bucknall, water sector manager for the World Bank, said, according to a World Bank press release.

1 Sep 2010

Report finds some donated malaria drugs are being stolen, resold In Africa

Some of the malaria drugs given to Africa by international donors are "being stolen and resold on commercial markets," according to a study to be released Thursday in the journal Research and Reports in Tropical Medicine, the Associated Press reports.

1 Sep 2010

Federal domestic spending increased a record 16%

The Census Bureau reported Thursday that federal "domestic spending increased a record 16 percent, to $3.2 trillion, in 2009 … largely because of a boost in aid to the unemployed and the huge economic stimulus package enacted to rescue the sinking economy," The Washington Post reports.

1 Sep 2010

KePRO strengthens commercial care management with Preferred Physician Health Alliance acquisition

KePRO Acquisitions, Inc., the commercial subsidiary of the Keystone Peer Review Organization, Inc., acquired Preferred Physician Health Alliance, a fully integrated medical management company located in Orlando, Florida. The acquisition strengthens KePRO's commercial care management offerings by adding new clients throughout the United States and its territories.

31 Aug 2010

Henry Schein to deliver health care supplies to victims of devastating floods in Pakistan

Henry Schein, Inc., the largest provider of health care products and services to office-based practitioners, is working with its non-governmental organization partners – Direct Relief, International Medical Corps, Americares, and Heart to Heart – to deliver essential health care supplies to victims of the devastating floods in Pakistan, which left more than a thousand dead, an estimated four million homeless, and more than 15 million people affected.

31 Aug 2010

Study on conflict between capacity to pay and need for health care

Cardiovascular disease (CVD) in all its forms is the biggest cause of death across Europe. Although there is little doubt that better focus on prevention can lessen its impact, we are left with a series of fundamental questions to what extent can the impact be reduced, and at what cost. And are the health benefits of prevention worth the investment. The EUROASPIRE III health economics study aims to find out.

31 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 31, 2010

"These days, you may leave your dentist's office with more than a toothbrush and dental floss in your bag. Thousands of dentists are offering patients health-care credit cards to cover the work that needs to be done, with seemingly hard-to-resist repayment terms. If you need care and don't have insurance to cover it or cash in hand, it's tempting to sign up" (Kaiser Health News).

31 Aug 2010

Nutritional recommendations for management of sarcopenia published

Nutritional recommendations for the management of sarcopenia -- also described as age-related muscle and functional loss -- were published this past week in the clinical publication, Journal of American Medical Directors Association.

31 Aug 2010

AMGA announces participation of 19 health systems in ACO Development Collaborative

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today announced 19 leading medical groups and organized systems of care that will be participating in its ACO Development Collaborative, scheduled to have its first meeting in conjunction with the AMGA National Summit on Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs). These organizations represent more than 10,500 providers serving approximately 5 million patients in the United States.

31 Aug 2010

Mandatory influenza vaccination for healthcare personnel needed

Influenza vaccination of healthcare personnel is a professional and ethical responsibility and non-compliance with healthcare facility policies regarding vaccination should not be tolerated, according to a position paper released today by the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA).

31 Aug 2010

Final regulation to aid Veterans exposed to herbicides published in 'Federal Register'

Veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in Vietnam and other areas will have an easier path to access quality health care and qualify for disability compensation under a final regulation that will be published on August 31, 2010 in the Federal Register by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA). The new rule expands the list of health problems VA will presume to be related to Agent Orange and other herbicide exposures to add two new conditions and expand one existing category of conditions.

31 Aug 2010

Clinical interventions useful in reducing reproductive coercion, unintended pregnancy: Study

Specifically asking young women during visits to family planning clinics whether their partners had attempted to force them to become pregnant - a type of intimate-partner violence called reproductive coercion - dramatically reduced the likelihood that the women would continue to experience such pressures, according to a new pilot study led by researchers at the UC Davis School of Medicine.

31 Aug 2010

Death toll expected to rise as flooding subsides in some parts of Pakistan

Pakistani government officials say the death toll from the country's flooding stands at more than 1,600 and it could rise significantly as flood waters recede and more bodies are identified, CNN reports (8/28). "There is no official estimate of the number of missing because mass displacements have made accounting for them almost impossible," according to Reuters (Haider, 8/29).

31 Aug 2010

Health Care News and Research

Study to determine how often chronic Lyme disease is diagnosed and treated

More health overhaul policies settling in

Michigan, New York roll out high-risk pools

Insuring your health: Regulators probe allegations of fraud in health credit cards

Tech News: Feds name health IT certifiers; IBM seeks to crack China's health sector

Also in Global Health News: China's first HIV discrimination case; Congo mass rape; S. Sudan flooding; Kenya's population growth; Family planning in the Philippines

Today's Opinions: Pawlenty's order against the health overhaul, repealing the health law and more about health care costs

World Bank calls for more integrated approach to global water management

Report finds some donated malaria drugs are being stolen, resold In Africa

Federal domestic spending increased a record 16%

KePRO strengthens commercial care management with Preferred Physician Health Alliance acquisition

Henry Schein to deliver health care supplies to victims of devastating floods in Pakistan

Study on conflict between capacity to pay and need for health care

First Edition: August 31, 2010

Nutritional recommendations for management of sarcopenia published

AMGA announces participation of 19 health systems in ACO Development Collaborative

Mandatory influenza vaccination for healthcare personnel needed

Final regulation to aid Veterans exposed to herbicides published in 'Federal Register'

Clinical interventions useful in reducing reproductive coercion, unintended pregnancy: Study

Death toll expected to rise as flooding subsides in some parts of Pakistan

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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