Health Care News and Research

RSS

Group of tests may help predict falls in people with Parkinson's disease: Study

A group of tests may help predict which people with Parkinson's disease are more likely to fall, according to a study published in the June 23, 2010, online issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

24 Jun 2010

Study examines relationship between SCIP measures and postoperative infection

A study by investigators at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine published in this week's issue of JAMA found that public hospital comparison data reported by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services does not accurately correlate with a patient's risk for surgical postoperative infection.

24 Jun 2010

Warren Mosler signs pledge to never vote for any reductions in Medicare benefits

Warren Mosler, a leading voice in the fight against the bipartisan move to slash Social Security and Medicare, has signed a University of Missouri Kansas City economics department pledge to never vote for any reductions in Social Security or Medicare benefits, or any delays in eligibility.

24 Jun 2010

Florida State University College of Medicine to produce set of medical orders for dying patient's care

Living wills and advance directives often don't ensure that dying patients receive the kind of medical care they want — or don't want — to receive. Now an effort being coordinated by the Center for Innovative Collaboration in Medicine & Law at the Florida State University College of Medicine hopes to improve communication and produce a clear set of medical orders for a dying patient's care.

24 Jun 2010

Medicare beneficiaries in Idaho are paying the price for Congress' inaction against 21% pay cut: AARP

Older Idahoans on Medicare already have trouble finding doctors, with one in five refusing to accept patients under the program – that problem is about to get much worse. Thanks to Congress' inaction, a 21% Medicare pay cut to doctors is hitting home – meaning even fewer doctors in Idaho will continue to provide care to Medicare beneficiaries, leaving the state's elderly with few options for their health care.

24 Jun 2010

Scientists describe development of special sensor that uses maglev for analyzing food, beverages

Scientists are reporting development of a new use for magnetic levitation, or "maglev," the futuristic technology best known for enabling high-speed passenger trains to float above the tracks. In ACS' bi-weekly Journal of Agricultural and Food Chemistry, they describe putting maglev to use in an inexpensive sensor for analyzing food, water, and other beverages.

24 Jun 2010

ACGME task force presents draft standards that revise requirements for better supervision, duty hours

The Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education task force charged with reassessing resident training program standards today presented a comprehensive set of draft standards that revise requirements for supervision and duty hours to better match residents' levels of experience and emerging competencies, advancing both graduate medical education and quality patient care in the nation's teaching hospitals.

24 Jun 2010

United Seating & Mobility launches new redesigned website, expands e-commerce store

United Seating & Mobility, the nation's largest privately-owned mobility and rehab equipment supplier, has launched a newly redesigned website at www.UnitedSeating.com. The new site features in-depth information for clients and families, providing easy to follow information on today's mobility options, as well as background company information and coverage explanations for healthcare professionals and health care plan employees.

24 Jun 2010

RF Technologies completes installation of Safe Place Infant and Pediatric Security Solution for Baptist Memorial

RF Technologies®, a leading provider of radio frequency identification monitoring systems and healthcare security solutions, announces it has completed installation of its Safe Place® Infant and Pediatric Security Solution for Baptist Memorial Health Care. The health care system, serving locations throughout the Mid-South, delivers approximately 10,000 babies a year at eight affiliate hospitals that provide obstetric care.

24 Jun 2010

Washington personalities: Lobbyist Tauzin shakes it up; More on OMB director's impending departure

Roll Call: Billy Tauzin, the former Louisiana lawmaker, will leave his job as the president of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America next Wednesday, and part ways -- for the first time in 18 years -- with his trusty communications director, Ken Johnson. As Roll Call puts it, "The sun is setting on a K Street bromance." Tauzin is likely to start a lobbying firm with his son Tom or practice law in Texas, while Johnson will pursue other work. The two were said to be "attached at the hip" (Murray, 6/23).

24 Jun 2010

CMS proposes new rules for hospitals to protect patients' visitation rights

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services today proposed new rules for hospitals that would protect patients' rights to choose their own visitors during a hospital stay, including visitors who are same-sex domestic partners.

24 Jun 2010

NIH to invest $25M over five years for international collaboration on genetic research in Africa

The NIH on Tuesday announced a partnership with Wellcome Trust and the African Society for Human Genetics that will enable African researchers to "use the latest genetic and clinical technology to study common health problems, such as cardiovascular disease, cancer and other diseases," VOA News reports (DeCapua, 6/22).

24 Jun 2010

New poll illustrates difficult situations cancer patients face in affording needed health care

A new poll illustrates the difficulty that cancer patients, survivors and their families face in affording needed health care and paying for other basic necessities such as food and heat, underscoring the need to strongly implement the Affordable Care Act so that it works for people with cancer.

24 Jun 2010

Study proposes new way to measure infection prevention efforts

"Data showing how a hospital performs on certain measures [of post-surgical infection prevention] are publicly available. But, a study published in [the Journal of the American Medical Association] says, the publicly reported measures don't actually correlate with postop infection rates. In other words, picking your hospital on the basis of how often it administers antibiotics within an hour before surgery is not going to help you avoid an infection" (Hobson, 6/22).

24 Jun 2010

Report identifies FDA's weaknesses in monitoring foreign drug trials

The FDA inspected 0.7 percent of foreign clinical drug trial sites in 2008 while 80 percent of applications approved for marketing that year contained data from foreign drug trials, according to a report (.pdf) from the Inspector General of HHS, CBS News reports (Strickler, 6/22).

24 Jun 2010

MSD enters collaboration with Adcock Ingram to co-promote, distribute products in South Africa

Merck (Merck is known as MSD outside the United States and Canada) today announced a strategic collaboration between MSD South Africa and Adcock Ingram, a publicly held South African company, to co-promote and distribute a number of established MSD products in South Africa. The products that will be jointly promoted by MSD and Adcock Ingram include over-the-counter (OTC) products and selected prescription medicines currently registered in South Africa by MSD and Schering-Plough.

24 Jun 2010

U.S. ranks low again on health care quality, efficiency and equality, study finds

"Americans spend twice as much as residents of other developed countries on healthcare, but get lower quality, less efficiency and have the least equitable system, according to a report released on Wednesday. The United States ranked last when compared to six other countries -- Britain, Canada, Germany, Netherlands, Australia and New Zealand, the Commonwealth Fund report found. … Previous reports by the nonprofit Fund ... have been heavily used by policymakers and politicians pressing for healthcare reform."

24 Jun 2010

Stolen computers could jeopardize personal records of 1.2 million health plan members

American Medical News: "AvMed Health, a Florida-based health plan, said data about nearly 1.2 million members and former members were breached when two laptops were stolen in December 2009 from an AvMed office in Gainesville, Fla. The insurer notified 360,000 customers of the breach in February. But AvMed said on June 3 that further investigation found that an additional 860,000 people had been affected. Information included names, addresses, birth dates, Social Security numbers and health information.

24 Jun 2010

Florida obstetricians collaborate to lower premature and Cesarean birth rates

Much has been published of late, in medical journals as well as in the general media, concerning the national rise in both the Cesarean section and premature birth rates. While not directly connected, the two medical concerns have many interrelated variables. Nationally, the Cesarean section rate has risen to 32 percent of all births, while the rate of premature birth has climbed to just over 12 percent.

24 Jun 2010

Minn. Gov. decides to not expand Medicaid early; Ohio wrestles with increased Medicaid costs in overhaul; Kansas officials worry about 25% cut in health policy operating budget

"As expected, Gov. Tim Pawlenty has declined the opportunity for Minnesota to get an early shot at expanding Medicaid eligibility. The federal health plan calls for all states to expand Medicaid eligibility to low-income adults without children in 2014, but Minnesota was among a few states offered a chance to do it earlier." The legislature, however, passed a measure that would allow Pawlenty's successor next year to reverse his ruling (Kimball, 6/22).

24 Jun 2010

Health Care News and Research

Group of tests may help predict falls in people with Parkinson's disease: Study

Study examines relationship between SCIP measures and postoperative infection

Warren Mosler signs pledge to never vote for any reductions in Medicare benefits

Florida State University College of Medicine to produce set of medical orders for dying patient's care

Medicare beneficiaries in Idaho are paying the price for Congress' inaction against 21% pay cut: AARP

Scientists describe development of special sensor that uses maglev for analyzing food, beverages

ACGME task force presents draft standards that revise requirements for better supervision, duty hours

United Seating & Mobility launches new redesigned website, expands e-commerce store

RF Technologies completes installation of Safe Place Infant and Pediatric Security Solution for Baptist Memorial

Washington personalities: Lobbyist Tauzin shakes it up; More on OMB director's impending departure

CMS proposes new rules for hospitals to protect patients' visitation rights

NIH to invest $25M over five years for international collaboration on genetic research in Africa

New poll illustrates difficult situations cancer patients face in affording needed health care

Study proposes new way to measure infection prevention efforts

Report identifies FDA's weaknesses in monitoring foreign drug trials

MSD enters collaboration with Adcock Ingram to co-promote, distribute products in South Africa

U.S. ranks low again on health care quality, efficiency and equality, study finds

Stolen computers could jeopardize personal records of 1.2 million health plan members

Florida obstetricians collaborate to lower premature and Cesarean birth rates

Minn. Gov. decides to not expand Medicaid early; Ohio wrestles with increased Medicaid costs in overhaul; Kansas officials worry about 25% cut in health policy operating budget

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

Latest News