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Same-sex partners to get long-term care benefits, federal personnel office says

Same-sex domestic partners of federal employees will next month be able to apply for long-term health insurance provided to government workers through the Office of Personnel Management, officials said Tuesday.

3 Jun 2010

Middle-aged Americans are close to panic about future, says Alberta researcher

Middle-aged Canadians are much less worried about the future than their American counterparts, some of whom are close to panic, says an Alberta researcher who has just finished a survey in both countries. And she says the differing attitudes today may foreshadow growing differences between the two countries as that cohort move into old age.

3 Jun 2010

The Beryl Institute establishes grant program to improve patient experience in healthcare

As part of its commitment to support research and learning around customer service and the patient experience in healthcare, The Beryl Institute, based in Bedford, Texas, has established The Beryl Institute Patient Experience Grant Program.

3 Jun 2010

What the new health law means for you

The new health law signed by President Obama this spring contains the most sweeping changes to the American health system in a generation.

3 Jun 2010

Top physicians offer health advice to help people survive during summer

This summer a variety of top physicians at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital are offering health advice to help survive the travails that come with one of the most active seasons of the year.

3 Jun 2010

U.N. Secretary-General calls for African nations to invest 15% of national budgets to fight HIV/AIDS

During a tour of the Joint Clinical Research Centre in Kampala, Uganda, on Monday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for countries in Africa to invest 15 percent of their national budgets in HIV/AIDS programs, the Daily Monitor reports.

3 Jun 2010

ARRA awards stimulus grants to AMIA members

Numerous grants funded by the U.S. economic stimulus program (ARRA) Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act, to advance the use of health information technology (HIT) and to ready a professional informatics work force, have been awarded to leading members of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), a growing professional society that for the last two decades has advocated for informatics as a health care specialty.

3 Jun 2010

Regulators miss deadline on medical loss ratios: Other implementation developments continue to emerge

Insurance regulators have missed an early deadline to set specific rules meant to ensure that insurers devote 80 to 85 percent of premium dollars to medical care, the so-called "medical loss ratio."

3 Jun 2010

New 'dipstick' test determines blood types instantly

Scientists are reporting development of the first "dipstick" test for instantly determining a person's blood type at a cost of just a few pennies. Their study on the test, which involves placing a drop of blood on a specially treated paper strip, appears in ACS' semi-monthly journal Analytical Chemistry, where the authors say it could be a boon to health care in developing countries.

3 Jun 2010

New concept: Hotel 'medical-concierge' program

The Ritz-Carlton's medical-concierge program, now expanded after a trial run to include hospitals and medical facilities throughout the Philadelphia area, aims to provide a pampering bridge between the hospital room and the patient's home. The concierge does not perform medical procedures or administer drugs.

3 Jun 2010

Judge denies extension for federal response to health lawsuit

"A federal judge in Florida is not granting the federal government an extension of time to respond to a challenge to health care reform made by 20 states. U.S. District Judge Roger Vinson said there is no need for a delay, considering the federal government has already responded to Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli's challenge in a Virginia federal court. Seven states joined in an amended complaint filed May 14. The federal government has 33 days after that date to file a motion to dismiss the complaint, which it has done in Virginia" (O'Brien, 6/1).

3 Jun 2010

New book proposes engineering approach to US health care reform

The current problems of access, affordability and quality in the US healthcare system won't be solved by providing health insurance to all. The editors of the new book Engineering the System of Healthcare Delivery (ISBN: 978-1-60750-532-7) propose an engineering approach to healthcare. In this publication by IOS Press, editors William B. Rouse and Denis A. Cortese and a team of highly regarded thought leaders in the field explain their vision.

3 Jun 2010

California examines 'never events' at hospitals; La. seeks funding for primary care clinics; Texas trims children's health program

San Francisco Chronicle: "Drill bits, screws, sponges, clamps, needles, catheters, electrodes. These are some of the things accidentally left inside patients after surgery at California hospitals.

3 Jun 2010

Today's opinions: Virginia suit leads opposition to health law; Help for 9/11 responders; Blue Dogs' support for doctors

There are about a half-dozen constitutional lawsuits underway already against parts of President Obama's health care law. Most eyes are on the multistate case filed in Florida, joined by 20 states across America. But a parallel suit is progressing in the Old Dominion, in the Commonwealth of Virginia. ... [T]his will be the first legal battle in Obamacare, and one that will move forward much more quickly than the constitutional fight. The first battle in what will be a long war (Ken Klukowski, 6/1).

3 Jun 2010

In 2008, 63% of cancer deaths were in developing countries

By 2030, cancer could claim the lives of 13.3 million annually, almost double the number of patients who died from the illness in 2008, the U.N.'s International Agency for Research on Cancer (IARC) said Tuesday, Agence France-Presse reports.

3 Jun 2010

Fraud roundup: LA hospital workers investigated; Guilty pleas in Texas and N.J. cases; Fla. candidate defends his actions

Los Angeles County officials are investigating allegations that Olive View-UCLA Medical Center staff accepted gifts from nursing home employees in exchange for placing Medi-Cal and Medicare patients at their facilities, a possible violation of the county's code of ethics, as well as state and federal anti-kickback laws.

3 Jun 2010

FTC delays 'red flags' rule; doctors' lawsuit continues

The rule, which have been delayed several times already, "requires businesses offering credit to come up with a written policy for finding, preventing and dealing with identity theft." The rule is now scheduled to be implemented Dec. 31.

3 Jun 2010

AP: Asking questions can save patients money

Doing some simple homework before receiving medical treatment may help consumers save money, The Associated Press reports. "Here are some things to consider before checking in to a hospital or outpatient surgery center for non-emergency care. Be prepared to ask your doctor or insurer questions."

3 Jun 2010

Queensland Health pay bungle continues into June

The new payroll system for Queensland health care staff introduced this March is still not fixed even at the end of the sixth fortnightly pay cycle. Many have been over, under or not paid after the system was introduced. More to the “shame” of the authorities two dead nurses have been paid and one dead nurse’s name reappeared in the duty rosters.

2 Jun 2010

Companies offer cash to employees to lose weight

Companies are betting that cash incentives will make employees want to lose weight and get healthier in other ways, The Associated Press reports. A third of companies in the U.S. offer such incentives. "Take OhioHealth, a hospital chain whose workforce is mostly overweight. The company last year embarked on a program that paid employees to wear pedometers and get paid for walking.

2 Jun 2010