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Scidev.Net reports on developing country health care providers, scientists access to research

SciDev.Net reports on two recent studies published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal which look at how frequently health care providers and researchers in developing countries access research-based evidence.

18 May 2010

Investigators pursue N.Y. leads on hospital corruption; Crack down in Fla. fraud probe

A New York hospital system has become entwined in a corruption scandal that sent a state lawmaker to prison for six years, The Wall Street Journal reports. "Former trustees of one of the hospitals operated by MediSys Health Network, speaking for the first time, say MediSys executives kept board members in the dark about business dealings between company management and Anthony Seminerio, the former lawmaker who pleaded guilty to a federal corruption charge."

18 May 2010

Report examines access to HIV prevention, care for MSM in Asia Pacific

As "HIV prevalence among gay and bisexual men has hit alarming levels in Asia," an estimated 90 percent of men who have sex with men in the Asia Pacific region lack access to HIV prevention and care, according to a report released Monday by the U.N. Development Programme, Asia Pacific Coalition on Male Sexual Health and the University of Hong Kong's Center for Comparative and Public Law, Reuters reports.

18 May 2010

MOCPS develops program to reduce patient care errors in EMS

While much attention is devoted to reducing medical errors in hospitals, there's a lesser focus on rooting out patient care errors in emergency medical services. To address that gap, the Missouri Center for Patient Safety is developing a program to help medical professionals systematically improve quality and reduce errors during treatment and transport provided by ambulance service providers.

18 May 2010

UMPIRE trial of Red Heart Pill launched to combat cardiovascular problems

Researchers will be exploring whether a new, very low cost, one-a-day combined 'polypill' could reduce the risk of heart attacks, strokes and other cardiovascular problems across the world, in a major new international trial that launches today.

18 May 2010

Medicaid growth in Utah slows; Arizona sees drop in CHIP beneficiaries

"Utah's Medicaid rolls grew by 405 people in April, the smallest monthly increase since March 2008, the start of an unprecedented growth streak for the low-income health program. Unemployment has also slowed, which economists believe is an early sign of economic recovery" (Stewart, 5/17).

18 May 2010

Five-day World Health Assembly meeting kicks off in Geneva

The annual meeting of the World Health Assembly (WHA) convened on Monday in Geneva, Switzerland, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/Monsters and Critics.com reports. According to the news service, influenza vaccines, the fight against tuberculosis, intellectual property and reducing counterfeit drugs will be discussed (4/17).

18 May 2010

Health Discovery receives MICO Award from MDB Capital at Bright Lights Conference

Health Discovery Corporation announced today it received the prestigious MICO Award presented by MDB Capital Group, San Francisco, Calif., at its invitation-only Bright Lights Conference held May 11-12, 2010. Health Discovery Corporation was chosen from among 1,600 publicly traded, small cap companies.

18 May 2010

Insurance regulators wrestle with definition of 'unreasonable' rate increases

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby writes about the challenge of defining terms like "unreasonable": "When WellPoint proposed up to a 39 percent premium increase for some of its California customers, it touched off a storm of criticism that helped boost passage of the new health care law" (Appleby, 5/17).

18 May 2010

Dental care during pregnancy is essential for combating adverse effects of oral disease

It's no secret that pregnancy is an important time in a woman's life. While women often hear about how pregnancy causes physical changes that affect their hormone or appetite levels, these changes can have a great effect on their oral health as well. Despite the fact that good oral health is essential for the overall health of both mother and child, only 22 to 34 percent of women in the United States visit a dentist during pregnancy.

18 May 2010

Employer-provided health insurance to remain dominant under health law

News outlets report on employer-provided health insurance and suggest that the overall number of Americans who are insured through their workplace is unlikely to change substantially under the health law.

18 May 2010

Insurance groups seek to limit health law damage with medical-loss ratio definitions

Insurance groups are wrangling with regulators on defining a few key terms that will significantly alter how they do business under the new health reform law.

18 May 2010

Four largest insurers in Mass. post first-quarter losses

The Boston Globe's Business Updates: Massachusetts' "four biggest health insurers today posted first-quarter losses totalling more than $150 million, with three of the carriers blaming the bulk of their deficit on the Patrick administration's decision to cap rate increases for individuals and small businesses." Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, Tufts Health Plan and Fallon Community Health Plan all reported loses.

18 May 2010

Democrats strategize by touting early benefits but in some areas party is facing tough fight

Democrats enlisted a reliable strategy by "front-loading their legislation with consumer-friendly, insurance industry reforms and other fixes they hope will generate support for the new law in the run-up to the pivotal midterm elections." Democrats are hoping that a skeptical public will come around to their side of the equation, but Republicans say voters will remember all the legislation, not just part of it, when they vote in November.

18 May 2010

BioPharm Asia first-quarter revenues increase 41.6% to $32.1 million

BioPharm Asia, Inc., a producer, distributor and retailer of medical products in China, today announced its financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

18 May 2010

USAID's Shah on six-day visit to Africa

"[O]n his first visit to Africa since taking charge as the administrator of USAID in January," Rajiv Shah said in Nairobi, Kenya on Saturday that the agency "is working to make Africa a bigger priority within the organization," the Associated Press writes. USAID, which "funds and runs programs to improve health, food security, democracy and entrepreneurship in Africa," has offices in 23 countries on the continent, according to the AP (5/15).

17 May 2010

To achieve MDGs, economic policies must help poor, UNDP head says

Economic policies that help the poor will bring the world closer to meeting the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] - "[g]lobal targets to halve poverty and improve basic health by 2015," Helen Clark, the U.N. Development Programme (UNDP) administrator, said Friday at the end of a four-nation tour of Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

17 May 2010

Medicare cuts for physicians loom, yet again

A 21 percent reduction in Medicare reimbursements that has loomed over physicians all year will go into effect on June 1, unless Congress acts to further delay the cuts, CNNMoney reports. "If the proposed cuts go through, physicians are worried their practices will be so strapped that they'll have to drop some of the 43 million Americans who are covered under Medicare."

17 May 2010

KHN Column: The health care cost problem we refuse to see

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Austin Frakt writes: "I agree with those who think the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act doesn't do enough soon enough to control the rate of increase in health insurance premiums.

17 May 2010