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Health care votes may have influenced primaries

News outlets report on how health reform may have influenced Tuesday's primary elections. The Washington Post says that the Democratic primary election for Arkansas' Senate seat was influenced by labor unions who campaigned for Lt. Gov. Bill Halter, in part because of incumbent Sen. Blanche Lincoln's vote on health care.

20 May 2010

New online diagnosis tool offers prescriptions in a hurry

News outlets report on the expanding online relationship between doctors and patients.

20 May 2010

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Childhood obesity, the interworkings of the FDA, the constitutionality of 'Obamacare'

The White House report offers recommendations related to early childhood, parenting, food in schools, access to healthy and affordable food and physical activity. Taken individually, none of these is a silver bullet (Tom Newton, 5/19).

20 May 2010

Federal employee unions pressing for bill to cover young adults

Roll Call reports that "labor unions representing federal employees are pressing for temporary health insurance coverage for college-age students who will otherwise be thrown off their parents' health insurance plans when they turn 22 years old." The new health law has a provision guaranteeing such access but that isn't scheduled to take effect for federal health beneficiaries until January, even though a number of private plans are moving to implement the coverage earlier.

20 May 2010

Fraud and abuse cases come to conclusions

Los Angeles Times: "A man who recruited destitute HIV patients to be straw purchasers in a prescription drug scheme was convicted by a federal jury Tuesday in Los Angeles. Nathaniel Newhouse, 53, showed no expression as the verdict was read in the courtroom of U.S. District Judge Dean D. Pregerson." Newhouse was caught with 29 bottles of powerful painkillers two years ago. Investigators said they had a street value of up to $80,000. HIV patients arranged for doctors to prescribe the drugs, which were passed on to Newhouse (Glover, 5/19).

20 May 2010

Democrats debating how to handle Medicare 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

Some Democrats are concerned that adding a Medicare physician payment "fix" to tax legislation will add to the debt and are considering dropping the provision.

20 May 2010

Queensland nurses to protest the still continuing payment errors

In a new development regarding the recent Queensland Health payroll errors the department's payroll services director Janette Jones was reportedly moved out of her role following complaints about her handling of the whole issue. There has been massive payroll bungles that have lead to thousands of health care staff underpaid, overpaid or not paid after the introduction of a new computerized system of payment this March.

19 May 2010

Diagnostic change not enough to help children diagnosed with bipolar disorder

Shifting children from the controversial diagnosis of bipolar disorder to one that more accurately reflects their symptoms will not by itself decrease the rate of psychopharmacologic treatment and is not enough to help troubled children flourish, according to a commentary in the May 20, 2010 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at The Hastings Center, a bioethics research institute, and a physician-researcher at Stony Brook University School of Medicine.

19 May 2010

St. Elizabeth Regional Health selects TeleHealth Services as compliance partner in new facility

TeleHealth Services, the nation's leading provider of health care grade televisions and interactive patient education solutions to hospitals, has been selected by St. Elizabeth Regional Health as a compliance partner in their new facility, St. Elizabeth East, located at 1701 S. Creasy Lane in Lafayette. St. Elizabeth East opened on February 25, 2010 and will benefit from TeleHealth's interactive educational solutions in an effort to increase patient satisfaction and create a patient-focused, technologically advanced facility.

19 May 2010

PrimeWire PRESTIGE Pressure Guide Wire receives 510(k) clearance, CE Mark approval

Volcano Corporation announced today it received both 510(k) clearance and CE Mark approval for its PrimeWire PRESTIGE Pressure Guide Wire for use with patients who have both single-vessel and multi-vessel disease. This next generation pressure wire is compatible with Volcano's full suite of integrated multi-modality consoles and stand-alone physiology systems as well as various hemodynamic monitoring systems.

19 May 2010

Alere announces formation of Collaborative Care Solutions to support physicians, provider groups

With the goal of creating the industry standard for connecting patients and their physician-led care teams, Alere today announced the formation of a new strategic product line, Collaborative Care Solutions. The new product line will be focused on supporting physicians and provider groups wanting to expand their practices via patient-centered medical homes or accountable care organizations -- key care models designed to realize better outcomes and more cost-effective care.

19 May 2010

First Edition: May 19, 2010

Today's headlines highlight issues related to the federal debt, developments regarding the Medicare physician payment fix and news from the states.

19 May 2010

Parents interested in electronic methods for interacting with their children's physicians

Health care reform legislation includes promoting electronic health records to improve the efficiency and quality of medical care. Yet, little attention has been paid to understanding whether patients and parents have an interest in, or have access to, electronic methods for interacting with their children's physicians.

19 May 2010

Flexible treatment delivery intervention in primary care reduces symptoms of anxiety: Study

An intervention in primary care settings that allowed a choice of cognitive behavior therapy, medication, or both, along with computer-assisted treatment support for patients with common anxiety disorders, resulted in greater improvement in anxiety symptoms and functional disability compared to usual care, according to a study in the May 19 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on mental health.

19 May 2010

Global Health Partner inaugurates own clinic for obesity and metabolic disorders in Prague

Global Health Partner has inaugurated its own clinic for the treatment of obesity and metabolic disorders in Prague and the first obesity operations have been performed. The Czech Republic has a well insured population where patient flows are directed to clinics with strong medical results. "The Czech Republic is one of the markets that we have identified as interesting.

19 May 2010

Study demonstrates need for understanding societal, economic impact of growing medicalization

Menopause. Normal pregnancy. Infertility. ADHD. Erectile dysfunction. Over the last several decades, these conditions have come to be defined and treated as medical problems. They've been "medicalized." In the first study of its kind in the current issue of Social Science and Medicine, Brandeis researchers used national data to estimate the costs of these and a handful of other common conditions on escalating U.S. healthcare spending.

19 May 2010

Vaccinations recommended for adults

Yearly vaccinations aren't just for kids any more. You probably heard a lot about a seasonal or H1N1 flu shot last fall, but you should know that a battery of other adult vaccinations might also become part of your health care routine. Pneumonia and shingles vaccines are preventive-care essentials for older adults, and meningitis and tetanus shots are now college rites of passage. Even the vaccines of childhood—measles, mumps and rubella, and whooping cough—are recommended for adults who missed out in their younger years.

19 May 2010

i3 completes acquisition of ChinaGate

i3, a global life sciences services company and subsidiary of Ingenix, has acquired ChinaGate, a contract research organization that provides product-development regulatory services for pharmaceutical, medical device and biotechnology companies looking to enter and access the Chinese market.

19 May 2010

New book on history and future of medical technology

Some health care reform advocates complain that physicians rely too much on expensive technology. Published by Telescope Books, The History and Future of Medical Technology shows that today's medical technologies are worth every penny—saving lives, improving patients' quality of life, and helping doctors diagnose diseases during the earliest, most treatable stages.

19 May 2010

Physician cost profiles can vary widely depending upon methods used by insurance companies: Study

Profiles created for physicians based on the cost of the care they provide can vary widely depending upon the methods used by insurance companies to create the profiles, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

19 May 2010

Health Care News and Research

Health care votes may have influenced primaries

New online diagnosis tool offers prescriptions in a hurry

Today's Opinions and Editorials: Childhood obesity, the interworkings of the FDA, the constitutionality of 'Obamacare'

Federal employee unions pressing for bill to cover young adults

Fraud and abuse cases come to conclusions

Democrats debating how to handle Medicare 'doc fix,' COBRA subsidy extension

Queensland nurses to protest the still continuing payment errors

Diagnostic change not enough to help children diagnosed with bipolar disorder

St. Elizabeth Regional Health selects TeleHealth Services as compliance partner in new facility

PrimeWire PRESTIGE Pressure Guide Wire receives 510(k) clearance, CE Mark approval

Alere announces formation of Collaborative Care Solutions to support physicians, provider groups

First Edition: May 19, 2010

Parents interested in electronic methods for interacting with their children's physicians

Flexible treatment delivery intervention in primary care reduces symptoms of anxiety: Study

Global Health Partner inaugurates own clinic for obesity and metabolic disorders in Prague

Study demonstrates need for understanding societal, economic impact of growing medicalization

Vaccinations recommended for adults

i3 completes acquisition of ChinaGate

New book on history and future of medical technology

Physician cost profiles can vary widely depending upon methods used by insurance companies: Study

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

How microplastics and bacteria interact to drive antibiotic resistance

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