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Health care reform: Detailing women's stake in the debate

The Times reports: "Women need more health care than men because of the combined demands of pregnancy and family planning. ... Partly as a result, young women typically must pay more than young men for individual health insurance, unless they live in one of 10 states where 'gender rating' is illegal.

29 Sep 2009

Researchers recommend hormone therapy prior to mammogram screenings

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) are recommending that menopausal women on hormone therapy (HT) continue their treatment prior to having their annual mammogram screenings. These recommendations appear as an editorial in the current on-line issue of Journal of the North American Menopause Society.

29 Sep 2009

CIGNA encourages people to prioritize their health care plans

How much time does the average person spend reviewing their health care insurance when it’s time to enroll or reenroll in a plan? A recent survey conducted for CIGNA shows that although 78 percent said they give it a lot or some consideration, almost half (46%) of those who say they’re responsible for the review spend less than 30 minutes on the task.

29 Sep 2009

High-heels may lead to heel and ankle pain

Women should think twice before buying their next pair of high-heels or pumps, according to researchers at the Institute for Aging Research of Hebrew SeniorLife in a new study of older adults and foot problems.

29 Sep 2009

Abnormal results on outpatient imaging tests may not receive timely follow-up, says report

Abnormal results on outpatient imaging tests sometimes may not receive timely follow-up even when clinicians receive and read results in an advanced, integrated electronic medical record system, according to a report in the September 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

29 Sep 2009

Hospital-at-home care favorable to traditional hospital care

Hospital-at-home care may be a practical alternative to traditional hospital inpatient care for patients with acutely decompensated (suddenly worsening) chronic heart failure, according to a report in the September 28 issue of Archives of Internal Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

29 Sep 2009

Temps obtains assets of AIC's nurse staffing agency

Analysts International Corporation (AIC) (NASDAQ: ANLY), an information technology services company, today announced that it has sold the assets of Medical Concepts Staffing, a full-service nurse staffing agency and subsidiary of AIC, to Temps, Inc., a national provider of supplemental healthcare professionals.

29 Sep 2009

Dialysis patients often not told about transplant options, Newspaper finds

"Thousands of kidney patients in the United States start dialysis without first being told of kidney transplants that would be cheaper and lead to longer lives, according to a four-month newspaper investigation published Sunday," The Associated Press reports.

28 Sep 2009

Timeline tightening on Senate Finance reform bill

A merged Senate bill between the Finance and HELP committees could hit the Senate floor the week of Oct. 12 and Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D- Mont., readies his committee to finish its markup by Thursday or Friday.

28 Sep 2009

Payment of healthcare through technology will ease the stress on overburdened healthcare workers

With all the noise being made about healthcare reform the past few months, focusing on everything from public option vs. insurance agencies and what will and will not be covered, what's slowly coming into focus is that it is not that healthcare is necessarily in need of an overhaul, but the way in which Americans pay for it.

28 Sep 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

Taxing high-cost insurance plans to fund health care reform is a bad idea. In fact, it could threaten the medical insurance plans of middle-class workers who obtain coverage from their employers (Gerald W. McEntee, 9/28).

28 Sep 2009

Administration officials court key lawmakers on health care

Administration officials are increasingly courting key stakeholders on health care. The New York Times reports: "After months of cutting deals and stroking drug makers, hospitals and doctors, the president's aides are laying the groundwork for a final round of Congressional arm-twisting. ... One Democrat who consults frequently with the White House said that a main goal of the administration has been to prevent any Democrat from publicly declaring opposition to the measure."

28 Sep 2009

The CDH Proton Therapy Center announces arrival of a 220-ton cyclotron for treating cancer

A 220-ton cyclotron, the core of what will soon be Illinois’ most advanced radiation treatment center, has ended a 5,000-mile journey that began in Belgium, arriving at the construction site of the CDH Proton Therapy Center, a ProCure Center, located in suburban Warrenville. Capable of accelerating protons, the cyclotron is the core piece of equipment used in proton therapy, an alternative to X-ray radiation that spares healthy tissue and results in far fewer short- and long-term treatment side effects.

28 Sep 2009

Private health system takes root in British Columbia

The Los Angeles Times reports that consumers in Canada are "beginning to flirt with private-sector medicine."

28 Sep 2009

First edition: September 28, 2009

A look at today's headlines reveals that specific issues regarding the health overhaul effort continue to get significant attention and trigger debate.

28 Sep 2009

WellPoint covers administration costs for H1N1 vaccines

Each year, influenza causes illness, hospitalizations and deaths, and severely strains the health care delivery system. This year, seasonal flu is complicated by the emergence and rapid spread of the H1N1 virus. In an effort to ensure that individuals and their families can take the appropriate actions to help protect themselves against the H1N1 virus, WellPoint's affiliated health plans will cover the administration of the H1N1 vaccine without co-pay or deductible for all health plan members. Plans also are encouraging self-insured employers to cover the cost of the vaccination for their employees.

28 Sep 2009

Merck, Qiagen pledge cervical cancer tools at CGI, meeting highlights effects of gender inequality

Drugmaker Merck & Co. announced Wednesday at the Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) annual meeting in New York that it will "donate more than $500 million of its Gardasil cervical cancer vaccine" with the goal of improving women's health in developing countries, Bloomberg reports.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 28 Sep 2009

American Lung Association in Indiana holds flu panel discussion

In an effort to educate Indianapolis area residents about the importance of annual seasonal influenza vaccination, the American Lung Association in Indiana is kicking off the 2009-2010 influenza season by holding a flu panel discussion at Immaculate Heart of Mary Catholic School on September 24 at 6:30 p.m. to educate the community about the dangers of influenza.

28 Sep 2009

Pelosi tries to unite divided Democratic factions in House

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., is facing a difficult task in the House: herding the different Democratic factions to fashion a single health care bill.

28 Sep 2009

Health inequalities linked to socioeconomic status

Prostate cancer patients of low socioeconomic status are more likely to die than patients with higher incomes. That is the finding of a new study from Swiss researchers to be published in the December 1, 2009 issue of CANCER, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society.

28 Sep 2009