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National childhood varicella vaccination program reduces chickenpox hospitalization rates

Since the varicella vaccine was introduced in the mid-1990s, the number of patients receiving medical care for chickenpox in the United States has decreased sharply—particularly among children, according to a study in the March issue of The Pediatric Infectious Disease Journal. The journal is published by Lippincott Williams & Wilkins, a part of Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading provider of information and business intelligence for students, professionals, and institutions in medicine, nursing, allied health, and pharmacy.

16 Mar 2010

COSE statement on health care reform

While a popular target, beating up on health insurance companies will do little to provide changes in insurance costs. Insurance profits and overhead are just a small part of the insurance bill. It's the underlying medical services, technology, tests and drugs that drive cost.

16 Mar 2010

Vitamin D supplements might do more harm than good for African-American patients

Vitamin D is quickly becoming the "go-to" remedy for treating a wide range of illnesses, from osteoporosis to atherosclerosis. However, new evidence from a Wake Forest University School of Medicine study suggests that supplementing vitamin D in those with low levels may have different effects based on patient race and, in black individuals, the supplement could actually do harm.

16 Mar 2010

CMAJ: As there is job retirement plan, there should be driving retirement plan

Public safety should win against personal choice especially when it comes to elderly seniors who shouldn't drive, states an editorial in CMAJ

16 Mar 2010

Obesity limits body's ability to fight infections

Obesity may limit the body's ability to develop immunity to influenza viruses, particularly secondary infections, by inhibiting the immune system's ability to "remember" how it fought off previous similar bouts of illness, according to new research from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

16 Mar 2010

Studies demonstrate over-utilization of re-hospital emergency care

When people call for an ambulance, the personnel are expected to make a reasonable assessment of need within a few seconds. These assessments sometimes overestimate and sometimes underestimate the acute medical needs. Lena Marie Beillon in her thesis "To assess medical needs - a clinical dilemma" at the Nordic School of Public Health clearly demonstrates over-utilization of re-hospital emergency care.

16 Mar 2010

APHA urges Congress to finalize health reform legislation

"The American Public Health Association supports Congress as it seeks to finalize comprehensive health reform legislation this week. The measure before Congress and the plans to strengthen it represent the greatest opportunity our nation has had to improve our health system and strengthen public health. We cannot squander this moment.

16 Mar 2010

HHS announces awards to help states facilitate health information exchange and advance health IT

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced awards to help states facilitate health information exchange and advance health information technology (health IT). Funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009, today’s awards are part of the $2 billion effort to achieve widespread meaningful use of health IT and provide use of an electronic health record by every citizen by the year 2014.

16 Mar 2010

Unani.ca consumer-minded PEHR now available in Canadian marketplace

The McGill University Health Centre announced today that anyone with an Internet access and a desire to manage his or her health and well-being can now subscribe to Unani.ca. Co-developed with Quebec-owned Medical.MD, Unani.ca is the first consumer-minded personal electronic health record (PEHR) in the Canadian marketplace that combines the expertise of a world-class academic health centre with that of award-winning information-technology developers.

16 Mar 2010

Indiana receives $10.3M federal grant to enhance quality and reach of existing health information technology

The American Recovery and Reinvestment Act's State Health Information Exchange Cooperative Agreement Program announced the award today of a four-year, $10.3 million grant to the State of Indiana to further enhance the quality and reach of the state's existing health information technology delivery system to improve health outcomes for Hoosiers and reduce costs across the continuum of health care.

16 Mar 2010

UMass Memorial Health Care implements Picis CareSuite perioperative and anesthesia solutions

Picis today announced that UMass Memorial Health Care, the largest healthcare system in Central and Western Massachusetts, has selected Picis CareSuite® perioperative and anesthesia solutions for more than 60 operating rooms in its five hospitals. UMass Memorial chose Picis integrated technology to deliver clinical documentation and financial information more quickly and accurately across the UMass Memorial Health Care system, thereby promoting quality patient care.

16 Mar 2010

Alliance members advocate passage of Alcohol-Related Services Act

A diverse, statewide network of concerned individuals, treatment and prevention service providers, cities, counties, public health departments, enforcement, labor, youth and faith-based groups determined to pass a fair and meaningful alcohol-harm mitigation fee in California.

16 Mar 2010

Opinions: Discrimination against sexual orientation; WFP in Somalia; Haiti's recovery; WHO's policy role

In a Washington Post opinion piece, Desmond Tutu, archbishop emeritus of Cape Town, South Africa, and Nobel Peace Prize recipient, speaks out against efforts to deny individuals "their fundamental rights and freedoms" based on their sexual orientation.

16 Mar 2010

Researchers study health gap between people of high and low SES in China

Studies in the United States have long shown that rich people tend to be healthier than poor people, and that this "health gap" between the haves and have-nots gets worse as people get older. But is that because the U.S. is a capitalist society? Apparently not. A new study from North Carolina State University shows that the same is true in China.

16 Mar 2010

Milwaukee community healthcare centers awarded $1M to increase access to primary care

The GE Foundation–the philanthropic organization of GE– and the GE Corporate Diversity Council today announced the award of $1 million in total to four Milwaukee community healthcare centers toward the goal of increasing access to primary care for uninsured and underserved populations across the city.

16 Mar 2010

U.N. Secretary-General visits Haiti to monitor international aid response

During his second visit to Haiti since the January earthquake, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon "promised Haitians on Sunday that the world has not forgotten the quake-torn nation as it suffers from a shortage of shelter and growing violence in teeming camps for the homeless," the Associated Press reports (Katz, 3/14).

16 Mar 2010

Clinton delivers speech at U.N. women's meeting as conference closes

"Calling the subjugation of women a threat to American security, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary [Rodham] Clinton made a vibrant plea to give equal rights to women around the world," during a speech a the U.N. on Friday, Agence France-Presse reports.

16 Mar 2010

New guidelines to emphasize safety of dental treatment during pregnancy

Spotlighting the importance of oral health care for expectant mothers, the California Dental Association Foundation has released new guidelines designed to emphasize the safety of dental treatment during pregnancy and ensure women the services they need.

16 Mar 2010

GAVI calls meeting with existing, potential donors

The GAVI Alliance has "asked existing and potential donors to a meeting in The Hague on March 25 and 26 to challenge them to 'make a strong impact' on childhood death rates," Reuters reports. "GAVI, which is supported by the World Health Organization, the World Bank, UNICEF, the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and vaccine makers, says it has 40 percent of the $7 billion it needs between now and 2015 to help" immunize of millions of children in developing countries by 2015, according to the news service.

16 Mar 2010

KHN column: Can incremental health reform provide a path forward?

In this Kaiser Health News column, Gail Wilensky writes: "As we await another historic vote in the House on whether lawmakers will support the Senate version of reform, it's worth asking whether incremental reform would have been a better path" (3/15).

16 Mar 2010

Health Care News and Research

National childhood varicella vaccination program reduces chickenpox hospitalization rates

COSE statement on health care reform

Vitamin D supplements might do more harm than good for African-American patients

CMAJ: As there is job retirement plan, there should be driving retirement plan

Obesity limits body's ability to fight infections

Studies demonstrate over-utilization of re-hospital emergency care

APHA urges Congress to finalize health reform legislation

HHS announces awards to help states facilitate health information exchange and advance health IT

Unani.ca consumer-minded PEHR now available in Canadian marketplace

Indiana receives $10.3M federal grant to enhance quality and reach of existing health information technology

UMass Memorial Health Care implements Picis CareSuite perioperative and anesthesia solutions

Alliance members advocate passage of Alcohol-Related Services Act

Opinions: Discrimination against sexual orientation; WFP in Somalia; Haiti's recovery; WHO's policy role

Researchers study health gap between people of high and low SES in China

Milwaukee community healthcare centers awarded $1M to increase access to primary care

U.N. Secretary-General visits Haiti to monitor international aid response

Clinton delivers speech at U.N. women's meeting as conference closes

New guidelines to emphasize safety of dental treatment during pregnancy

GAVI calls meeting with existing, potential donors

KHN column: Can incremental health reform provide a path forward?

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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