Health Care News and Research

RSS

White House wants to scale up war on Medicare fraud

The White House plans to ask Congress to increase funding for fighting Medicare fraud by 80 percent, in hopes of curbing billions of dollars in abuses, Dow Jones Newswires/NASDAQ reports. Already, "The administration has stepped up enforcement and prevention efforts targeting Medicare claims. Rather than rely on tips, it has begun combining Medicare claims data into a single, searchable database, making it easier to pinpoint suspicious claims among the more than $1 billion spent on such claims each day" (Burns, 1/28).

30 Jan 2010

Dental hygienists provide free oral care services for Valentine's Day

To honour the spirit of Valentine's Day, on February 13 registered dental hygienists across the province will provide oral care services to the public at no cost.

30 Jan 2010

Government cracks down on drug marketing

Recent crackdown on pharmaceutical companies suggests that drug marketing remains an issue with federal authorities. The Wall Street Journal reports: "Novartis AG's agreement to settle criminal allegations involving marketing of an epilepsy drug is the latest in a string of cases showing that improper marketing practices are still a problem years after the U.S. government started cracking down on them.

30 Jan 2010

Pelosi, Reid search for health reform's forward path

Legislative leaders in search of momentum on health reform "conceded that they did not have an immediate strategy for advancing a health care measure and described their time frame as open-ended," The New York Times reports.

30 Jan 2010

Today's opinions and editorials

By not acknowledging America's concerns about health reform Wednesday night, the president appeared inflexible and incapable of real compromise (Dr. Marc Siegel, 1/28).

30 Jan 2010

Recent releases in Global Health

Rajiv Shah's appointment as USAID administrator "comes at a crucial time of challenge and opportunity for the Agency to improve the nutritional well-being of impoverished societies," write the authors of a Lancet Comment that examines the U.S. Global Hunger and Food Security Initiative. Though the initiative "sends a clear message to the world about U.S. intent to partner with poor nations to achieve their national food and nutrition goals … the Initiative's nutrition plan, unlike its detailed agricultural blueprint, currently lacks a comprehensive set of aims, activities, research needs, and programme benchmarks," the authors write.

29 Jan 2010

Health bill - 'on life support' - continues to highlight political divides

President Obama's State of the Union speech has so far failed to unite Democrats on a health reform strategy as they "stared down a political nightmare," The Associated Press reports.

29 Jan 2010

Democrats offer varying views on health overhaul's fate

NPR interviewed House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., to get his reactions to the President's Wednesday night speech.

29 Jan 2010

Claims by Obama, leading Republican gain fact-checker attention

"Proponents of reform have lost control over the message because people think it's too complicated to understand. Confused about important details of the proposals, the public is susceptible to misrepresentations by opponents," CBS News reports.

29 Jan 2010

Diaverum acquires new clinic in Spain

Continuing on a path of international growth, Diaverum, the largest independent provider of renal health care service in Europe, has surpassed the 200 clinic mark with the acquisition of a new center near Barcelona, Spain.

29 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 29, 2010

Today's news highlights the Democrats' continuing struggle to find a way forward on health reform.

29 Jan 2010

LinkMed’s portfolio company receives order from Siemens AG for DIGNITY Carrier

LinkMed’s portfolio company has received an order from Siemens AG, Health Care Sector, Germany for its patient transportation solution, DIGNITY™ Carrier, for setting up patients for PET/CT imaging for special applications.

29 Jan 2010

National summit on coordinated effort to fight health care fraud

Attorney General Eric Holder and U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today joined private sector leaders, law enforcement personnel and health care experts for a landmark National Summit on Health Care Fraud. The summit is the first national gathering on health care fraud between law enforcement and the private and public sectors and is part of the Obama Administration's coordinated effort to fight health care fraud.

29 Jan 2010

EZ-CAP celebrates its growth in 2009 and sees further expansion in 2010

EZ-CAP, the flagship product of MZI HealthCare, LLC (MZIHC), a leading provider of health plan administration software, celebrated growth in 2009 and sees further expansion in 2010.

29 Jan 2010

URAC's 2010 Best Practices Awards will recognize innovative leadership and successful health programs

URAC, the nation's leading health care accreditation and education organization, has issued a call for entries for its 2010 Best Practices Awards in Health Care Consumer Empowerment and Protection to find which companies are setting the standard in advancing the role of consumers as active participants in health care.

29 Jan 2010

ACP urges Congress to reach agreement on comprehensive health reform legislation

The American College of Physicians (ACP) today urged Congressional leaders to "reach agreement on a legislative pathway to provide affordable care to all Americans and ensure that they have access to primary care physicians and other specialties facing shortages."

29 Jan 2010

Enhancing the pool of underrepresented minorities may help alleviate healthcare disparities

The number of underrepresented minorities among U.S. medical school faculty remains low, even as the U.S. population becomes increasingly diverse.

29 Jan 2010

Childbirth Connection releases two landmark reports focusing maternity care in the U.S.

Childbirth Connection today released two landmark reports that create a framework for revamping maternity care in the U.S. and advancing health care reform: "2020 Vision for a High Quality, High Value Maternity Care System" and "Blueprint for Action."

29 Jan 2010

Annual spring conference to focus on behavioral health services for children, youth and young adults

Developing comprehensive behavioral health services for children, youth, young adults and families will be the subject of the annual spring conference of Community Care, a nonprofit behavioral health managed care organization that is part of UPMC and based in Pittsburgh.

29 Jan 2010

Methodology and evidence behind national mammography guidelines is questionable, says JDMS review

The methodology and evidence behind a widely publicized change in national mammography guidelines is questionable, according to a review in the Journal of Diagnostic Medical Sonography (JDMS), published by SAGE.

29 Jan 2010