Health Care News and Research

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Health IT roundup: Buyers' remorse, usage survey

Huffington Post Investigative Fund: The federal government has made investing in electronic medical records a priority by channeling billions of dollars to help doctors and hospitals go paperless, "[b]ut there's also concern that the government may not be doing enough to ensure that taxpayer money isn't wasted on faulty systems. What's more, doctors often have little expertise in buying electronic health records, commonly called EHRs, and do not always know what questions to ask or what protections they should push for in their contracts, several industry consultants said in interviews."

2 Feb 2010

States continue push back against mandates in stalled health bills

Conservative lawmakers in 34 states "are forging ahead with constitutional amendments to ban government health insurance mandates" despite the idling health reform measures in Congress, The Associated Press reports.

2 Feb 2010

Evidence suggests antidepressants may improve post-stroke recovery

Patients who received the antidepressant escitalopram following a stroke appeared to recover more of their thinking, learning and memory skills than those taking placebo or participating in problem-solving therapy, according to a report in the February issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

2 Feb 2010

U.N. Secretary-General focuses on MDGs during African Union Summit

Addressing the 14th African Union (AU) Summit on Sunday, U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for African countries to maintain their commitment to the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), "which include reducing poverty, disease and child mortality, ahead of their target date of 2015," BBC reports (1/31).

2 Feb 2010

More details on Obama's global health strategy expected along with budget release, Wall Street Journal reports

"The Obama administration is expected to propose in its fiscal 2011 budget Monday new funding to combat preventable and tropical diseases, malnutrition and other conditions afflicting the world's poor, as part of a strategy to broaden its approach to global health," the Wall Street Journal reports.

2 Feb 2010

Experimental vaccine reduced TB rate among HIV-positive people in Tanzania, Study finds

An experimental vaccine was found to reduce the rate of tuberculosis infections in patients living with HIV, "the first time a shot has been shown to reduce cases of the most common AIDS-related cause of death in poor nations," Bloomberg reports (Bennett, 1/29). Tuberculosis accounts for up to one-third of AIDS deaths worldwide, CBC News reports.

1 Feb 2010

Health and Human Services would get boost under Obama's 2011 budget plan

News outlets report on how Health and Human Services fares under Obama's 2011 budget request.

1 Feb 2010

Florida scholars criticize media coverage of health reform

Journalism researchers criticized media coverage of the health care bills saying it may have added to consumers' confusion, Health News Florida reports. "Very little broadcast time or print space has been devoted to explaining, point-by-point, the major parts of the legislation, say three top researchers in the field from University of Florida, Florida State University and University of South Florida.

1 Feb 2010

Congressional leader stresses the importance of annual dilated eye exam for diabetes patients

In recognition of Black History Month, House Majority Whip James E. Clyburn is urging African Americans with diabetes to get an annual diabetic eye exam during February.

1 Feb 2010

Survey: Medicaid beats private insurance when it comes to prevention

Sen. Lamar Alexander - as well as other conservative lawmakers - characterized Medicaid as a "medical ghetto" during Senate floor speeches on the health overhaul debate last year, American Medical News reports. But, the 2007 National Survey of Children's Health contradicts that common perception. "Based on nearly 92,000 interviews, it found that in 36 states, children in Medicaid and CHIP were as likely or more likely than privately insured kids to have had at least one preventive health care visit over a 12-month period."

1 Feb 2010

Congress faces one-month deadline on doctor payment fix

The doctor payment fix and several marketplace issues, such as insurance red tape and malpractice cases, continue to loom while health care reform efforts stall.

1 Feb 2010

Democrats work to restart health bill

Health care reform legislation "has a heartbeat," Roll Call reports, adding that Democrats are hoping a "breather" helps cool emotions, but that their focus will continue to be on eventually passing legislation.

1 Feb 2010

Survey finds Americans hesitant to seek mental health for confidentiality reasons

A survey from the American Psychiatric Association has found that workers' fears about losing their status at work and about confidentiality are the reasons American workers hesitate to seek treatment for mental health issues, HealthDay/BusinessWeek reports.

1 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 1, 2010

As President Obama's proposed budget heads to Congress, analysis of the breakdown of health reform -- and whether it may still have a chance -- continues.

1 Feb 2010

QHN expands to the Western Colorado communities of Aspen and Montrose

Quality Health Network (QHN), one of the most celebrated and successful health information exchanges (HIE) in the country, and Axolotl Corp., the nationwide leader in HIE solutions and services, are pleased to announce QHN’s successful expansion to the Western Colorado communities of Aspen and Montrose.

1 Feb 2010

NCD releases January 2010 monthly bulletin

NCD released its latest report on housing entitled The State of Housing in America in the 21st Century: A Disability Perspective, which provides recommendations to improve housing opportunities for people with disabilities.

1 Feb 2010

New mental health coverage rules promise to end some discrimination

Reuters: Employer-provided group health plans must offer the same level of coverage for mental illness and drug abuse treatment as for other ailments, according to federal regulations issued on Friday.

31 Jan 2010

Lobbyists played major role in health overhaul debate

The New York Times Prescriptions blog explores how millions of dollars were spent lobbying on health care. Although President Barack Obama has blamed lobbyists for helping to stall the legislative effort, "many of those lobbyists actually worked to support his health care overhaul, not oppose it," the Times finds.

31 Jan 2010

Structure and activities to drive growth and profitability during pharmaceutical new product planning

With the prospect of health-care reform still looming, pharmaceutical and biotech companies face tremendous pressure to keep the costs of their products down.

30 Jan 2010

South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust to deploy the Gateway Edition of PROXY Pro 7

Northern Ireland-based South Eastern Health & Social Care Trust, an integrated health care organization providing acute hospital services as well as community health and social services for a population of 440,000, has selected PROXY Pro 7, the latest version of remote desktop software from Proxy Networks, Inc., to provide remote PC access and PC remote control for thousands of remote computers in its network.

30 Jan 2010