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KHN column: Getting the bugs out of health reform

In this Kaiser Health News column, which is a collaboration with The New Republic, Jonathan Cohn, writes about health care's bugs.

23 Nov 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

But when it comes to making medical care not only cheaper but also better, reducing hospital infections is among the easiest changes to make--something reform really should be able to do, even in this political universe of such limited possibility (Jonathan Cohn, 11/23).

23 Nov 2009

Congress takes aim at elder abuse

As part of a collaborative effort with the Los Angeles Times, Kaiser Health News staff writer Rick Schmitt reports on developments related to elder abuse. "About 11 percent of people ages 60 and older suffer from some kind of abuse every year. But as a part of health care overhaul legislation, lawmakers are taking steps that would for the first time establish a federal beachhead in fighting such abuse.

23 Nov 2009

ARAMARK Healthcare Canada earns RCO's Waste Minimization Gold Award in Communications

ARAMARK Healthcare Canada’s Environmental Stewardship Initiative has earned a Waste Minimization Gold Award in Communications from the Recycling Council of Ontario (RCO) for the second straight year, further endorsement of ARAMARK’s effort to promote sustainability at nearly 200 healthcare facilities throughout Canada.

23 Nov 2009

'60 Minutes' on end-of-life health spending: 'Is there a better way?'

While all Americans will eventually die, CBS's 60 Minutes reports, it may turn some heads to find out how much the government will spend when it happens -- in 2008, about $50 billion in the last two months of life. "You might think this would be an obvious thing for Congress and the president to address as they try to reform health care. But what used to be a bipartisan issue has become a politically explosive one - a perfect example of the costs that threaten to bankrupt the country and how hard it's going to be to rein them in."

23 Nov 2009

Walgreens re-launches its website with expanded shopping tools and services

Walgreens, the nation’s largest drugstore chain and a leading destination for health and wellness services, today announced the re-launch of Walgreens.com (www.walgreens.com), offering users a variety of new healthy living and product resources, along with expanded yet simplified shopping tools and services.

23 Nov 2009

Public opinion has changed since Clinton tried health care reform

Public opinions have changed since President Bill Clinton tried to reform the health care system more than a a decade ago. USA Today reports that "the years since Clinton's failed effort have seen the cost of medical services nearly double and softened some of the skepticism voiced by Americans in 1993 and 1994. The percentage who say Congress should pass comprehensive legislation, rather than dealing with health care incrementally over several years, has increased by 10 points, USA TODAY/Gallup Polls show."

23 Nov 2009

Senate Democratic leaders look for public option compromise to win moderates

The Washington Post: "Democrats had little time to savor their weekend Senate health-care victory, as two of the lawmakers who voted to move the debate forward Saturday night indicated Sunday that they will not vote to pass the package if it includes a government-run insurance program."

23 Nov 2009

Lobbying is up as health industry examines impact of reform proposals

"Companies and groups hiring lobbying firms on health issues nearly doubled this year as special interests rushed to shape the massive revamp of the nation's health care system now in its final stretch before Congress." As many as 1,000 groups "have hired lobbyists since January, compared with 505 during the same period in 2008, according to a USA TODAY analysis of congressional records compiled by the nonpartisan CQ MoneyLine."

23 Nov 2009

Health debate bears down on senators

"As one of the few senators undecided on healthcare reform, Arkansas Democrat Blanche Lincoln faces a huge headache. Liberals attack her as an obstructionist, even though she cast a key vote keeping the effort alive. Republicans are lining up to run against her -- seven, so far, and counting. The voters here at home seem conflicted, if not downright confused.

23 Nov 2009

Hatch, other conservatives argue individual mandate is unconstitutional

Utah Sen. Orrin Hatch is leading the Republican movement against the proposed individual mandate to buy insurance, arguing "Congress has no constitutional authority to tell people what to buy with their money, Salt Lake Tribune explains. "'If we have the power simply to order Americans to buy certain products, why did we need a Cash for Clunkers program?' Hatch said during a debate in the Senate Finance Committee. 'We can simply require Americans to buy certain cars.

23 Nov 2009

Error-plagued Los Angeles hospital cuts deal to reopen

A plan to reopen Los Angeles' Martin Luther King Jr. hospital as a private, nonprofit facility in partnership with the University of California is the latest example in a new trend among public hospitals that has lead to greater efficiency, and often quality elsewhere, The New York Times reports. Like many public hospitals, MLK had a track record of inconsistent quality and grim finances, and "was closed in 2007 after a series of errors, some of them fatal.

23 Nov 2009

Administration seeks to distance reform effort from cancer screening fallout

As the intense debate continues over new cancer test guidelines, the Obama administration is trying to protect health care reform from the controversy's fallout.

23 Nov 2009

Senators prepare for upcoming health reform battles

The Wall Street Journal reports that, in a party-line vote Saturday night, "Democratic leaders finally moved their sweeping health bill to the Senate floor, where wheeling and dealing over major unresolved and divisive issues likely will shape the legislation before its next big test." Some centrists are busy saying they won't support a bill with a government-run public option in it. They are also divided over abortion.

23 Nov 2009

UT Southwestern Medical Center among 10 institutions to share $56 million from NIH as part of ICAC

UT Southwestern Medical Center is among 10 institutions selected by the National Institutes of Health to share $56 million over five years as part of the Inner City Asthma Consortium (ICAC).

23 Nov 2009

GOP strikes back on Senate health vote

Republican senators turned out to criticize the Democratic health overhaul on Sunday talk shows, saying it is "something Bernie Madoff would really envy," would expand a "medical ghetto," and may "collapse of its own weight," The Hill reports. Supporting the bill, which cleared an initial Senate vote to bring the legislation to the floor Saturday night, is tantamount to ignoring "the wishes of the American people," the Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., said Sunday (Johnson, 11/22).

23 Nov 2009

Digital divide appears between hospitals that treat the rich and poor

"Hospitals that disproportionately care for poor patients are less likely than other hospitals to have adopted health information technology," according to an October study published in Health Affairs, American Medical News reports. The economic stimulus legislation in February directed $19 billion in federal investments to help all types of hospitals adopt electronic records, but some researchers are concerned the money may not close that divide.

23 Nov 2009

CDC: 'Beggining to see some declines in swine flu'

Reuters: "The pandemic of swine flu may be hitting a peak in the United States, health experts said on Friday. But they stressed that influenza, especially a pandemic, could hit several peaks in a single season. They said weeks or months more of disease could be expected.

23 Nov 2009

Eclipsys reaches milestone: 50 millionth order entered into its EHR system

Eclipsys Corporation®, The Outcomes Company®, continues to strengthen its position as a leader in computerized physician order entry (CPOE) with the announcement today that long-standing client Sarasota Memorial Health Care System (Sarasota Memorial), located in Sarasota, FL, recently entered its 50 millionth order into its electronic health record (EHR) system. The notable physician order was entered by emergency medicine specialist Bill Colgate, MD.

23 Nov 2009

Arcadia Resources raises $11.1 million through sale of its shares

Arcadia Resources, Inc., a leading provider of innovative consumer health care services under the Arcadia HealthCare brand, announced today that it has completed the previously announced sale of shares of its common stock and warrants to purchase common stock pursuant to a registered direct offering to institutional investors, representing gross proceeds to Arcadia of approximately $11.1 million.

23 Nov 2009