Health Care News and Research

RSS

Short-listed companies to submit proposals for chronic disease management system

eHealth Ontario and Infrastructure Ontario today announced the three companies short-listed to submit proposals for a chronic disease management system that will be used initially to establish a Diabetes Registry for Ontarians and an eHealth Portal framework.

22 Oct 2009

Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices supports the permissive use of GARDASIL

Merck & Co., Inc. announced today that the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s (CDC’s) Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) supports the permissive use of GARDASIL® [Human Papillomavirus Quadrivalent (Types 6, 11, 16 and 18) Vaccine, Recombinant] for boys and young men ages 9 to 26, which means that GARDASIL may be given to males ages 9 to 26 to reduce the likelihood of acquiring genital warts at the discretion of the patient's health care provider.

22 Oct 2009

Eat healthy food to keep bacteria in the gut healthy

Healthy eating, not supplements, is the best way to keep the good bacteria in your gut healthy, says a dietitian and researcher.

22 Oct 2009

Statement from Pelosi regarding Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act

Speaker Nancy Pelosi released the following statement in support of the Ryan White HIV/AIDS Treatment Extension Act, which passed the House of Representatives today by a vote of 408 to 9. The Senate passed the bill earlier this week so the bill now goes to President Obama for his signature into law.

22 Oct 2009

Informative online resource on health care system

Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield in Wisconsin (Anthem) announced today the expansion of its industry-leading transparency initiative to northcentral Wisconsin. Now, all members in Florence, Forest, Langlade, Lincoln, Marathon, Oneida, Portage, Vilas and Wood counties will be able to access Anthem Care Comparison, an online tool that provides information about the costs of 35 specific medical procedures performed at local area hospitals, outpatient surgery centers and free-standing radiology facilities.

22 Oct 2009

18 Los Angeles residents charged in five indictments for allegedly participating in Medicare fraud schemes

Eighteen defendants, most of them residing in the Los Angeles area, have been charged in five indictments for allegedly participating in Medicare fraud schemes that resulted in approximately $25 million in fraudulent bills to the Medicare program, announced Assistant Attorney General of the Criminal Division Lanny A. Breuer, Acting U.S. Attorney for the Central District of California George S. Cardona and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS).

22 Oct 2009

SAEC to collaborate with HMORN to improve the safe use of drugs

The International Serious Adverse Events Consortium (SAEC) announced today it will collaborate with the HMO Research Network (HMORN) to improve the safe use of drugs by exploring why the genetic makeup of some individuals makes them more likely to experience serious drug-related adverse events (SAEs).

22 Oct 2009

Toolkit to help U.S. employers address the growing problem of childhood obesity

Saying that employers can no longer afford to ignore the epidemic of childhood obesity, the National Business Group on Health today announced the launch of "Childhood Obesity: It's Everyone's Business," a toolkit designed to help U.S. employers address the growing problem of overweight and obese children.

22 Oct 2009

AHA endorses rL Solutions' Risk MonitorPro healthcare incident management system

The American Hospital Association (AHA) today announced it has exclusively endorsed rL Solutions Risk MonitorPro® for healthcare incident management. Risk MonitorPro is a web-based incident and adverse event management system that allows users to easily submit, refine, analyze and communicate critical incident information.

22 Oct 2009

GeckoSystems to discuss its sensor fusion based vision system

GeckoSystems Intl. Corp. (http://www.geckosystems.com/) -- announced today that during their first annual "Mobile Robots in Motion" conference November 4-5, 2009 attendees will be able to observe and discuss GeckoSystems' sensor fusion based vision system, the CompoundSensorArray™.

22 Oct 2009

The Sutter Heart Transplant Program gets recertified after an eight-month legal battle

Larry Clymer's heart was just plum wearing out. The 60-year-old Rocklin resident needed a heart transplant, and a temporary machine was implanted in his abdomen to keep his heart beating until the right heart was identified.

22 Oct 2009

Nationwide Better Health launches workplace benefit plans for employees

Nationwide Better HealthSM recently announced the launch of its workplace benefits for employees including accident and hospital products, group dental plans, group term life insurance and medical stop loss insurance. These offerings allow employers to provide benefits that help safeguard their employees’ physical and financial health.

22 Oct 2009

Dr. John Kitzhaber on reforming health care

Kaiser Health News features an interview with former Oregon governor, Dr. John Kitzhaber. When he "was president of the Oregon Senate, the state's languishing economy was tightening the screws on Medicaid outlays.

22 Oct 2009

Budget hawks block Reid's push for 'doc fix'

Democrats backed away from an unfunded proposal to increase physician payments from Medicare in the face of opposition from Republicans and some fiscally conservative members of their own ranks, the New York Times reports.

22 Oct 2009

Enrollment in medical school rises slightly as physician demand also increases

New figures show that enrollment in medical school continues to rise as schools try to increase the number of graduates to meet the increasing physician need. But doctors cautioned that more residency positions are needed and urged federal officials to fund them.

22 Oct 2009

Health reform triggers analysis of the lobbying 'revolving door,' spending reports

A joint ProPublica/CBS News investigation found that at least two dozen current lobbyists used to be federal officials who helped design the last major change to American health care.

22 Oct 2009

Small businesses could benefit from insurance exchanges

Supporters of health reform legislation told a Senate subcommittee Tuesday that the insurance exchanges are critical for small businesses, which pay more than large companies to cover their employees and are cutting jobs and insurance coverage to control costs.

22 Oct 2009

Senate votes to shelve 'doc fix' legislation

"The Senate has sidetracked legislation raising Medicare payments for doctors by $247 billion over the next decade," The Associated Press reports. "The 47-53 vote was 13 short of the 60 needed to advance the measure, and reflected bipartisan concern that it would have raised deficits if it became law" (10/21).

22 Oct 2009

Snowe: Vote on reform by Thanksgiving is 'optimistic'

"Sens. Ben Nelson (D-Neb.) and Olympia Snowe (R-Maine), two key moderates, met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) Wednesday morning — their second meeting with the leader this week as a part of their ongoing effort to shape the final Senate health care reform bill," Roll Call reports.

22 Oct 2009

Sexual dysfunction in cancer survivors rarely addressed by internists

Few internists who care for cancer survivors address issues of sexual dysfunction with their patients, according to a study led by Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) researchers. In their article appearing in a November 2009 cancer survivor supplement to the Journal of General Internal Medicine, now available online, the investigators report that more than half the internists responding to a survey indicated they rarely or never discussed sexual problems with their patients who had survived cancer.

22 Oct 2009