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Groups urge HHS to issue rules on medical company-doc relationships

The American Medical Student Association and the National Physicians Alliance are urging the Obama Administration to issue past-due regulations for a database of payments made by pharmaceutical companies and device makers to physicians.

8 Jan 2013

Clear battle lines emerge on budget issues

After last week's agreement to avert the "fiscal cliff," President Barack Obama and congressional GOP leaders are making clear their positions on tax increases and entitlement spending reductions -- including those to Medicare.

8 Jan 2013

McConnell, others demanding spending cuts - including Medicare

News outlets, especially the Sunday talk shows, highlighted the ongoing partisan battles on entitlement cuts.

7 Jan 2013

New Congress brings changes in leadership, expertise

Politico offers insights regarding the leadership style and health law attitudes of Rep. Jack Kingston, R-Ga., who will chair the House Labor, HHS appropriations subcommittee. Meanwhile, The Wall Street Journal reports that two physicians were sworn in yesterday -- doubling the number of doctors in the Democratic caucus.

7 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: 'Class war' over Medicare funding; GOP needs courage to cut entitlements in debt fight

Failure to curb our deficits and reform unsustainable entitlement spending means passing greater debt burdens on to future generations. Democrats and Republicans have the opportunity to reverse this trend and claim credit. ... Sadly, the deal struck this week in Congress maintains the trend of $1 trillion deficits for at least another year while continuing to ensure that federal health care spending a generation from now will be untenable.

7 Jan 2013

Roundup: Texas begins new Women's Health Program; Federal spending uncertainty bedevils states; 'Medi-scare' mailings

Texas is funding the Women's Health Program on its own because the federal government pulled funding after the state blocked Planned Parenthood from participating. The Texas version still serves low-income women who would qualify for Medicaid if they became pregnant. It will cover about 110,000 women between 18 and 44 years old with free well-woman exams, basic health care and certain family planning services.

7 Jan 2013

HHS gives 7 states the go-ahead to create health exchanges

So far, the Obama administration has approved the health exchange blueprints submitted by 17 states and the District of Columbia. And, the most recent set includes both red states, including Utah, and blue states.

7 Jan 2013

Health care and the shakeout from the fiscal cliff

News outlets parse the particulars of how the fiscal deal will impact the health care system, and how the health industry is bracing for the next rounds in the budget battles.

7 Jan 2013

Training can improve inpatient record documentation

The accuracy and completeness of inpatient medical records can be significantly improved with clinical interventions designed to develop quality record keeping, research shows.

4 Jan 2013

A closer look at latest 'doc fix'

As part of the fiscal deal, a scheduled cut in Medicare physician payment rates was postponed -- but its 10-year price tag is being borne by other health care players, especially hospitals.

4 Jan 2013

Some health law funding becomes 'fiscal cliff' casualty

The agreement approved by Congress and signed by President Barack Obama would kill new funding for health insurance co-operatives. The fiscal deal also officially repealed the health law's CLASS Act, but establishes a new bipartisan commission to develop a plan for long-term care services for elderly and disabled people.

4 Jan 2013

States consider licensing dental therapists to fill cavities -- and care gap

A shortage of dentists spurred Minnesota to license dental therapists, and several other states may follow suit, USA Today reports. Meanwhile, a health plan in rural South Dakota and Minnesota is hiring Native American healers as consultants.

4 Jan 2013

Fiscal deal political fallout will likely shape future Medicare, entitlement spending battles

News outlets continue to analyze how the fiscal deal will set the table for future deficit debates and when some of the difficult spending issues could again take center stage.

4 Jan 2013

Viewpoints: McConnell says spending cuts are coming; Plea to Kan. governor to rethink insurance exchange

Predictably, the President is already claiming that his tax hike on the "rich" isn't enough. I have news for him: the moment that he and virtually every elected Democrat in Washington signed off on the terms of the current arrangement, it was the last word on taxes.

4 Jan 2013

Algorithms designed to find patients with recurrent cancer within databases do not work

In order to study the effectiveness or cost effectiveness of treatments for recurrent cancer, you first have to discover the patients in medical databases who have recurrent cancer. Generally studies do this with billing or treatment codes - certain codes should identify who does and does not have recurrent cancer. A recent study published in the journal Medical Care shows that the commonly used data determinants of recurrent cancer may be misidentifying patients and potentially leading researchers astray.

4 Jan 2013

Congressional accord preserves Medicare doctor pay

The deal averts for one year a 26.5 percent cut in payments to doctors who treat Medicare patients. It also repeals the long-term care provision of the 2010 health overhaul.

3 Jan 2013

Psychiatric patients at risk of hospitalization due to protected records

Medical centers that elect to keep psychiatric files private and separate from the rest of a person's medical record may be doing their patients a disservice, a Johns Hopkins study concludes.

3 Jan 2013

House follows Senate and passes bill to avert 'fiscal cliff'

The measure, which awaits the president's signature, puts off large cuts in federal spending and increases taxes. But it delays efforts to revamp entitlement programs.

3 Jan 2013

Hospitals, nursing homes, pharmacies face changing marketplace

A report by federal health care inspectors in November said the U.S. nursing home industry overbills Medicare $1.5 billion a year for treatments patients don't need or never receive.

3 Jan 2013

UMDNJ-School of Osteopathic Medicine establishes Biomarker Discovery Center

Following recent discoveries by its researchers that could significantly change the diagnosis and treatment of a number of diseases, the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ)-School of Osteopathic Medicine has established the Biomarker Discovery Center on its Stratford campus.

3 Jan 2013