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HHS selects Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania to take part in GNE Demonstration

The Department of Health and Human Services has selected the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania (HUP) as one of five hospitals that will take part in a nationwide initiative designed to train more nurses at a higher level.

8 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 7, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that HCA, the largest for-profit hospital chain in the U.S., is facing scrutiny about the medical necessity of some of the cardiac procedures done at some of its facilities.

7 Aug 2012

GAO finds states need more HHS guidance on new Medicaid rules

The study of six states finds they want more help as they look to expand their programs under new rules in the health law.

7 Aug 2012

Mass. reform increases access to hospital care in vulnerable groups

Healthcare reform providing near-universal insurance coverage in Massachusetts led to increased access to hospital care among vulnerable groups—especially Hispanic and low-income populations, suggests a paper in Medical Care.

7 Aug 2012

Roundup: Other states watching Mass. effort to cut costs; Iowa official denies GOP lawmakers' demand on abortion

As Massachusetts launches an aggressive effort to contain health care spending, the rest of the country will be watching. On July 31, lawmakers passed first-in-the-nation legislation pegging healthcare expenditures at or below the state's overall rate of economic growth, a strategy officials estimate could save Massachusetts as much as $200 billion over the next 15 years.

7 Aug 2012

Diagnostic imaging in stage IV cancer on the rise

Diagnostic imaging in elderly patients with stage IV cancer has increased significantly in recent years, while its use among those with early-stage disease has decreased, suggest study findings.

6 Aug 2012

Premier healthcare alliance awards new agreements for mobility aids

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced new agreements for mobility aids have been awarded.

6 Aug 2012

Eliza receives U.S. patent allowance for Complex Acoustic Resonance Speech Analysis System

Eliza Corporation, the pioneer and recognized leader in Health Engagement Management, today announced that it has received a notice of allowance from the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) for a Complex Acoustic Resonance Speech Analysis System.

6 Aug 2012

Research roundup: Massachusetts health reform; Role of race and insurance in kidney transplantation

Access to Care After Massachusetts' Health Care Reform: A Safety Net Hospital Patient Survey -- Policy analysts have long said that Massachusetts and its 2006 health reform law provide great insight into the federal health law and how its expansion of insurance coverage will play out.

3 Aug 2012

Generic drugs saved U.S. $1T over 10 years, industry study finds

Generic drug makers released a study Thursday that found generic pharmaceuticals have saved the U.S. -- through private prescriptions as well as Medicare and Medicaid -- more than $1 trillion over 10 years.

3 Aug 2012

Political cartoon: 'Doctor's Orders'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Doctor's Orders" by Ann Telnaes.

3 Aug 2012

Bipartisan group of House lawmakers to push lame-duck passage of 'Simpson-Bowles' debt plan

A bipartisan group of lawmakers will make a lame-duck push at passing a previously released deficit reduction plan.

3 Aug 2012

State roundup: N.Y. law requires coverage for partial mastectomy

New York's newest laws include one that will require health insurance to cover reconstructive surgery after partial mastectomies. Health insurers in New York must already cover the cost of reconstructive surgery after a full mastectomy (8/2).

3 Aug 2012

Experts offer disparate views on controlling health care costs

Dueling articles in the New England Journal of Medicine Wednesday propose sharply different ways to curb medical spending. The proposals offer a glimpse of the rival approaches that could emerge in 2013, when Congress will have to tackle the budget deficit and the future of the Medicare program for the elderly and disabled.

3 Aug 2012

Super-bug technology draws high-tech attention

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has said 2012 will be the year that hospitals should start paying to treat infections contracted on their premises. Many investors have the issue pegged as a janitorial concern, and not necessarily the purview of high-tech gadgets.

3 Aug 2012

First Edition: August 3, 2012

Today's headlines include reports on a Capitol Hill hearing during which House GOP lawmakers grilled the director of the Internal Revenue Service on his agency's health care subsidy ruling.

3 Aug 2012

Health care systems explain why they did not participate in CMMS ACO program

Many health care systems across the US have declined to participate in the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMMS) Accountable Care Organization (ACO) program, developed under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA), to improve efficiency and quality of health care delivery.

3 Aug 2012

$Cataract surgery reduces hip fracture, as well as improving eye sight$

Cataract surgery reduces hip fracture, as well as improving eye sight

Surgery for cataract removal significantly reduces the rate of hip fracture in the year after the procedure compared with no surgery, show study results involving over a million Medicare beneficiaries aged over 65 years.

3 Aug 2012

Viewpoints: Orszag on CAP cost-control proposals; High-tech and health costs

The Center for American Progress proposals thus wisely recognize that there is no single strategy to continue the recent progress in slowing the growth in health-care costs. In contrast, the Republican budget plan put forward by Representative Paul Ryan of Wisconsin seems based on a belief that all that's needed is to shift risks: from Medicare to beneficiaries through a premium-support program, and from the federal government to state governments by turning Medicaid into block grants.

3 Aug 2012

Medicare officials seek more time to estimate cost of fixing card security issues

A Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services official, testifying before the House Ways and Means Committee, said it would take six more months to figure out this cost and that he could not yet provide a timetable for removing Social Security numbers from Medicare cards.

3 Aug 2012