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Political ads stake out presidential candidates' different philosophies on role of government

Meanwhile, President Barack Obama's campaign will air a new ad aimed at seniors who are on Medicare and will continue efforts to connect with the women's vote.

24 May 2012

CMS sticks with Medicare coverage of PSA test

The federal government is not changing coverage plans "at this time." Meanwhile, a number of urologists and other medical specialists raise concerns that new recommendations against prostate cancer screening will hurt men's health.

24 May 2012

Innovation Center to-do list could include Medicaid; PCORI announces grant application deadlines

In a pair of articles, CQ HealthBeat reports on the role the Innovation Center could play in reshaping Medicaid and the latest on the timeline for grants from the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute.

24 May 2012

Viewpoints: The promise and perils of prostate screening; Presidential candidates shy away from frank discussion of spending

After an exhaustive process, the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force has announced its final recommendation on PSA-based prostate cancer screening. It finds that the known harms of screening outweigh the potential benefits for men who have no cancer symptoms. It notes that all screening studies have demonstrated considerable harms associated with screening, but only one major study found evidence that screening saves lives -- and that study has some internal inconsistencies.

24 May 2012

Study shows how streamlined patient pathways may improve efficiency of healthcare delivery

The Alliance for Home Health Quality and Innovation (the Alliance) today released research detailing the care pathways patients receive for three distinct episode types: post-acute, pre-acute and non-post-acute.

23 May 2012

First Edition: May 23, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about the CBO's dire predictions about a possible recession as well as details about how health policy is handled in new presidential campaign ads.

23 May 2012

Federal task force recommends dropping routine prostate cancer test

The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force finds scant evidence that the PSA blood test saves lives and instead says unneeded treatment leads to serious problems, including impotence and incontinence.

23 May 2012

Tavenner confirmation hearing not in the Senate's plans

The Wall Street Journal reports that, after months of speculation, Senate Democrats have indicated they aren't planning a confirmation hearing for Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services acting administrator Marilyn Tavenner.

23 May 2012

Billion-dollar Davita deal highlights movement toward mergers, accountable care organizations

This particular deal, in which DaVita will acquire HealthCare Partners, will enable the dialysis services provider to offer a more integrated group of services that fall under the ACO model that the government is trying to encourage.

23 May 2012

First Edition: May 22, 2012

Today's headlines include reports about a lawsuit brought by Catholic organizations against the Obama administration's contraception coverage rule and a new recommendation on PSA screening by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force.

22 May 2012

Viewpoints: A gamble on Alzheimer's research; Hidden costs of insurance rebates

The Obama administration has announced a bold research program to test whether a drug can prevent the onset of Alzheimer's disease well before any symptoms appear. It is a long shot, but the payoff could be huge.

22 May 2012

CTCA wins 2012 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award

Cancer Treatment Centers of America (CTCA) at Midwestern Regional Medical Center (Midwestern) proudly announced today that it has received the 2012 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award -- one of only four recipients in all of Chicagoland, one of 13 in Illinois, and one of 332 nationwide to receive the prestigious award. This is the third consecutive year that CTCA at Midwestern has been recognized with the honor.

22 May 2012

AUA includes percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation in OAB treatment guidelines

Uroplasty, Inc., a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative proprietary products for the treatment of voiding dysfunctions, today announced that the American Urological Association (AUA) issued a clinical guideline titled "Diagnosis and Treatment of Overactive Bladder (Non-Neurogenic) in Adults," which includes percutaneous tibial nerve stimulation (PTNS) as an integral part of the care path for overactive bladder (OAB) treatment.

22 May 2012

USPSTF issues final recommendation statement against PSA testing

The Prostate Cancer Roundtable expressed deep disappointment today as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) issued its final recommendation statement against the use of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in the detection of prostate cancer.

22 May 2012

'Discharge bias' disproportionally hurts large and academic hospitals

In-hospital mortality for ICU patients is often used as a quality measure, but discharge practices may bias results in a way that disadvantages large academic hospitals, according to a recently conducted study.

22 May 2012

Medicare expenditures, quality rating system grab headlines

Kaiser Health News looks at criticisms of the government's program for rewarding higher-quality Medicare Advantage plans, while Modern Healthcare reports on a memo from the Medicare actuary that projects expenditures in the federal healthcare program.

21 May 2012

Two health care nonprofit co-ops receive health law loans

These two co-ops, located in Nevada and Michigan, received a total of $135 million in loans from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services.

21 May 2012

Laxative free bowel prep visualized on Viatronix V3D-Colon platform

Viatronix Incorporated, a leading innovator and developer of 2D/3D medical imaging and diagnostic software today announced that their V3D-Colon platform was exclusively used to perform a key study recently published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.

21 May 2012

First Edition: May 21, 2012

Today's headlines includes reports on a new poll that explores what it is like to be sick in America.

21 May 2012

Poll: 70% of Americans oppose efforts by insurance companies to deny payment for ER visits

Seventy percent of Americans oppose efforts by insurance companies to deny payment for emergency visits when patients believe they are having medical emergencies, but after examination are diagnosed with non-urgent medical conditions, according to the results of a new poll conducted by Harris Interactive on behalf of the American College of Emergency Physicians.

21 May 2012