Health and Human Services News and Research

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Pennsylvania's Medicaid program error rate less than half the national average, feds say

A new federal report finds Pennsylvania's Medicaid program has an error rate that is less than half the national average and well below estimates claimed in state-level audits, Governor Edward G. Rendell announced today.

21 Dec 2010

Inconsistent, incomplete labeling of alcoholic beverages taking health, safety toll on drinkers

The National Consumers League (NCL) has once again called on the Alcohol and Tobacco Tax and Trade Bureau (TTB) to issue a final rule to improve alcohol beverage labeling.

21 Dec 2010

ExonHit awarded QTDP grants for AclarusDx and EHT 107 programs

ExonHit Therapeutics today announced that the Company was awarded two grants to support two of its Research & Development projects under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Program: AclarusDx™ in Alzheimer's disease and the EHT 107 program in oncology.

21 Dec 2010

Criterions EHR earns ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

Criterions EHR has received the federal government's "meaningful use" stamp of approval by earning Complete EHR Ambulatory certification. The designation officially deems the electronic health record (EHR) software capable of enabling providers to qualify for funding under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).

20 Dec 2010

NAFC forms council to establish independent quality standards for incontinence products

The National Association For Continence (NAFC) is heading a newly formed council with the objective of establishing national, independent quality standards for disposable adult absorbent products provided by states to Medicaid waiver recipients cared for in their private homes rather than as residents of a state-funded nursing home.

20 Dec 2010

Walgreens partners with HHS to provide over $10M worth of flu shots for people without adequate health insurance

Walgreens and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) are teaming up in an effort to make 2011 a healthier New Year for those without adequate health insurance.

20 Dec 2010

State Roundup: UMass bone marrow registry practices probed; Insurance woes hit many Calif. middle income families

Bone marrow registries are usually noble efforts to find donors with the right genetic match to save the life of a terminally ill person, but one such program in New England is under investigation by attorneys general in two states (Greenberg, 12/17).

20 Dec 2010

Nation's anti-fraud efforts paying off, Holder says

At a summit held yesterday in Boston, Attorney General Eric Holder said the nation's crackdown on health care fraud and abuse is paying off, and Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius talked about new approaches that are contributing to such successes. Meanwhile, a new analysis names big pharma as the nation's "biggest defrauder" under the False Claims Act.

17 Dec 2010

Sapient awarded multiple-award ID/IQ prime contract with CDC

Sapient Government Services, a division of Sapient, today announced that it has been awarded a multiple-award Indefinite Delivery / Indefinite Quantity (ID/IQ) prime contract with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). The award allows Sapient to compete for task orders with other contract awardees to perform a variety of management consulting services for the CDC under the agency's Information Management Services (CIMS) contract.

17 Dec 2010

Alzheimer's Association applauds Congress for passage of NAPA Bill

As the leading care, research and advocacy organization for Alzheimer's disease, the Alzheimer's Association applauds Congress for passage of the National Alzheimer's Project Act (S. 3036, H.R. 4689), a significant step forward in the fight against Alzheimer's disease. The National Alzheimer's Project Act provides an essential framework for the development of a national strategic plan.

17 Dec 2010

First comprehensive guide to hospital emergency preparedness exercise development

With the publication of the nation's first comprehensive, federally funded guide to hospital emergency preparedness exercise development, Dr. Nathaniel Hupert at Weill Cornell Medical College and his collaborators have provided a new toolset for strengthening hospitals' ability to protect communities nationwide against public health disasters, such as creating care centers during an influenza pandemic or treating casualties in the wake of a bioterrorism attack.

17 Dec 2010

PCSBI issues 18 recommendations in emerging field of synthetic biology

The Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues today released its first report-a wide-ranging review of the emerging field of synthetic biology-issuing 18 recommendations including a call for coordinated federal oversight of scientists working in both large institutions and smaller settings.

16 Dec 2010

MedicAlert Foundation's 'Code of Conduct' helps evaluate integrity of emergency medical information

The non-profit MedicAlert Foundation published a "Code of Conduct" in an effort to help consumers evaluate the integrity of organizations providing emergency medical information and identification services. In addition, as part of the "Code of Conduct" the Foundation has established business practice standards for medical information and identification service organizations that house consumer health information. Across the country millions of consumers are using personal health records, emergency medical information services, personal medical alarms systems or medical identification jewelry services.

16 Dec 2010

Affordable Care Act provisions will increase breastfeeding among working mothers

Millions of working mothers were not able to express breast milk while at work until the Affordable Care Act of 2010 (ACA). The law requires employers to provide nursing breaks and a private, sanitary place to express breast milk for most mothers employed on an hourly basis. The ACA provisions for breastfeeding cover three-fifths of employed women living in families below 350 percent of the government poverty line (about $50,000 for a family of two).

16 Dec 2010

Epitomics enters contract with SAIC Frederick to develop rabbit monoclonal antibodies for CPTC program

Epitomics, Inc., a biotechnology company commercializing the next generation of antibodies based on its groundbreaking Rabbit Monoclonal Antibody (RabMAb®) technology, today announced that the Company has signed a contract with SAIC Frederick, Inc., operating under contract with the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) to develop several dozen rabbit monoclonal antibodies to support the Clinical Proteomic Technologies for Cancer (CPTC) program (www.proteomics.cancer.gov).

16 Dec 2010

ICSA Labs can now test and certify electronics health record product solutions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology has designated ICSA Labs as an Authorized Testing and Certification Body for products and solutions for electronic health records.

15 Dec 2010

New HHS Strategy on Multiple Chronic Conditions

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services today issued its new Strategic Framework on Multiple Chronic Conditions - an innovative private-public sector collaboration to coordinate responses to a growing challenge.

15 Dec 2010

New research reports more than 10% of RA patients lack health literacy

Many patients seen at a rheumatology clinic—including some with a long history of rheumatoid arthritis (RA)—don't recognize important terms related to their health and medical treatment, reports a study in the December issue of JCR: Journal of Clinical Rheumatology.

15 Dec 2010

Workplace interactions may educate people about organ donation process

Face-to-face workplace interactions may be the best way to educate and encourage people to consider becoming organ donors, according to new research from Purdue University.

14 Dec 2010

NIST publishes guides to support EHR system developers

Two new publications from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) are intended to help developers of software and computer systems for doctors' offices, clinics, and hospitals improve the ease of use of electronic health records (EHRs). These publications are part of a federal effort, led by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) to help providers adopt and use EHRs that can bring about broad quality improvements and cost savings in the health care system.

14 Dec 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

Pennsylvania's Medicaid program error rate less than half the national average, feds say

Inconsistent, incomplete labeling of alcoholic beverages taking health, safety toll on drinkers

ExonHit awarded QTDP grants for AclarusDx and EHT 107 programs

Criterions EHR earns ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

NAFC forms council to establish independent quality standards for incontinence products

Walgreens partners with HHS to provide over $10M worth of flu shots for people without adequate health insurance

State Roundup: UMass bone marrow registry practices probed; Insurance woes hit many Calif. middle income families

Nation's anti-fraud efforts paying off, Holder says

Sapient awarded multiple-award ID/IQ prime contract with CDC

Alzheimer's Association applauds Congress for passage of NAPA Bill

First comprehensive guide to hospital emergency preparedness exercise development

PCSBI issues 18 recommendations in emerging field of synthetic biology

MedicAlert Foundation's 'Code of Conduct' helps evaluate integrity of emergency medical information

Affordable Care Act provisions will increase breastfeeding among working mothers

Epitomics enters contract with SAIC Frederick to develop rabbit monoclonal antibodies for CPTC program

ICSA Labs can now test and certify electronics health record product solutions

New HHS Strategy on Multiple Chronic Conditions

New research reports more than 10% of RA patients lack health literacy

Workplace interactions may educate people about organ donation process

NIST publishes guides to support EHR system developers

Event guide: 6th Operationalize Expanded Access Programs Summit East eBook

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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