Health and Human Services News and Research

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Research may lead to new treatment strategies for Graves' disease

Researchers at the National Institutes of Health have identified a compound that prevents overproduction of thyroid hormone, a finding that brings scientists one step closer to improving treatment for Graves' disease.

2 Dec 2010

Republicans fight over energy and commerce gavel as they sharpen congressional agenda

Republicans are fighting over the gavel to head the Energy and Commerce committee as their agenda's outline becomes sharper in anticipation of the new session of Congress.

2 Dec 2010

Collegium completes spin-out of Onset Therapeutics

Collegium Pharmaceutical, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company, announced today that it has completed the spin-out of Onset Therapeutics, LLC, its wholly owned subsidiary focused on the Dermatology market.

2 Dec 2010

UIC receives HHS grant to expand family medicine residency program

The University of Illinois at Chicago College of Medicine has received a $1.92 million grant from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to expand its family medicine residency program.

2 Dec 2010

Maintaining ideal BMI reduces mortality risk in healthy non-smoking adults: Study

A study looking at deaths from any cause found that a body mass index (BMI) between 20.0 and 24.9 is associated with the lowest risk of death in healthy non-smoking adults.

1 Dec 2010

AHRQ selects Outcome to develop new Registry of Patient Registries database

Outcome Sciences, Inc. (OUTCOME), the leading provider of patient registries, studies, and technologies for evaluating real-world outcomes, today announced that the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) has awarded Outcome a task order to design and develop a new Registry of Patient Registries (RoPR) database.

1 Dec 2010

Health law causing ripples in Congress, insurance industry, among doctors

The Washington Post: "One of the most significant savings envisioned in the new health- care law - limiting payments to the private health plans that cover 11 million older Americans under Medicare - is, so far, bringing little of the turbulence that the insurance industry and many Republicans predicted. ... Early clues to the actual effects have now materialized, as elderly Americans may sign up for a health plan for 2011 during an enrollment period through the end of the year, and the warnings of swift, serious damage to the program are not borne out.

1 Dec 2010

Lame duck update: Congress delays Medicare payment cuts, fails to roll back health law's 1099 provision

Congress on Monday agreed to delay for one month a cut in Medicare reimbursement rates for doctors, giving a short-term reprieve to a looming crisis over treatment of the nation's elderly.

30 Nov 2010

Majority of Americans and Canadians are getting enough vitamin D and calcium, says report

The majority of Americans and Canadians are getting enough vitamin D and calcium to meet their needs, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine. Most people up to age 70 need no more than 600 international units, or IUs, of vitamin D per day, and those 71 and older may need as much as 800 IUs, the report finds. The amount of calcium needed ranges, based on age, from 700 to 1,300 milligrams per day.

30 Nov 2010

State lawmakers consider Medicaid changes

The Houston Chronicle: "Some Republicans who talk about Texas potentially opting out of Medicaid are quick to say the changes wouldn't throw people out on the street — but not House Appropriations Committee Chairman Jim Pitts." Pitts didn't advocate the Medicaid change but "gave a stark answer when an audience member asked about an ill friend who is on Medicaid."

29 Nov 2010

Jefferson Hospital offers shortest wait times for patients seeking kidney transplant: SRTR

A recent listing of Philadelphia adult kidney transplant programs by The Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients (SRTR) has listed the transplant program at Thomas Jefferson University Hospital as having the shortest wait times for patients seeking a transplant among programs that have a three-year survival rate of greater than 90 percent.

29 Nov 2010

ADS MedicsDocAssistant V.5.2 EHR achieves ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

Advanced Data Systems Corporation (ADS) announced today that MedicsDocAssistant Version 5.2 is 2011/2012 compliant and was certified as an EHR Module on November 19, 2010 by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable Eligible Provider certification criteria adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

25 Nov 2010

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Dallas Morning News: "Tea party members and other conservative activists pushed state lawmakers Tuesday to vote to nullify the federal health care law and get out of Medicaid, though one GOP senator said the largely federally funded program pays for nursing home care for the elderly and disabled and is 'not all bad.' … Former Republican gubernatorial candidate Debra Medina and dozens of others said the Legislature should declare the federal law void and also refuse to set up a state health insurance exchange.

24 Nov 2010

Fake pot now illegal

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) had to resort to its emergency powers this Wednesday to ban K2 and other “fake pot” products that mimic the effects of marijuana. As of now it is illegal to possess or sell the five chemicals used to make the products for at least one year. The agency and the Department of Health and Human Services will further debate whether the chemicals should be permanently added to the federal list of controlled substances considered unsafe, highly abused and without medical use.

24 Nov 2010

Five technology-based high-tech ventures receive funding under QTDP grants

Five technology-based high-tech ventures that have achieved success in the health care field with the assistance of NJIT's Enterprise Development Center (EDC) are the recipients of more than a million dollars in funding awarded in 2009 and 2010 under the federal program Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project Grants for the State of New Jersey.

24 Nov 2010

iPrEx study: PrEP reduces HIV infection risk among gay, bisexual men

A daily dose of an oral antiretroviral drug, currently approved to treat HIV infection, reduced the risk of acquiring HIV infection by 43.8 percent among men who have sex with men.

24 Nov 2010

NIH expands genetic and clinical research database to provide access to digital study images

The National Institutes of Health has expanded a genetic and clinical research database to give researchers access to the first digital study images.

24 Nov 2010

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius unveiled regulations requiring insurers to spend 80 to 85 percent of premiums collected on medical care, Politico reports. "The rules will have vast implications for how insurance companies spend money as well as for other aspects of the health care industry. Insurers' worries that the Department of Health and Human Services would rule against them on a number of issues were unfounded, and many of the nation's largest insurance companies' stocks rose on the news Monday."

24 Nov 2010

Insuring your health: Retirees can find insuring young adult children difficult

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "According to the Department of Health and Human Services, the key is whether the retiree health plan is made up only of retirees and their dependents or a mix of both active and retired employees and dependents.

23 Nov 2010

Siemens receives ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Complete EHR certifications

Siemens Healthcare has achieved Complete EHR ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Certification for Soarian® EHR version 2010, INVISION® EHR version 2010 and MedSeries4® EHR version 2010. These Complete EHRs are 2011/2012 compliant and have been certified by the Certification Commission for Health Information Technology (CCHIT®), an ONC-ATCB, in accordance with the applicable certification criteria for Hospitals adopted by the Secretary of Health and Human Services.

23 Nov 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

Research may lead to new treatment strategies for Graves' disease

Republicans fight over energy and commerce gavel as they sharpen congressional agenda

Collegium completes spin-out of Onset Therapeutics

UIC receives HHS grant to expand family medicine residency program

Maintaining ideal BMI reduces mortality risk in healthy non-smoking adults: Study

AHRQ selects Outcome to develop new Registry of Patient Registries database

Health law causing ripples in Congress, insurance industry, among doctors

Lame duck update: Congress delays Medicare payment cuts, fails to roll back health law's 1099 provision

Majority of Americans and Canadians are getting enough vitamin D and calcium, says report

State lawmakers consider Medicaid changes

Jefferson Hospital offers shortest wait times for patients seeking kidney transplant: SRTR

ADS MedicsDocAssistant V.5.2 EHR achieves ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 certification

Medicaid: Texas GOP activists push to drop the program; Fla. nurse practitioners vie for larger role

Fake pot now illegal

Five technology-based high-tech ventures receive funding under QTDP grants

iPrEx study: PrEP reduces HIV infection risk among gay, bisexual men

NIH expands genetic and clinical research database to provide access to digital study images

Insurers' stocks rise on new HHS rules designed to protect consumers, increase insurer spending on care

Insuring your health: Retirees can find insuring young adult children difficult

Siemens receives ONC-ATCB 2011/2012 Complete EHR certifications

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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