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IU-Regenstrief programs to address growing workforce needs for qualified health IT workers

Investments in the future of health care delivery include more than training additional doctors and nurses. Health information technology specialists are critical. While a growing number of hospitals and physicians want to offer their patients the benefits of electronic medical records and health information exchange, there is a nationwide shortage of highly skilled health IT workers to fill an estimated 60,000 positions.

18 Jun 2010

2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine protects against 1918 influenza virus: Report

Mice injected with a 2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine and then exposed to high levels of the virus responsible for the 1918 influenza pandemic do not get sick or die, report scientists funded by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

17 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 17, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey reports on states' progress with high-risk pools created as part of the health reform law: "The program, one of the highest profile provisions of the law, is designed to provide health insurance to people who have been denied coverage due to a pre-existing medical condition and have been without coverage for at least six months.

17 Jun 2010

Proportion of substance abuse treatment admissions involving older Americans doubles: SAMHSA

A new study reveals that between 1992 and 2008 the proportion of substance abuse treatment admissions involving older Americans (aged 50 and older) nearly doubled -- from 6.6 percent of all admissions in 1992 to 12.2 percent in 2008. The study, sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, also shows a sharp rise during this period in the proportion of older Americans admissions related to illicit drug abuse -- even though alcohol abuse is still the leading cause for admissions involving this age group.

17 Jun 2010

HHS Secretary announces series of new investments to strengthen primary care workforce

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced a series of new investments worth $250 million to increase the number of health care providers and strengthen the primary care workforce. The new investments were made possible by the Affordable Care Act. Sebelius was joined for the announcement by U.S. Representative Lois Capps, Health Resources and Services Administration Administrator Dr. Mary Wakefield, and HHS Assistant Secretary for Health Dr. Howard K. Koh.

17 Jun 2010

Experimental vaccine for Marburg hemorrhagic fever prevention shows promise for accidental exposures

An experimental vaccine developed to prevent outbreaks of Marburg hemorrhagic fever continues to show promise in monkeys as an emergency treatment for accidental exposures to the virus that causes the disease. There is no licensed treatment for Marburg infection, which has a high fatality rate.

17 Jun 2010

Seniorlink announces approval of Caregiver Homes

Seniorlink, Inc. has announced the approval of its Caregiver Homes subsidiary as a Shared Living Services provider for the state of Rhode Island Department of Human Services. In the Caregiver Homes' model, the client lives in the home of a paid caregiver who is supported by a clinical care team to provide 24-hour care and supervision for an elder or disabled adult.

17 Jun 2010

Money for early retirees and insurers' customer service

Consultants are pushing big companies to apply quickly for money from a $5 billion fund to help cover retiree health costs as part of the new health law, The Wall Street Journal reports.

17 Jun 2010

Federal government seeks power to exclude those involved with health fraud from working again with Medicare

Independent federal investigators hoping to rein in Medicare fraud are asking Congress for broad new authority to boot offending corporate executives from the insurance program. The change is designed to control Medicare claims fraud by punishing culpable owners, managers and other corporate higher-ups, and not just the convicted companies.

17 Jun 2010

Health on The Hill – June 15, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey and the Los Angeles Times' Noam Levey talk with KFF's Jackie Judd about recent events in Congress. For instance, the Senate is debating ways to reverse a 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments that began on June 1.

16 Jun 2010

Dietary guideline on sodium puts Americans at risk

The Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee (DGAC) of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the U.S. Department of Agriculture may increase health risks, including obesity, by ignoring sound science as they announce recommendations to reduce sodium consumption to 1,500 mg per day, says the Salt Institute.

16 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 16, 2010

Today's health policy headlines focus on the latest Senate developments regarding the Medicare 'doc fix' as well as continuing health reform implementation news.

16 Jun 2010

New public service advertisements to spread preventive medical testing awareness

Men are 24 percent less likely than women to have visited the doctor within the past year, according to new data released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. In addition, men are about 30 percent more likely than women to be hospitalized for preventable conditions such as congestive heart failure and complications from diabetes, according to new AHRQ data.

16 Jun 2010

CombiMatrix Diagnostics receives final licensure documentation and approvals to begin Medicare billing

CombiMatrix Corporation announced today that its laboratory services subsidiary, CombiMatrix Diagnostics, has received the final licensure documentation and approvals from Medicare in order to begin billing for its suite of array-based diagnostics tests.

15 Jun 2010

New regulation on 'grandfathered' health plans

The U.S. Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury today issued a new regulation that makes good on President Obama's promise that Americans who like their health plan can keep it.

15 Jun 2010

CNPP, HHS host media conference call to discuss Advisory Report of Dietary Guidelines

TODAY, the Department of Agriculture's Center for Nutrition Policy and Promotion and the Department of Health and Human Services, will host an embargoed media conference call to discuss the release of the Report of the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee on the Dietary Guidelines for Americans, 2010.

15 Jun 2010

MRSA survivors unite across the globe to raise awareness and educate public on prevention

MRSA Survivors Network with MRSA survivors, family members and other victims of healthcare-acquired infections unite across the globe and on World MRSA Day, October 2, 2010 in a grassroots movement to raise awareness and push for more mandated reporting of infections, MRSA screening laws, funds to raise awareness and educate the public on prevention, which will save lives.

15 Jun 2010

HHS issues interim rules for grandfathered health plans

The government suggested that under a highly complicated interim rule released today more than half of employer-sponsored health plans could lose their special status that shields them from some aspects of the new health overhaul. The administration outlined "a number of ways health plans could lose their grandfathered status. Plans that substantially eliminate benefits to diagnose or treat a particular condition would lose the status, for instance.

15 Jun 2010

Ingen Technologies' new SMART Nasal Cannula unveiled at Alpha-1 19th National Education Conference

Ingen Technologies, Inc., a medical device manufacturer with an emerging new medical product line for the respiratory market worth an estimated $4 billion in the U.S. and $8 billion globally, unveiled their new SMART Nasal Cannula in Orlando-Florida last week at the Alpha-1 19th Annual National Education Conference.

14 Jun 2010

New report provides state-by-state analyses of substance abuse, mental illness patterns

A new report providing state-by-state analyses of substance abuse and mental illness patterns reveals that despite wide variations among the states in the types and levels of behavioral health problems they experience -- every state suffers from these problems. For example, among those aged 12 and older, Iowa had less than one third the current illicit drug use rate of Rhode Island (4.1 percent vs. 13.3 percent) - yet Iowa's population aged 12 and older was among the group of states with the nation's highest levels of people participating in binge drinking in the past month (27.2 percent).

14 Jun 2010

Health and Human Services News and Research

IU-Regenstrief programs to address growing workforce needs for qualified health IT workers

2009 H1N1 pandemic influenza vaccine protects against 1918 influenza virus: Report

First Edition: June 17, 2010

Proportion of substance abuse treatment admissions involving older Americans doubles: SAMHSA

HHS Secretary announces series of new investments to strengthen primary care workforce

Experimental vaccine for Marburg hemorrhagic fever prevention shows promise for accidental exposures

Seniorlink announces approval of Caregiver Homes

Money for early retirees and insurers' customer service

Federal government seeks power to exclude those involved with health fraud from working again with Medicare

Health on The Hill – June 15, 2010

Dietary guideline on sodium puts Americans at risk

First Edition: June 16, 2010

New public service advertisements to spread preventive medical testing awareness

CombiMatrix Diagnostics receives final licensure documentation and approvals to begin Medicare billing

New regulation on 'grandfathered' health plans

CNPP, HHS host media conference call to discuss Advisory Report of Dietary Guidelines

MRSA survivors unite across the globe to raise awareness and educate public on prevention

HHS issues interim rules for grandfathered health plans

Ingen Technologies' new SMART Nasal Cannula unveiled at Alpha-1 19th National Education Conference

New report provides state-by-state analyses of substance abuse, mental illness patterns

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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