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African-Americans and Hispanics with MDD less likely to get antidepressants

African-Americans and Hispanics with major depressive disorder are less likely to get antidepressants than Caucasian patients, and Medicare and Medicaid patients are less likely to get the newest generation of antidepressants.

6 Apr 2012

AHS announces acquisition of COMPUDATA

AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions (AHS), one of the nation's leading providers of medical billing, practice management, and coding services for specialty physicians, hospitals, and surgery centers, announced today that it has acquired COMPUDATA, Inc., an Ohio-based medical billing company. This represents AHS' fifth acquisition since mid-2009, and expands the company's footprint in Ohio and Pennsylvania while strengthening the company's anesthesia practice customer base.

6 Apr 2012

Rise in PIP breast implant ruptures sparks fresh fears

According to the Australasian College of Cosmetic Surgery all brands of breast implants carry a risk of rupture. Spokesman Dr Daniel Fleming said a rupture rate of 13.6 per cent over eight years is a normal rate for major brand Mentor.

5 Apr 2012

Understanding how key decision makers assess prescription drugs for health plan coverage

As medical advancements and an expanding pharmaceutical industry bring new prescription drugs into the market, deciding which ones to cover is becoming an even more difficult choice for health plans to make. How those decisions are made - and what information is used in the process - was the focus of a recent study by researchers at RTI International.

5 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 5, 2012

In today's headlines, reports about how the budget debate is mixing into presidential poiltics.

5 Apr 2012

Health plan settles lawsuits in Fla.; Minnesota HMOs to return $73M to state, feds

In Florida, a health plan in Tampa will pay $137.5 million to settle lawsuits over Medicare and Medicaid claims, while Magic Johnson plans to invest in a new HIV plan there. In Minnesota, the federal government and the state will split $73 million nonprofit HMOs are returning while other Minnesota health plans profits jump 21 percent.

5 Apr 2012

ACR finds list of five medical imaging exams

As part of its ongoing efforts to ensure safe, effective and appropriate use of medical imaging, the American College of Radiology (ACR) identified a list of five imaging exams whose necessity should be discussed before being ordered.

5 Apr 2012

President lashes out at GOP budget and Medicare plan, Romney

In a Tuesday speech billed by many as a preview of the Obama reelection campaign's favorite themes, President Barack Obama blasted the treatment of Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs by the Republicans and warned that their spending blueprint is a form of "Social Darwinism."

5 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Obama's 'diatribe' on Ryan budget; President 'recovers' on statements about the court; Other health care mandates

If there's a Laffer Curve for Presidential invective - some point at which dishonest political abuse yields diminishing returns - the White House political team must not think their boss has hit it. Even in this hyperpartisan age, President Obama's speech to the Associated Press yesterday was a parody of the form. This was a diatribe that managed to invoke "Social Darwinism" and "a Trojan Horse" in the same paragraph, amid the other high crimes that Mr. Obama says Paul Ryan wants to commit.

5 Apr 2012

State roundup: Feds deny Hawaii Medicaid hospital limit; Ariz. prison health care gets operator; States consider ins and outs of health law implementation

The Obama administration has rejected Hawaii's proposal to limit most adult Medicaid recipients to 10 days of hospital coverage per year, which would have been the strictest in the nation. Instead, Hawaii has been approved to implement a 30-day hospital coverage limit starting July 1, state and federal health officials say.

5 Apr 2012

Health care issues among women voters fueling Obama lead on Romney

A new poll finds that President Obama leads GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney among women in 12 swing states -- a finding fueled mostly by health care, the top issue for women, according to the poll.

4 Apr 2012

Trends in diagnostic coding may explain the cause of decline in pneumonia hospitalizations

Although data indicate that between 2003-2009 there was a substantial decline in the U.S. in hospitalizations for pneumonia and inpatient deaths, analysis suggests that trends in documentation and diagnostic coding, rather than improvements in actual outcomes, may explain much of the observed changes, according to a study in the April 4 issue of JAMA.

4 Apr 2012

CMS: Medicare Advantage, Part D to get 3 percent boost in 2013 reimbursements

Also in the news, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services announced nearly $50 million in grants to state agencies to help seniors better understand Medicare.

4 Apr 2012

FTC blocks Ohio hospital merger; Kan. mental hospital's 'poor working conditions'

The Federal Trade Commission has blocked an Ohio hospital merger in a closely watched case that could slow the consolidation of health care providers around the country.

4 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 4, 2012

In today's headlines, President Barak Obama goes on attack against GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney and the Republican budget blueprint; a federal court judge asks for clarifications regarding Obama's comment on judicial activism and the high court's consideration of the health law; as well as reports that doctors are stepping into the effort to curb unnecessary medical treatments.

4 Apr 2012

Obama attacks GOP budget on Medicare changes, entitlement spending cuts

In what has been described as a searing speech, President Barack Obama charged that the GOP budget would end Medicare "as we know it," and included GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney in his criticisms.

4 Apr 2012

Higher-spending hospitals do have better outcomes for emergency patients

Higher-spending hospitals do have better outcomes for their emergency patients, including fewer deaths, according to a Vanderbilt study released as a working paper through the National Bureau of Economic Research.

4 Apr 2012

Ryan budget plan draws tough talk from Obama while insurers keep their distance

President Barack Obama offers sharp critcism of the GOP budget plan, which passed the House on a near-party-line vote last week and which has been embraced by GOP presidential hopefuls. Although the plan, written by House Budget Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wisc., would greatly expand the role of private insurers in Medicare, the insurance industry has been mostly silent as well.

4 Apr 2012

Infections in older adults may increase risk of hospitalization for dangerous blood clots

Research shows older adults who get infections of any kind - such as urinary, skin, or respiratory tract infections - are nearly three times more likely to be hospitalized for a dangerous blood clot in their deep veins or lungs, University of Michigan Health System research shows.

4 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Shouldering the health costs of the 'irresponsible'; Learning from the parallels between Obamacare and the 'war on terror'

The central idea of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - the formal name of the Obamacare law - emphasized in the hearings is to spread the cost of health care to ever-larger pools of Americans. In particular, to those who pay low health insurance premiums, the young who choose to have no insurance and the healthy.

4 Apr 2012

Medicare News and Research

African-Americans and Hispanics with MDD less likely to get antidepressants

AHS announces acquisition of COMPUDATA

Rise in PIP breast implant ruptures sparks fresh fears

Understanding how key decision makers assess prescription drugs for health plan coverage

First Edition: April 5, 2012

Health plan settles lawsuits in Fla.; Minnesota HMOs to return $73M to state, feds

ACR finds list of five medical imaging exams

President lashes out at GOP budget and Medicare plan, Romney

Viewpoints: Obama's 'diatribe' on Ryan budget; President 'recovers' on statements about the court; Other health care mandates

State roundup: Feds deny Hawaii Medicaid hospital limit; Ariz. prison health care gets operator; States consider ins and outs of health law implementation

Health care issues among women voters fueling Obama lead on Romney

Trends in diagnostic coding may explain the cause of decline in pneumonia hospitalizations

CMS: Medicare Advantage, Part D to get 3 percent boost in 2013 reimbursements

FTC blocks Ohio hospital merger; Kan. mental hospital's 'poor working conditions'

First Edition: April 4, 2012

Obama attacks GOP budget on Medicare changes, entitlement spending cuts

Higher-spending hospitals do have better outcomes for emergency patients

Ryan budget plan draws tough talk from Obama while insurers keep their distance

Infections in older adults may increase risk of hospitalization for dangerous blood clots

Viewpoints: Shouldering the health costs of the 'irresponsible'; Learning from the parallels between Obamacare and the 'war on terror'

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