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Internet-savvy consumers are incessant shoppers of health care providers and information

Today's Internet-savvy consumers are incessant shoppers of both health care providers and health care information, typically passing through four phases of online evaluation and connection with physicians, medical practices and other patients, according to Ron Harman King, a veteran digital marketer of specialty practices.

7 Apr 2012

Aetna makes it easier for tornado affected members in Texas

In response to the tornadoes in the Dallas/Fort Worth Metroplex, Aetna (NYSE: AET) is making it easier for its affected members to refill prescriptions and access employee assistance and behavioral health programs. The company is also helping members who have evacuated find care outside their home areas.

7 Apr 2012

Research roundup: Effects of health exchanges; Improving provider performance; Governors' 2013 budgets and Medicaid

Authors analyzed the cost and coverage implications of various scenarios of the health insurance exchanges that are called for in the health law. They predicted that about 1 million uninsured people in the state would get insurance through the exchanges and said that premiums in the small group and individual market would be lower than if the health law was not in effect.

7 Apr 2012

Crispy brand cookies may contain undeclared allergens, warns FDA

TWI Foods Inc. is voluntarily recalling several varieties of Crispy brand cookies and rusk. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) along with the Canadian Food Inspection Agency (CFIA) and TWI Foods Inc., are warning people with allergies to milk or almonds not to consume Crispy brand cookie and rusk products. The affected products contain almonds and/or milk which are not clearly declared on the label.

6 Apr 2012

Antibiotics may have absolutely no effect within a few decades

The increased resistance of bacteria to antibiotics is a global problem. Antibiotics are increasingly less effective. Microbiologist Dr. John Hays of Erasmus MC in Rotterdam is sounding the alarm: "The problem is so dire that within a few decades antibiotics will have absolutely no effect".

6 Apr 2012

ACMG Foundation, Genzyme announce recipients of Medical Genetics Training Award

Carlos E. Prada, MD of Cincinnati Children's Hospital and James D. Weisfeld-Adams, MD of Mount Sinai School of Medicine, NY were honored as the 2012-2013 recipients of the Genzyme/ACMG Foundation Medical Genetics Training Award in Clinical Biochemical Genetics at the ACMG 2012 Annual Clinical Genetics Meeting in Charlotte, NC.

6 Apr 2012

Medicaid news: Oregon competitors working together; Calif. 'duals' project launches

A new push to reshape health care in greater Portland is reminiscent, its biggest booster says, of the race to land a man on the moon. Erstwhile health care competitors hope to set aside their differences to care for the region's 200,000 Oregon Health Plan members, says Legacy Health CEO George Brown. The task is happening in a timeline -- Brown snaps his fingers -- "that's like that long. It's a moon shot for sure. What we're trying to do, to my knowledge, has not been attempted any place in the country."

6 Apr 2012

Longer looks: Berwick calls for leaders to rise above 'political catechism'; Convincing the healthy to feel sick

Between July 2010 and December 2011, Dr. Donald Berwick was head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the government's health insurance programs. In a sane world, he would be still. But Senate Republicans refused even to let his confirmation come up for a vote ... A pediatrician by training and a widely respected expert in health care policy, Berwick should have been a lock for the CMS job. But he was a backer of Obamacare; a believer in data and science; a proponent of universal health care.

6 Apr 2012

U.S. spending on prescription drugs, doctor visits levels off

A study by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics found that seniors citizens especially are filling fewer prescriptions as out-of-pocket costs increase.

6 Apr 2012

Evergreen Healthcare employs transanal endoscopic microsurgery for colorectal tumor removal

Evergreen Healthcare today announced that it has successfully integrated a colorectal procedure called transanal endoscopic microsurgery to its growing suite of minimally invasive surgical options, reducing the need for major surgery and providing patients with faster recovery times.

6 Apr 2012

GOP plans for health law replacement; Obama softens court rhetoric

Republican lawmakers say they are beginning to pull together a health care package that could replace the 2010 law if the Supreme Court overturns it.

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

Physician groups identify unnecessary procedures

The list of 45 tests and procedures was pulled together by nine medical speciality groups to help reduce spending and improve patients' health.

5 Apr 2012

Crizotinib reduces testosterone levels in men with ALK positive lung cancer

Men experience a marked drop in their testosterone levels when taking a targeted therapy to control a specific type of lung cancer. That's according to a University of Colorado Cancer Center study published in the April issue of Cancer, the official journal of the American Cancer Society.

5 Apr 2012

Uterine cancer deaths rise 20% in the last decade

Deaths from womb (uterine) cancer have risen by nearly twenty per cent in the last decade, according to new figures from Cancer Research UK today.

5 Apr 2012

Patients with community-onset CDI have increased risk of colectomy

Patients whose symptoms of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) start outside of the hospital setting have a higher risk of colectomy due to severe infection, according to a large multicenter study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

5 Apr 2012

More than 4 in 10 people at high risk for hereditary pancreatic cancer have small lesions

A team of scientists led by Johns Hopkins researchers have found that more than four in 10 people considered at high risk for hereditary pancreatic cancer have small pancreatic lesions long before they have any symptoms of the deadly disease.

5 Apr 2012

Rise in child asthma deaths concerning

Parents and carers of children with asthma are being urged to take the condition more seriously as new data reveals asthma-related deaths among under 15 year olds have more than doubled since 2006.

5 Apr 2012

Height and ovarian cancer link and diagnosis woes

A review of studies has revealed that taller women have a slightly higher risk of ovarian cancer. Obesity is also a risk factor among women who have never taken HRT, say international researchers. Previous studies have suggested a link, but there has been conflicting evidence.

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