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Research Roundups: Health IT progress; Telecare and cancer pain; State exchanges; Adults with no medical care

eHealth/Commonwealth Fund: National Progress Report On eHealth - This extensive report examines changes in the adoption and use of health information technology (HIT) since 2007, as assessed by a group of more than 100 experts.

17 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: Shift entitlement spending to the states; The lack of a GOP health plan; Battling tobacco

The U.S. fiscal path is unsustainable, primarily because of out-of-control entitlement spending. … At some point, therefore, the economy is due to crash unless Washington reins in spending. One way to avoid this outcome would be to transfer entitlement programs to the states ... failure to slash entitlements could mean a bankrupt economy. When that happens, it's sure to be the poor who suffer the most (Jeffrey Miron, 7/16).

17 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 16, 2010

Indiana's Medicaid chief told lawmakers Thursday that the federal government has largely left states in the dark on implementing the federal health care overhaul because it hasn't yet provided needed guidelines (The Associated Press).

16 Jul 2010

VHI publishes new patient satisfaction ratings of Virginia hospitals

Virginia Health Information (VHI) publishes hospital patient satisfaction ratings at www.vhi.org. This new report provides patients' views of hospital conditions, care received and how they felt about the doctors and nurses taking care of them. Hospital care affects millions of Virginians and their families. Consumers familiar with satisfaction ratings for cars and other products can now compare hospitals close to their home or across Virginia.

16 Jul 2010

Hypocritical disparity in national priorities regarding property insurance versus health insurance

Congressman Chaka Fattah (D-PA), Chairman of the Congressional Urban Caucus and Pennsylvania's senior appropriator on the House Appropriations Committee, issues the following statement on hypocritical disparity in the national priorities regarding property insurance versus health insurance.

16 Jul 2010

Insurers will pick up preventive care costs under new rules

The recommendations of a federal task force on preventive care - once just suggestions for doctors - will soon become coverage requirements for private insurers under regulations unveiled Wednesday by the Obama administration, according to Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post. "Under the new health care overhaul law, insurers will be required to pay fully for services that get an "A" or "B" recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer group made up of primary care and public health experts."

16 Jul 2010

KHN column – Behind the scenes of health reform: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners

In this Kaiser Health News column, Timothy Jost writes: "The new health reform act has been widely criticized as a federal government takeover of the health care system. To a remarkable degree, however, the law actually relies on the states to reform health insurance" (7/15).

16 Jul 2010

Abortion opponents say that elective abortions may be covered in high risk pools

Abortion opponents worry that vague language used in the new health care reform bill could lead to the coverage of elective abortions in new high risk insurance pools and say that may already be starting in New Mexico and Pennsylvania.

16 Jul 2010

Pitney Bowes to deliver customized mailing solutions to RCP

Pitney Bowes Inc. today announced that Revenue Cycle Partners, a leading business process outsource provider for hospitals and healthcare systems nationwide, has chosen Pitney Bowes for customized mailing solutions to further deliver world-class BPO services to its hospital client base while helping to ensure the highest level of healthcare privacy compliance.

15 Jul 2010

IBM dedicates $100 million for global initiative to improve healthcare quality and costs

IBM today announced plans to enlist some of the company's leading scientists and technologists to help medical practitioners and insurance companies provide high-quality, evidence-based care to patients. As part of this initiative, IBM is collaborating with clinicians in medical institutions and hiring medical doctors to work alongside its researchers to develop new technologies, scientific advancements and business processes for healthcare and insurance providers.

15 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 15, 2010

Headlines topping today's news include reports about the White House release of new coverage rules for certain screening tests and other types of preventive care, and calls from the GOP for hearings on Berwick's recess appointment to run Medicare and Medicaid top today's news.

15 Jul 2010

New drug launches for HCV in the Philippines to increase market earned revenues to $4.5 billion by 2017

Efforts to raise disease awareness in the Philippines have increased the number of cases and patient pool available for hepatitis C treatment. Screening and detection efforts by the Red Cross as well as growing awareness in the Philippines have been largely responsible for the rise in the number of diagnosed cases. These campaigns have encouraged people, mostly from the urban areas, to opt for physical examinations that enable the detection of hepatitis C.

15 Jul 2010

Komen Advocacy Alliance applauds new federal rules for no-cost access to mammography

Susan G. Komen for the Cure® and the Susan G. Komen for the Cure® Advocacy Alliance today applauded new federal rules that will expand access to potentially life-saving care for millions of Americans.

15 Jul 2010

Two-day health care symposium for Asian-American communities in New Jersey, New York

UnitedHealthcare executives hosted a two-day health care symposium this week to discuss health care trends, challenges and services for Asian-American communities in New Jersey and New York.

15 Jul 2010

Florida Medicaid recipients make fewer trips to doctors; Calif. payments to health clinics in jeopardy; Texas addresses nursing shortage

Northeast Florida's Medicaid recipients are making fewer trips to the doctor for chronic illnesses since state officials outsourced the government-subsidized health insurance program to private managed care companies. But it remains unclear from the analysis performed by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees the state's Medicaid program, whether they're healthier for it. Medicaid reform was launched in 2006 in Duval and Broward counties to test whether HMOs could rein in the state's Medicaid spending.

15 Jul 2010

Verizon Health Information Exchange to be available soon to share patient information

One of the biggest obstacles to sharing patient information electronically is that health care systems and providers use a wide range of incompatible IT platforms and software to create and store data in various formats. A new service – the Verizon Health Information Exchange – will soon be available via the "cloud" to address this challenge.

14 Jul 2010

Pelosi applauds Obama Administration's release of National HIV/AIDS Strategy

The National HIV/AIDS Strategy represents the nation's first comprehensive plan to reduce the impact of HIV/AIDS in this country. The strategy sets specific targets and provides detailed implementation information on the steps we must take to increase access to high quality HIV/AIDS care and treatment, decrease new HIV infections, and reduce HIV-related health disparities.

14 Jul 2010

In N.J., patients who receive free AIDS meds to face stricter income limits; some W. Va. state employees will no longer receive monthly insurance subsidies

The (Bergen County, N.J.) Record: "New Jersey will no longer provide free AIDS medications for 950 people who are HIV-positive, under a little-noticed provision of the state budget enacted this month.

14 Jul 2010

ACRO releases statement regarding proposed privacy rule from HHS

The Association of Clinical Research Organization is pleased that the proposed privacy rule from Department of Health and Human Services strikes an appropriate balance between the critical needs of researchers for access to health information and the desire to protect the privacy of individual's health records.

14 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 13, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include a report about state preparations to cut Medicaid spending as the federal funding stalemate continues and a status check on the start up of high-risk pools.

13 Jul 2010

Health Insurance News and Research

Research Roundups: Health IT progress; Telecare and cancer pain; State exchanges; Adults with no medical care

Today's OpEds: Shift entitlement spending to the states; The lack of a GOP health plan; Battling tobacco

First Edition: July 16, 2010

VHI publishes new patient satisfaction ratings of Virginia hospitals

Hypocritical disparity in national priorities regarding property insurance versus health insurance

Insurers will pick up preventive care costs under new rules

KHN column – Behind the scenes of health reform: The National Association of Insurance Commissioners

Abortion opponents say that elective abortions may be covered in high risk pools

Pitney Bowes to deliver customized mailing solutions to RCP

IBM dedicates $100 million for global initiative to improve healthcare quality and costs

First Edition: July 15, 2010

New drug launches for HCV in the Philippines to increase market earned revenues to $4.5 billion by 2017

Komen Advocacy Alliance applauds new federal rules for no-cost access to mammography

Two-day health care symposium for Asian-American communities in New Jersey, New York

Florida Medicaid recipients make fewer trips to doctors; Calif. payments to health clinics in jeopardy; Texas addresses nursing shortage

Verizon Health Information Exchange to be available soon to share patient information

Pelosi applauds Obama Administration's release of National HIV/AIDS Strategy

In N.J., patients who receive free AIDS meds to face stricter income limits; some W. Va. state employees will no longer receive monthly insurance subsidies

ACRO releases statement regarding proposed privacy rule from HHS

First Edition: July 13, 2010

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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