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Research roundup: Kids on Medicaid have trouble seeing a specialist; safety in outpatient facilities; community health center patients linking to electronic health care

In this study, researchers posing as parents sought specialty care for children in Cook County, Ill., to examine access opportunities for families on Medicaid. They found a major disparity between children with public insurance versus private insurance -- 66 percent of the callers saying the children were insured by Medicaid were denied an appointment, compared to 11 percent with a private plan.

18 Jun 2011

Health care in the U.S. must focus primarily on disease prevention: Surgeon General

U.S. Surgeon General Regina Benjamin said Monday that health care in the United States must shift its primary focus to disease prevention rather than the treatment of illness.

17 Jun 2011

Loyola employee donates kidney to complete stranger, saves her own life

When Dorothy Jambrosek, 47, decided to donate a kidney to a stranger, she didn't realize that her goodwill would save her own life. After undergoing a series of tests required to give a kidney, doctors discovered that Jambrosek had precancerous lesions in her breast that could become cancerous.

17 Jun 2011

Lawmakers clash over franked mail that criticized House GOP plan for Medicare

Some Democratic House members who have had constituent mailings held up because of proposed GOP revisions to soften the message are accusing the Republican majority of censoring their mail. GOP leaders counter that the Dems are abusing their franked mail privileges to send out political attacks on the Ryan plan to revamp Medicare.

17 Jun 2011

Medical societies urge diabetes patients to remain on their prescribed medications

Diabetes leaders today are responding to the announcement made by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) yesterday that the use of the diabetes medication Actos (pioglitazone) for more than one year may be associated with an increased risk of bladder cancer.

17 Jun 2011

Unprescribed methods to bring on labor may not be effective

More than half of the women in a recently published survey reported that near the end of their pregnancies, they took it upon themselves to try to induce labor, mostly by walking, having sex, eating spicy food or stimulating their nipples.

17 Jun 2011

Study shows deprivation leads to cancer inequality in England

MORE than 2,600 deaths in England from some of the most common types of cancer could be avoided each year if all cancer patients had the same chance of survival as the most affluent section of society, a new piece of research suggests.

17 Jun 2011

Allscripts, Humana partner to deliver clinical-decision support technology for physicians

Humana Inc., in its continuing commitment to partnering with leading Electronic Health Record (EHR) vendors, has formed an alliance with Allscripts - a national leader in EHR technology - to provide eligible physician practices with incentives for implementing EHR technology that enables delivery of advanced clinical-decision support at the point of care.

17 Jun 2011

Roundup: Few states raise taxes to ease budgets; Ala. Gov. signs abortion law; Texas House advances bill to turn Medicaid, Medicare into block grants

As 2011 began, the budget situation in state capitals looked more dire than just about anybody could remember. ... With Medicaid, the states had their hands tied. The new federal health care law prohibits states from cutting eligibility or making it harder for people to apply for coverage. So states had to find other ways to control costs. Idaho reduced the amount paid to hospitals and doctors to treat Medicaid patients, an idea that some 30 governors proposed this year.

17 Jun 2011

Majority of publicly-insured children unable to get doctor's appointment for medical conditions

Sixty-six percent of publicly-insured children were unable to get a doctor's appointment for medical conditions requiring outpatient specialty care including diabetes and seizures, while children with identical symptoms and private insurance were turned away only 11 percent of the time, according to an audit study of 273 specialty physician practices in Cook County, Ill.

16 Jun 2011

Study: Glowing gel improves children's hand hygiene

Use of a glowing gel that shows kids how well they wash their hands by illustrating bacteria they missed while washing and may significantly improve hand hygiene, according to a study published in the July issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

16 Jun 2011

Train the brain to manage chronic pain

How do you function when chronic pain is a part of your daily life? The UC San Diego Center for Mindfulness (UCSD CFM) at UC San Diego Health System offers a novel program to help people who are dealing with chronic pain "train their brains" to lessen their experience of discomfort and, in some cases, eliminate it.

16 Jun 2011

Sheep diagnoses breast cancer

A British woman from Wiltshire discovered she had cancer after her sheep butted her in the breast. Emma Turner (41) was giving Alfie some medicine when he suddenly became aggressive and began head-butting her violently in the chest.

16 Jun 2011

Bariatric surgery reduces incidence and severity of migraines

Bariatric surgery can lead to total or partial alleviation of migraines in nearly 90 percent of morbidly obese patients diagnosed with migraine headaches, according to a new study presented here at the 28th Annual Meeting of the American Society for Metabolic & Bariatric Surgery (ASMBS).

15 Jun 2011

There is no such thing as expressive muscles

According to doctors during the interwar period, wide hips made women unsuitable for running long distances. In her recent doctoral thesis, Kerstin Bornholdt looks at how researchers reached conclusions like this.

15 Jun 2011

High number of adverse patient safety events occur in doctors' offices

However, a high number of adverse events, including major injury and even death, occur in private physician offices and outpatient clinics as well. In a new study -- the first of its kind -- researchers at Weill Cornell Medical College found that the number and magnitude of events resulting from medical errors is surprisingly similar inside and outside hospital walls.

15 Jun 2011

AARP releases report about Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment

An Oregon-pioneered program aimed at improving health care for those with advanced illness is now receiving national attention. AARP recently released a report about the Physicians Orders for Life-Sustaining Treatment, or POLST, program.

15 Jun 2011

NYU Langone implements biometric technology to identify patients

NYU Langone Medical Center announced today that it is the first medical center in the Northeast to use PatientSecure™ - a cutting-edge biometric technology - to identify patients. Utilizing near infrared light to map an image of the blood-flow pattern through the veins in a person's palm, the digital palm image is converted into a unique patient identifier that interfaces with the medical center's electronic health record system.

15 Jun 2011

Medical malpractice claims in and out of hospitals similar: Study

According to latest findings, medical errors do not happen at hospitals alone. They are also seen in the doctor's offices as well. The study reporters note that about half of U.S. malpractice payments - a proxy for medical errors - from 2009 involved patients seen outside of the hospital.

15 Jun 2011

Roundup: Conn.'s 'moderate' Medicaid cuts; Calif. adult day care threatened; disabled face 'unclear futures'

The national Center for Reproductive Rights filed a federal lawsuit Monday to halt implementation of the requirements that women wanting an abortion must have a sonogram and hear a detailed description of the fetus. The group called the mandates patronizing and an intrusion into the doctor-patient relationship.

15 Jun 2011