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'Meaningful use' guidelines under fire from Republicans

NextGov: Recently released requirements for physicians and hospitals to earn cash rewards for the "meaningful use" of electronic medical records are not tough enough to justify an investment of billions of dollars, House Republicans said Tuesday. "In a hearing of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, officials from the Health and Human Services Department defended the recently released standards.

22 Jul 2010

Medicare drug benefit appears to help more seniors with heart failure

The Medicare drug benefit may be helping more older Americans with heart failure get the medications recommended for controlling the disease, a new study finds. The study, of nearly 7,000 older heart failure patients in one large insurance plan, found that the number of filled prescriptions for standard heart failure medications increased after the Medicare drug benefit kicked in in 2006. The biggest increase was seen among seniors who had previously lacked any form of drug coverage.

22 Jul 2010

DenteMax offers largest network approved for Medicare dental benefits

DenteMax, the nation's largest seamless dental PPO network, now also offers the largest seamless network approved for Medicare dental benefits. The new network provides access to more than 65,000 approved dentist access points and is built on the strong foundation of the commercial DenteMax network.

22 Jul 2010

Medicare Star Support Program launched to help Medicare Advantage plans boost star ratings

Health Dialog today announced that it has launched its Medicare Star Support Program to help Medicare Advantage plans boost their Health Plan Quality and Performance ("Star") Ratings and ensure that seniors are getting the best care possible. Star ratings are calculated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and can range from 1 to 5, with 5 representing the highest quality.

21 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 21, 2010

Today's headlines include news regarding specific examples of what could happen at the state level if Congress doesn't extend enhanced federal Medicaid funding.

21 Jul 2010

CAP calls for increased FDA oversight of laboratory developed and 'direct-to-consumer' tests

With the increasing importance of laboratory tests in diagnosing and treating disease, representatives of the College of American Pathologists (CAP) today presented recommendations to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) urging increased oversight of laboratory developed tests (LDTs) and "direct-to-consumer" tests. Most genetic tests fall into one or both of these testing categories.

21 Jul 2010

Rate of women getting mammography screenings stalls; colorectal cancer screenings remain underused by medicare patients

One-fifth of American women ages 50 to 74 have fallen behind on mammography screenings for breast cancer, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention are reporting. Although the percentage of women in this age group who get a regular breast cancer screening every two years increased steadily during the 1990s, the rate has remained just over 80 percent since 2000, according to the centers' Morbidity and Mortality Weekly Report.

21 Jul 2010

Obama resubmits Berwick nomination to Senate, Kagan responds to health law concerns

President Obama on Monday submitted his nomination of Dr. Donald Berwick to head Medicare and Medicaid — "a move that comes two weeks after Obama bypassed Congress to put his stalled nominee in the post until the end of 2011," Roll Call reports. If Berwick is approved, he would have the job indefinitely instead of merely through 2011, a rule that is imposed when a recess appointment is used.

21 Jul 2010

Senate moves to extend unemployment benefits, no COBRA subsidy extension

The New York Times: "The Senate broke a stalemate on Tuesday over extending unemployment benefits for Americans who have been out of work for six months or more, voting to override Republican objections that the bill's costs would add to the federal deficit" (Hulse, 7/20).

21 Jul 2010

Gentiva preliminary second-quarter total net revenues increase 4% to $297 million

Gentiva Health Services, Inc., a leading provider of home health and hospice services, today reported preliminary operating results for the second quarter ended July 4, 2010. A conference call to discuss these preliminary results will be held on July 21, 2010 at 9:00 a.m., Eastern Time. The Company will issue its final 2010 second quarter and six months financial results on July 29, 2010.

21 Jul 2010

MedeAnalytics 10 software platform released

MedeAnalytics, a leading provider of healthcare performance management solutions, today announced its summer 2010 software platform release, MedeAnalytics 10, which offers performance-packed features for proactive alerting and outlier analysis. The release incorporates client input and reflects the company's ongoing investment in its analytic platform. New releases are provided to clients on a semi-annual basis and typically require no upgrades or installations.

20 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 20, 2010

Today's headlines reflect more analysis and debate regarding continuing health reform implementation efforts.

20 Jul 2010

UnitedHealth Group second-quarter consolidated revenues increase 7% to $23.3 billion

UnitedHealth Group today reported second quarter results, including better-than-projected growth in Health Benefits and Health Services. Key performance metrics and costs were in line with or better than Company expectations.

20 Jul 2010

Policies that weaken ability of payers to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse must be rejected: PCMA

Pharmaceutical Care Management Association (PCMA) President and CEO Mark Merritt issued the following statement today on the recent U.S. House Appropriations Labor, Health and Human Services, Education, and Related Agencies subcommittee vote to provide the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Inspector General, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS), and the Justice Department with $561 million for programs designed to combat fraud, waste, and abuse:

20 Jul 2010

New report compares efficacy of Plavix, Effient in treating patients with ACS

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that, for the treatment of acute coronary syndrome, 56 percent of surveyed interventional cardiologists who prescribe Bristol-Myers Squibb/Sanofi-Aventis' Plavix in high doses, consider it to be comparable in efficacy to Daiichi Sankyo/Eli Lilly's recently-launched Effient.

20 Jul 2010

Proactive Patient Outreach system, patient registry to improve care coordination, population health outcomes

Under the HITECH Act's final rules for meaningful use issued last week by the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, physicians are required to demonstrate the ability to effectively report quality data, manage care coordination, engage patients and families, and improve population health in order to qualify for federal financial incentives.

20 Jul 2010

Vertos Medical announces 12-week data from MiDAS I clinical study for lumbar spinal stenosis

Medical device company Vertos Medical Inc. has announced the unveiling of 12-week clinical data from its prospective, 75-patient MiDAS I (mild Decompression Alternative to open Surgery) study that further validate the safety and efficacy of mild for the treatment of lumbar spinal stenosis (LSS). Consistent with the positive six-week study results released in March and May, the new MiDAS I data demonstrate that mild patients continued to experience statistically significant improvement in pain, physical function and mobility 12 weeks following treatment.

20 Jul 2010

Practice nurses increase GP short consultations

The increased role of nurses in general practice is the primary driver of recent increases in short GP consultations, a general practice researcher from the School of Public Health says.

19 Jul 2010

International Health News: German hospitals worry over end of compulsory military service; Britain tops study on end-of-life care

The Wall Street Journal: German hospitals are worried that the end of compulsory military service could hurt their workforce as most young German men end up fulfilling their duties there and in other public-service venues. "Increasingly … conscription's main impact has little to do with military training at all.

19 Jul 2010

e-MDs selected for IFMC's HITREC Preferred Vendor List

e-MDs, an industry leader in the development and implementation of electronic health record (EHR) and practice management (PM) solutions, announced they have been chosen for the IFMC's Health Information Technology Regional Extension Center (HITREC) Preferred Vendor List. The list represents the best products designed to help smaller practices and clinics achieve meaningful use of EHRs.

19 Jul 2010

Medicare News and Research

'Meaningful use' guidelines under fire from Republicans

Medicare drug benefit appears to help more seniors with heart failure

DenteMax offers largest network approved for Medicare dental benefits

Medicare Star Support Program launched to help Medicare Advantage plans boost star ratings

First Edition: July 21, 2010

CAP calls for increased FDA oversight of laboratory developed and 'direct-to-consumer' tests

Rate of women getting mammography screenings stalls; colorectal cancer screenings remain underused by medicare patients

Obama resubmits Berwick nomination to Senate, Kagan responds to health law concerns

Senate moves to extend unemployment benefits, no COBRA subsidy extension

Gentiva preliminary second-quarter total net revenues increase 4% to $297 million

MedeAnalytics 10 software platform released

First Edition: July 20, 2010

UnitedHealth Group second-quarter consolidated revenues increase 7% to $23.3 billion

Policies that weaken ability of payers to detect and prevent waste, fraud, and abuse must be rejected: PCMA

New report compares efficacy of Plavix, Effient in treating patients with ACS

Proactive Patient Outreach system, patient registry to improve care coordination, population health outcomes

Vertos Medical announces 12-week data from MiDAS I clinical study for lumbar spinal stenosis

Practice nurses increase GP short consultations

International Health News: German hospitals worry over end of compulsory military service; Britain tops study on end-of-life care

e-MDs selected for IFMC's HITREC Preferred Vendor List

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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