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AMA launches new multi-million dollar ad campaign to get Senators to fix Medicare physician payment cuts

The U.S. Senate's failure to act before this week's 21 percent Medicare physician payment cut has put seniors' health care at grave risk. A new American Medical Association (AMA) physician survey shows that many physicians are already limiting the number of Medicare patients they treat. The AMA today launched a multi-million dollar national advertising campaign, with ads on TV and radio and in newspapers, including The New York Times, USAToday and The Wall Street Journal.

4 Jun 2010

AMGA releases Accountable Care Organization Principles for healthcare delivery systems

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today released "Accountable Care Organization Principles" which it hopes will help guide regulatory activity regarding the development of these high-performing care systems mandated by recent health reform, as well as inspire significant improvements in the healthcare delivery system nationwide.

4 Jun 2010

Study confirms Azilect as a selective MAO-B inhibitor

Teva Neuroscience Inc. today announced the publication of a study demonstrating the selectivity of Azilect® (rasagiline tablets) for inhibition of MAO-B (monoamine oxidase-B) at the maximum approved dose of 1 mg/day. The data was published in the Journal of Clinical Pharmacology OnlineFirst on May 5, 2010.

4 Jun 2010

Federal jury convicts Houston-area physician, residents over multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme

Houston-area physician Dr. Howard Grant and Houston residents Clinton Lee and Obisike Nwankwo were convicted late Wednesday by a federal jury in connection with their roles in a multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services (HHS).

4 Jun 2010

COBRA subsidy stall could raise premiums for millions while battle rages over 'doc fix'

The (Delaware County, Pa.) Daily Times reports that health care premiums for millions of Americans could "triple with the expiration of government subsidies to the COBRA program."

4 Jun 2010

State roundup: Health law could be critical for Miss.'s poor; Colorado passes end-of-life care laws, Penn. details plan for high risk pool

The health care overhaul, which "provides hundreds of billions of dollars to help states expand medical insurance for the poor," could prove critical for Mississippi, which "has the highest poverty rate in the nation and some of the sickest people, with the country's highest rate of heart disease and the second-highest rate of diabetes.

4 Jun 2010

Administration claims about Dartmouth Medicare analyses questioned

The New York Times, in a front page story, reports: "In selling the health care overhaul to Congress, the Obama administration cited a once obscure research group at Dartmouth College to claim that it could not only cut billions in wasteful health care spending but make people healthier by doing so.

4 Jun 2010

Report ranks best children's hospitals

U.S. News & World Report reports on the nation's best children's hospitals: "Out of all of the roughly 5,000 U.S. hospitals, only about 1 in 30 has deep expertise in caring for children with serious problems. For youngsters who need that quality of care, the Best Children's Hospitals rankings showcase the medical centers that see kids every day who have cancer, cystic fibrosis, defective hearts, and countless other life-threatening or rare conditions beyond the capabilities of most hospitals, even those with sizable pediatric departments.

4 Jun 2010

Sebelius to highlight geographic differences in Medicare hospital payments

U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius visits Rochester's Mayo Clinic Thursday morning. ... The visit comes after a recent report that Minnesota will receive money earmarked for states which provide low-cost, high-value health care. But just how much money Minnesota will receive is far from certain. Sebelius is expected to get a first-hand look at the clinic's technology for tracking health care information.

4 Jun 2010

Latest version of LOINC for electronic health information exchange to be released

As the practice, regulation and reimbursement of health care become more complicated, and as the demand for electronic medical records and health information exchange grows, a universal method of identifying test results and other clinical measurement is essential.

4 Jun 2010

WisTa Laboratories announces collaborative R&D agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma

WisTa Laboratories Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of TauRx Pharmaceuticals, announced today that they have entered a collaborative R&D agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma AG, Germany, which could redefine the way Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related disorders are currently being diagnosed and treated.

4 Jun 2010

GHP selects MirixaPro web-based clinical platform to support delivery of MTM services

The Geisinger Health Plan, a regional provider of health benefits to almost 250,000 members in Pennsylvania, has selected Mirixa Corporation's MirixaPro web-based clinical platform to support the delivery of medication therapy management services to its Medicare Part D members.

4 Jun 2010

Drug makers push for more time to pay half-off discount on drugs

Drug makers want 60 days instead of 15 to pay a half-off discount for branded drugs in a Medicare Part D coverage gap, Inside Health Policy reports. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services also intends to ask drug makers to pay disputed amounts ahead of a decision about whether the company must pay the discount.

4 Jun 2010

AMA launches ad campaign to push Senators on 'doc fix'

CNN Money: The American Medical Association is launching an ad campaign to push lawmakers to stop a scheduled 21 percent cut to Medicare doctors' pay. "The House voted May 28 to delay the cuts for 19 months, but the Senate did not take action before the Memorial Day recess. The AMA's TV, radio and print ads slam senators for failing to pass the 'doc fix' before taking their week-long break.

4 Jun 2010

Over 90% of psychiatric patients treated in community hospitals are cared for in specialty units: Study

Over 90 percent of psychiatric patients who received treatment in community hospitals were cared for in hospital-based psychiatric specialty units, according to a study sponsored by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration and the U.S. Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and published today in Psychiatric Services.

3 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 3, 2010

Today's headlines reflect news regarding health reform and the budget deficit as well as a new ad campaign by the AMA to press Senators to approve a freeze on scheduled Medicare payment cuts.

3 Jun 2010

Delaying cholecystectomy in elderly patients can increase cost and mortality

New research findings published in the May issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons indicate that delaying cholecystectomy, the surgical removal of the gallbladder, in elderly patients with sudden inflammation of the organ often results in increased costs, morbidity and mortality.

3 Jun 2010

Rate of in-hospital mortality decreases and hospital readmission increases for heart failure patients: JAMA

An analysis of Medicare data from 1993 through 2006 for older patients hospitalized for heart failure indicates that along with a decrease in hospital length of stay, the rate of in-hospital and 30-day mortality has decreased, while the rate of hospital readmission and discharge to skilled nursing facilities has increased, according to a study in the June 2 issue of JAMA.

3 Jun 2010

Study: Shortened hospital stays may bring increased risks of return

"To save costs, hospitals for years have been discharging patients after shorter stays. But at the same time more people are having to return to hospital for additional care within a month of their initial treatment, according to a major new study of Medicare heart-failure patients."

3 Jun 2010

Regulators miss deadline on medical loss ratios: Other implementation developments continue to emerge

Insurance regulators have missed an early deadline to set specific rules meant to ensure that insurers devote 80 to 85 percent of premium dollars to medical care, the so-called "medical loss ratio."

3 Jun 2010

Medicare News and Research

AMA launches new multi-million dollar ad campaign to get Senators to fix Medicare physician payment cuts

AMGA releases Accountable Care Organization Principles for healthcare delivery systems

Study confirms Azilect as a selective MAO-B inhibitor

Federal jury convicts Houston-area physician, residents over multi-million dollar Medicare fraud scheme

COBRA subsidy stall could raise premiums for millions while battle rages over 'doc fix'

State roundup: Health law could be critical for Miss.'s poor; Colorado passes end-of-life care laws, Penn. details plan for high risk pool

Administration claims about Dartmouth Medicare analyses questioned

Report ranks best children's hospitals

Sebelius to highlight geographic differences in Medicare hospital payments

Latest version of LOINC for electronic health information exchange to be released

WisTa Laboratories announces collaborative R&D agreement with Bayer Schering Pharma

GHP selects MirixaPro web-based clinical platform to support delivery of MTM services

Drug makers push for more time to pay half-off discount on drugs

AMA launches ad campaign to push Senators on 'doc fix'

Over 90% of psychiatric patients treated in community hospitals are cared for in specialty units: Study

First Edition: June 3, 2010

Delaying cholecystectomy in elderly patients can increase cost and mortality

Rate of in-hospital mortality decreases and hospital readmission increases for heart failure patients: JAMA

Study: Shortened hospital stays may bring increased risks of return

Regulators miss deadline on medical loss ratios: Other implementation developments continue to emerge

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