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Viewpoints: Jobs and 'Obamacare;' jurisdictional barriers to health law challenges; reforming provider payment

By most of the usual measures, President Obama has no business being reelected. Here's why he might be anyway. On Wednesday morning, as Senate Democratic leaders were scrambling to find a way to enact part of Obama's jobs bill, a dozen Republican lawmakers assembled outside the Capitol to complain about ... health-care reform.

7 Oct 2011

Person's insurance status determines nursing home hospitalizations

The decision by nursing homes whether or not to treat an ill resident on-site or send them to a hospital are often linked to that person's insurance status. A new study out this month shows that on average individuals enrolled in Medicaid are 27 percent more likely to be sent to the hospital than individuals with private insurance - decisions that often result in higher costs of care and poor health outcomes.

4 Oct 2011

Hospitalization for an acute event can lead to long-term institutionalization

Confirming many elderly patients' worst fears, a national study has shown that being hospitalized for an acute event, such as a stroke or hip fracture, can lead to long-term institutionalization in a nursing home. Equally alarming, researchers found that direct discharge to a skilled nursing facility -- a common practice designed to reduce hospital stays -- put patients at "extremely high risk" of needing long-term nursing home care.

4 Oct 2011

Federal officials extend Ariz. Medicaid program while reviewing new plan; Wis. announces eligibility changes to cut budget shortfall

In other state Medicaid news, doctors in Washington state are suing to stop a new rule that limits enrollees' visits to the emergency department and Gov. Cuomo's administration dismisses a proposal for N.Y. to pay for transgender surgery.

4 Oct 2011

NAHC statement on Senate Finance Committee report

Val J. Halamandaris, president of The National Association for Home Care and Hospice (NAHC), issued the following statement regarding the Senate Finance Committee Report on Home Health Services.

3 Oct 2011

Allied Health Professionals, RNs ratify new three-year contract agreement

More than 3,000 Registered Nurses and Allied Health Professionals working in 10 of Ontario's Community Care Access Centres (CCACs) have voted to ratify a new three-year contract.

3 Oct 2011

Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care President expresses concern over job instability

Pointing to new job losses at a Nebraska nursing home attributed to a new federal Medicare regulation reducing funding by 11.1 percent, the President of the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care today expressed concern that the Nebraska job loss example represents the leading edge of additional job losses and layoffs at skilled nursing facilities (SNFs) throughout the nation, as facilities, care staff and patients struggle with an accumulation of Medicare and Medicaid funding reductions.

1 Oct 2011

State highlights: Many states moving workers' children to CHIP plans

After a nine-year court battle, a landmark class-action settlement was preliminarily approved this week that would require the state to provide more effective mental health services for the children in or about to enter foster care. Its reach is expected to be significant. California has 61,000 children in the foster care system, and it runs the nation's largest child welfare system at a cost of about $4.7 billion per year.

1 Oct 2011

Sandata releases new version of Santrax Agency Management

Sandata Technologies, LLC, a leading national provider of information technology solutions to the home care industry, announces the release of our newest version of our Santrax Agency Management operational Home Care technology solution.

30 Sep 2011

Low-tech, inexpensive interventions for bedsores could benefit long-term care residents

Researchers at the University of Toronto have found that low-tech, inexpensive interventions for bedsores could improve health for long-term care residents and reduce health-care costs for the facilities that house them.

29 Sep 2011

Wis. unveils Medicaid savings website; some low-income Minn. residents must change health plans

Also in Medicaid news, Washington state begins new program that limits emergency department visits for Medicaid enrolless. Oregon also reports gains in efforts to get children coverage.

28 Sep 2011

Walden University forms partnerships with five health systems

With an aging population placing major demands on healthcare systems and the nursing profession projected to grow significantly in the next few years, the need for educated healthcare professionals continues to increase.

27 Sep 2011

State roundup: N.Y. to pay $5 million to end suit over autistic teen's death

The State of New York has agreed to pay $5 million to settle two civil suits brought by the family of a boy with autism who died in state care, among the larger wrongful-death settlements ever paid by the state.

23 Sep 2011

Caregivers under financial and emotional strain

Family members or friends caring for aging or disabled individuals in California are under both financial and emotional strain and are likely to face even greater burdens, given recent cuts in state support for programs and services that support in-home care, write the authors of a new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

22 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Mixing politics and deficit cutting; transparency in health care; doctors' salaries

On the spending side, the president's plan takes a sensible approach toward saving money in Medicare and Medicaid. More than 90 percent of the $248 billion in Medicare cuts over 10 years would come from reducing payments to drug companies and health care providers that are unnecessarily high.

21 Sep 2011

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

Johnnie Esco died after a 13-day stay at the El Dorado Care Center in Placerville. Her death on March 7, 2008, led to a contentious civil lawsuit, investigations by California's Department of Justice and Department of Public Health – and the exhumation of her body from Arlington National Cemetery. Last week, amid inquiries from The Bee, the state Department of Justice reopened its criminal investigation into Johnnie Esco's treatment at the facility.

20 Sep 2011

MedPAC 'doc fix' could undermine seniors' care, jeopardize local jobs, and destabilize key health sector

Commenting on an initial outline from the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) to address the sustainable growth rate formula used to fund physicians, the Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care said news reports of proposed Medicare cuts of $49 billion over ten years for post-acute care providers -- on top of the many cuts already in effect -- would severely undermine seniors' care, jeopardize local jobs, and further destabilize a key U.S. health sector already reeling from a series of budgetary and regulatory actions.

17 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Support for HPV vaccinations; Compassion and GOP debates

Imagine that scientists invented a vaccine that was proved to safely prevent cancer. Imagine that it was licensed and recommended in the U.S. for all preadolescent girls and available to boys as well, yet five years later only 11 percent of children were receiving the full course of shots.

17 Sep 2011

Viewpoints: Medicare bigger problem than social security; N.Y.'s long term care 'bad grade'

Sometimes they challenged Perry from the left (on Social Security and Medicare) and sometimes from the right (on immigration, taxes and mandatory vaccines), but it all came back to the same thing: The frontrunner was befuddled – seemingly stunned that his rivals would question his right to the Republican presidential nomination.

14 Sep 2011

Roundup: Ga. rejects rule to curb dental hygienists' work; Ohio high-risk pool faces higher than expected costs

The Georgia Board of Dentistry on Friday rejected a proposed rule that public health officials feared would have restricted dental hygienists' work with low-income patients. Several health groups had said the provision, if approved, would require a dentist to examine a patient before a hygienist can apply sealants, clean teeth and perform other preventive dental services in a public health setting.

13 Sep 2011

Home Care News and Research

Viewpoints: Jobs and 'Obamacare;' jurisdictional barriers to health law challenges; reforming provider payment

Person's insurance status determines nursing home hospitalizations

Hospitalization for an acute event can lead to long-term institutionalization

Federal officials extend Ariz. Medicaid program while reviewing new plan; Wis. announces eligibility changes to cut budget shortfall

NAHC statement on Senate Finance Committee report

Allied Health Professionals, RNs ratify new three-year contract agreement

Alliance for Quality Nursing Home Care President expresses concern over job instability

State highlights: Many states moving workers' children to CHIP plans

Sandata releases new version of Santrax Agency Management

Low-tech, inexpensive interventions for bedsores could benefit long-term care residents

Wis. unveils Medicaid savings website; some low-income Minn. residents must change health plans

Walden University forms partnerships with five health systems

State roundup: N.Y. to pay $5 million to end suit over autistic teen's death

Caregivers under financial and emotional strain

Viewpoints: Mixing politics and deficit cutting; transparency in health care; doctors' salaries

Roundup: Calif. woman's death at nursing home probed; Minn. orders counseling before patients get long-term care

MedPAC 'doc fix' could undermine seniors' care, jeopardize local jobs, and destabilize key health sector

Viewpoints: Support for HPV vaccinations; Compassion and GOP debates

Viewpoints: Medicare bigger problem than social security; N.Y.'s long term care 'bad grade'

Roundup: Ga. rejects rule to curb dental hygienists' work; Ohio high-risk pool faces higher than expected costs

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

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How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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