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States deal with small budgets, Medicaid cuts

Virginian-Pilot: Area hospitals are preparing "for a round of Medicaid spending cuts that executives say could be the worst in decades and lead to more cutbacks in their organizations. Rising health care costs and a surge in the number of Medicaid patients have increased the state's obligation to the government health insurance program for the poor and disabled by $777.7 million over two years.

9 Feb 2010

Big Ow awareness campaign

When it comes to symptoms of menopause like hot flashes, weight gain or trouble sleeping, chances are most women wouldn't hesitate to speak to their doctor. But there is another common - and equally distressing - effect of menopause that many women just keep to themselves. The Big Ow, also known as vaginal atrophy, will affect as many as two million Canadian women in the next 10 years - but most are too shy or embarrassed to talk about it, even with their doctor.

8 Feb 2010

Smokers more likely to vaccinate their daughters against HPV

A parent's existing health habits or behaviors, like cigarette smoking, may influence the likelihood that they will have their daughters vaccinated against HPV.

8 Feb 2010

Excessive TV viewing, lack of sleep and low frequency of family meals increases risk of childhood obesity

A new national study suggests that preschool-aged children are likely to have a lower risk for obesity if they regularly engage in one or more of three specific household routines: eating dinner as a family, getting adequate sleep and limiting their weekday television viewing time.

8 Feb 2010

HealthSpring nurse practitioner identifies impending heart attack

Olive Branch, Miss. resident Glenn Lusk has a special perspective on the value of his Medicare Advantage plan. It was a HealthSpring-contracted nurse practitioner who discovered during a home visit in November that Lusk was experiencing serious heart trouble.

6 Feb 2010

Combination of Motrin and Robitussin drugs is safe for adults and children

A viral e-mail currently making the rounds between private accounts and public message boards warning of a danger posed by mixing over-the-counter medications Motrin and Robitussin is unfounded.

6 Feb 2010

For readers, health information from doctors is more reliable than blogs

Health information written by a doctor is rated as more credible when it appears on a Web site than in a blog or a homepage, according to a study of college students.

6 Feb 2010

Cardiologists recommend tips to prevent heart disease

There's a lot you can do to reduce your risk of heart disease and improve your chances for a longer, healthier life. Cardiologists from The Polyclinic in Seattle recommend that you first, learn more about some of the risk factors for heart disease.

6 Feb 2010

Illinois high court rules medical malpractice caps are unconstitutional

The Illinois Supreme Court on Thursday struck down a medical malpractice law enacted in 2005 that limited monetary damages to $1 million from hospitals and $500,000 from doctors for pain and suffering, the Chicago Tribune reports. "The much-anticipated ruling deals a blow to doctors and hospital officials who say caps on damages are a way to tame rising health care costs. … The court said the law violates the state's separation-of-powers clause between the branches of government by allowing lawmakers to interfere with a jury's right to determine damages."

6 Feb 2010

Ohio hospitals advertise ER wait times on billboards, internet

Akron General Health System, a hospital system in Ohio, "recently began advertising up-to-the-minute wait times for its emergency rooms on billboards throughout town," the Akron Beacon Journal reports.

6 Feb 2010

'Doctor Shopping': Data from California's prescription monitoring program

Research presented at the American Academy of Pain Medicine's 26th Annual Meeting provides early published data analyzing information gathered from California's prescription monitoring program, known as the Controlled Substances Utilization Review and Evaluation System (CURES). The analysis found a two-fold increase in the likelihood of individuals receiving opioids from multiple providers or "doctor shopping" when they were also being simultaneously prescribed a single additional class of a controlled substances, such as benzodiazepines or amphetamines.

5 Feb 2010

Bioethicists create easy-to-remember checklist to assess patient's decision-making capacity in emergency

Physicians in training and bioethicists at Johns Hopkins have created an easy-to-remember checklist to help medical students and clinicians quickly assess a patient's decision-making capacity in an emergency.

5 Feb 2010

Intrathecal drug delivery cost effective for chronic pain treatments

Estimates of pain care treatment costs exceed $1 billion annually in the United States. Today at the American Academy of Pain Medicine's 26th Annual Meeting two abstracts looked at the issue. One evaluated intrathecal drug delivery (a targeted medicine delivery system) that could save costs over time. The other analyzed the differences between the costs of treatment for chronic pain treatments.

5 Feb 2010

Virginia AG works to increase outpatient treatment for mentally ill; Iowa hospitals oppose Medicare fraud bill

News outlets report on health care developments in Virginia, the District of Columbia, California, Iowa, Maryland, Maine and Michigan.

5 Feb 2010

Indiana medical school cuts number of students amid budget cuts

The Louisville Courier-Journal: "Facing a $7 million budget cut, the Indiana University School of Medicine plans to reduce the number of new students next year -- a move that will save money but could reduce the number of physicians when the state is already facing a shortage. After several years of ramping up acceptances of new medical students, IU was forced to cut back after Gov. Mitch Daniels recently ordered state-funded universities to reduce their budgets, said Dr. D. Craig Brater, dean of the school.

5 Feb 2010

Respite for overactive bladder: Powder Room lists public restrooms along the Sea-to-Sky Highway

The Powder Room, a national education program for people with overactive bladder, has compiled a list of public restrooms along the Sea-to-Sky Highway (Highway 99).

4 Feb 2010

Older married female cancer survivors have added health problems

A recently published study from Case Western Reserve University's Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences found 245 older married women who survived cancer had more health problems as compared to a sample of 245 married women without cancer.

4 Feb 2010

ASTRO leads the way to help physicians improve safety and reduce medical errors

The American Society for Radiation Oncology has committed to a six-point patient protection plan that will improve safety and quality and reduce the chances of medical errors, ASTRO Board Chairman Tim R. Williams, M.D., said today.

4 Feb 2010

Providing Tamiflu and educating on sanitizer use helped to stop spread of H1N1 at boys' summer camp

Providing preventive Tamiflu and educating and emphasizing the need for repeated hand sanitizer use and disinfectant spray helped stop the spread of H1N1 influenza at a boys' summer camp in northern Alabama, according the co-director of the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) Division of Pediatric Infectious Diseases.

4 Feb 2010