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Select Medical teams up with Baylor, joint venture to provide quality health care

Baylor Health Care System and Select Medical Corporation announced today a proposed partnership between Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation and a wholly-owned subsidiary of Select that is designed to create a regional rehabilitation network to serve the Dallas-Fort Worth metroplex. This joint venture is subject to governmental approvals and it is anticipated that the joint venture will be approved and finalized within the normal process for governmental review.

6 Aug 2010

Ingenix CareTracker practice management, EHR system available to Federally Qualified Health Centers

Ingenix, a leading health information technology and services company, today announced it is making a specially-designed version of its Ingenix CareTracker practice management and electronic health record system available to Federally Qualified Health Centers. Ingenix CareTracker, which provides all of the capabilities physicians need to demonstrate "Meaningful Use," will offer these community health centers a cost-effective, Web-based, practice management and EHR option that will help them improve operational efficiency and patient care, and qualify for incentives offered by the federal government for demonstrating Meaningful Use of health IT.

6 Aug 2010

Search for meaning in Missouri's rejection of health law provision

Republicans are holding up a Missouri ballot measure, which voters approved with 71% support, to reject a key health overhaul provision as evidence that the public does not like the law, The Washington Post reports.

6 Aug 2010

GAO: Medicaid managed care contracts need better CMS oversight

The Government Accountability Office released a report Wednesday that says the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services needs better oversight of Medicaid managed care contracts.

6 Aug 2010

Adversity-exposure may protect against psychiatric disturbances that occur with CBP: Study

A new study by researchers at the University at Buffalo and the University of California, Irvine, to be published in the September issue of the journal Pain, reveals that, for people with chronic back pain, having a little adversity in your life can be protective and beneficial.

6 Aug 2010

Electronic health records improve patient outcomes: FSMB

The Federation of State Medical Boards announced today that it recognizes widespread adoption of electronic health records could be used by doctors to both improve patient outcomes and assess ongoing clinical competence for purposes of medical licensure. The FSMB made the announcement at the "Advancing Electronic Health Records Adoption and Meaningful Use" forum hosted by the Health Industry Forum of Brandeis University and Health Affairs.

6 Aug 2010

Survey reveals need for nutrition education among African Americans for disease prevention, management

Researchers looking for differences in eating habits of African Americans based on whether or not they had Type 2 diabetes uncovered an unexpected result: No matter what the blood sugar level was, the dietary intakes were pretty much the same.African Americans are 1.8 times more likely to develop Type 2 diabetes and 1.4 times more likely to be obese than are non-Hispanic whites, according to federal health agencies. Obesity is a leading risk factor for development of diabetes, a condition that results when the body cannot properly use insulin to transfer sugar from the blood to muscle and fat cells that use glucose for energy.

6 Aug 2010

HHS Secretary announces $159.1M in grants to health care workforce training programs

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today will announce $159.1 million in grants to health care workforce training programs. These grants build on the multimillion dollar investments made under the Affordable Care Act and Recovery Act to strengthen and grow our primary care workforce. The grants will target three types of programs: Nursing Workforce Development programs; interdisciplinary geriatric education and training programs; and Centers of Excellence programs for underrepresented minority students.

6 Aug 2010

Study identifies options for restoring knee cartilage lubrication to prevent OA

An injury to the anterior cruciate ligament is fairly common, especially among young athletes. While it can often be corrected through surgery, the injury can lead to increased risk of developing degenerative joint diseases, including osteoarthritis. The problem is that fluid in the knee joint, which lubricates the cartilage, is impacted by the trauma of the injury and begins to deteriorate.

6 Aug 2010

New York Attorney General investigating health care credit cards

New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo is investigating health care credit cards peddled by doctors and dentists.

6 Aug 2010

Penn. enrolls more than 1,000 in new state high-risk pool; Wisc. cuts $625M from Medicaid while increasing coverage

Pennsylvania begins enrolling residents in its new high-risk insurance program. Elsewhere, Wisconsin trims its Medicaid program and states regulate the use of medical marijuana.

6 Aug 2010

Akonni Biosystems receives patent for TruTip Extraction Kits

Akonni Biosystems, a developer of low-cost, multiplex molecular diagnostic testing systems, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office issued a patent on July 20, 2010 for its method for rapidly purifying nucleic acids. U.S. Patent No. 7,759,112 entitled, "Apparatus, system, and method for purifying nucleic acids" protects the Company's use of its pioneering nucleic acid binding matrix when inserted into a pipette tip, tubing or cartridge for nucleic acid purification. The patent is owned by Akonni Biosystems.

6 Aug 2010

Free clinic in D.C. draws more than 1,000 patients

With a wounded economy and high unemployment, more than 1,000 people came to a one-day free health clinic in the nation's capital Wednesday to get the basic care they can't afford or are otherwise denied because they have no insurance. More than three-quarters of those attending don't have insurance because they are recently unemployed, work for small businesses, earn hourly wages, or must work multiple part-time jobs with no insurance, said the event's medical director Dr. Bobby Kapur.

6 Aug 2010

Medicare solvency still troubled, despite new health law

The annual trustees report on Medicare and Social Security found that the programs are "facing strains from an aging population and an economy that can't seem to get out of low gear," The Associated Press reports.

6 Aug 2010

Anti-vaccine group accused of unauthorized fundraising

The Australian Vaccination Network is involved in controversy yet again. The Bangalow-based anti-vaccination group has been given a timeline of 28 days to answer to claims that it breached charitable fundraising legislation on several occasions. It was only last month that the Health Care Complaints Commission had accused AVN of spreading misleading information about the dangers of immunization through its website.

5 Aug 2010

Sanofi-aventis receives FDA approval for new Taxotere Injection Concentrate formulation

Sanofi-aventis U.S. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a new one-vial formulation of its chemotherapeutic agent Taxotere® (docetaxel) Injection Concentrate. The 1-vial Taxotere is anticipated to become available to cancer treatment clinics and hospitals nationwide in the fall in both 80 mg and 20 mg dosages.

5 Aug 2010

First Edition: August 5, 2010

Today's health policy headlines examine the solvency of Medicare and Social Security; the momentum of legislation in Congress to provide states with Medicaid assistance; and the impact of Missouri's ballot challenge to health reform.

5 Aug 2010

CIGNA second-quarter consolidated revenues increase to $5.4 billion

CIGNA Corporation today reported shareholders' net income of $294 million, or $1.06 per share, for the second quarter of 2010 compared with shareholders' net income of $435 million, or $1.58 per share, for the same period last year. Shareholders' net income included a loss of $0.37 per share in the second quarter of 2010 and income of $0.40 per share for the same period last year from results of the GMIB business, primarily related to interest rate movements.

5 Aug 2010

Widespread sexual violence, human rights abuses in DRC linked with physical, mental health outcomes

A recent survey of men and women in specific territories of Eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo found sexual violence and human rights violations were prevalent and were associated with physical and mental health outcomes, according to an article in the August 4 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on violence and human rights.

5 Aug 2010

State of Missouri votes to pass Health Care Freedom Act

Last night, the state of Missouri voted to pass Proposition C, also known as the "Health Care Freedom Act," barring governments from requiring people to have health insurance. The measure conflicts with a key provision of the new federal health care law that requires people to have health insurance or pay fines by 2014. The proposition is modeled after the American Legislative Exchange Council's Freedom of Choice in Health Care Act, which has now been introduced or announced in 42 states.

5 Aug 2010

Health Care News and Research

Select Medical teams up with Baylor, joint venture to provide quality health care

Ingenix CareTracker practice management, EHR system available to Federally Qualified Health Centers

Search for meaning in Missouri's rejection of health law provision

GAO: Medicaid managed care contracts need better CMS oversight

Adversity-exposure may protect against psychiatric disturbances that occur with CBP: Study

Electronic health records improve patient outcomes: FSMB

Survey reveals need for nutrition education among African Americans for disease prevention, management

HHS Secretary announces $159.1M in grants to health care workforce training programs

Study identifies options for restoring knee cartilage lubrication to prevent OA

New York Attorney General investigating health care credit cards

Penn. enrolls more than 1,000 in new state high-risk pool; Wisc. cuts $625M from Medicaid while increasing coverage

Akonni Biosystems receives patent for TruTip Extraction Kits

Free clinic in D.C. draws more than 1,000 patients

Medicare solvency still troubled, despite new health law

Anti-vaccine group accused of unauthorized fundraising

Sanofi-aventis receives FDA approval for new Taxotere Injection Concentrate formulation

First Edition: August 5, 2010

CIGNA second-quarter consolidated revenues increase to $5.4 billion

Widespread sexual violence, human rights abuses in DRC linked with physical, mental health outcomes

State of Missouri votes to pass Health Care Freedom Act

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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