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Instant processing of insurance claims possible during doctor visit

The New York Times has a consumer health column on programs that would process a patient's insurance claim: "Here's how it could work: A claim is generated and submitted electronically before you finish tying your shoes. By the time you reach the checkout desk, your doctor has received a payment commitment from your insurance company, just as Visa and MasterCard provide to a merchant after a customer swipes a card. It's not fantasy.

28 Jun 2010

Conmed signs agreement with City of Roanoke to provide correctional facility health care services

Conmed Healthcare Management, Inc., a leading full service provider of correctional facility healthcare services to county detention centers, today announced that it has signed an agreement with the City of Roanoke, VA, for an initial three-year term with options for two one-year extensions which are at the City's option.

28 Jun 2010

Eisai, Morphotek receive clearance for MORAb-022 Phase I clinical trial for rheumatoid arthritis

Eisai Inc. and Morphotek®, Inc. announced today that the Medical Ethical Review Committee and Central Committee on Research Involving Human Subjects of the Netherlands cleared its Clinical Trial Application to test the investigational new drug MORAb-022 in a Phase I clinical trial that will include both normal healthy volunteers and subjects diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis.

28 Jun 2010

AcademyHealth, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded 10 scholarships to students for PHSR

AcademyHealth and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation have awarded 10 scholarships to graduate students who demonstrate outstanding potential to contribute to the field of public health systems research.

28 Jun 2010

New guides available to help hospital planners protect patients, health care workers

Two new guides are now available to help hospital planners and administrators make important decisions about how to protect patients and health care workers and assess the physical components of a hospital when a natural or manmade disaster, terrorist attack, or other catastrophic event threatens the soundness of a facility. Published by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, the guides examine how hospital personnel have coped under emergency situations in the past to better understand what factors should be considered when making evacuation, shelter-in-place, and reoccupation decisions.

28 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 28, 2010

Today's health policy headlines continue to track the tax package difficulties faced by Senate Democrats in their efforts to extend the COBRA benefit subsidy and enhanced Medicaid funding for states.

28 Jun 2010

Increased follow-up care proves key to helping depressed patients feel better

New data released by two non-profit health care organizations, MN Community Measurement and the Institute for Clinical Systems Improvement, indicate that Minnesota providers only slightly improved their quality of care for patients with depression from a year ago, but that new programs that increase clinic contact with the patient demonstrate the potential for much better results moving forward.

28 Jun 2010

Report: Health information technology could result in harm to patients without proper monitoring

Health information technology could inadvertently result in harm to patients without proper monitoring, according to a new report by The Leapfrog Group, an employer-backed health advocacy organization.

28 Jun 2010

WellPoint research leads to limits on use of Boniva; FDA spars with tobacco company

"WellPoint Inc. (WLP), the largest U.S. managed-care concern by membership, made it harder last year for its members to gain approval for use of the Boniva osteoporosis drug after internal research linked it to higher fracture rates, lower patient compliance and higher total costs of care than two other drugs, a WellPoint executive said Thursday," Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Jun 2010

Combination MMRV vaccine associated with increased risk of febrile seizures

The combination vaccine for measles, mumps, rubella and chickenpox (MMRV) is associated with double the risk of febrile seizures for 1- to 2-year-old children compared with same-day administration of the separate vaccine for MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) and the varicella (V) vaccine for chicken pox, according to a Kaiser Permanente Division of Research study appearing online in the journal Pediatrics. A febrile seizure is a brief, fever-related convulsion but it does not lead to epilepsy or seizure disorders, researchers explained.

28 Jun 2010

OPQC Scheduled Birth Initiative reduces unnecessary planned late pre-term, near-term deliveries in Ohio

A statewide Ohio program significantly reduced the monthly rate of inappropriately scheduled births before 39 weeks gestation, helping to avoid expensive neonatal intensive care unit admissions and decrease the risk of infant deaths, according to two studies by the Ohio Perinatal Quality Collaborative recently published in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology.

28 Jun 2010

Mass. bill would lift gift ban; Workers rally in Md., Minn.

"A two-year-old state ban on gifts in the medical and pharmaceutical industries would be repealed under an economic development bill that the House budget committee began polling its members on yesterday. The ban, which prohibits drug firms from giving gifts and meals to health care professionals, has cut back on local business profits, a summary of the bill states. When it passed as part of a broader health care bill in 2008, supporters called it a way of curbing pharmaceutical companies' influence" (O'Sullivan, 6/25).

28 Jun 2010

Lantus and Apidra injections improve glycemic control, reduce hospital complications: Study

Sanofi-aventis announced today that results from the RAndomized Study of Basal Bolus Insulin Therapy in the Inpatient Management of Patients with Type 2 Diabetes Undergoing General Surgery (RABBIT-2 Surgery) found that treatment with a basal-bolus regimen that included Lantus (insulin glargine [rDNA origin] injection) once-daily and Apidra (insulin glulisine [rDNA origin] injection) before meals improved glycemic control and reduced hospital complications, compared to "sliding scale" insulin in general surgery patients with type 2 diabetes.

28 Jun 2010

Hospital for Special Surgery announces receipt of $5M commitment from CA Technologies

Hospital for Special Surgery announced the receipt of a $5 million commitment from CA Technologies, an IT management software and solutions company, at its 27th Annual Tribute Dinner at the Waldorf Astoria on June 21, 2010.

28 Jun 2010

G8 leaders to discuss economic policy, developing world, maternal and child health, Haitian rebuilding

Ahead of the G8 summit, which begins Friday in Canada, "leaders engaged in a series of dueling letters and interviews that exposed their conflicts" in how to foster global economic recovery, the Associated Press reports.

28 Jun 2010

Authorities unsure of Queensland health staff pay woes

The payment woes of Queensland health staff continue and there is no clear indication from authorities as to when problems will stop. Since March this year tens of thousands of health care staff are being over, under or unpaid after the introduction of a new computerized pay system. After repeated assurances there are still people who are facing problems with their pay.

28 Jun 2010

Mass. Legislature denies requests to trim municipal health benefits; N.Y. ordered to transfer people with mental Illness out of institutional group homes

"The state's public employee unions won a major victory this week when the Legislature abandoned efforts to allow cities and towns to trim generous health care benefits enjoyed by thousands of municipal employees, retirees, and elected officials. The decision by lawmakers not to address the issue in next year's budget means the Legislature will almost certainly not act on it this year, setting the stage for mayors and other municipal officials to take their case directly to voters in a ballot initiative for 2012" (Murphy, 6/25).

28 Jun 2010

Kansas doctor and wife found guilty of prescribing painkillers, causing deaths

"A federal jury Thursday found a Kansas doctor and his wife guilty of conspiring to profit from illegally prescribing painkillers to dozens of patients who later died, in a case highlighting medical treatment of chronic pain sufferers and prescription drug abuse."

28 Jun 2010

Insurer sees coming health insurer 'oligopoly,' doctors band together on system changes

Bloomberg Businessweek reports that health insurer WellPoint's investor-relations chief said Thursday that health insurers are "moving towards an oligopoly" accelerated by the new law. "New regulations on administrative spending and premium increases will push some independent insurers out of business or into deals with bigger rivals, said Michael Kleinman, vice president for investor relations, at a Wells Fargo & Co. conference in Boston.

28 Jun 2010

High-risk health insurance pools opening soon

News outlets examine how states are coping with covering hard-to-insure people, confusion about insuring young adults and a COBRA subsidy extension.

28 Jun 2010

Health Care News and Research

Instant processing of insurance claims possible during doctor visit

Conmed signs agreement with City of Roanoke to provide correctional facility health care services

Eisai, Morphotek receive clearance for MORAb-022 Phase I clinical trial for rheumatoid arthritis

AcademyHealth, Robert Wood Johnson Foundation awarded 10 scholarships to students for PHSR

New guides available to help hospital planners protect patients, health care workers

First Edition: June 28, 2010

Increased follow-up care proves key to helping depressed patients feel better

Report: Health information technology could result in harm to patients without proper monitoring

WellPoint research leads to limits on use of Boniva; FDA spars with tobacco company

Combination MMRV vaccine associated with increased risk of febrile seizures

OPQC Scheduled Birth Initiative reduces unnecessary planned late pre-term, near-term deliveries in Ohio

Mass. bill would lift gift ban; Workers rally in Md., Minn.

Lantus and Apidra injections improve glycemic control, reduce hospital complications: Study

Hospital for Special Surgery announces receipt of $5M commitment from CA Technologies

G8 leaders to discuss economic policy, developing world, maternal and child health, Haitian rebuilding

Authorities unsure of Queensland health staff pay woes

Mass. Legislature denies requests to trim municipal health benefits; N.Y. ordered to transfer people with mental Illness out of institutional group homes

Kansas doctor and wife found guilty of prescribing painkillers, causing deaths

Insurer sees coming health insurer 'oligopoly,' doctors band together on system changes

High-risk health insurance pools opening soon

Achieving and maintaining ISO 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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