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Health Management Associates to acquire 60% interest in three Shands HealthCare hospitals

Health Management Associates, Inc. today announced that it has executed definitive agreements to acquire a 60% interest in three Shands HealthCare hospitals: Shands Lake Shore located in Lake City, Florida, Shands Live Oak, located in Live Oak, Florida and Shands Starke, located in Starke, Florida.

27 May 2010

Mayo Clinic research reveals increase in incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in women

The incidence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in women has risen during the period of 1995 to 2007, according to a newly published study by researchers from the Mayo Clinic. This rise in RA follows a 4-decade period of decline and study authors speculate environmental factors such as cigarette smoking, vitamin D deficiency, and lower dose synthetic estrogens in oral contraceptives may be the source of the increase.

27 May 2010

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Weill Cornell Medical College today celebrated the start of construction on its new Medical Research Building, a state-of-the-art facility that will more than double the institution's existing research space. The 18-story, $650 million building is the centerpiece of Weill Cornell's $1.3 billion Discoveries that Make a Difference Campaign, the country's largest for a medical college. A total of $1 billion has been raised toward this goal in a record time of less than four years.

27 May 2010

Physician experts review current practices for pain management in cirrhotic patients

In the May issue of Mayo Clinic Proceedings, physician experts review current practices for pain management in cirrhotic patients. The physician experts reviewed all current literature available on PubMed and MEDLINE with no limits in the search to recommend a uniform and practical guide to approaching analgesia in the cirrhotic patients.

27 May 2010

Benefits of new health insurance reform law for Medicare recipients discussed in news conference

Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer, Barbara Kennelly of the National Committee to Preserve Social Security and Medicare, and Dr. Ben Williamowsky of Silver Spring, Md., a Medicare recipient, held a news conference today to discuss benefits of and misconceptions about the Affordable Care Act and Medicare.

27 May 2010

Head Start Dental Home Initiative launched to benefit low-income children in Illinois

The American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry today announces the launch of its Head Start Dental Home Initiative to benefit the one-in-three low-income children in the state of Illinois. The Initiative links children participating in Head Start programs to local dentists who will provide children with a "dental home" which will ensure that each child's oral health care is delivered in a comprehensive, ongoing, accessible, coordinated and family-centered way by a participating dentist.

27 May 2010

FDA advises consumers, health care professionals about Xenical, Alli

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today advised consumers and health care professionals about potential rare occurrences of severe liver injury in patients taking the weight-loss medication orlistat, marketed as Xenical and Alli.

27 May 2010

BMJ News examines WHA voluntary global code on health care personnel recruitment

BMJ News examines details of the WHO Global Code of Practice on the International Recruitment of Health Personnel (.pdf) agreed upon last Friday by member countries during the World Health Assembly (WHA) that "discourages countries from actively recruiting from poor nations facing critical staff shortages."

27 May 2010

New multidisciplinary task force to help clients identify, evaluate opportunities created by health care reform

Drawing on its analysis of the historic Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act of 2010, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P. has established a multidisciplinary task force to help clients identify and evaluate key opportunities created by health care reform.

27 May 2010

State round up: Texas approves higher co-pays for retirees, California's next elected insurance commissioner to play critical health care role

The Illinois "House voted 71-44 to borrow up to $4 billion to cover next year's payments to the five state-funded pension systems." Lawmakers also rejected a proposal to have "retired state employees paying premiums for their health-care coverage. Rep. Karen May, D-Highland Park, said the state could save $100 million a year by having retirees pay premiums, noting that 92 percent of them pay nothing now."

27 May 2010

Experts worry: Government loans to doctors could raise health costs

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports: "Eager to expand or modernize, about 5,000 doctors, dentists and other health care providers have obtained more than $2.5 billion in government-backed loans under the economic stimulus law, according to federal records.

27 May 2010

Sanofi-aventis, MIT announce strategic alliance agreement for SABIP

Sanofi-aventis announced today a strategic alliance agreement with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology Center for Biomedical Innovation, which will be known as the sanofi-aventis Biomedical Innovation Program.

27 May 2010

Insurers paying doctors faster but inefficiency remains, especially with Medicaid

"US health insurers are paying doctors seven days faster, on average, and denying 12 to 18 percent fewer claims than last year, but the claims reimbursement system remains saddled with inefficiency, according to a new ranking of payers set to be released today," The Boston Globe reports.

27 May 2010

Feds will pay much of Medicaid expansion costs for states, study finds

The Washington Post: "The federal government will bear virtually the entire cost of expanding Medicaid under the new health-care law, according to a comprehensive new study by the Kaiser Family Foundation that directly rebuts the loud protests of governors warning about its impact on their strapped state budgets.

27 May 2010

Employers: Health insurance coverage to remain, but costs may rise

Business Insurance reports that, in the wake of health reform, 88 percent of employers "responding to a Towers Watson & Co. survey said they definitely or likely will continue providing coverage to employees. Just 3% said they are likely to drop coverage and instead pay the annual $2,000-per-full-time-employee penalty that starts in 2014.

27 May 2010

FDA, Drugs.com collaborate to expand online distribution of Agency's consumer health information

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that it will collaborate with the Web site Drugs.com to expand access to the FDA's consumer health information.

27 May 2010

Demand rises for graduates of health information technology programs

The Atlanta Journal Constitution reports that the Atlanta Technical College is expanding its health information technology program because demand for graduates is expected to grow by 20 percent through 2018.

27 May 2010

Stimulus package leaves states limited options to cut Medicaid

News outlets report on the limited options states can employ to reduce Medicaid costs, including cutting adult dental care.

27 May 2010

OpEds: Missouri vote on insurance mandate, Sacramento's 'rabbit hole,' Venter on synthetic cells

A group of organizations with self-funded insurance plans is putting pressure on Southern Nevada's hospitals to improve care. The Health Services Coalition wants better quality and is asking for ideas on how it could provide incentives for good care (5/26).

27 May 2010

Feds crack down on health care fraud in California, Florida

The Sacramento Bee reports: "Three Sacramento-area residents are among 11 people, including five doctors, accused of participating in a Medicare fraud ring. ... From February 2006 through August 2008, the defendants are alleged to have operated three health-care clinics -- in Sacramento, Carmichael and Richmond -- that submitted more than $5 million in allegedly fraudulent claims to Medicare" (Locke, 5/25).

27 May 2010

Health Care News and Research

Health Management Associates to acquire 60% interest in three Shands HealthCare hospitals

Mayo Clinic research reveals increase in incidence of rheumatoid arthritis in women

Weill Cornell Medical College commences construction of 18-story, $650 million Medical Research Building

Physician experts review current practices for pain management in cirrhotic patients

Benefits of new health insurance reform law for Medicare recipients discussed in news conference

Head Start Dental Home Initiative launched to benefit low-income children in Illinois

FDA advises consumers, health care professionals about Xenical, Alli

BMJ News examines WHA voluntary global code on health care personnel recruitment

New multidisciplinary task force to help clients identify, evaluate opportunities created by health care reform

State round up: Texas approves higher co-pays for retirees, California's next elected insurance commissioner to play critical health care role

Experts worry: Government loans to doctors could raise health costs

Sanofi-aventis, MIT announce strategic alliance agreement for SABIP

Insurers paying doctors faster but inefficiency remains, especially with Medicaid

Feds will pay much of Medicaid expansion costs for states, study finds

Employers: Health insurance coverage to remain, but costs may rise

FDA, Drugs.com collaborate to expand online distribution of Agency's consumer health information

Demand rises for graduates of health information technology programs

Stimulus package leaves states limited options to cut Medicaid

OpEds: Missouri vote on insurance mandate, Sacramento's 'rabbit hole,' Venter on synthetic cells

Feds crack down on health care fraud in California, Florida

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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