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Massachusetts judge denies insurers' requests for double-digit rate hikes

The Boston Globe: "A Suffolk Superior Court judge yesterday denied a request that would have let six Massachusetts health insurers go forward with double-digit rate hikes for tens of thousands of small businesses and individuals, setting up a protracted battle that could become a test of government's role in controlling health care costs.

15 Apr 2010

CWRU School of Medicine becomes OHIP's REC for Ohio

Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) School of Medicine has received $7,942,500 million in federal stimulus funds from the Ohio Health Information Partnership (OHIP), the state designated entity for health information exchange development. The funding will position CWRU School of Medicine as a regional extension center (REC) which allows it to help 1,765 health care providers in Lorain, Cuyahoga, Lake, Geauga and Ashtabula counties advance the use of health information technology (HIT) in their practices.

15 Apr 2010

Research report focuses on key influencers within employer health care market

Health Industries Research Companies' Employer & Coalition Service has released its spring 2010 market research. HIRC finds that employers are increasingly concerned about cancer medications and report sustained interest in health, wellness, and disease management initiatives.

15 Apr 2010

FICO's Insurance Fraud Manager to be incorporated in Emdeon's healthcare revenue and payment cycle solutions

FICO, the leading provider of analytics and decision management technology, and Emdeon Inc, a leading provider of healthcare revenue and payment cycle management solutions, today announced a commercial agreement aimed at preventing fraud, waste and abuse in the health insurance system.

15 Apr 2010

Rush University Medical Center's Orthopedic Building awarded Gold LEED certification

The U.S. Green Building Council has awarded the Orthopedic Building at Rush University Medical Center Gold Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification. LEED is an internationally recognized green building certification system and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

15 Apr 2010

Loyola University internist advises patients to complete their living wills

On April 16, Americans are being urged to complete living wills and other types of "advance directives" in observance of National Health-care Decisions Day.

15 Apr 2010

Medicare doc payment cut looms with new deadline: Tomorrow

Congress has already missed the deadline for new legislation to block cuts of 21% in Medicare payments to doctors. The pay reduction officially took effect April 1, but the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services — the federal agency that oversees the giant health systems — put a hold on processing physician payments for 10 business days, effectively pushing off the bite on payments for physicians' services until April 15.

15 Apr 2010

In Italy and in second life, hospitals succeed by challenging status quo

The Wall Street Journal: "As the U.S. debates the proper roles for the public and private sectors in health care, Italy's Lombardy region suggests a way that encouraging competition between the two can improve health care overall. For the past 10 years, public and private hospitals in Lombardy have competed directly for patients, and in doing so have created what is considered by many to be one of Europe's most efficient health-care systems" (Stancati, 4/13).

15 Apr 2010

FDA: Seven MDIs for treating asthma and COPD to be phased out

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced, in accordance with longstanding U.S. obligations under the Montreal Protocol on Substances that Deplete the Ozone Layer, seven metered-dose inhalers (MDI) used to treat asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) will be gradually removed from the U.S. marketplace. These inhalers contain ozone-depleting chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), which are propellants that move medication out of the inhaler and into the lungs of patients.

15 Apr 2010

A renewed effort to reduce global toll of maternal and child deaths

Widespread global use of known and proven maternal and childcare techniques, practices, and therapies could save the lives of millions of women, newborns and children each year, according to a new analysis prepared for a mid-April meeting of world leaders and technical experts on maternal and child health.

15 Apr 2010

States respond to health law with lawsuits, policy shifts

"The insurance commissioner of Georgia has chosen not to comply with a federal request to create a state pool for high-risk insurance plans, opening a new front in the resistance by state Republican officials to the new federal health care law." The commissioner is a Republican candidate for governor (R. Brown, 4/13).

15 Apr 2010

Health IT Roundup: Data exchange, personal health records on the rise

The Wall Street Journal: "Three leading health-care providers in Colorado's Front Range region recently teamed up in an electronic health-record exchange program that will allow them to share data on more than a million Colorado residents. … The three [health systems] have agreed to share their records on a secure network that will allow clinics, doctors' offices and hospitals to exchange data on common patients instantly, including lab reports, radiology images and medical history" (Landro, 4/13).

15 Apr 2010

States examine role in health reform implementation, worry over scams

The federal government is turning to states to "to institute key components" of the health overhaul law, "some of which have never existed before."

15 Apr 2010

Better safety performance in health care settings associated with reduced malpractice claims

Reducing the number of preventable patient injuries in California hospitals from 2001 to 2005 was associated with a corresponding drop in malpractice claims against physicians, according to a study issued today by the RAND Corporation.

15 Apr 2010

Study: Lawsuit fears, peer pressure drives higher costs, more tests

The Associated Press: A quarter of heart doctors order more tests than were necessary, driving up costs, according to a new study. "Most said they weren't swayed by such things as financial gain or a patient's expectations.

15 Apr 2010

OHSU awarded $5.8M in ARRA funds to educate health IT professional work force

Oregon Health & Science University has been awarded $5.8 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to advance the widespread adoption and meaningful use of health information technology by educating professionals to work in this rapidly growing field.

15 Apr 2010

Investigators tout fraud convictions in California, Florida and New York

Authorities are crediting their Medicare and Medicaid fraud initiatives for convictions and guilty pleas in California, Florida and New York.

15 Apr 2010

Experts, public consider health reform merits, hardships and unintended consequences

Confusion persists about health reform and insurance for members of Congress. "The law stipulates that lawmakers and some members of their staffs enroll in new health insurance exchanges. But an apparent drafting error in the law makes it unclear when that transition is supposed to occur."

15 Apr 2010

New research indicates exercise-based rehabilitation can benefit heart failure patients

Your heart is an incredible muscle, pumping an estimated 2,000 gallons of blood through about 60,000 million miles of blood vessels — and beating maybe 100,000 times a day, year after year after year.

15 Apr 2010

UnitedHealth partners with Walgreens and YMCA to control diabetes

The New York Times: "The UnitedHealth Group, one of the nation's largest health insurers, is teaming up with the Y.M.C.A. and retail pharmacies to try a new approach to one of the nation's most serious and expensive medical problems: Type 2 Diabetes. Rather than simply continuing to pay ever-higher medical claims to care for its diabetic customers, UnitedHealth is paying the Y.M.C.A. and pharmacists to keep people healthier."

15 Apr 2010