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Congress takes major step toward equitable payment for nurse-midwifery services

On Wednesday, the U.S. House of Representatives passed the "Children's Health and Medicare Protection Act of 2007 (CHAMP)" (H.R.3162), which expands health care coverage to pregnant women and their children and addresses a long-standing inequity in reimbursement for services of certified nurse-midwives (CNMs).

7 Aug 2007

Resurrection Health Care comes up short!

Council 31 of the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) issued a new report documenting low wage levels that keep patient support staff at Resurrection Health Care hospitals mired in poverty and unable to support their families.

7 Aug 2007

Short heart health programs improve life expectancy and reduce hospitalizations

Secondary prevention programs for coronary heart disease that contain less than 10 hours contact with health professionals and those provided by family doctors are just as effective in saving lives as more expensive, longer and more specialized hospital-based alternatives, according to cardiovascular researchers at the University of Alberta in Edmonton, Canada.

6 Aug 2007

Promoting child safety with computers

Computer technology that provides parents with customized safety information can be an effective way to help their children avoid injury, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and the Johns Hopkins Children's Center.

6 Aug 2007

Life around newborn discharge

A landmark nationwide study, published in the journal Pediatrics, is the first ever to prospectively examine the decision-making process of over 4,000 mothers and their physicians around the readiness of mothers and their infants to leave the hospital after childbirth.

6 Aug 2007

Marburg haemorrhagic fever crops up again in Uganda

Marburg haemorrhagic fever (MHF) has been confirmed in a 29-year-old man in Uganda.

6 Aug 2007

Determinants of inadequate prenatal care utilization by African American women

Fewer African-American women living in urban communities are likely to get adequate prenatal care during their pregnancy than white women are, a new study finds, and the main reason could be their negative views about the need for such care.

6 Aug 2007

Money for medicine

Last week, it was announced that drug addicts in England are to be given shopping vouchers for complying with treatment programmes. In this week's British Medical Journal, two experts debate whether it is acceptable for people to be paid to adhere to medication.

3 Aug 2007

Headaches of computerized medicine

Clinical information technology systems especially those known in the health care industry as computerized provider order entry (CPOE) systems promise to improve health outcomes, reduce medical errors and increase cost efficiency, but hospitals adopting them must plan for immense workflow issues and a host of other unanticipated consequences that come with them or face potentially crippling problems.

3 Aug 2007

Age is important in HRT use

Five years ago this summer the National Institutes of Health's stopped early a major portion of the Women's Health Initiative (WHI), a large and ambitious study to address the most common causes of death, disability and impaired quality of life in postmenopausal women.

3 Aug 2007

New diagnostic tool to detect infection-causing bacteria

Infection-causing bacteria can't hide from researchers at Northern Arizona University, who recently helped develop the first diagnostic tool to detect them.

3 Aug 2007

FDA, DoD collaborate on regulated drugs, biologics, and medical devices

Data from the U.S. Military Health System will soon help the U.S. Food and Drug Administration make decisions affecting the safety and use of FDA-regulated products for all Americans.

3 Aug 2007

First confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Pennsylvania

State Health Secretary Dr. Calvin B. Johnson has reported this year's first confirmed human case of West Nile virus in Pennsylvania. The individual, a 56-year-old Clearfield County man, is recovering and has been discharged from the hospital.

3 Aug 2007

Study compares specialty orthopedic and general hospitals

Specialty orthopedic hospitals serve a healthier population of Medicare patients compared to general hospitals, according to a new study by investigators at the University of Iowa and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Iowa City Health Care System.

3 Aug 2007

Phase II study of TroVax vaccine in patients with metastatic colorectal cancer

A therapeutic cancer vaccine has shown effectiveness when given alongside chemotherapy to patients with metastatic colorectal cancer in a phase II trial, according to researchers at Oxford BioMedica (UK) Ltd.

2 Aug 2007

Delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol opens door for virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma

The major active component of marijuana could enhance the ability of the virus that causes Kaposi's sarcoma to infect cells and multiply, according to a team of researchers at Harvard Medical School.

2 Aug 2007

How language relates to use of mental health services for California Latinos

An examination of usage of publicly sponsored mental health services by Spanish-speaking Latinos in San Diego revealed significant differences from use patterns by either English-speaking Latinos or Caucasians.

2 Aug 2007

Obesity diagnosis is the strongest predictor of obesity management

Mayo Clinic physicians have identified that simply being diagnosed as obese increases a patient's likelihood of establishing a treatment plan with their physician, a crucial step in improving health.

2 Aug 2007

Nimesulide delays pancreatic cancer precursors in mice

Nimesulide, a cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2) inhibitor, delays the progression of precancerous pancreatic lesions in mice, according to researchers at David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

2 Aug 2007

Fear protein found

A University of Iowa study shows that loss or chemical inhibition of a protein, known as acid sensing ion channel protein (ASIC1a), reduces innate fear behavior in lab animals, making normally timid mice relatively fearless.

2 Aug 2007