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Roundup: State legislatures consider nursing home, insurance exchange bills

Even as Massachusetts business and government leaders celebrate the most modest premium rate hikes in years for small employers and individuals, speakers at a health insurance seminar here yesterday warned that the main trend restraining bigger increases - fewer people seeking health care in the past year - already may be changing.

9 Feb 2012

Longer looks: Enhanced scrutiny of IVF clinics; School-based health care

Republican presidential contender Newt Gingrich hit upon a reproductive minefield on Sunday when he called for deeper scrutiny of in vitro fertilization (IVF) clinics, where women go for high-tech help to conceive.

3 Feb 2012

Signs motivate more people to take the stairs

Signs that read, "Burn Calories, Not Electricity" posted in lobbies of New York City buildings, motivated more people to take the stairs and continue to use them even months later.

30 Jan 2012

AstraZeneca donation to benefit poor and uninsured Americans

AstraZeneca, the global biopharmaceutical company, has donated $3.8 million worth of prescription medicines to AmeriCares for chronically ill Americans who rely on safety net clinics for their medical care. The donation is one of the largest AmeriCares received in the past year for its domestic aid deliveries.

25 Jan 2012

EMR data mining reveals that women report more-intense pain than men

Women report more-intense pain than men in virtually every disease category, according to Stanford University School of Medicine investigators who mined a huge collection of electronic medical records to establish the broad gender difference to a high level of statistical significance.

24 Jan 2012

Same sex marriage legalization improves health, reduces stress among gay men: Study

According to US researchers legalizing same-sex marriage may create a healthier environment for gay men. The number of visits by gay men to health clinics dropped significantly after same-sex unions were allowed in the state Massachusetts. This was regardless of whether the men were in a stable relationship, reported the American Journal of Public Health.

19 Dec 2011

State news: Ariz. Planned Parenthood resumes some services

A state advisory group on Thursday recommended legislative changes to bolster oversight of coronary stent placements amid widespread concerns about unnecessary medical procedures, but it stopped short of proposing that state law regulate physician reviews in hospitals.

17 Dec 2011

Kansas finds prison clinics help control costs

The Kansas Health Institute News offers a series of stories about caring for the health needs of state prisoners.

14 Dec 2011

Increased screening for mental health, substance abuse may help identify women at risk of suicide

Increased screening of pregnant women and new mothers for major depression and conflicts with intimate partners may help identify women at risk for suicide, a University of Michigan Health System-led analysis of federal data concludes.

1 Dec 2011

New hospital clinic in Michigan seeks to reduce traffic to ER; Minneapolis doctors and hospital merge operations

The Grand Rapids clinic is reaching out to people who have been to the hospital's emergency department at least 10 times in the past year.

1 Dec 2011

State roundup: Kansas Medicaid announcement; pilot projects for nursing homes, C-sections; Calif. marijuana clinics

Gov. Sam Brownback, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and three Cabinet officials have scheduled a news conference for 10 a.m. Tuesday to describe details of their plan for making over the Kansas Medicaid program. ... The plan is expected to include a significant expansion of managed care.

9 Nov 2011

Older women do not benefit from improvements in breast cancer treatments

The survival rates for older women with breast cancer lag behind younger women diagnosed with the disease, indicating that the elder population may be missing out on improvements in treatment and detection, according to new research from the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

8 Nov 2011

Articles explore clinical dilemma about children's behavioral problems

Clinicians often face the challenge of trying to make sense of conflicting reports from parents, teachers, and children about a child's behavioral problems. However, a better understanding of the source and nature of these disagreements may provide important information that could improve treatment and outcomes. A group of articles in the current issue of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., explores this challenging clinical dilemma.

2 Nov 2011

Effective ways to reduce risk of vaginal yeast infection

Vaginal thrush is one of the most popular topics on NHS Choices website. This common yeast infection affects around 75% (three-quarters) of women at some point. Up to half of these will have thrush more than once.

21 Oct 2011

Medication therapy management in interprofessional heath care

Akinyele and other University of Maryland School of Pharmacy students at the Mercy Health Clinic in Gaithersburg, Md. are learning firsthand about the remarkable effectiveness of medication therapy management (MTM), a hot new pharmacy trend in interprofessional heath care.

19 Oct 2011

Roundup: N.Y. health insurers seek to keep premium memos secret

Major health insurance companies seeking steep premium increases in New York have submitted memos to state officials to justify the higher rates. Now they are fighting to keep the memos from the public, saying they include trade secrets that competitors could use against them.

13 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 12, 2011

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver reports: "Competition is fiercest in places like Boston, where high-ranking plans are near their goal, but shades of this quality arms race are visible throughout the country. Insurers have rarely competed on quality measures, but as the federal government prepares to unleash an estimated $3 billion to $4 billion next year in bonus payments, the industry is following the money. Star-ratings are bleeding into bottom lines, board meetings, and corporate strategy as the insurers chase top scores."

12 Oct 2011

Roundup: Texas House Dems ask CMS to reject Medicaid waiver request; Jobs lost as Ariz. mental health Medicaid cuts kick in

The nine House Democrats from Texas want the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services to reject their state's request that Medicaid beneficiaries get their prescription drugs through managed care plans.

23 Sep 2011

Role of email advice in patients with sexual problems

More than two-thirds of men who contacted an email advice service run by a leading sexual advice charity had erection problems, which were frequently linked to loss of sex drive, according to research in the October issue of IJCP, the International Journal of Clinical Practice.

23 Sep 2011

State roundup: Health insurance ruling reverberates; Fla. to accept some health law funds; California's aging issues

The state has returned millions in health reform dollars for child and elder care programs, among other things. But on Monday, HHS awarded the Sunshine State $1.26 million in ACA money to bolster efforts to report and combat infectious diseases.

17 Aug 2011