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Roundup: Health care construction boom in Texas; Some Ga. schools, state authorities weigh leaving employee health plan

The Dallas-Fort Worth area is in the midst of an unprecedented health care building boom. You can see the most visible evidence in the Dallas medical district. There, several blocks apart, construction cranes signal more than $2 billion worth of new hospitals -; the $1.27 billion replacement for Parkland Memorial Hospital and an $800 million replacement hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center.

16 Oct 2012

Wal-Mart expanding program for no-cost employee surgeries

Wal-Mart announced this week that it will expand a program that ends out-of-pocket procedure and travel costs for employees seeking some heart and spine surgeries if they go to hospitals across the country that have agreements with the retailer.

15 Oct 2012

Medicare penalties for hospital-acquired infections didn't cut infection rate, study finds

The research, reported in the New England Journal of Medicine, looked at the effect of a 2008 change that cut payments to hospitals for treating infections that patients received while hospitalized.

12 Oct 2012

With interest in health care high, presidential candidates represent stark choice in views

A study in this week's New England Journal of Medicine notes that one in five voters views health care as this year's highest priority issue -- that's more than in any election since 1992. Meanwhile, news outlets continue to examine the policies of President Barack Obama and GOP hopeful Mitt Romney.

12 Oct 2012

Addiction and mental health burden higher than all cancers in Ontario

Mental illnesses and addictions take more of a toll on the health of Ontarians than cancer or infectious diseases, according to a new report by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario - yet this burden could be reduced with treatment, say scientists from Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health.

11 Oct 2012

No replacement in developing countries for health care workers lost to migration

In the Huffington Post's "Global Motherhood" blog, Smisha Agarwal, co-founder and India country director of Global Health Bridge, examines the global migration of health workers, highlighting a book titled "Insourced," in which Kate Tulenko, senior director for health systems innovation at IntraHealth International, "argues that the U.S. drains health care workers from poor countries."

6 Oct 2012

AMGA defines high-performing health systems

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today released its definition of high-performing health systems to educate legislators and the public about the need to foster meaningful change that promotes the unique attributes of these systems and to aid provider organizations in their efforts to improve patient care.

6 Oct 2012

MSH president talks about health systems innovation in Devex interviews

Devex features three video segments from an interview with Jonathan Quick, president and CEO of Management Sciences for Health (MSH), in which he discusses health systems innovation and the challenge of addressing non-communicable diseases.

6 Oct 2012

HealthPartners receives 2012 AMGA Acclaim Award

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today presented the 2012 AMGA Acclaim Award to HealthPartners for "Triple Aim 2.0: Designing Culture to Support Better Health, Better Experience at a Lower Cost," an inventive and patient-centered approach to align the Institute of Medicine's Aims to identify and drive performance improvement, innovation, and culture throughout the organization.

5 Oct 2012

UAbt Associates to increase use of priority health services

The U.S. Agency for International Development today named Abt Associates to lead a five-year, $209 million project to increase the use of priority health services, especially by women, girls, poor and rural populations, in developing countries throughout the world.

5 Oct 2012

Heart attacks linked with mortality risk in people with schizophrenia

The risk of death resulting from heart attack is higher in people with schizophrenia than in the general public, according to scientists at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) and the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences (ICES).

4 Oct 2012

Hackensack University Medical Center announces joint venture with community physicians and USPI

Hackensack University Medical Center has announced a joint venture partnership with community physicians and United Surgical Partners International (USPI) in the acquisition and operation of two ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs) in Bergen County: Hackensack Endoscopy Center (HEC) and Endoscopy Center of Bergen County (ECBC).

29 Sep 2012

USAID Office of Health Systems important for meeting global health goals

Ariel Pablos-Mendez, USAID assistant administrator for global health, writes in USAID's "IMPACTblog," "Recently, we reorganized the Global Health Bureau to establish an Office of Health Systems, which will be the hub for the Agency's worldwide leadership network of technical experts in health systems strengthening."

28 Sep 2012

3M launches new physician education modules to provide ICD-10 training

3M Health Information Systems is enriching its web-based ICD-10 Education Program with 18 new physician education modules that address the critical issue of physician readiness for ICD-10.

28 Sep 2012

Prime Healthcare Services purchases Dallas Medical Center

Prime Healthcare Services announced today that it has purchased Dallas Medical Center, located in Dallas, Texas.

27 Sep 2012

U.S. Ambassador to Mozambique signs PEPFAR funding agreements with CBOs

On Monday in Maputo, Mozambique, U.S. Ambassador Douglas Griffiths signed funding agreements with 29 community-based organizations that will receive a total of $1.4 million through PEPFAR's small grants program "to strengthen health systems, boost professional training and implement income generating activities for people living with or affected by HIV/AIDS," the Mozambique News Agency/AllAfrica.com reports.

26 Sep 2012

Global AIDS response provides lessons for fighting NCDs

"If left unaddressed, [non-communicable diseases (NCDs)] will lead to more death, disability and the implosion of already overburdened health systems in developing countries at huge cost to individuals, families, businesses and society," Peter Piot, director of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine and former UNAIDS executive director, writes in the Huffington Post "Impact" blog, adding, "Like AIDS, NCDs are a problem for rich and poor countries alike, but the poor suffer the most."

21 Sep 2012

Health experts warn of linkages between climate change, increased malnutrition

"Malnutrition is likely to be the most serious health threat linked to climate shifts in the coming decades, as farmers struggle to cope with more unpredictable weather, ... epidemiologist Kris Ebi warned during a recent World Health Organization (WHO) briefing on adapting health systems to climate shifts," AlertNet reports.

20 Sep 2012

Women play important role in fighting NCDs

"As world leaders make their way to New York this month to attend the United Nations General Assembly, we call on them to renew their commitments to combating non-communicable diseases (NCDs)," Jill Sheffield, president of Women Deliver, and Nalini Saligram, founder of Arogya World, write in the Huffington Post "Global Motherhood" blog, adding, "Tackling NCDs with a woman-centered focus is a critical step towards reaching all development goals."

20 Sep 2012

Extreme temperatures affect cardiac mortality

Extreme temperatures experienced during cold spells and heat waves may increase a person’s risk for premature death from cardiovascular disease, say researchers.

19 Sep 2012