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MAXIMUS signs new contract with Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing

MAXIMUS announced today that it has signed a new contract with the Colorado Department of Health Care Policy and Financing to help Colorado modernize eligibility and enrollment for its Medical Assistance programs, including Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program.

8 Sep 2010

HHS launches national ESAR-VHP website to help health professionals volunteer quickly during emergency

To make volunteering in an emergency easier for health professionals, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response launched a national website today for the Emergency System for Advance Registration of Volunteer Health Professionals.

8 Sep 2010

NIH announces $161.3 million for expansion of Pharmacogenomics Research Network

The National Institutes of Health plans to spend $161.3 million over the next five years to expand the Pharmacogenomics Research Network (PGRN), a nationwide collaborative of scientists focused on understanding how genes affect a person's response to medicines.

8 Sep 2010

NIH announces $15 million for expansion of Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base

To help advance research on how genes affect responses to medicines, the National Institutes of Health is spending $15 million over five years to expand a key resource, the Pharmacogenomics Knowledge Base (PharmGKB), http://www.pharmgkb.org/ .

8 Sep 2010

NIH to launch study on Gulf oil spill health effects

The National Institutes of Health will launch a multi-year study this fall to look at the potential health effects from the oil spill in the Gulf region. The Gulf Worker Study, announced by NIH Director Francis S. Collins, M.D., Ph.D., in June, is in response to the largest oil spill in U.S. history, caused by the explosion of the Deepwater Horizon offshore drilling oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Dr. Collins pledged $10 million in NIH funding for the study's initial phases.

8 Sep 2010

Personalized reminders effective in encouraging seniors to get annual flu shots

Personalized post cards or phone calls can be effective in encouraging more seniors to get their annual flu shots, according to a new review of evidence. Professional facilitators are also successful at urging providers to perform a suite of preventive services, including flu shots for seniors.

8 Sep 2010

NIH announces award to improve human microbiome research

The National Institutes of Health today announced it has awarded approximately $42 million to expand the scope of eight demonstration projects designed to link changes in the human microbiome to health and disease.

8 Sep 2010

A Republican win in November could put health law in center of political tug-of-war

The Associated Press looks at whether a Republican takeover of Congress would lead to an impasse with the White House over funding for implementation of the health law. "Republicans could still fall back on the congressional power of the purse, denying the administration billions of dollars to carry out the most far-reaching social legislation since Medicare and Medicaid.

8 Sep 2010

HHS issues guidance on waivers for health plan limits

The Hill: "The Department of Health and Human Services has released guidance for health plans seeking a waiver from the healthcare reform law's restrictions on plans' ability to place annual limits on essential health benefits.

8 Sep 2010

Pawlenty asks for enhanced Medicaid funding

Minneapolis Star Tribune: "Gov. Tim Pawlenty wrote U.S. DHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius Tuesday to ask for cash. The letter, in which Pawlenty requested Medicaid and foster care cash, the governor also bashed the federal health care overhaul." He "told the secretary that his order was fueled by concern about 'overspending' and 'unbearable burdens that spending will place on our economy.'

8 Sep 2010

CDC ramps up production of new three-in-one flu vaccine

Health officials say that there will be plenty of flu vaccine available this year, now that the H1N1 pandemic has ended, The Washington Post reports. "The World Health Organization declared an end to the pandemic last month, based on indications that the H1N1 flu was transitioning to a more seasonal virus. Unlike last year, when there was one vaccine for H1N1 flu and another for seasonal flu, this year's vaccine is a 'three-in-one' that includes protection against H1N1 as well as two other strains."

8 Sep 2010

Health 2.0 Developer Challenge: Teams are putting final touches on their applications

With only a few weeks left until the deadlines of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge more than 40 teams are putting the final touches on their applications for the 10 prizes. Winners will be announced by Todd Park, CTO of U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Aneesh Chopra, Federal CTO, at the Health 2.0 Conference on October 7-8, in San Francisco.

7 Sep 2010

Consumers misinterpret low carbohydrate claims to have health benefits: Study

Food manufacturers advertise a variety of foods on grocery store shelves by using nutrient claims on the front of packaging. A study in the September/October issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior evaluates how consumers are interpreting certain carbohydrate-related content claims and the effects of claims on consumer perceptions of food products. Findings from this study reveal that consumers misinterpret low carbohydrate claims to have health benefits and weight loss qualities beyond their nutrition facts.

7 Sep 2010

Up to 5 million kids uninsured but eligible for government programs

As many as 5 million uninsured kids are eligible for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program, according to a report published Friday in the journal Health Affairs, Reuters reports.

4 Sep 2010

Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge to enroll five million uninsured children in Medicaid, CHIP

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and U.S. Department of Education Secretary Arne Duncan today highlighted the Connecting Kids to Coverage Challenge to enroll five million children in Medicaid and CHIP within five years. Since Sebelius announced the Challenge last February, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services have built an unprecedented coalition of partners, ranging from state governors to national advocacy organizations, who have stepped up to the challenge to enroll kids and educate families.

4 Sep 2010

ECRI Institute's 17th Annual Conference to be held October 19-20, at NIH

With the advent of healthcare reform, the United States is embarking on an unprecedented effort to determine which health care intervention works best for the diagnosis or treatment of a given disease or condition. While comparative effectiveness and personalized medicine evolved separately, these significant trends interface, increasingly, in the healthcare systems.

3 Sep 2010

WHO revises treatment protocols for HIV patients

Prompted by clinical research into the early initiation of antiretroviral therapies for HIV performed at the GHESKIO clinic in Port-au-Prince, Haiti, the World Health Organization (WHO) has revised its treatment protocols for HIV patients.

3 Sep 2010

GOG to conduct Phase II trial on primary peritoneal cancer

Oncolytics Biotech Inc. announced today that the Gynecologic Oncology Group (GOG) intends to conduct a randomized Phase II trial of weekly paclitaxel versus weekly paclitaxel with REOLYSIN(R) in patients with persistent or recurrent, ovarian, fallopian tube or primary peritoneal cancer (GOG186H).

3 Sep 2010

BARDA awards contract to develop treatment for ionizing radiation exposure

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) today awarded a $153 million contract to Cellerant Therapeutics, Inc. of San Carlos, Calif., to continue developing a new way to treat an illness caused by exposure to high levels of ionizing radiation which can damage the body's cells - the type of radiation that would come from a nuclear blast.

3 Sep 2010

NSU receives grant to improve geriatrics care

Nova Southeastern University recently received a $2.1-million federal grant to provide training to improve care for South Florida's large geriatric population now and for the future.

3 Sep 2010