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AirStrip Technologies to provide HIT solution to Premier healthcare alliance

The Premier healthcare alliance has contracted with AirStrip Technologies™, L.P. to offer its 2,200 hospitals members a mobile healthcare information technology (HIT) solution to improve obstetrical (OB) care, patient safety and communication among healthcare providers.

14 Sep 2009

Novant to use MEDai's Pinpoint Review patient-specific early-warning system

MEDai, Inc., an Elsevier company and leading provider of advanced solutions for healthcare that utilize award-winning predictive analytics, announced today that Novant Health, a not-for-profit integrated group of hospitals and physician practices, will roll out MEDai's Pinpoint Review(TM) to its nine hospitals in North Carolina, Virginia and South Carolina.

14 Sep 2009

Medicare-funded nursing homes will be affected by the pending health reform bill: Maine Health Care Association

As Congress reconvened this week in the wake of polls finding the public strongly against slashing Medicare-funded nursing home care to pay for health care reform, local opposition to proposed $32 billion ten year Medicare cuts is garnering a rising level of local press coverage.

14 Sep 2009

Dresner Partners advises CCHHS in its partnership with HHG

Dresner Partners, a FINRA-registered, middle-market investment bank, and IMAP member firm, announced today that it advised Care Collaborative Home Health Services, Inc. (CCHHS) in its recent strategic partnership with Home Health Group, LLC (HHG), a holding company focused on investments in the home health industry.

14 Sep 2009

Obama's interview on health and fitness priorities to be published in a health magazine

President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama speak candidly about health and fitness priorities for the country and their family in exclusive interviews that will appear in the October 2009 issues of Men’s Health and Women’s Health, respectively. The October issues hit newsstands on Tuesday, September 15.

14 Sep 2009

Post-speech debates: Illegal immigrant coverage, tort reform, abortion funding

President Obama's speech opened the door for experts and lawmakers to examine his proposed health reforms, with questions ranging from how reforms affect illegal immigrants' coverage to abortion funding.

11 Sep 2009

Experts, lawmakers wonder if Obama can pay for his health reform push

President Obama and Democrats are scrambling to find a way to pay for the specifics that he laid out in his speech Wednesday night, and they are pushing for a trigger that would rein in spending if cost containment for health care reform isn't met.

11 Sep 2009

Young 'invincible' adults quiet on health reform, seniors remain confused

Invincibles, the "strong and healthy young adults who have no experience with wallet-crippling illness and feel they have no need for coverage," may be "the most likely to be affected by the reform effort" outlined by President Barack Obama on Wednesday, The Baltimore Sun reports. "Adults ages 18 to 34 comprise more than half of the nation's uninsured.

11 Sep 2009

Today's editorials and opinions

The Dime Standard The New York Times Barack Obama delivered the finest speech of his presidency. … Which is not to say that this is effective health reform (David Brooks, 9/10).

11 Sep 2009

Oculus Innovative Sciences Receives Medicare HCPCS Code For Reimbursement Of Microcyn® Skin & Wound Hydrogel

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: OCLS), a biopharmaceutical company that develops, manufactures and markets a family of products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, announced today that Noridian Administrative Services LLC, which is the pricing, data analysis and coding contractor for the Medicare program with respect to durable medical equipment, prosthetics, orthotics, and medical supplies, has assigned a Medicare HCPCS code for Oculus’ recently introduced Microcyn Skin & Wound HydroGel.

11 Sep 2009

President Obama's proposed changes are not what an already-indebted country needs: BestHealthcareRates.com

The team from BestHealthcareRates.com is less than reassured with the presidential reassurances on the far-reaching effects of health care reform during his September 9th talk on the status of healthcare reform. With more than 46.3 million Americans not having medical insurance the need for changes is long overdue, but many of those proposed by Obama are not what an already-indebted country needs.

11 Sep 2009

Care Support of America on overlooked healthcare issues in eldercare and family caregiving

As healthcare reform is being debated in Congress and on Main Street, vital and practical issues in eldercare and family caregiving are being overlooked. Some 30 million U.S. baby boomers are family caregivers for their aging parents, trying to keep their parents safe at home and helping them navigate the complexities of Medicare and manage an advancing illness. If they had their say, most elderly people would prefer to age in their own homes.

11 Sep 2009

Health policy research roundup

Robert Wood Johnson Foundation: A Snapshot of U.S. Physicians: Key Findings from the 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey - This brief reviews findings from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey, a national survey including the responses of more than 4,700 U.S. physicians who provide "at least 20 hours per week of direct patient care."

11 Sep 2009

Number of uninsured grows even as government programs cover more Americans

Kaiser Health News reports: "More children had health insurance last year, partially offsetting a growing number of adults who lacked coverage as the troubled economy helped push insurance out of reach for many workers. New Census Bureau numbers show the total number of uninsured rose to 46.3 million in 2008, up from 45.6 million in 2007. The percentage of uninsured remained at 15.4 percent."

11 Sep 2009

PCMA stresses on improving affordability in the health care system

“Pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) share the President’s goal of improving affordability as a central tenant to reforming the health care system. Tools pioneered by PBMs – including those which increase the use of generic medicines – have accomplished this goal by lowering costs and expanding access to prescription drugs for consumers and payers.

11 Sep 2009

HHS Secretary to issue new report on the employer-sponsored insurance market

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today will address the University of Chicago’s dialogue on health care reform and education and issue a new report on the employer-sponsored insurance market.

11 Sep 2009

ASCEND program helps achieve rapid improvements in supply chain performance

Hospitals and health systems participating in the Premier healthcare alliance’s ASCEND (Accelerated Supply Chain Endeavor) program have reduced their supply expenses in recently launched categories by up to 24 percent since May 2009.

11 Sep 2009

HHS, Ad Council and Warner Bros unite to address childhood obesity

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Ad Council today launched a new series of public service advertisements (PSAs) designed to address childhood overweight and obesity.

11 Sep 2009

Proposal calls for Medicare coverage of HIV screening

A new government proposal calls for Medicare beneficiaries to receive coverage for Human Immunodeficiency Virus infection screening.

11 Sep 2009

NCOA supports Obama for improving Medicare’s delivery system

NCOA applauds President Obama's call for universal health care. Older Americans with Medicare know first-hand the benefits of universal coverage -- and they should be in the forefront of efforts to secure the same rights for their children and grandchildren.

11 Sep 2009