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$Fracture liaison service reduces risk of fragility fractures in older adults$

Fracture liaison service reduces risk of fragility fractures in older adults

Studies have shown that anyone age 50 or older who suffers a fragility fracture – a bone break sustained in a fall from a standing height or less – is two to five times more likely to experience a second fracture than someone who hasn't had one. The odds that a person who's suffered two such fractures will have a third are even higher.

17 May 2014

PFF Patient Communication Center: The destination for latest disease education information

The newly launched Pulmonary Fibrosis Foundation Patient Communication Center (PCC) has become the destination for the most up-to-date information for the pulmonary fibrosis community. The PCC now has information about the Expanded Access Program (EAP) for pirfenidone.

16 May 2014

Ariz. Gov. Brewer asks state Supreme Court to throw out challenge to her Medicaid expansion plan

The governor's lawyers filed an appeal Wednesday arguing that the lawmakers who filed the initial lawsuit an appeals court ruling did not have standing to post the challenge.

16 May 2014

First Edition: May 16, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Indiana governor's alternative plan to expand Medicaid. Kaiser Health News staff writer Sarah Varney, working in collaboration with PBS Newshour, reports: "Men and women involved in the criminal justice system are more likely to be sicker than the general population, with higher rates of diabetes, hypertension, depression, mood disorders and alcohol and drug addiction.

16 May 2014

Cook Medical to exhibit augmented reality experiences at AUA meeting

Cook Medical will exhibit augmented reality experiences, which is a technology used to simulate use of products, and host a skills challenge at their booth, #1617, at the annual American Urological Association meeting.

From COOK MEDICAL INC. 16 May 2014

MD Anderson Cancer Center, Concord Medical sign consulting agreement for cancer hospital projects

Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited ("Concord Medical" or the "Company"), a leading specialty hospital management solution provider and operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, today announced it has engaged The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center ("MD Anderson") as a consultant for its cancer hospital projects under planning in Shanghai and Beijing.

16 May 2014

Standard & Poor's upgrades HTA's investment grade credit rating to BBB

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc. (NYSE: HTA) announced today that Standard & Poor's ("S&P") has upgraded HTA's investment grade credit rating to BBB, with a stable outlook.

16 May 2014

Longer looks: AIDS epidemic in the U.S.; how public health and the recession connect

I pull out my phone and check the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention website, which tells me that, in the United States, 636,000 people have died since the epidemic began. That's 23 times higher than Germany, for a country with four times the population. This makes no sense. Germany has big cities, it has gay men and sex workers and drug users, it has all the same temptations for them to be uncareful that the United States does. How could so many fewer people have died? (Michael Hobbes, 5/12).

16 May 2014

Safe Routes to School program improves safety of school-age children in NYC

As Bike to Work week continues, New Yorkers got some good news from a team of researchers at Columbia University's Mailman School of Public Health. Using funds from the federally funded Safe Routes to School program enacted in 2005 in an effort to create safe environments for American children to walk or bike to school, New York City made safety changes to the most dangerous intersections near schools.

16 May 2014

State highlights: 700 nurses needed for health care help in Calif. county; Missouri abortion wait period; nursing home funding in Maine

A selection of health policy stories from California, Missouri, Maine, Michigan, North Carolina, Texas and Georgia.

16 May 2014

UnityPoint Health - Cedar Rapids selected to join Mayo Clinic Care Network

UnityPoint Health - Cedar Rapids is the first health care organization in Iowa to be selected to join the Mayo Clinic Care Network, a national network of like-minded organizations that share a commitment to better serving patients and their families.

16 May 2014

Viewpoints: GOP attacks on health law; challenging assumptions about Obamacare politics; is employer mandate worth it?

A crucial component of the Republican Party's assault on the Affordable Care Act always has been ignorance -- that is, the promotion of ignorance about the ACA's benefits among the general population. Now, from the consulting firm McKinsey & Co., comes hard evidence that the campaign worked, bigtime. In its latest national survey to determine how the healthcare reform act has been working, McKinsey found that the perceived cost of health insurance still was the No. 1 reason given by respondents for not enrolling (Michael Hiltzik, 5/14).

16 May 2014

Three large health plans join forces to advance health care price transparency

A partnership was announced Wednesday between insurers UnitedHealthcare, Aetna and Humana and the Health Care Cost Institute to create a payment database that will be available at no cost to the public.

16 May 2014

Physician partner allows doctors to focus more on patients

Primary care physicians already have enough administrative duties on their plates, and the implementation of electronic medical records has only added to their burden. As a result, they have less time to spend with their patients.

16 May 2014

Lung cancer screening guidelines could cost Medicare billions

A study of Medicare beneficiaries with a history of heavy smoking found that new lung cancer screening guidelines would likely double the proportion of lung cancers found at an early stage, but at a steep cost of more than $9 billion over five years.

16 May 2014

Investigators find rise in overall e-cigarette awareness, but not decline in perceived safety of devices

E-cigarettes are gaining mainstream attention as a competitor to traditional cigarettes. Researchers from the University of Pennsylvania and the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign wanted to examine changes in e-cigarette awareness, how harmful people believe them to be, and if those attitudes have any connection to smoking cessation attempts.

16 May 2014

Fathers who work in engineering are two times as likely to have child with ASD

Children of fathers who are in technical occupations are more likely to have an autism spectrum disorder, according to researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth).

16 May 2014

Research: Single episode of binge drinking can have negative health effects

It only takes one time. That's the message of a new study by scientists at the University of Massachusetts Medical School on binge drinking. Their research found that a single episode of binge drinking can have significant negative health effects resulting in bacteria leaking from the gut, leading to increased levels of toxins in the blood.

16 May 2014

Oregon confronts new costs, deadlines in switch to federal exchange

In addition, allegations are emerging about the Wentzville, Mo., processing center that handled paper applications for new health law insurance coverage.

16 May 2014

CRHC launches Health Awareness for Rural Communities Data Bank

The Colorado Rural Health Center has launched the Health Awareness for Rural Communities (HARC) Data Bank, which enhances access to streamlined data sharing and collaboration for rural healthcare providers, communities and other interested stakeholders.

16 May 2014