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Troubled effort to devise new cholesterol guidelines

The New York Times explores what went wrong as a group of doctors struggled to find common ground on how heart issues should be treated. Other stories also look at consumer frustration about a landmark settlement on hip implants and concerns being reviewed by the FDA about emergency contraceptive pills.

27 Nov 2013

Health policy researcher calls for orthopaedic surgeons to implement principles of value-based healthcare

Healthcare expenditures currently account for 18% of the United States Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Some experts have suggested that an emphasis on value may be an effective strategy to evaluate healthcare costs.

27 Nov 2013

OPOs’ efforts to enforce FPA is inconsistent and incomplete, shows study

All 50 states and the District of Columbia have adopted the 2006 Revised Uniform Anatomical Gift Act (UAGA) or enacted similar legislation giving individuals the "First Person Authorization" (FPA) to consent to organ donation after death via a signed donor card or driver's license, or by enrollment in a donor registry.

27 Nov 2013

Health insurance coverage does not increase risky behavior

People with health insurance are more likely to use preventive services such as flu shots and health screenings to reduce their risk of serious illness, but they are no more likely than people without health insurance to engage in risky health behaviors such as smoking or gaining weight, researchers at UC Davis and University of Rochester have found.

27 Nov 2013

Tactics to sell the health law: Moms and local news

he administration, as well as insurers and advocacy groups, will rely on several tactics to sell the public on the health law, appealing to mothers to recruit their adult children and seeking positive news coverage from local, rather than national, media.

27 Nov 2013

UCLA study shows nearly 70% of Latino children, eat fast food regularly

A surprisingly large percentage of very young children in California, including 70 percent of Latino children, eat fast food regularly, according to a new policy brief by the UCLA Center for Health Policy Research.

27 Nov 2013

Supreme Court mulls taking health law contraception case

The justices could announce as early as Tuesday whether they will review provisions in the Affordable Care Act requiring employers of a certain size to offer insurance coverage for birth control and other reproductive health services without a co-pay. The owners of more than three dozen for-profit companies have argued that complying with that provision would violate their religious beliefs.

27 Nov 2013

New $3.7M project to help people with disabilities take full advantage of online resources

The U.S. Department of Education is sponsoring a five-year, $3.7 million project led by Carnegie Mellon University to develop methods that enable people with disabilities to take full advantage of the resources available on the Internet. The Disability Rehabilitation Research Project on Inclusive Cloud and Web Computing includes researchers at Syracuse University and the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

27 Nov 2013

Treatments based on behavioral or non-invasive physiological stimulation show greatest potential

Because the concept of permanent neurological injury has given way to recognition of the brain's potential for long-term regeneration ad reorganization, rehabilitations strategies are undergoing radical changes. The potential for five new translational interventions was examined in an article published ahead of print on November 13 by Neurology Clinical Practice: Barrett AM, Oh-Park M, Chen P, Ifejika NL: Five New Things in Neurorehabilitation.

27 Nov 2013

Viewpoints: Local political fallout from Obama insurance pledge; 'debunking' sob story; is single payer still a possibility?

Democratic state leaders have been some of ObamaCare's strongest advocates. To show his gratitude, President Obama is sticking them with political responsibility for the millions of insurance policies that are being cancelled because they don't comply with the law's minimum-benefits mandates. ... Renewing lapsed policies could weaken the state exchanges as healthy young people will want to keep their discontinued, lower-cost plans ... there are other political considerations. Namely, the criticism they'll face from both the right and left if they don't back the president's directive to allow policy renewals (Allysia Finley, 11/25).

27 Nov 2013

Fox Chase Cancer Center receives Magnet designation for excellence in nursing services

Fox Chase Cancer Center, the first acute care hospital in Pennsylvania and specialty hospital in the country to receive Magnet designation for excellence in nursing services by the American Nurses Credentialing Center's Magnet Recognition Program-, has been designated with this prestigious recognition for the fourth time in a row-now making it the first hospital in Pennsylvania to have achieved three successful re-designations.

27 Nov 2013

H1N1 virus killed more people globally than originally believed, confirms study

A research team consisting of more than 60 collaborators in 26 countries has estimated the global death toll from the 2009 outbreak of the H1N1 virus to be 10 times higher than the World Health Organization's count, which was based on laboratory-confirmed cases of this flu. The study, which appears online in PLOS Medicine, suggests that the pandemic virus caused up to 203,000 respiratory deaths around the world.

27 Nov 2013

Alcohol use disorders contribute more significantly to disease burden

Disorders related to the abuse of alcohol contribute significantly to the burden of disease in the U.S., finds a new study in Alcoholism: Clinical and Experimental Research. Researchers estimated that in 2005, about 53,000 men and 12,000 women died from issues related to alcohol use disorders.

27 Nov 2013

Miami-area seniors get 'white-glove' treatment from private plans

The Miami Herald reports that seniors in southern Florida have benefited from the highly lucrative and super competitive world of privately managed Medicare Advantage plans

27 Nov 2013

Customized palliative care can reduce health care costs, improve care for high-risk geriatric patients

For high-risk geriatric patients, improved palliative care that is matched to their changing needs at home can reduce emergency room visits, reduce health care costs, and improve overall care. Current gaps in policy and practice that block implementation of these beneficial customized care models are presented in the article "Research Priorities in Geriatric Palliative Care: Policy Initiatives," published in Journal of Palliative Medicine, a peer-reviewed journal from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., publishers.

27 Nov 2013

Health law coverage bringing changes to an array of consumers

News outlets explore some of these issues, including new costs for people with "Cadillac" coverage, "narrow networks" of doctors and other health providers, new options for part-time workers and unexpected effects on smokers.

27 Nov 2013

Medicaid expansion: Florida stalls; Ohio lawsuits; Kansas hospitals weigh in

States dominated by Republican governors and legislatures continue to wrestle with decisions about expanding Medicaid to poor people who don't currently qualify.

27 Nov 2013

Survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplant benefit from expressive helping

A new study finds that survivors of hematopoietic stem cell transplant, an aggressive treatment for blood cancers, benefited from a two-part peer support process the authors call expressive helping.

27 Nov 2013

Medical advances, teaching hospital procedures inflate health care costs

Hospitals are examining "post-intensive-care syndrome" and other elements of their procedures to measure the impact on their bottom lines.

27 Nov 2013

FDA orders halt to marketing for DNA test kit

The agency says the tests haven't been proven effective. The Food and Drug Administration has ordered the maker of a popular genetic-testing kit to halt sales of its heavily marketed product, saying the mail-order tests haven't been proven effective and could dangerously mislead people about their health.

27 Nov 2013