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Current policies for small businesses, individuals may not meet health law standards

Many people who buy their own health insurance could get surprises in the mail this fall: cancellation notices because their current policies aren't up to the basic standards of President Barack Obama's health care law. They, and some small businesses, will have to find replacement plans - and that has some state insurance officials worried about consumer confusion (Alonso-Zaldivar, 5/29).

31 May 2013

Apnix Sleep Diagnostics updates comprehensive sleep apnea treatments

Apnix Sleep Diagnostics has recently updated its comprehensive sleep apnea treatments, and is eager to serve more Houston sufferers of this condition.

31 May 2013

GE Healthcare receives FDA clearance for Brivo Plus C-arm

GE Healthcare announced today FDA 510(k) clearance of its latest Brivo Plus C-arm, now available in the US. With legacy OEC image quality and ease-of-use, the affordability and reliability of this new Brivo C-arm will offer a high quality, affordable option for basic surgical imaging.

31 May 2013

Catamaran achieves five-star medication safety ratings

Catamaran Corp., a leading provider of pharmacy benefit management services and technology, today announced it has received a 2013 PQA Quality Award recognizing its five-star rating on all PQA measures in the Part D Star Ratings program.

30 May 2013

First Edition: May 30, 2013

Today's early morning highlights from the major news organizations include stories about a new study on immigrants' financial impact on the Medicare program and a new federal regulation on wellness programs.

30 May 2013

Study finds rise in accidental marijuana ingestion by children in Colo.

The report in JAMA Pediatrics looked at children who accidentally ate marijuana and needed emergency treatment.

30 May 2013

States deal with hospitals' structural, financial issues

Hospitals in the District of Columbia, New York and Louisiana deal with "structural challenges," cost-sharing and other funding issues.

30 May 2013

Thousands of veterans affected by states' rejection of Medicaid expansion

An estimated quarter-million former service members would have been eligible for health coverage under the joint state-federal program but their states have opted not to participate in the expansion envisioned by the federal health law. Meanwhile in Iowa, hospitals were helpful in forging a compromise on the issue.

30 May 2013

New study finds growing disparities in health behaviors among less-educated white women

Less-educated white women were increasingly more likely to die than their better-educated peers from the mid-1990s through the mid-2000s, according to a new study, which found that growing disparities in economic circumstances and health behaviors-particularly employment status and smoking habits-across education levels accounted for an important part of the widening mortality gap.

30 May 2013

Schwartz Center Rounds to create compassionate healthcare system in England

Schwartz Center Rounds-, a program that helps healthcare providers process the difficult emotional and social issues they face in caring for patients and their families, has become a central part of England's strategy to create a more compassionate healthcare system.

30 May 2013

In declining to hear Indiana case, Supreme Court supports Medicaid funds for planned parenthood

The high court let stand a lower court ruling rejecting an Indiana law that would have banned Planned Parenthood from receiving any Medicaid funds.

30 May 2013

Scientists report that human scabs have become model for advanced wound dressing material

Human scabs have become the model for development of an advanced wound dressing material that shows promise for speeding the healing process, scientists are reporting. Their study appears in the journal ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

30 May 2013

Calif. docs worry state psych hospital staffing shortage could harm care

Some California doctors worry staffing shortages at state psychiatric hospitals are harming patient care.

30 May 2013

Viewpoints: Medical professionals and near misses; Two tea partiers diverge on Medicaid expansion; Obamacare's 'death by a thousand cuts'

A near miss, like any error, is an opportunity to examine how mistakes are made and what changes might prevent them. Yet we have no idea how many near misses there are. Many experts feel that near-miss errors dwarf the number of known errors, a number that is already too high for comfort. (According to a 2006 report, medication errors alone injure an estimated 1.5 million patients a year.) But the instinct for most medical professionals is to keep these shameful mistakes to ourselves (Danielle Ofri, 5/28).

30 May 2013

Disabled Medicare patients with CRN more likely to have at least one ER visit, study finds

Disabled Medicare patients under the age of 65 who don't take their prescription medications because of cost concerns are more likely to have at least one emergency department visit during a one-year period.

30 May 2013

Researchers examine quality of information given by sales reps when promoting drugs to physicians

Dr. Genevi-ve Durrieu (from the Pharmaco-epidemiology team assessing the use of medication and the risks involved, Unit 1027 "Epidemiology and public health analyses: risks, chronic diseases and handicaps" - Inserm / Universit- Toulouse III - Paul Sabatier) led the French part of this study, the results of which are published in the Journal of General Internal Medicine. Within the framework of this international study, is France proving to be a model student?

30 May 2013

Study details Medicare spending variations

The analysis finds health differences explain as much as 85 percent of cost variations around the country.

30 May 2013

New article reports on global burden of oral conditions

Today, the International and American Associations for Dental Research published a paper titled "Global Burden of Oral Conditions in 1990-2010: A Systemic Analysis." The paper, written by lead author Wagner Marcenes, Queen Mary University, London, is published in the IADR/AADR Journal of Dental Research.

30 May 2013

State-by-state analysis warns of looming health care crisis

The report examines the rising number of seniors and growing rates of chronic diseases such as obesity and diabetes.

30 May 2013

Injectable drugs used in TPN to be imported into US, says FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced today that injectable drugs used in total parenteral nutrition in critical shortage will be imported into the United States and available to patients this week.

30 May 2013