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NCCN announces new guidelines for patients with pancreatic Cancer

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN), with the support of the Pancreatic Cancer Action Network, announces the latest addition to the library of NCCN Guidelines for PatientsTM, patient-friendly translations of the NCCN Clinical Practice Guidelines in Oncology.

30 Aug 2012

Novant Health reaches new contract agreement with Aetna

Aetna and Novant Health announced that they have reached agreement on a multi-year contract that ensures Novant's continued participation in the Aetna network. Physicians and facilities affiliated with Novant Health will continue their participation without interruption.

30 Aug 2012

UNICEF official calls for increased investment in child mortality to achieve MDGs; New U.N. estimates due next month

Mickey Chopra, chief health officer at UNICEF, has called for increased investment in reducing child mortality, the Guardian reports, writing Chopra "said investment now would lead to massive strides in meeting the Millennium Development Goals [MDGs] of reducing maternal deaths by three-quarters (MDG4) and the deaths of children under five by two-thirds (MDG5), both by 2015."

30 Aug 2012

Jobless working-age people with diabetes less likely to adhere to their medications

If you're diabetic or prone to diabetes, having a steady job appears to be good for your health, and not just because of the insurance coverage.

30 Aug 2012

ALK signs agreement to supply PRE-PEN to HealthTrust member facilities

ALK is pleased to announce that it has signed an agreement with HealthTrust Purchasing Group, LP to supply PRE-PEN (benzylpenicilloyl polylysine injection USP) the only FDA approved skin test for the diagnosis of penicillin allergy, to HealthTrust member facilities, including 1,400 acute care facilities, 10,600 ambulatory surgery centers, physician practices and alternate care sites.

30 Aug 2012

Roundup: Calif. Gov. Brown's pension plan silent on current workers' health care; Psychologists want power to prescribe drugs

Gov. Jerry Brown announced a new plan Tuesday to rein in public pension costs that would raise the retirement age, cap benefits for the highest-paid employees and eliminate "spiking" -- but lacks key parts of the bolder system overhaul he proposed months ago and would even increase some payouts. ... The plan also does not address skyrocketing health care costs for retirees, another main element of the governor's first scenario. Hundreds of thousands of government workers have been promised medical coverage for life.

30 Aug 2012

Obama clings to narrow lead in new polls

But recent surveys also indicate that despite speculation that Medicare policies may cause seniors to rebuff the Republican party, GOP presumptive nominee Mitt Romney continues to find strong support among this population.

29 Aug 2012

Consumers, employers reconsider insurance costs

Individuals and businesses are weighing the pros and cons of buying health coverage as a result of the advent of high-deductible policies, as well as the provisions of the health law set to take effect in 2014.

29 Aug 2012

Bill Gates reflects on Angola's success against polio

In this post in the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation's "Impatient Optimists" blog, Bill Gates, co-chair of the foundation, reflects on Angola's success against polio, writing, "Angola marked a full year without a new case of polio" this month, an accomplishment that serves as "the latest evidence that we are extremely close to ending polio forever."

29 Aug 2012

Washington Post examines Guinea worm eradication efforts

The Washington Post examines global efforts to eradicate Guinea worm disease, writing, "The parasitic infection which has sickened millions, mostly in Asia and Africa, is on the verge of being done in not by sophisticated medicine but by aggressive public health efforts in some of the poorest and most remote parts of the world."

29 Aug 2012

Feds push Maryland to think big on health cost control

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jay Hancock, working in collaboration with Politico, reports: "If quiet negotiations between policymakers and industry bear fruit, Maryland could join the short list of states attempting to go far beyond the Affordable Care Act in improving health and limiting spending."

29 Aug 2012

Insuring your health: Health law has gaps in men's care

In her latest Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "The federal health care overhaul greatly expanded women's access to free preventive services, particularly for sexual and reproductive health. Men didn't fare nearly as well."

29 Aug 2012

UMHS, MidMichigan Health announce plans to affiliate as clinical and business partners

MidMichigan Health and the University of Michigan Health System have announced plans to affiliate as clinical and business partners.

29 Aug 2012

As GOP convention picks up, health issues draw attention

News outlets report on how the most conservative Republicans are uniting around Mitt Romney, even as he appears more open to embracing the Massachusetts health law he signed while that state's governor.

29 Aug 2012

Capsules: Vermont goes for gold (silver, bronze and platinum, too)

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Vermont Public Radio's Bob Kinzel, working in partnership with KHN and NPR, reports: Vermont is the only state in the nation on a path to a single payer health system.

29 Aug 2012

Johns Hopkins' Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality receives Moore Foundation grant

Johns Hopkins' Armstrong Institute for Patient Safety and Quality has received an $8.9 million grant from the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the first award given as part of an ambitious new $500 million, 10-year program designed to eliminate all preventable harms that patients experience in the hospital.

29 Aug 2012

Exchange planning takes hold in states -- each with different flavor

Vermont, the District of Columbia and Connecticut are among those planning health law-mandated marketplaces where consumers and small businesses can buy insurance -- each with its own twist.

29 Aug 2012

HealthPartners receives Acclaim Award from American Medical Group Association

The American Medical Group Association (AMGA) today announced that the recipient of the 2012 AMGA Acclaim Award is HealthPartners for "Triple Aim 2.0: Designing Culture to Support Better Health, Better Experience at a Lower Cost," an inventive and patient-centered approach to align the Institute of Medicine's Aims to identify and drive performance improvement, innovation, and culture throughout the organization.

29 Aug 2012

Boehner predicts GOP victory, but not a mandate to overhaul Medicare

At a lunch with reporters, Mr. Boehner said that the nation's dire fiscal position, driven by health care spending, would confront Washington next year "regardless of who wins the election." But he was cautious about predicting a mandate for the House Republican plan to end the government guarantee for Medicare, replacing the program with fixed contributions that older Americans would use to buy private health insurance or pay into the government plan.

29 Aug 2012

New treatment for severe dry eye is now available at U-M’s Kellogg

A new treatment available at the University of Michigan Kellogg Eye Center—prosthetic replacement of the ocular surface ecosystem or PROSE—provides relief to patients who suffer from severe dry eye, often the result of cancer or complex corneal disease.

29 Aug 2012