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Capsules: Study: Privately insured kids get more care in ED

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Jenny Gold writes: "Insurance coverage may play a major role in the kind of care a patient receives, according to a study published in the most recent edition of The Journal of Pediatrics."

11 May 2012

Government investigators pinpoint $5.6 billion in 'suspect' Medicare billings from pharmacies

This report from the Health and Human Services inspector general concluded that corner drugstores are vulnerable to fraud.

11 May 2012

Iowa legislature approves revamping state mental health system; Texas officials spotlight gaps

The Iowa plan had been held up by funding concerns. In other news on mental health issues, North Carolina is also weighing major changes in its system.

11 May 2012

Female Presidents of Liberia, Malawi pledge to address gender equality, improve women's health

"The only two female heads of state in Africa, Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf and Malawian President Joyce Banda, have just committed to using their positions to improve the lives of women across the continent," Inter Press Service reports.

11 May 2012

Education the most important factor in reducing maternal deaths

A scientific analysis of 50 years of maternal mortality data from Chile has found that the most important factor in reducing maternal mortality is the educational level of women. "

11 May 2012

EO2 Concepts added to Marathon Medical's FSS contract

Electrochemical Oxygen Concepts, the developer of a unique and innovative chronic wound treatment device, announced it has been added to Marathon Medical's existing Federal Supply Schedule (FSS) contract, administered by The Department of Veterans Affairs.

11 May 2012

Efforts to stem childhood mortality in Ghana will not be enough to reach MDG, UNICEF official says

Anirban Chatterjee, chief of health and nutrition for UNICEF in Ghana, said the country "is doing a lot" to fight child mortality -- referring to a recently launched vaccination campaign and an initiative to educate mothers about nutrition -- but "I don't think it's enough" to reach the fourth U.N. Millennium Development Goal (MDG) to reduce the under-five mortality rate by two thirds by 2015, Inter Press Service reports.

11 May 2012

Review finds 74% decline in annual ICU admissions for asthma

A review of 30 years of life-threatening asthma cases in a San Antonio intensive care unit found that annual ICU admissions for the condition have dropped 74 percent. The study, by UT Medicine San Antonio physicians who reviewed cases at University Hospital between 1980 and 2010, also showed intubation in the emergency department to help patients breathe did not result in longer hospital stays.

11 May 2012

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

At 30, Suzette Armijo cares for her widowed 86-year-old grandmother, a retired National Park Service ranger in the final stages of Alzheimer's disease, while holding down a fulltime job, a part-time job and raising a 4-year-old son. "This was nothing that I had planned for," says Armijo, who moved her grandmother Elizabeth Armijo into a nearby six-bed assisted living home because veterans' benefits "wouldn't pay for her to live with me."

11 May 2012

Young adults increase their risk of skin cancer with sunburns

Young adults are increasing their risk for developing skin cancer, according to two studies by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and the National Cancer Institute.

11 May 2012

Children with private, public and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in ED

In 2009, children with public insurance were three times more likely and children with no insurance were eleven time more likely not to have a primary care physician, compared with children with private insurance. Without a primary care physician, the Emergency Department (ED) often becomes the primary point of contact for treatments and diagnoses. A new study scheduled for publication in The Journal of Pediatrics reports that children with private, public, and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in EDs.

11 May 2012

Government, development sector leaders should turn to Bangladesh program for solutions to avoidable childhood death

For solutions to help end avoidable child deaths, "government and development sector leaders should heed the lessons of a massive-yet-innovative program" in Bangladesh, called SHOUHARDO, a Bangla word for "friendship," "that is not only helping children ... reach their fifth birthdays but also ensuring they grow healthier, and in many cases, taller," Faheem Khan of CARE Bangladesh, who heads the SHOUHARDO program, writes in this Christian Science Monitor opinion piece.

11 May 2012

ACS editorial calls for systematic approach to increase cancer screening participation

An editorial by Marcus Plescia, MD, MPH, director of the Division of Cancer Prevention and Control at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), calls for a more organized and comprehensive approach to increase cancer screening participation among those who are insured or are likely to become insured through the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

10 May 2012

Mass. Senate to release plan to revamp health payments

The proposal, which will be formally unveiled today, follows suggested blueprints from the governor and the House on cutting the growth rate of health care costs.

10 May 2012

Senate embroiled in partisan struggle over student loan rates

At issue is how to pay for an extension of the current interest rate. Democrats propose increasing the Social Security and Medicare payroll taxes on high-earning stockholders of some privately owned corporations. Republicans would like to take funds from the health law's prevention fund.

10 May 2012

Increased investment in nurses will help strengthen health systems worldwide

"It is in poor countries and communities, where health needs are greatest and physicians are scarce, that nurses take an even greater role in health care delivery, often serving as the sole providers in rural villages or urban slums," Sheila Davis, director of global nursing at Partners In Health, writes in a Huffington Post "Impact Blog" opinion piece, noting this is International Nurses Week.

10 May 2012

McDonald’s introduces “healthy” fruit drink for kids – but experts say it contains too much sugar

McDonald’s is all set to introduce a ‘healthy’ fizzy drink for children that promises one of their five-a-day portions of fruit and vegetables. However the drink is packed with sugar and calories.

10 May 2012

Globe and Mail examines sustainability of Sierra Leone's free health care system

The Globe and Mail examines the sustainability of Sierra Leone's free health care system, writing, "The reform has been hugely successful and the death rate has dropped sharply. ... But the country's hospitals are overwhelmed with new patients, the drug supply can't keep up, the medical staff are overloaded, and it's unclear if the $36-million program would survive without foreign donations."

10 May 2012

Obesity report proposes sweeping changes in schools, communities, workplaces

The Institute of Medicine panel recommended five critical areas to focus on to lower obesity: physical activity, food and beverage, marketing, work and schools.

10 May 2012

Misdiagnosis of MS more common than previously thought

It is relatively common for doctors to diagnose someone with multiple sclerosis when the patient doesn't have the disease - a misdiagnosis that not only causes patients potential harm but costs the U.S. health care system untold millions of dollars a year, according to a study published online today in the journal Neurology.

10 May 2012

Healthcare News

Capsules: Study: Privately insured kids get more care in ED

Government investigators pinpoint $5.6 billion in 'suspect' Medicare billings from pharmacies

Iowa legislature approves revamping state mental health system; Texas officials spotlight gaps

Female Presidents of Liberia, Malawi pledge to address gender equality, improve women's health

Education the most important factor in reducing maternal deaths

EO2 Concepts added to Marathon Medical's FSS contract

Efforts to stem childhood mortality in Ghana will not be enough to reach MDG, UNICEF official says

Review finds 74% decline in annual ICU admissions for asthma

Longer looks: More 20-30 somethings are taking care of elderly, dissecting solutions to obesity problem

Young adults increase their risk of skin cancer with sunburns

Children with private, public and no insurance may receive differing levels of treatment in ED

Government, development sector leaders should turn to Bangladesh program for solutions to avoidable childhood death

ACS editorial calls for systematic approach to increase cancer screening participation

Mass. Senate to release plan to revamp health payments

Senate embroiled in partisan struggle over student loan rates

Increased investment in nurses will help strengthen health systems worldwide

McDonald’s introduces “healthy” fruit drink for kids – but experts say it contains too much sugar

Globe and Mail examines sustainability of Sierra Leone's free health care system

Obesity report proposes sweeping changes in schools, communities, workplaces

Misdiagnosis of MS more common than previously thought

Directed enzyme evolution and the Nobel Prize: Making enzymes evolve in the lab

Advancing Motor Neuron Disease Diagnosis with Non-Invasive Ultrasound and AI

How agentic AI is reshaping laboratory workflows

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