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Study assesses perceived impact of CMS payment policy on hospital infection prevention efforts

The 2008 decision by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) to cease additional reimbursement to hospitals for certain healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) has led to enhanced focus on infection prevention and changes in practice by front-line staff, according to a national survey of infection preventionists published in the May issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

2 May 2012

Painkillers create quandary for physicians

News outlets report on the hazards -- both in the ER and in maternity wards -- being brought about by painkiller use and abuse.

2 May 2012

Teleflex launches Hudson RCI Softech Plus to help clinicians

Teleflex Incorporated has announced the introduction of Hudson RCI Softech Plus, a line of oxygen cannulas designed to help clinicians improve patient comfort and reduce DEHP exposure.

2 May 2012

MD Anderson, UH Graduate College of Social Work announce new joint venture

The University of Houston (UH) will soon open its doors to the Center for Health Equity & Evaluation Research (CHEER), a new joint venture between the UH Graduate College of Social Work (GCSW) and the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center Division of Cancer Prevention and Population Sciences. CHEER will expand to conduct research at both MD Anderson and the newly opened center at UH GCSW.

2 May 2012

The skills of VA nurses under examination after patient deaths

Earlier this month, a broader review by the VA inspector general of 29 VA facilities found only half had adequately documented that their nurses had the needed skills. ... The April 20 IG report also noted that previous inspections had found nurse competency issues in "dialysis, mental health, long-term care, spinal cord injury, endoscopy procedure areas, the operating room and the cardiac catheterization laboratory and with reusable medical equipment.

2 May 2012

Judge halts Texas ban on Planned Parenthood funding

The federal judge prevented Texas from enforcing the law, which banned Planned Parenthood from the state's health care program for women, until the legal challenge is concluded.

2 May 2012

Massachusetts on edge of major health cost control effort

The next stage in the landmark 2006 health reform law is to scale back the growth in health care costs.

2 May 2012

House Republicans divided over how to 'replace' health law

Ask each of the 242 House Republicans what kind of health policy they'd like to enact instead of President Barack Obama's health care reform law and you might get 242 different answers. Even after three years of railing against Obama's plan, Republicans have coalesced around only a few basic tenets of health policy - let alone a full replacement plan.

2 May 2012

Calif. panel considers changes in dental program

As the state wrestles with budget problems, legislators consider how much coverage to give to children and adults.

2 May 2012

At-home caregiving comes with personal, financial costs

News outlets examine the costs of care-giving and a new initiative to help Medicaid enrollees stay at home rather than live in nursing homes.

2 May 2012

ASNTR honors UTMSH, MSU scientists with 2012 Sanberg awards

At the 19th Annual Conference of the American Society of Neural Therapy and Repair (ASNTR), held April 26 - 28 in Clearwater Beach, Florida, the ASNTR awarded The 2012 Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award for Brain Repair to Timothy J. Collier, PhD, professor of translational science and molecular medicine at Michigan State University and director of the Udall Center of Excellence in Parkinson's Disease Research at Michigan State University and the University of Cincinnati. ASNTR also presented The Molly and Bernard Sanberg Memorial Award to Sean I. Savitz, MD, associat

2 May 2012

Hospital billing collections company seeks dismissal of Minn. lawsuit

The Minn. state attorney general lodged a suit against Accretive Health arguing that it violated privacy laws when an employee lost a laptop computer with medical data of 23,500 patients. In addition, Accretive is also lashing out at publicity about its efforts to get hospital patients to pay their bills.

2 May 2012

May issue of WHO Bulletin available online

The May issue of the WHO Bulletin features an editorial on the establishment of an evidence base for e-health; a public health round-up;

2 May 2012

REACH Health launches enhanced telemedicine clinical platform

REACH Health, Inc., a leading provider of telemedicine technology solutions for health systems, today announced the launch of its enhanced telemedicine clinical platform, REACH Access.

2 May 2012

New studies restart debate about mammography for women in their 40s

Another study in today's news examines two eye drugs and finds they are comparable, a conclusion that could potentially save Medicare and other insurers millions of dollars.

2 May 2012

CNN reports on China's 'one-child policy,' implications for women

CNN reports on how "the issue of forced abortions -- and in some cases, forced sterilizations -- in China has seized the spotlight in recent days with news of escaped activist Chen Guangcheng," who "rose to fame in the late 1990s because of his advocacy for what he calls victims of abusive practices, such as forced abortions, by Chinese family planning officials." China's so-called "one-child policy has been blamed for abuses," the news service reports.

2 May 2012

HealthClips Rx patient education app now available in iTunes

Milner-Fenwick, Inc. and Preventice, Inc. announced today that the HealthClips Rx patient education app is now available in iTunes. To familiarize health care providers with this interactive patient education model, Milner-Fenwick and Preventice are offering a free, two-week trial to physicians and care providers.

2 May 2012

'Mandatory oversight' of potentially dangerous biological research will be necessary

"In the sobering annals of disaster prevention, genetic manipulation of the H5N1 influenza virus is looming as a seminal case," John Steinbruner, director of the Center for International Security Studies at the University of Maryland, writes in an opinion piece in The Hill's "Congress Blog," noting that two "laboratory experiments have rendered the highly virulent avian strain transmissible among ferrets, strongly suggesting that it would be transmissible among humans as well."

2 May 2012

Helping Babies Breathe initiative employs Global Development Alliance model

In a post on USAID's "IMPACTblog," Amanda Makulec of John Snow Inc. describes the Helping Babies Breathe (HBB) initiative, which was developed "to equip birth attendants in developing countries with the skills they need to successfully resuscitate babies born without the ability to breathe on their own."

2 May 2012

Copenhagen Consensus report argues for addressing chronic, NCDs in developing countries

In the second part of a series of Slate articles highlighting issues being examined by the Copenhagen Consensus Center, Bjorn Lomborg, director of the center, examines the global burden of non-communicable diseases, which "receive the smallest amount of donor assistance of all health conditions, having lost ground since 1990 relative to infectious diseases," he writes.

2 May 2012