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ICU patients less likely to renew prescriptions for chronic diseases after discharge

Patients often do not renew prescriptions for their chronic diseases after they are released from hospital.

25 Aug 2011

Cone Health uses Xenex room disinfection systems to reduce HAI rates and costs

Cone Health today announced a dramatic reduction in healthcare-acquired infection (HAIs) rates after implementing an infection prevention program which includes Xenex room disinfection systems.

25 Aug 2011

New benchmarks may highlight opportunities for care improvement in the ICUs

New nationwide benchmarks representing current critical care practices for ICUs may highlight opportunities for care improvement.

25 Aug 2011

Foreign drug manufacturing, testing raise regulatory and ethical concerns

JAMA discusses "a recent report from the Pew Health Group about the growing risks of substandard and counterfeit medications resulting from the increasing overseas production of pharmaceuticals and their ingredients."

25 Aug 2011

Tel Aviv University researcher finds already-medicated patients transmit HIV virus to others

Since HIV infection rates began to rise again around 2000, researchers have been grasping for answers on what could be causing this change, especially in the homosexual community.

25 Aug 2011

U.N. summit on NCDs 'is a battleground' of private versus public interests

David Stuckler of the University of Cambridge, Sanjay Basu of the University of California, San Francisco, and Martin McKee of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, write in a BMJ commentary that misconceptions and fallacies "have led to serious under-budgeting for non-communicable diseases".

25 Aug 2011

On health exchanges, states may get a second chance to create their own

So far, 11 states have accepted federal money to set up their own state-run insurance exchange. Meanwhile, the Basic Health Program, another health law initiative, is drawing attention.

25 Aug 2011

Hearing dietary advice twice is enough for patients to get benefits of lower cholesterol

Hearing dietary advice twice is enough for patients to get the significant benefits of lower cholesterol, according to a new study led by doctors at St. Michael's Hospital and the University of Toronto.

25 Aug 2011

HHS sponsors contest to develop public health emergency Facebook application

The HHS Office of the Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response is trying to harness the power of social media to respond to public health emergencies through a contest, titled "Lifeline Facebook Application Challenge," that asks application developers to "provide actionable steps for Facebook users to increase their own personal preparedness and strengthen connections within their social networks for the sake of personal preparedness and community resilience," Kaiser Health News reports.

25 Aug 2011

Crime and violence overshadowing malnutrition in Guatemalan presidential campaign

"Malnutrition, one of the leading killers of children under five in the Central American nation of Guatemala, is receiving scant attention on the campaign trail" ahead of the country's presidential elections scheduled for September, AlertNet reports.

25 Aug 2011

Scented air wafting from laundry vents emits hazardous chemicals

The same University of Washington researcher who used chemical sleuthing to deduce what's in fragranced consumer products now has turned her attention to the scented air wafting from household laundry vents.

25 Aug 2011

Support for Dems' health law draws early attacks in Wisc. Senate race

In other news related to health reform politics, a coalition of health insurers and small businesses is launching a new assault on the law.

25 Aug 2011

Some fear industry interests are stalling negotiations on U.N. NCD summit, BMJ reports

"In the run up to the U.N. summit on non-communicable diseases (NCDs), there are fears that industry interests might be trumping evidence-based public health interventions," BMJ reports.

25 Aug 2011

Implementation of maternal and child health innovations important

In a Huffington Post opinion piece, USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah writes about the Saving Lives at Birth: A Grand Challenge in Development competition, which "called for groundbreaking prevention and treatment approaches for pregnant mothers and newborns around the time of birth in rural settings."

25 Aug 2011

Medicare tests bundled payment structure in hopes of saving money

Ultimately, Medicare officials hope that bundling payments to hospitals, doctors and even post-hospital caregivers will lead to increases in cost-effective care.

25 Aug 2011

HHS selects Mayo Clinic physician to chair advisory council on Alzheimer's

Ronald Petersen, M.D., Cadieux Director of the Mayo Alzheimer's Disease Research Center and the Mayo Clinic Study of Aging, was selected to chair the Advisory Council on Alzheimer's Research, Care, and Services. The group was announced by Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius.

25 Aug 2011

Commonwealth study: Unemployed skipping important medical services, highlighting importance of COBRA coverage

The Commonwealth Fund is out Wednesday with a report that shows the unemployed are skipping out on important medical services and recommends Congress extend COBRA subsidies through 2014. The study found that 72 percent of people who have lost their employer health insurance didn't fill prescriptions, get recommended tests or see a doctor because of the high cost barrier.

25 Aug 2011

NNU Director named one of the '100 Most Influential People in Healthcare'

For the tenth straight year, National Nurses United Executive Director Rose Ann DeMoro has won national recognition from a major healthcare industry publication as one of the "100 Most Influential People in Healthcare" which was announced this week.

25 Aug 2011

IRIN reports on HIV-positive Kenyans' struggle to reach food aid

IRIN reports on the difficulties some people living with HIV in Kenya face in accessing food. "Partly because of a prolonged dry spell, some 3.6 million Kenyans need emergency food assistance," and, while there is food aid available in Kenya, poor roads prevent the aid from reaching some villages, according to IRIN.

25 Aug 2011

Insurer continues challenge to its exclusion from La. Medicaid program

A major insurance firm is continuing to protest its exclusion from the state's planned $2.2 billion privatization of coverage for more than 800,000 of the state 1.2 million Medicaid enrollees.

25 Aug 2011