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U.S. physicians to receive nearly $10M from Humana's Provider Quality Rewards Program

Humana Inc. has begun distributing nearly $10 million to physicians across the U.S. who participate in Humana's Provider Quality Rewards Program. Approximately 2,800 physician practices will receive payments of as much as $175,000 in recognition of performance improvements their practices made during 2010 related to improved outcomes for Humana's Medicare members.

21 Jul 2011

U.N. declares famine in two regions of Somalia; U.S. pledges $28M in additional aid

Speaking in Nairobi on Wednesday, Mark Bowden, U.N. humanitarian coordinator for Somalia, said the U.N. had officially declared a famine in the southern Bakool and Lower Shabelle regions of Somalia, VOA News reports.

21 Jul 2011

Gates Foundation announces sanitation grants, calls for toilet innovation

The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced on Tuesday that it plans to invest millions of dollars in projects aimed at improving sanitation in the developing world, the Guardian reports.

21 Jul 2011

Anesthesiologists introduce Enhance Healthcare to provide peri-operative solutions

As more hospitals seek to align with physicians in response to health care reform, a pair of South Florida board-certified anesthesiologists has launched Enhance Healthcare, a national consulting practice that designs innovative peri-operative solutions for hospitals and anesthesiologists.

21 Jul 2011

New public opinion polls highlight debt-ceiling concerns, attitude shifts

The Wall Street Journal reports on a "dramatic shift in attitudes" as the majority of those polled support President Barack Obama's 10-year plan, which includes federal spending reductions that would touch Medicare and other entitlement programs.

21 Jul 2011

Conn., Calif. facing adult day care, respite center closures

Facing enormous budget constraints, lawmakers in California have sought to find a way to keep day-care services for adults to help keep them out of nursing homes. Conn. residents face a similar situation because the state is slated to close respite centers that help families get a break from caregiving.

21 Jul 2011

RCSI introduces 30 minute magazine style surgical podcast

The Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (RCSI) has launched 'Surgery Now', a magazine style surgical podcast which allows surgeons to easily access the latest information about clinical practice and surgical technology at the touch of a button.

21 Jul 2011

21 State AGs support Mo. Lt. Governor's health law challenge

Meanwhile, an appropriations bill has stalled because of jurisdictional turf issues regarding a provision that would prohibit federal funds from being used to implement the health law.

21 Jul 2011

HQCA recruits volunteers for provincial advisory panel to promote patient/family safety

The Health Quality Council of Alberta (HQCA) is recruiting volunteers to serve on a new provincial advisory panel to leverage the experiences and perspectives of patients and their families to improve and promote safety in Alberta's health system.

21 Jul 2011

Study finds 37% of Michigan's seniors struggling to meet basic living expenses

Michigan's older adults are more likely to be poor and at greater risk of not being able to afford their basic living expenses than U.S. Census data indicate. According to a recent analysis by the Wayne State University Institute of Gerontology's Seniors Count! project, 37 percent of Michigan's seniors are living at or below a level of basic economic security.

21 Jul 2011

Kuroiler chicken can play a key role in fighting poverty, nutritional stress

In the fight to improve global health, alleviate hunger, raise living standards and empower women in the developing world, chickens have an important role to play.

21 Jul 2011

Obama backs 'Gang of Six' plan that includes Medicare cuts

The Senate's "Gang of Six" unveiled its 10-year, $3.7 trillion deficit reduction plan Tuesday and received a warm, bipartisan reception in the upper chamber. Meanwhile, in the House, GOP lawmakers, in a largely symbolic vote, passed their "cut, cap and balance" measure, which the White House has called "unacceptable."

21 Jul 2011

Summer heat prompts SCAN to issue dehydration warning for seniors

Seniors are six times more likely to be admitted to the hospital due to dehydration than adults ages 45-64. Prompted by the summer heat, SCAN Health Plan Arizona is issuing a warning to seniors to stay hydrated and know the signs of dehydration.

21 Jul 2011

AP examines U.S. focus on branding aid to Pakistan

The Associated Press examines recent U.S. efforts to more clearly brand aid to Pakistan.

21 Jul 2011

Proposed Medicaid cuts draw warnings, unexpected requests

As debt talks proceed, the request by California Governor Jerry Brown, a liberal Democrat, to cut Medicaid spending by 10 percent, is reportedly awkward for congressional Democrats and the White House. Meanwhile, some advocates warn that Latinos will be hit hard by proposals to cut the health insurance program for the poor.

21 Jul 2011

French scientists publish paper on guidelines for drinking and relation of alcohol to cancer

A group of French scientists have published a paper in the Canadian Medical Association Journal (CMAJ) on guidelines for drinking and the relation of alcohol to cancer.

21 Jul 2011

Global polio eradication efforts unlikely to meet 2012 goal, health experts say

An independent group of health experts, formed last year at the request of the WHO, on Wednesday warned that the world is not on track to eradicate polio by the end of 2012, the Associated Press reports.

21 Jul 2011

British PM Cameron should keep development aid pledge

The Millennium Development Goals program "looked for too quick a fix. Above all, it neglected the problem of fragile societies, putting the cart of poverty reduction, disease eradication and the like before the horse of good governance. And it failed to recognize that adding to the sum of resources in conflict-prone societies can have the effect of increasing internal conflicts rather than reducing them," a Guardian editorial states.

21 Jul 2011

Older Americans with low health literacy may face higher risk of death

Low health literacy in older Americans is linked to poorer health status and a higher risk of death, according to a new evidence review by researchers at RTI International-University of North Carolina Evidence-based Practice Center.

21 Jul 2011

IAS, UIPHP to launch VKC for injecting drug users living with HIV

As a part of its new initiative, Expanding Access to Opioid Substitution Therapy (OST) for People Who Inject Drugs in Eastern Europe and Central Asia (EECA), the International AIDS Society (IAS) will launch a Virtual Knowledge Centre (VKC) in partnership with the Ukrainian Institute on Public Health Policy.

21 Jul 2011