Healthcare News

RSS

NIAID director Fauci discusses moving forward in AIDS fight

In this interview with GlobalPost's John Donnelly, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases at NIH, discusses "his perspective of the fight against AIDS at this moment, and how discoveries by scientists can now be best used."

1 Dec 2011

Improving RNs' work environments can promote high quality patient care

While nurse-to-patient ratios are widely recognized as an important factor in determining the quality of patient care, those ratios are not always easy to change without significant cost and investment of resources. What's more, the projected nursing shortage will make it even more difficult for hospitals to increase nurse staffing.

1 Dec 2011

CMS observers say Tavenner will bring changes in style not substance

Although she might not share outgoing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Chief Donald Berwick's "visionary zeal," she is expected to share in his agenda. And, House Majority Leader Eric Cantor terms her as "eminently qualified" to take on this role.

1 Dec 2011

Study finds unhealthy food environment in children's hospitals

Given the obesity epidemic among the nation's young, one would hope that children's hospitals would serve as a role model for healthy eating. But hospitals in California fall short, with only 7 percent of entrees classified as "healthy" according to a new study published in Academic Pediatrics.

1 Dec 2011

Lipitor going generic, Pfizer making deals to keep consumers

The popular cholesterol-lowering drug Lipitor goes off-patent today. Manufacturer Pfizer planned ahead, making agreements with some insurers to keep covering the drug.

1 Dec 2011

Inadequate mask and respirator use put health care workers at risk of 2009 H1N1 infection

Inadequate use of masks or respirators put health care workers at risk of 2009 H1N1 infection during the earliest stages of the 2009 pandemic in the U.S., according to a study published in the December issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society of Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

1 Dec 2011

IOMSN, AANN and ARN publish Nursing Management of the Patient with Multiple Sclerosis guideline

The American Association of Neuroscience Nurses (AANN), the Association for Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) and the International Organization of Multiple Sclerosis Nurses (IOMSN) are proud to announce the newest addition to the respected AANN Clinical Practice Guideline series, Nursing Management of the Patient with Multiple Sclerosis.

1 Dec 2011

Xinhua examines HIV/AIDS in China

Xinhua posted several articles examining HIV/AIDS in China. The first looks at HIV/AIDS among the general population. The article notes that 346,000 people are living with HIV in China, and the "number is predicted to hit 780,000 by the end of 2011, according to an expert panel ... consisting of members from China's Ministry of Health (MOH), the World Health Organization and UNAIDS," the MOH reported in a statement released on Tuesday.

1 Dec 2011

Increased screening for mental health, substance abuse may help identify women at risk of suicide

Increased screening of pregnant women and new mothers for major depression and conflicts with intimate partners may help identify women at risk for suicide, a University of Michigan Health System-led analysis of federal data concludes.

1 Dec 2011

Prioritizing HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment

In his ForeignPolicy.com column, Charles Kenny, a senior fellow at the Center for Global Development and a Schwartz fellow at the New America Foundation, writes that despite an "abundance of tools to fight the global AIDS epidemic," including male circumcision and treatment as prevention, "the breakthroughs don't amount to a global reprieve."

1 Dec 2011

PTSD caseload strains military health care resources

USA Today reports that a rising number of combat veterans are flooding VA hospitals with this illness. Meanwhile, ProPublica/NPR report on a brain injury testing program for soldiers that has proven to be problematic.

1 Dec 2011

Medicare to cover obesity counseling without cost sharing

Medicare officials announced Tuesday that this preventive service will cover screening and counseling in primary care providers' offices.

1 Dec 2011

AIDS 'tipping points' could prompt discussion on effectiveness, efficiency

In this post on the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog, Jenny Ottenhoff, policy outreach associate at the Center, examines the prospects for U.S. spending on global AIDS programs.

1 Dec 2011

NTD awareness during the 2012 elections

Peter Hotez of the National School of Tropical Medicine and Karen Goraleski of the Sabin Vaccine Institute write in this PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases (NTDs) editorial, "In the next year leading up to the U.S. presidential and congressional elections, the global NTD community has an important opportunity to present the case for NTD funding to remain as an essential component of U.S. international development assistance."

1 Dec 2011

In super committee aftermath, Dems attack GOP for pushing Medicare cuts

The Democratic Party will begin a campaign on Wednesday to attack Republican lawmakers for pushing cuts to Medicare benefits during the latest round of failed federal deficit talks, a new turn in a drama that not long ago featured top Democrats expressing a willingness to tinker with the popular entitlement program.

1 Dec 2011

Treatment cost savings under PEPFAR can be re-invested to increase ARV reach

In this post in the "Health Affairs Blog," Matthew Kavanagh, director of U.S. policy and advocacy at Health Global Access Project (GAP), and Marguerite Thorp, a research assistant at Harvard Medical School, examine how HIV/AIDS treatment funding under PEPFAR has "fallen significantly since 2008 in both absolute dollars and as a portion of total budgets -- just at a pivotal moment when investment could change the course of the epidemic."

1 Dec 2011

First neurovascular unit opens at Krembil Neuroscience Centre

The first neurovascular unit (NVU) in Canada opened today at the Krembil Neuroscience Centre, Toronto Western Hospital, which is part of the University Health Network.

1 Dec 2011

Reporters examine health care stances of Gingrich, Romney, Bachmann, Santorum

If Republicans are flocking to Newt Gingrich to get away from Mitt Romney's health care problems, they could end up with a nominee with … awfully similar health care problems. Or maybe worse: While Romney signed a state mandate into law, Gingrich once went a step further and advocated a federal one.

1 Dec 2011

UnitedHealth forecasts increased membership, earnings

The largest insurer in the U.S. says enrollment gains in Medicare and Medicaid plans will outpace declines in other parts of its business.

1 Dec 2011

Clinton, Ban make remarks at high-level forum on aid effectiveness in South Korea

Speaking at the High-Level Forum on Aid Effectiveness (HLF 4) in Busan, South Korea, "U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said Wednesday that programs to help the world's poor should be treated as national security priorities as economic turmoil leaves millions struggling to find work and food," the Associated Press reports.

1 Dec 2011