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Survey investigates provider-beneficiary ratio in Medicaid managed care plans

Medicaid managed-care plans reported an average ratio of one primary-care provider for every 584 beneficiaries, according to a recent survey. The newly released results of a February survey from the member plans of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans reported that among the 25 responding health plans the ratio ranged from one primary-care provider for every 53 plan enrollees to 1 provider for each 2,000 patients.

27 Oct 2011

South Sudan, UNFPA program works to deploy more midwives throughout country

The Ministry of Health of South Sudan and UNFPA, working through the Capacity Placement of International United Nations Volunteer Midwives Project, has deployed 18 midwives throughout South Sudan since December 2010, when the program began, the Sudan Tribune reports.

27 Oct 2011

Council on Foreign Relations releases interactive map tracking vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks

The Council on Foreign Relations' Global Health program "has released a user-friendly interactive map on the web that tracks 'Vaccine-Preventable Disease Outbreaks' around the world," Stewart Patrick, senior fellow and director of the council's Program on International Institutions and Global Governance, writes on the group's website.

27 Oct 2011

VitaYeast project to curb global malnutrition

Any way you slice it, bread that contains critical nutrients could help combat severe malnutrition in impoverished regions. That is the goal of a group of Johns Hopkins University undergraduate students who are using synthetic biology to enhance common yeast so that it yields beta carotene, the orange substance that gives carrots their color. When it's eaten, beta-carotene turns into vitamin A.

27 Oct 2011

Disconnecting global AIDS from reproductive health stalled efforts to expand family planning services, UNFPA head says

Babatunde Osotimehin, the executive director of the U.N. Population Fund (UNPFA), said in an interview with the Guardian that "efforts to expand family planning services in the developing world stalled for a decade while global health organizations turned their energies to fighting HIV/AIDS. 'We made a mistake. We disconnected HIV from reproductive health. We should never have done that because it is part and parcel,' he said."

27 Oct 2011

Addressing barriers to successful immunization programs important while vaccine development progresses

Immunizations can be a cost-effective means of disease prevention, but "[t]o reach the fully realized stage of cost-effectiveness, ... it is vital to acknowledge -- and more importantly, address -- the barriers that often prevent them from either being as cheap or as widely used as needed," Forbes contributor Sarika Bansal writes in a Forbes opinion piece.

27 Oct 2011

Parent behavior training can effectively treat ADHD in young children

Formal training in parenting strategies is a low-risk, effective method for improving behavior in preschool-age children at risk for developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while there is less evidence supporting the use of medications for children younger than 6 years old, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

27 Oct 2011

Medco, Pfizer and UBC collaborate to enhance precision medicine approach

Pfizer Inc. announced today that it has established a research collaboration with Medco Health Solutions, Inc. and its wholly owned subsidiary, United BioSource Corporation (UBC), aimed at more effectively matching patients with treatments that will benefit them the most, thereby improving patient outcomes.

27 Oct 2011

Quarter of Medicare drug plans get poor ratings

Federal officials gave negative assessments to more than 25 percent of these prescription drug plans. In the Washington area, that number is even higher. Also in the news, Medicare's database comparing hospital patient safety.

27 Oct 2011

Opinion pieces respond to U.N. special rapporteur's report on reproductive health policies

Several opinion pieces respond to a report presented on Monday to the U.N. General Assembly by Arnand Grover, U.N. special rapporteur for the Right to Health, that "considers the impact of criminal and other legal restrictions on abortion; conduct during pregnancy; contraception and family planning; and the provision of sexual and reproductive education and information," according to the report summary.

27 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: The health law and Wal-Mart; congressional probe into Planned Parenthood; trimming Medicare

When Wal-Mart endorsed President Obama's health care plan in 2009, CEO Mike Duke said it did so "to remove the burden that is crushing America's businesses and hampering our competitiveness in the global economy." That doesn't seem to be working out too well - for all Americans, and especially for Wal-Mart's employees.

27 Oct 2011

Your medical privacy – Another Obamacare casualty

It was a sad day recently when a married menopausal woman learned that her recent Pap test was positive for human papilloma virus (HPV). “How could this happen?” she asked. “I have not had relations with anyone but my husband since we married 30 years ago.”

24 Oct 2011

UNICEF warns of possible polio resurgence in Madagascar amid outbreak involving three children

"An outbreak of polio in three children from the south of Madagascar has raised concerns over a possible resurgence of this crippling disease," BBC News reports, adding, "UNICEF spokesman Daniel Timme says three cases of polio without symptoms have been identified ... during UNICEF's Mother and Child Health week following tests and urine samples".

24 Oct 2011

Zirmed releases Patient Payment Developer Kit

ZirMed, a leading provider of revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare providers, today announced the release of the ZirMed Patient Payment Developer Kit, a new partner integration toolkit allowing provider and software vendors to seamlessly leverage ZirMed's Online Bill Pay, Virtual Terminal, and payment processing services.

24 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Health law curbs savings from OTC meds; Calif. wrestles with managing medical marijuana

[Over-the-counter] medicines play an important role in our nation's health care system, with almost 90 percent of physicians recommending patients try to address many ailments with self-care interventions, including the use of OTC medication, before seeking professional care.

24 Oct 2011

Opinion pieces address World Polio Day

Though the number of new polio cases has dropped by 99 percent over the past 20 years, World Polio Day is recognized "because we haven't done enough yet," Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, writes in his blog, "The Gates Notes."

24 Oct 2011

Political cartoon: 'Parts And Labor'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh perspective on health policy developments with "Parts And Labor".

24 Oct 2011

Global Polio Eradication Initiative not on track to end transmission by 2012, report says

The latest quarterly report (.pdf) by an independent board that monitors the progress of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), released in mid-October, warned that "unless the program addresses 'fundamental problems,' there is a 'substantial risk' that stopping polio transmission will not be achieved by end-2012," AlertNet reports.

24 Oct 2011

Number of cholera cases to reach 500,000 by year's end, WHO says

The WHO on Friday "said the number of cholera cases in Haiti is expected to reach 500,000 by the end of the year" if current trends continue, Agence France-Presse reports.

24 Oct 2011

Scientists, WHO warn of public health implications of proposed mercury ban due to its use in vaccines

"Scientists are warning officials negotiating a global treaty on mercury that banning the deadly chemical completely would be dangerous for public health because of the chemical's use in vaccines," the Associated Press reports.

24 Oct 2011

Healthcare News

Survey investigates provider-beneficiary ratio in Medicaid managed care plans

South Sudan, UNFPA program works to deploy more midwives throughout country

Council on Foreign Relations releases interactive map tracking vaccine-preventable disease outbreaks

VitaYeast project to curb global malnutrition

Disconnecting global AIDS from reproductive health stalled efforts to expand family planning services, UNFPA head says

Addressing barriers to successful immunization programs important while vaccine development progresses

Parent behavior training can effectively treat ADHD in young children

Medco, Pfizer and UBC collaborate to enhance precision medicine approach

Quarter of Medicare drug plans get poor ratings

Opinion pieces respond to U.N. special rapporteur's report on reproductive health policies

Viewpoints: The health law and Wal-Mart; congressional probe into Planned Parenthood; trimming Medicare

Your medical privacy – Another Obamacare casualty

UNICEF warns of possible polio resurgence in Madagascar amid outbreak involving three children

Zirmed releases Patient Payment Developer Kit

Viewpoints: Health law curbs savings from OTC meds; Calif. wrestles with managing medical marijuana

Opinion pieces address World Polio Day

Political cartoon: 'Parts And Labor'

Global Polio Eradication Initiative not on track to end transmission by 2012, report says

Number of cholera cases to reach 500,000 by year's end, WHO says

Scientists, WHO warn of public health implications of proposed mercury ban due to its use in vaccines

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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