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Teaching hospitals might provide better radical prostatectomy results

Prostate cancer patients who undergo radical prostatectomy get better results at teaching hospitals than at non-academic medical institutions, according to the findings of an international study led by researchers at Henry Ford Hospital.

8 Nov 2011

South Korea considering food assistance for North Korea, official says

"Signaling South Korea may be attempting to cool tensions with its neighbor, Seoul has vowed to actively review sending humanitarian aid to North Korea through third channels," CNN reports.

8 Nov 2011

Congress examines options to improve availability of prescription drugs

Shortages of prescription drugs are leaving a growing number of patients waiting for life-saving medicines. Federal officials say the number of prescriptions in short supply tripled from 2005 to 2010. Limited supplies of some drugs have sent prices soaring 1,000 times above normal.

8 Nov 2011

GAPPS research into causes of preterm births and development of solutions

Thirteen million babies are born prematurely every year, but new funding announced today will allow for pioneering research into the causes of preterm births and the development of solutions so they can be prevented.

8 Nov 2011

Private sector companies should contribute to GAVI Matching Fund

The GAVI Alliance has "announced a major new initiative aimed at engaging private sector leaders: the GAVI Matching Fund," through which "the British Government's Department for International Development (DFID) and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will provide a 100 percent match of contributions to GAVI from corporations and foundations as well as their customers, members and employees," Bill Roedy, former CEO of MTV Networks and a GAVI Alliance envoy, writes in a post on the Huffington Post's "Impact" blog.

8 Nov 2011

Commitment of USAID promises future R&D breakthroughs in global health

Since USAID launched 50 years ago, the agency "has had a rich history of supporting global health, including research and development (R&D)," Global Health Technologies Coalition (GHTC) Director Kaitlin Christenson writes in the organization's "Breakthroughs" blog.

8 Nov 2011

Federal officials say new program can improve health services

The Innovation Advisors Program, intended to help leaders bring change to Medicare, Medicaid and CHIP, could help spark changes throughout the industry, Modern Healthcare reports.

8 Nov 2011

Reform necessary to overcome challenges to polio eradication efforts in Pakistan

In this Huffington Post opinion piece, Sania Nishtar, founder of Heartfile and the recently launched Sania Nishtar Health Fund, writes that "after 23 years of commencing the World Health Organization-led Global Polio Eradication Initiative, billions of dollars in investment, mobilization of 20 million health workers and a population wide intervention in 125 countries, vaccinating more than two billion children, there are only four countries in the world which continue to harbor the disease," and Pakistan is "a living threat to the global goal of eradicating a disease for the second time from the face of this planet."

8 Nov 2011

Socioeconomic status may affect people's physical functioning

A new national study shows that wealthier Americans and those with private health insurance fare better than others on one important measure of health - and this health gap only grows wider as they age.

8 Nov 2011

GlobalPost reports on second round GHI country selections

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog reports on the addition of 21 countries to the original group of eight Global Health Initiative (GHI) countries in a second round of selections. The Obama administration has "review[ed] detailed plans from each on main strategies and goals," according to U.S. officials, the blog reports.

8 Nov 2011

Perry's health benefits noted; Romney and Perry spar on immigrants and health care

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is entitled to a lucrative pension from his government job that includes lifetime health care paid for by the state, The Texas Tribune reports. Meanwhile, Perry and former Mass. Gov. Mitt Romney exchanged barbs about their records.

8 Nov 2011

Referral to stroke prevention clinic reduces mortality by 26%

Research led by Dr. Vladimir Hachinski of The University of Western Ontario reveals just how important it is for patients to be referred to a stroke prevention clinic following either a mild stroke or a transient ischemic attack (TIA). The study, published in the journal Stroke in November, showed a 26% reduction in one-year mortality rates among those referred to a stroke prevention clinic.

8 Nov 2011

States trying to wrangle Medicaid costs; rural hospitals struggling; health hiring steady

In Michigan, the plan to replace state nursing assistants at the veterans home resulted in a lawsuit contending that some temporary workers employed by the contract company had already jeopardized patient care. ... A judge has granted a preliminary injunction that keeps the state employees at work while the lawsuit moves forward.

8 Nov 2011

FIGMD CEO presents 'Healthcare in India' at ACC Professional and Corporate Consortium meeting

Sanket Baralay President and CEO of FIGMD presented "Healthcare in India" at the ACC Professional and Corporate Consortium meeting October 25th at the ACC Heart House in Washington D.C.

8 Nov 2011

Viewpoints: Weighing the ballot measures in Miss. and Ohio; the super committee's task

For all their sincerity and fervor, proponents of the personhood movement represent a small minority nationwide. In Gallup polls, support for a total abortion ban is almost exactly where it was in 1973 - at just over 20%, despite a rise in backing for limitations. Most people certainly don't want homicide charges brought against women who choose to have abortions or doctors who perform them.

8 Nov 2011

First city-wide study of impact of widespread HIE data access in EDs

Sharing of electronic health information across every major emergency department in the Memphis, Tenn., area resulted in reduced hospital admissions, reduced radiology tests and an annual cost savings of nearly $2 million, according to a Vanderbilt study released today by the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.

8 Nov 2011