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Person's insurance status determines nursing home hospitalizations

The decision by nursing homes whether or not to treat an ill resident on-site or send them to a hospital are often linked to that person's insurance status. A new study out this month shows that on average individuals enrolled in Medicaid are 27 percent more likely to be sent to the hospital than individuals with private insurance - decisions that often result in higher costs of care and poor health outcomes.

4 Oct 2011

FairWarning acquires domain name, FairWarning.com

FairWarning, Inc., a leading supplier of solutions which monitor and protect patient privacy in electronic health records, today announced the acquisition of a collection of domain properties important to the FairWarning brand, including FairWarning.com.

4 Oct 2011

Work on immune system wins 2011 Nobel Prize in medicine

The 2011 Nobel Prize in medicine has been awarded to Bruce Beutler, Jules Hoffmann and Ralph Steinman for their work on the immune system.

4 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 4, 2011

Today's news highlights include reports that the Supreme Court kicked off its new term by hearing a key Medicaid case that tests whether providers and patients can go to court to challenge decisions by cash-strapped states to reduce Medicaid payments.

4 Oct 2011

Fear of trouble and embarrassment a reason for avoiding online error-reporting systems

"Too busy," and "too complicated." These are the typical excuses one might expect when medical professionals are asked why they fail to use online error-reporting systems designed to improve patient safety and the quality of care. But, Johns Hopkins investigators found instead that the most common reason among radiation oncologists was fear of getting into trouble and embarrassment.

4 Oct 2011

Senate Republicans doubt prospects for 'grand bargain'

A month into the super committee's term, Senate Republicans are telling K Street that they don't believe the powerful deficit-cutting panel can reach a "grand bargain" agreement, sources familiar with the negotiations say. But the only way that a grand bargain could pass muster with the GOP, the Senate Republican aides say, is if it were tied to an overhaul of Social Security or the controversial proposal by Rep. Paul Ryan (R-Wis.) to turn Medicare into a voucher-based system for future recipients.

4 Oct 2011

Pakistan facing dengue outbreak, humanitarian aid shortages for flood victims

"More than 12,000 have been infected and 125 people have died over the past two months in Pakistan after coming down with dengue fever, a health department spokesman said Friday," CNN reports.

4 Oct 2011

SAMHSA announces new grant program, Behavioral Health Treatment Court Collaboratives

The Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) today announced $13 million in new grants to help state and local courts offer treatment and recovery support instead of incarceration for individuals who are in a court system due to mental health or substance use disorders.

4 Oct 2011

India launches month-long campaign to promote awareness of public hygiene

India's minister of development is promoting a campaign on public hygiene, after a UNICEF report found "that India accounts for 58 percent of the world's population practicing open defecation," the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

4 Oct 2011

Many average-risk women receive genetic testing for hereditary breast, ovarian cancers

Too many average-risk women and too few high-risk women receive genetic counseling and testing for hereditary breast and ovarian cancers, research shows. Experts at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center share advice to help patients and their doctors better evaluate family history and make more sound decisions about who should be tested.

4 Oct 2011

Communities That Care system decreases alcohol use, smoking and violence in teens

Delaying the age when kids try alcohol or smoking decreases the likelihood that they will become dependent later in life. Effective interventions exist, but community disagreements about which programs to try can stymie decisions.

4 Oct 2011

Hospital Punta Pacifica receives official JCI accreditation

Hospital Punta Pacifica (HPP) in Panama City, Panama, has been awarded the official accreditation of Joint Commission International.

4 Oct 2011

Three Penn labs receive NIH grant to speed translation of medical research into patient care

Three labs from the University of Pennsylvania have received $12.5 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as part of its $143.8 million national grant program to challenge the scientific status quo with innovative ideas that have the potential to speed the translation of medical research into improved health for the American public.

4 Oct 2011

New report details mental health care gaps in Indian Country

According to the Health and Human Services Inspector General's office, one in five hospitals and clinics in Indian Country provides no mental health services. Meanwhile, The Fiscal Times reports on the mental health toll being taken by the recession.

4 Oct 2011

Kenya national AIDS program considering mandatory HIV testing

VOA News examines how Kenya's National Aids Control Council and STI Control Program (NASCOP) is considering proposing mandatory HIV testing for adults and children who seek medical care for other conditions, noting that some AIDS organizations are expressing ethical concerns because of continuing stigma and discrimination. For now, "fears of mandatory testing in Kenya are premature, as Kenyan law currently bans such practices," the news service writes.

4 Oct 2011

Familiarity with snack foods changes children's expectations about fullness

New research, led by psychologists at the University of Bristol, has found that children who are familiar with a snack food will expect it to be more filling.

4 Oct 2011

Medicare home-health firms under scrutiny

An inquiry by the Senate Finance Committee has found that the nation's three largest home-health companies tailored the care they provided to Medicare patients to maximize their reimbursements from the federal program.

4 Oct 2011

Despite increase in health care spending in Angola, quality of care remains low

"Angola has tripled its spending on health care since 2006, but for the vast majority of Angolans who can't afford sparkling new private clinics -- or better yet, care abroad -- a trip to the hospital is still a nightmare," Agence France-Presse reports.

4 Oct 2011

Addressing high-risk groups, couples counseling in HIV prevention

In this post in the Center for Global Development's "Global Health Policy" blog, Mead Over, a senior fellow at the center, follows up on a post last week in which he wrote that a panel of senior economists commissioned by the Rush Foundation was to address the question of how to spend an additional, but hypothetical, $10 billion on HIV/AIDS programs in Africa over the next five years.

4 Oct 2011

Congress blocks funding meant for food aid, health care to Palestinian Authority

"Congress has ... blocked $200 million in aid to the Palestinian Authority [PA] since August, in a move a PA official described as 'collective punishment' for its United Nations bid" for statehood, GlobalPost reports.

4 Oct 2011