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Water shortages most extreme in Middle East, African regions, report says

"Water shortages are worst in Africa and the Middle East, and the hardest hit are nations in the Gulf, including Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to a study released Wednesday by risk analysis firm Maplecroft," the Associated Press reports in an article examining the firm's "Water Stress Index."

20 May 2011

Parliamentarians issue call for G8 nations to focus on role of women in development

Ahead of next week's G8 summit in Deauville, France, "parliamentarians from 35 countries have issued a strong call for leaders of the world's major economies to focus on the role of women and girls in development," Inter Press Service reports.

20 May 2011

Funding shortages mean WFP will stop food aid to nearly 1 million Nepalese

On Wednesday, the World Food Program (WFP) said "it does not have enough funds to continue flying supplies by helicopter to western Nepal, where road access is patchy and around a million people rely on U.N. food aid," Agence France-Presse reports. According to the WFP, an estimated 41 percent of people in Nepal are undernourished.

20 May 2011

OMB review could lock-in ACO rule; Long-term care providers say health law doesn't help with their problems

If there's a fight between CMS and the Office of Management and Budget over the final shape of the accountable care organization regulations, OMB may have an ace in its pocket.

20 May 2011

HHS issues finalized health insurance rate review regulation

The Health and Human Services Department finalized regulations Thursday that will require insurance companies to disclose and justify rate increases of 10 percent or more.

20 May 2011

Medicare politics play out as possible presidential candidates vie for position and in a special congressional election

Medicare is again a hot-button issue as news outlets speculate on how Republican plans to revamp the program could play into the upcoming election season.

20 May 2011

North Shore-LIJ implements new program to ensure safe radiation therapy

Radiation oncologists took a blow in a series of front-page newspaper stories published last year on injuries that occurred nationwide in the delivery of radiation treatment. Radiation oncologists at North Shore-LIJ Health System responded to the public charge with a series of steps that will ensure that patients are protected at all points in the treatment process.

20 May 2011

Outlook dims for GOP-backed malpractice reform

When it comes to health care policy, there isn't much that brings the two parties together. But at the outset of the 112th Congress, it seemed like medical malpractice reform was one area ripe for bipartisan compromise.

20 May 2011

Monitoring adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols can help stop outbreaks of C. diff bacteria

Just like intelligence agents watching for the real terrorists threatening to attack, monitoring healthcare worker adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols via hand-washing squads in hospitals can go a long way to stop outbreaks of the opportunistic C. diff bacteria, says Irena Kenneley, an infection prevention and control expert and assistant professor of nursing from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

20 May 2011

Roundup: Private prison costs; GOP lawmakers in Wis. break with Governor on cuts to senior services

The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that popular wisdom might be wrong: Data there suggest that privately operated prisons can cost more to operate than state-run prisons — even though they often steer clear of the sickest, costliest inmates (Oppel, 5/18).

20 May 2011

Health Endeavors releases ACO WebCenter 1.0 and Physician Alignment WebCenter 2.0

ACO WebCenter Version 1.0 is a web-based product developed to assist hospitals, IPAs and physicians with the implementation of a Medicare or Non-Medicare Accountable Care Organization. Physician Alignment WebCenter 2.0 is a web-based product utilized by hospitals to enhance physician alignment with medical staff members. The 2.0 version includes a communications portal and Meaningful Use/EMR Center.

20 May 2011

Reid seizes political opportunity, readies Senate vote on Ryan budget plan

Seizing on a political opportunity, the Senate's top Democrat, Harry Reid, told USA TODAY on Wednesday that he will schedule a vote next week in an effort to tie Senate Republicans to a House GOP plan to dramatically revamp the popular Medicare health care program.

20 May 2011

The Chartis Group and HPMG partner to help providers improve outpatient care delivery systems

HealthPartners Medical Group and Clinics and The Chartis Group today announce a unique collaboration to help hospitals and health systems achieve superior performance in health care quality and patient service, while simultaneously lowering costs.

20 May 2011

Dominican Republic health officials raise alerts about possible cholera outbreaks

Health authorities have raised alerts in 17 "mainly poor" neighborhoods in the Dominican Republic capital of Santo Domingo after 16 people were hospitalized with suspected cholera, BBC News reports.

20 May 2011

Bill to expand reproductive health services in the Philippines introduced in country's Congress

A reproductive health bill introduced Tuesday in the House of Representatives in the Philippines "would require the government to provide information on family planning methods, make contraceptives available free of charge and introduce reproductive health and sexuality classes in schools," the Associated Press/Seattle Times reports, noting the scope of controversy surrounding this issue.

20 May 2011

Fla. officials facing tight timeframe for Medicaid overhaul; Advocates in Ariz. threaten lawsuit on cuts

Needing federal approval to overhaul the Medicaid program, Florida health officials have less than three months to develop a detailed plan to sell to the Obama administration.

20 May 2011

Study reports 20% increase in U.S. home births between 2004 and 2008

After a gradual decline from 1990 to 2004, a new study published online in Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care finds that United States births occurring at home increased by 20 percent between 2004 and 2008.

20 May 2011

Court documents offer details of administration's legal defense of individual mandate

The federal government offered an aggressive defense of the new health law in a reply brief filed Wednesday in the multi-state challenge to the overhaul.

20 May 2011

Osteoarthritis directly linked to low-fat, high-carb food

Osteoarthritis is a degenerative joint disease and the most common cause of disability today. It was once considered a problem of the old but it is now commonly diagnosed in those as young as the mid-twenties and early thirties. According to the Arthritis Foundation, about four million, quality-adjusted life years are lost due to knee osteoarthritis alone.

20 May 2011

Analysis of 'Gang of Six' tensions: What will the impact be on deficit-reduction and entitlement reform plans?

News outlets examine what led to the exit of Sen. Tom Coburn, R-Okla., from this group of negotiators and what the new outlook is for the group to have a positive impact on congressional efforts to develop long-term deficit reduction strategies.

20 May 2011

Healthcare News

Water shortages most extreme in Middle East, African regions, report says

Parliamentarians issue call for G8 nations to focus on role of women in development

Funding shortages mean WFP will stop food aid to nearly 1 million Nepalese

OMB review could lock-in ACO rule; Long-term care providers say health law doesn't help with their problems

HHS issues finalized health insurance rate review regulation

Medicare politics play out as possible presidential candidates vie for position and in a special congressional election

North Shore-LIJ implements new program to ensure safe radiation therapy

Outlook dims for GOP-backed malpractice reform

Monitoring adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols can help stop outbreaks of C. diff bacteria

Roundup: Private prison costs; GOP lawmakers in Wis. break with Governor on cuts to senior services

Health Endeavors releases ACO WebCenter 1.0 and Physician Alignment WebCenter 2.0

Reid seizes political opportunity, readies Senate vote on Ryan budget plan

The Chartis Group and HPMG partner to help providers improve outpatient care delivery systems

Dominican Republic health officials raise alerts about possible cholera outbreaks

Bill to expand reproductive health services in the Philippines introduced in country's Congress

Fla. officials facing tight timeframe for Medicaid overhaul; Advocates in Ariz. threaten lawsuit on cuts

Study reports 20% increase in U.S. home births between 2004 and 2008

Court documents offer details of administration's legal defense of individual mandate

Osteoarthritis directly linked to low-fat, high-carb food

Analysis of 'Gang of Six' tensions: What will the impact be on deficit-reduction and entitlement reform plans?

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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