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U.S. still needs to treat health care delivery as a science, says AHRQ director

Carolyn Clancy, MD, director of the federal Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, says that although the U.S. "leads the way" in science to develop medical methods, the country still needs to treat health care delivery as a science.

7 May 2011

Report: 76% of U.S. hospitals meet performance measures program

More than 76 percent of hospitals participating in the National Hospital Preparedness Program met 90 percent or more of all program measures for all-hazards preparedness in 2009, according to a report released today by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response.

7 May 2011

Study finds 4.5 million outpatient visits yearly due to adverse drug effects

Harmful effects of medication bring an estimated 4.5 million patients to doctors' offices and emergency rooms yearly, according to a new study, and people who take multiple medications are particularly vulnerable to unpleasant or dangerous side effects, allergic reactions and toxicity.

7 May 2011

House Energy and Commerce Committee takes on Medicare payment reform issues

During a Thursday hearing, medical societies weighed in on efforts to fix Medicare reimbursement and Committee Chairman Fred Upton, R-Mich., said a repeal of the current physician payment formula is on the "short list" of things to get done this summer.

7 May 2011

In effort to find common ground on budget talks, GOP Medicare message becomes mixed

With the debt-ceiling looming and other divisive budget issues on the table, some Republican lawmakers appeared to back away from their plan to "voucherize" Medicare.

7 May 2011

Regenstrief Institute, Indiana University partner to enhance health IT workforce

Specialized one- and two-year Indiana University graduate certificate and master's programs designed to increase the number of health information technology specialists in Indiana and nationwide will expand enrollment by 50 percent, thanks in part to Recovery Act funding.

7 May 2011

Abortion bills move to governors in Texas and Florida

House lawmakers have sent the controversial abortion sonogram bill to the governor's desk — after a last-ditch effort by disability rights advocates to change language they called highly offensive.

7 May 2011

African Progress Panel report highlights status of African economies at World Economic Forum on Africa

Africa's economies are expanding, but the continent is still too dependent on the export of raw materials and trade between African nations needs to be increased, the African Progress Panel said in a report released Thursday at the World Economic Forum on Africa, which is taking place this week in Cape Town, the Associated Press/Washington Post reports.

7 May 2011

Virginia communities applaud signing of autism insurance reform into law

This afternoon, the Virginia Autism Project joined families and communities in Virginia in applauding Governor Robert McDonnell in signing House Bill 2467 and Senate Bill 1062, which will become law effective January 1, 2012.

7 May 2011

Study: 73% of Los Angeles children need dental care

In 2007, the death of 12-year-old Deamonte Driver from untreated tooth decay exposed the need for better dental care in Maryland families with limited resources. However, the problem ranges beyond a single state, researchers found when they examined poor, migrant and minority children in Los Angeles.

7 May 2011

Centric Health to acquire LifeMark Health

Centric Health Corporation, Canada's leading diversified healthcare company, announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire, amongst other things, all of the common units of LifeMark Health Limited Partnership.

7 May 2011

Research roundup: Racial disparities in cancer screening and VA treatment

Racial And Ethnic Disparities In Colorectal Cancer Screening Persisted Despite Expansion Of Medicare's Screening Reimbursement. This study looked at the effect in minority groups of expanded reimbursements by Medicare for colorectal cancer screenings.

7 May 2011

SAHA and LAN partner to provide video language interpretation services

The Southern Atlantic Hospital Alliance announced the selection of the Language Access Network as its exclusive partner to provide video language interpretation services.

7 May 2011

Affordable preventive care options available for all California women

All women, regardless of their health insurance coverage, can find affordable preventive care options in California, according to Californians for Patient Care, an independent nonprofit that connects consumers to affordable care.

7 May 2011

Roundup: Fla. lawmakers to vote today on Medicaid changes; Calif. court expands deadline for tobacco suits

With a sponsor calling it the "most significant transformational change" since Florida's Medicaid program started, lawmakers will vote Friday on a long-awaited proposal to shift almost all beneficiaries into managed-care plans.

7 May 2011

Viewpoints: Will GOP back away from Medicaid plan too?; exchanges geared to politics, not health

All but seven House Republicans voted for a budget plan last month that would eliminate Medicare's guarantee to the elderly. It was always bad policy. But now that the vote has proved to be wildly unpopular, the party is suddenly running in the opposite direction.

7 May 2011

Tufts Health Plan now covers SBi's STAR total ankle replacement system

Small Bone Innovations, Inc. (SBi) announced today that effective July 1, 2011, Tufts Health Plan, covering approximately 742,000 members in Massachusetts and Rhode Island, is revising its reimbursement policy to cover SBi's STAR™ total ankle replacement system. The decision means that 98 percent of all privately-insured lives in Massachusetts will have access to total ankle replacement.

7 May 2011

Ryan blames politics for preventing overarching agreement to reduce the debt

Examples of how the politics of Medicare have picked up momentum since Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., advanced his proposal to revamp the proposal can be seen in a range of developments — including a letter from Democratic lawmakers to President Barack Obama, comments for Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and even a tightening special election for a New York congressional seat.

7 May 2011

VA and DoD produce new collaboration guidebook on clinical health research

Researchers from the Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense have produced a new 56-page guidebook to spur more collaboration between the agencies on clinical health research.

7 May 2011

CCF awards $500,000 grant to Cedars-Sinai for new kids program

Cedars-Sinai Medical Center has received a $500,000 grant from the California Community Foundation that will help support the hospital's COACH for Kids and Their Families- program.

7 May 2011