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Penn State nursing professor receives NIH grant to improve oral hygiene for dementia patients

People with dementia may soon have improved oral hygiene because of a National Institutes of Health $1.4 million, four-year grant to Rita A. Jablonski, assistant professor of nursing, Penn State.

6 May 2011

U.S. Army and VA team up to provide simulation-based training for medical staff

The Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of the Army are working together to provide cutting-edge simulation-based training for medical staff to enhance the quality of patient care at VA medical facilities across the Nation.

6 May 2011

Lawmakers question U.S. aid program to Pakistan in wake of Bin Laden's death

Rep. Kay Granger (R-Texas) on Wednesday "urged a halt to an aid program for flood victims in Pakistan in the wake of revelations that slain al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden lived there unperturbed for years," Agence France-Presse reports.

6 May 2011

Opponents offer dire warnings about Medicaid block grant proposal

The plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., to transform this program has been the subject of much of the concern. However, another alternative, this one offered by Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo., and based on "global cap" for federal spending, is also getting negative reviews from Medicaid advocates.

6 May 2011

Elsevier introduces new online exam preparation tool for UK Medical Schools

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announces the launch of Exam Consult, an online exam preparation and simulation tool.

6 May 2011

Patent expiries, generic pricing policies may be factors in slow drug spending growth

Although drugs remain an important cost driver in Canada's health system, growth in spending has slowed to its lowest rate in 14 years, according to a new report released today by the Canadian Institute for Health Information.

6 May 2011

New SCAI position statement calls for changes in percutaneous coronary intervention care

A new position statement released today by the Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions calls for changes in the way quality of percutaneous coronary intervention care is measured and publically reported.

6 May 2011

Redfox, Microsoft and Elsevier introduce new e-learning netbook for nurses

Elsevier, Redfox Technologies and Microsoft today announced the launch of the iCitizen Nursing Skills Netbook, an integrated and affordable e-learning netbook for nurses and nursing students in The Philippines.

6 May 2011

LRMC selects Allscripts as health information technology partner

Lakeway Regional Medical Center, a new physician/patient-focused acute care hospital in suburban Austin, has selected Allscripts as its health information technology partner to create a world-class care delivery infrastructure.

6 May 2011

Regence introduces flexible health plans for small employers in Oregon

Small employers are traditionally faced with a difficult choice when providing health coverage for their employees: they can either choose benefits that are affordable, or spend more and offer their employees a choice.

6 May 2011

House hearing will include effort to revive 'balance billing'

Testimony will come from the nation's largest physician organizations, which will tell a House subcommittee about the need to replace Medicare's current payment system. Meanwhile, on the personnel front, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has a new chief medical officer and Berwick is talking about his "service."

6 May 2011

Pregnant Latinas who endure partner violence more likely to suffer postpartum depression

Latinas who endure violence at the hands of a partner during or within a year of pregnancy are five times more likely to suffer postpartum depression than women who have not experienced such violence, according to a new study by researchers at the UCLA Center for Culture, Trauma and Mental Health Disparities.

6 May 2011

Bills to tighten abortion regulations advance in Texas, La.

As Texas senators gave final approval Tuesday to a bill requiring doctors to conduct sonograms before performing abortions, moving it closer to the governor's desk, a new fight is ramping up over another abortion-related bill.

6 May 2011

Study examines community-based HIV testing programs in Africa, Southeast Asia

If you want to improve HIV testing rates in remote rural areas, get the community involved, says UCLA's Thomas Coates, who has directed a new study examining HIV testing programs in communities in Africa and Southeast Asia.

6 May 2011

Colo. legislature close to final consideration of health exchange bill

Colorado's health insurance exchange bill is sailing toward final approval with backers hailing the measure as the only successful bipartisan exchange legislation in the country.

6 May 2011

Savings projected from 'emerging' generic drugs

But the Federal Trade Commission found an "unprecedented" increase in drug industry deals to delay the availability of these cheaper drugs.

6 May 2011

Viewpoints: Gov. Daniels's reversal?; IPAB's Medicare fix; Texas Medicaid cuts

Centrist Republicans loved it when began urging the party to keep its eye on the deficit-reduction prize and stop obsessing about social issues. ... He then went home and announced that he would sign a bill to strip Planned Parenthood of Medicaid financing. ... Daniels's moderate fans thought abortion was precisely the issue he was calling on Republicans to set aside. Right now, the new Republican majority in the House of Representatives can barely talk about anything else.

6 May 2011

Roundup: Vt. House vote on universal health care could come today; Calif. group warns of rising costs of retiree health care and pensions

The House is slated Thursday to take up a conference committee report on a bill designed to put the state on the path to universal health care by 2017 if not sooner. The bill sets up a new Green Mountain Care Board to design a system to provide health insurance to every Vermont resident.

6 May 2011

Researchers find increasing the number of family physicians reduces hospital re-admissions

Researchers from Boston University School of Medicine and Boston Medical Center have found that by adding one family physician per 1,000, or 100 per 100,000, could reduce hospital readmission costs by $579 million per year, or 83 percent of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) target. These findings currently appear on the website of the "Robert Graham Center," a primary care think tank.

5 May 2011

A new round of deficit talks begins amidst roadblocks, debt-ceiling concerns

How to handle entitlement spending issues including Medicare will be central to the discourse. Meanwhile, AARP launches a campaign to protect Medicare in the midst of it all.

5 May 2011