Healthcare News

RSS

Ryan Medicare revamp continues to be political flashpoint

A congressionial Democrat holds a town hall meeting on the budget plan by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., which includes significant changes to the Medicare program. Republicans see the budget blueprint as a litmus test.

9 Jun 2011

ACAAI issues updated guidelines for treating stinging insect hypersensitivity

Spring and summer bring bees, wasps, hornets and yellow jackets and, this year, updated advice for those who are allergic to these pesky stinging insects. More than half a million people go to emergency rooms and at least 50 die each year from insect stings.

9 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Blue Shield's profit cap; employees could be surprised by loss of health benefits; involving patients

Blue Shield of California announced Tuesday that it will cap its profits for the sake of making health insurance more affordable. Richer in symbolism than in economic impact, the move seems designed to deflect scrutiny and blame from insurers onto others in the industry, particularly doctors and hospitals. All the same, the steadily rising cost of medical care is where the real challenge lies for the sustainability of the healthcare system.

9 Jun 2011

Victoria agrees to National Health Performance Authority

It is Australia’s turn to get a new National Health Performance Authority after the Victorian Government abandoned its opposition to the creation of the body. According to sources in a meeting of federal, state and territory health ministers in Melbourne this week all groups have agreed in principle to the establishment of the authority which will monitor and report on the performance of hospitals and health services.

8 Jun 2011

Nearly half of employers may stop employee’s health benefits

A latest speculation suggests that nearly a third of employers are likely to stop offering health insurance to employees in 2014 when major federal healthcare-reform provisions kick in. This comes from a new report by McKinsey Quarterly.

8 Jun 2011

Survey reveals differences in weight-related counseling among medical specialties

Fewer than half of primary care physicians for adults talk to their patients about diet, exercise and weight management consistently, while pediatricians are somewhat more likely to do so, according to two new studies.

8 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 8, 2011

Health insurer Blue Shield of California, under fire for a series of recent rate hikes and the pay of its chief executive, plans to cut this year's premiums by 2.5% for many of its 3.3 million policyholders as part of a new initiative to hold down costs (Helfand, 6/8).

8 Jun 2011

New journal on multiple sclerosis and related disorders

Elsevier, a world-leading provider of scientific, technical and medical information products and solutions, is pleased to announce the launch of a new journal, Multiple Sclerosis and Related Disorders with its first issue publication in January 2012.

8 Jun 2011

ICU patients should wait a week before receiving intravenous feeding: New study

Patients in the intensive care unit who do not tolerate adequate nutrition from tube feeding should wait a week before receiving intravenous (IV) feeding because, compared with early IV feeding, it enhances recovery from critical illness.

8 Jun 2011

Health-care professionals, researchers to attend Sixth World Conference on Breast Cancer

Today launches the sixth World Conference on Breast Cancer in Hamilton, Canada. The Conference is the only one of its kind to bring together breast cancer survivors, advocates, health-care professionals and researchers from developing and developed countries.

8 Jun 2011

Stop TB partnership releases 5 TB prevention steps

Ahead of the U.N. High Level Meeting on AIDS, the Stop TB Partnership released five guidelines aimed at preventing tuberculosis, which results in one in four AIDS-related deaths, the U.N. News Centre writes.

8 Jun 2011

IAS calls on leaders to ensure inclusion of HIV cure research into international AIDS agenda

As world leaders meet this week to review progress and chart the future course of the global AIDS response at the 2011 UN General Assembly High-Level Meeting on AIDS in New York, the International AIDS Society (IAS) calls on leaders to ensure the inclusion of HIV cure research and its global strategy into the international HIV agenda and in all discussions, political decisions and funding strategies.

8 Jun 2011

Global Fund's transparency is essential and saves lives

In the Huffington Post, Michel Kazatchkine, executive director of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria, discusses the Global Fund's latest report on its investigation of its grants in Mali.

8 Jun 2011

Ben Hogan Sports Medicine, StreamVenue partner to offer post-surgical management tool

StreamVenue Healthcare has partnered its "plug and play" products and services with Texas Health Ben Hogan Sports Medicine to teach, and to better manage post-surgical patient recovery.

8 Jun 2011

Withdrawal of aid from Madagascar hitting poor hard

The Guardian's "Poverty Matters Blog" examines the effects of the withdrawal of international aid and debt relief from Madagascar following the country's last coup in 2009. According to the article, "80% of the population is classed as living in poverty. A household survey last year by the United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) found that aid sanctions are biting the wrong people: school enrolment has plummeted and health indicators are in decline."

8 Jun 2011

Conference panel examines manufacturing of nutrition-rich foods

IRIN reports on a World Conference on Humanitarian Studies panel discussion about the manufacturing of nutrition-rich foods to treat malnutrition in the developing world.

8 Jun 2011

Articles on health trajectories now available in Nursing Research journal

Health care research typically focuses on final outcomes such as cure or death—overlooking the fact that health and illness are dynamic states that evolve and change over time. A special collection of articles on health trajectory research is now available in a supplement to Nursing Research, official journal of the Eastern Nursing Research Society and the Western Institute of Nursing.

8 Jun 2011

Dems push for debt deal that doesn't include Medicare cuts

House Majority Leader Eric Cantor, R-Va., sent an email to House Republicans Monday saying he is optmistic that ongoing budget talks will meet the standard set by Speaker John Boehner -- meaning legislation to raise the debt limit will be accompanied by deficit reduction. Some Democratic senators, though, are pressing Vice President Joe Biden, who is overseeing budget negotiations, to steer clear of the GOP Medicare plan.

8 Jun 2011

Doctors' move to electronic records requires serious commitment

The federal stimulus and health care laws are pushing medical providers to go electronic as a way to improve patient safety and track health care quality. ... But moving away from paper files to an electronic health record system requires serious commitment on several levels. First, they're expensive. ... Second, the learning curve can be painful.

8 Jun 2011

Einstein health expert plays an important role in development of U.S. News 'Best Diets' rankings

Yasmin Mossavar-Rahmani, Ph.D., R.D. of Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University played an important role in the development of the "Best Diets" rankings, which U.S. News released today.

8 Jun 2011