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Opinions: Democracy needed in epidemic outbreaks; U.S. food aid; development partnerships in Africa

After mentioning the riots that broke out in Haiti after the start of the cholera epidemic last year, Richard Evans, a professor of history and president of Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, writes in a Guardian opinion piece that "popular disturbances during epidemics are nothing new." He goes on to provide several other examples.

10 May 2011

Health Net achieves reaccreditation from URAC

Health Net Federal Services, LLC, part of the Government Contracts segment of Health Net, Inc., announced today it has been awarded full Health Network Reaccreditation, effective July 1, 2011 - July 1, 2014, from URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry.

10 May 2011

When Government usurps responsibility, people are more likely to abdicate

We hear much talk about preventive care, but nobody has defined it. From the content of the discussions, I deduce that what the health bureaucrats actually refer to would be better characterized as “early detection.” Early detection is what occurs when a physician finds a disease in its early stages that might have been prevented by earlier measures. But who can take those measures? Not the physician, only the patient. There is only one person living the patient’s life; it is the patient. I cannot live his life for him.

9 May 2011

Viewpoints: Dems' Medicare strategy; Health disparities; Chicago hospital dispute

Democrats may be feeling smug about their campaign against the House Republican budget plan, and as a matter of politics, they're no doubt right. If the goal is to deal with the long-term fiscal challenge, though, the Democrats' political success is apt only to prolong the gridlock and make the eventual solution that much more painful. ...

9 May 2011

First, free EHR vendor earns complete ONC-ATCB meaningful use certification

Mitochon Systems, provider of a free EHR to physician practices, announced today it has earned complete ambulatory EHR certification (ONC-ATCB 2011/2012) from the Drummond Group, Inc.

9 May 2011

RWJF offers health law implementation assistance to states

The Robert Wood Johnson Foundation will offer states assistance in implementing elements of the health law that involve expanding access to the uninsured.

9 May 2011

Minn. House approves abortion restrictions

After long, wrenching, debates with sometimes-graphic testimony about fetuses, the House approved bills Friday that would ban all abortions in Minnesota after 20 weeks of gestation and prohibit public money from paying for the procedure. The 20-week ban was approved, largely along party lines in the Republican-led chamber, 82-46.

9 May 2011

Will the GOP now set its sights on Medicaid?

With major changes to Medicare likely on hold for the time being, advocates say the GOP has Medicaid "in its sights" as a more realistic place to make health care cuts.

9 May 2011

State roundup: Concerns about state employee retirement boom

Plummeting stock portfolios and home values prompted many Baby Boomers to keep working long after retirement age. ... "What was once a planned exit is no longer a planned exit," says Daniel Hackler, Indiana's state personnel director.

9 May 2011

Military health costs continue to climb

A military built for fighting wars is looking more and more like a health care entitlement program. Costs of the program that provides health coverage to some 10 million active duty personnel, retirees, reservists and their families have jumped from $19 billion in 2001 to $53 billion in the Pentagon's latest budget request.

9 May 2011

Massachusetts patients face long wait times for doctor appointments

A survey conducted by the Massachusetts Medical Society found patients can wait as a long as a month and a half for non-urgent physicians' appointments.

9 May 2011

Elsevier acquires Spanish e-clinical reference solution

Elsevier, the leading global publisher of scientific, technical, and medical information products and services, announced today the acquisition of Fisterra.com, an award winning, widely used e-clinical reference solution in Spain. Fisterra was launched in 2002 by two primary care doctors and a medical librarian in response to the need for an online short answer Spanish language reference solution to help primary care physicians.

9 May 2011

Premier healthcare alliance awards new agreements for advanced wound care

The Premier healthcare alliance announced today that new agreements for advanced wound care have been awarded.

9 May 2011

House panel set to mark up medical malpractice legislation this week

Meanwhile, in Oregon, GOP lawmakers may be stepping back from their tort reform push.

9 May 2011

Confusion surrounds Medicare proposals, budget plan debate

News outlets report on the fits and starts of the ongoing budget deficit talks, including how plans for Medicare's future are faring and how politics are heating up — both in Washington and in a special congressional election beyond the Beltway.

9 May 2011

Calif. health exchange effort slows; Sebelius: Health law is state friendly

"We want to be the lead car," California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley told POLITICO in January, shortly after the state became the first in the nation to pass legislation allowing it to set up a health exchange. But four months later, it's hard not to question whether California's lead is slipping. Gov. Jerry Brown is more focused on filling a $25 billion hole in California's budget than setting up the health reform's new programs (Kliff, 5/9).

9 May 2011

Appeals Court set to hear arguments Tuesday in health law challenge

Arguments in the two cases, which are the first two challenges to the Obama administration's health overhaul to advance from the federal to appellate level, mark the beginning in what some say is a race to the Supreme Court.

9 May 2011

First Edition: May 9, 2011

"It sounds like a new Apple product, but IPAB is actually a controversial board at the heart of a highly charged battle over Medicare, the federal health program for the elderly and disabled".

9 May 2011

Lovelace signs definitive agreement to acquire Heart Hospital of New Mexico

Lovelace Health System, Inc. has signed a definitive agreement to purchase the assets and operations of the Heart Hospital of New Mexico from MedCath Corporation for $119 million.

9 May 2011

IOD announces expanded capabilities to address top health information management challenges

IOD Incorporated, a leading provider of integrated HIM solutions to hospitals, health systems, and physician practices, today announced expanded capabilities to address health information management's top three challenges of this decade: transitioning to ICD-10, implementing electronic records and recruiting highly qualified HIM staff.

9 May 2011