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Altarum's analysis reveals 4.4% increase in health spending in January 2011

Analysis by Altarum Institute's Center for Studying Health Spending indicates that health spending in January 2011 grew by 4.4 percent compared to January 2010—the 28th consecutive month of historically low growth.

24 Mar 2011

Kentucky, Minn., Florida, Texas facing tough Medicaid, budget decisions

Governor Steve Beshear of Kentucky has given lawmakers less than two weeks to approve his plan to come up with $165 million for Medicaid or he'll cut payments. The first-term Democrat, who took office in January 2008, faces a local variation on a problem vexing governors across the U.S.: when Kentucky lawmakers approved an $18 billion biennial budget last year, they overestimated federal Medicaid funding.

24 Mar 2011

Department of Health acting Secretary stresses need to raise TB awareness

Department of Health acting Secretary Dr. Eli Avila today stressed the need to raise public awareness of tuberculosis, or TB, and the importance of efforts to control—and eventually eliminate—the infectious airborne disease.

24 Mar 2011

American Heart Association: 81.8% of obese women underestimate their weight

Overweight and obese mothers and their children think they weigh less than their actual weight, according to research reported at the American Heart Association's Nutrition, Physical Activity and Metabolism/Cardiovascular Disease Epidemiology and Prevention 2011 Scientific Sessions.

24 Mar 2011

Prescription Solutions launches unique online service to streamline Prior Authorization requests

Prescription Solutions, a leading pharmacy benefits management organization and UnitedHealth Group company, has launched a unique online service to streamline submission, review and approval of Prior Authorization requests.

24 Mar 2011

Checking the status of legal challenges to the health law

The multi-state challenge is on its way to the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals In Atlanta. A June 6 date has been set for the hearing.

24 Mar 2011

CAGW expresses continued opposition to Obamacare and its wasteful spending

Today, on the one-year anniversary of the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, Citizens Against Government Waste expressed its continued opposition to the legislation and the U.S. government's wasteful spending.

24 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Boehner, Mcconnell, Thune, major new organizations opine on health law

We now know that lawmakers who promised that "if you like your plan, you can keep your plan" were wrong. The president likes to say Americans aren't interested in revisiting the debates of the past. No one would accept an answer like that from an electronics store manager who refused to offer a refund on a defective television.

24 Mar 2011

Physicians launch international advocacy campaign on TB

Physicians across the globe are coming together to advocate for a large, underrepresented patient population - those suffering from tuberculosis. On World TB Day, March 24th, a team of physician and researchers led by Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine's Tuberculosis Research Unit will nationally launch "I am TB," an international advocacy campaign aimed at reducing stigma among patients with TB and those at risk for the disease.

24 Mar 2011

Fudan, UTHealth introduce international network to fight against scleroderma

Scleroderma clinicians and researchers in the United States and China have launched an international network to fight this debilitating disease that affects more than one million people worldwide.

24 Mar 2011

Doubts and potential surround health law as it turns 1

Marking the measure's first anniversary, media outlets examine the current state of the political and policy debate, as well as efforts to shape the law's future.

24 Mar 2011

SAVE THE PATIENT offers hygiene tips to prevent hospital-acquired infection

With infections contracted in hospitals rising at alarmingly high rates, patients cannot simply rely on hospital hygiene practices and protocols to protect themselves. Patients need to proactively interact with health care staff to ensure their own safety.

24 Mar 2011

Roundup: Calif. lawmakers mull bill to tighten hospital security; abortion measures continue to advance in various states

A California legislative committee gave preliminary approval Tuesday to a bill that would tighten security at hospitals and increase their requirements for reporting violent acts to the state.

24 Mar 2011

Hospitals show progress with acquisition, joint venture deals

Modern Healthcare reports on two hospital deals currently in the works.

24 Mar 2011

IMS introduces new Institute for Healthcare Informatics

IMS Health today introduced the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics - a new initiative that will leverage collaborative relationships in the public and private sectors to strengthen the vital role of information in advancing healthcare globally.

24 Mar 2011

First Edition: March 23, 2011

Today's headlines mark the health law's official first birthday and examine where the related policies and politics now stand.

23 Mar 2011

Elder abuse victims more likely to suffer from mental disorder, use drugs or alcohol

Victims of severe traumatic elder abuse are more likely to be female, suffer from a neurological or mental disorder, and to abuse drugs or alcohol, according to research published in the March issue of the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

23 Mar 2011

'The Silent Treatment' research focuses on communication breakdown in hospitals

Health care professionals make calculated decisions daily to not alert their colleagues when a safety tool signals potential harm to a patient, according to a new study of 6,500 nurses and nurse managers released March 22 during a national briefing in Philadelphia.

23 Mar 2011

States advance in developing health insurance exchanges

Various states are developing strategies to build and operate their exchanges.

23 Mar 2011

Report highlights common problems in Nordic mental health care reforms

In Denmark, Norway, Finland and Sweden reforms within psychiatry have transformed inpatient care to the point where it has increasingly been replaced by outpatient care.

23 Mar 2011