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Study: Physicians' empathy can improve patients' positive clinical outcomes

It has been thought that the quality of the physician-patient relationship is integral to positive outcomes but until now, data to confirm such beliefs has been hard to find. Through a landmark study, a research team from Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University has been able to quantify a relationship between physicians' empathy and their patients' positive clinical outcomes, suggesting that a physician's empathy is an important factor associated with clinical competence.

8 Mar 2011

Study explores nine nutrition education online courses

Most of us have heard of Phoenix, no, not the mystical bird or the capital of Arizona, but the online university. According to the Babson Survey Research Group, enrollment in online courses is growing faster than overall higher education offerings due to various reasons like the economic downturn. With the increase in demand for online education, a study in the March/April 2011 issue of the Journal of Nutrition Education and Behavior explores nine online nutrition courses.

8 Mar 2011

Medicaid pressures push governors to consider ways to stretch their dollars

Across the U.S., governors are contemplating ways to ease the fiscal pressure Medicaid has placed on their state budgets. The approaches currently on the table include freezing the enrollment of childless adults, transforming Medicaid into a block grant program and convincing Congress to give states more flexibility to administer the program.

8 Mar 2011

Spacelabs Healthcare receives FDA clearance for Enhanced Flow Meter Visualization

Spacelabs Healthcare announced today that it has received FDA 510k clearance for Enhanced Flow Meter Visualization on its BleaseSirius Anesthesia System.

8 Mar 2011

Researchers find new strategy for long-term care of seniors

America's 75 million aging adults soon will face decisions about where and how to live as they age. Current options for long-term care, including nursing homes and assisted-living facilities, are costly and require seniors to move from place to place.

8 Mar 2011

North Shore-LIJ launches new prenatal quality initiative

Having a child is a life event that is equal parts magic and fear. Will the baby be healthy? Will labor and delivery pose challenges? Are there ways to reduce the risk for adverse events? Hospital obstetrical units face these questions round-the-clock.

8 Mar 2011

Humana joins with iCan to offer new individual healthcare plans

Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) has teamed with the iCan Benefit Group to offer a new line of discounted products for individual consumers. Effective immediately, people can access a variety of discounted packages that include dental, vision and pharmacy products.

8 Mar 2011

Parents play a key role in prevention of alcohol consumption in teenagers

Parents who are both present and engaged are the very best way of preventing teenagers from consuming large quantities of alcohol. Adolescents who smoke, stay out with their friends and have access to alcohol - from their parents, for example - when they are as young as 13 are at greater risk of becoming binge drinkers in their late teens, reveals a new thesis from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden.

8 Mar 2011

Health law funding again in play as Congress seeks current-year spending deal

With lawmakers trying to reach a compromise to avert a government shutdown and set the federal government's spending for the rest of the year, funding for the health law could face challenges in the House and the Senate.

8 Mar 2011

Bupa introduces new health section online for international audience

Bupa has announced the launch of the first part of its new health section online at bupa-intl.com, featuring more interactive content and 50 medical factsheets for an international audience.

8 Mar 2011

GOP presidential hopeful Romney continues defense of Mass. health overhaul

In defending the reform he oversaw as the state's governor, he continues to draw differences between that plan and the federal health law.

8 Mar 2011

UCSF's new pharmacy to focus on direct patient care

Although it won't be obvious to UCSF Medical Center patients, behind the scenes a family of giant robots now counts and processes their medications. With a new automated hospital pharmacy, believed to be the nation's most comprehensive, UCSF is using robotic technology and electronics to prepare and track medications with the goal of improving patient safety.

8 Mar 2011

Study: Elderly driver slower to compensate for more limited field of view

Elderly drivers are half as likely to see pedestrians on the sidewalk due to a limited field of view, and compensate in part by driving more slowly, according to a study by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev researchers.

8 Mar 2011

State roundup: Mass. effort to manage care for chronically ill; promoting organ donations

For a glimpse of the future of Massachusetts health care as Gov. Deval Patrick envisions it, consider Phyllis Minsky. At 82, Phyllis is complex. Medically, that is. ... Older patients with multiple chronic diseases are the biggest consumers of health care; some 15 percent of Medicare patients make up over 75 percent of health care spending.

8 Mar 2011

FDA clears Breathe BT-V2S ventilator for COPD disease management

Breathe Technologies, Inc., a manufacturer of innovative technology solutions for people with respiratory conditions, including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, announced today that it has received FDA clearance for use of the Breathe Technologies BT-V2S ventilator in the home setting.

8 Mar 2011

AstraZeneca grants $2.5 million to 14 U.S.-based organizations to improve cardiovascular health

The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation today announced grants totaling more than $2.5 million to 14 U.S.-based nonprofit organizations from Maine to California dedicated to improving cardiovascular health in local communities.

8 Mar 2011

Costs and profits: News from the hospital industry

The Boston Globe reports on how Children's Hospital Boston is zeroing in on its costs. Meanwhile, the LA Times reports on another example of regional variation in the cost of care.

8 Mar 2011

Experts develop financial modeling tool to assess economic impact linked with accountable care

Experts from 28 of the nation's leading health systems developed a comprehensive financial modeling tool to assess the economic impact associated with a system-wide transition to accountable care.

8 Mar 2011

FDA clears Spacelabs' EFM Visualization used in Anesthesia System

OSI Systems, Inc., a vertically-integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the Security and Healthcare industries, today announced that its Healthcare division, Spacelabs Healthcare, has received FDA 510k clearance for Enhanced Flow Meter Visualization which will be utilized on the BleaseSirius Anesthesia System.

7 Mar 2011

Flinders overcrowding problems to be addressed

The Health Minister John Hill has promised to find ways to ease overcrowding at Flinders Medical Centre (FMC) in Adelaide. At present ambulance crews have left people on stretchers in the hospital’s corridors or in ambulances for long periods before they can be given emergency beds sources reveal.

7 Mar 2011