Healthcare News

RSS

Study concludes organic vegetables does not contain healthful antioxidants

With the demand for organically produced food increasing, scientists are reporting new evidence that organically grown onions, carrots, and potatoes generally do not have higher levels of healthful antioxidants and related substances than vegetables grown with traditional fertilizers and pesticides.

4 Nov 2010

Jefferson professor named 'Physician of the Year' by CancerCare

Edith P. Mitchell, M.D., clinical professor, Department of Medical Oncology at Jefferson Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University, and associate director of Diversity Programs for the Kimmel Cancer Center at Jefferson, was recently named 'Physician of the Year' by CancerCare, a national nonprofit organization that provides free, professional support services to anyone affected by cancer: people with cancer, caregivers, children, loved ones, and the bereaved. Dr. Mitchell is being honored for her work in gastrointestinal malignancies.

4 Nov 2010

Rescu receives $50,000 grant to teach 22 minute CPR course to high school students

Researchers led by St. Michael's Hospital will be teaching a quick, inexpensive method of cardio-pulmonary resuscitation to some Toronto-area high school students this fall.

4 Nov 2010

HRSA awards grants to develop new approaches for organ donation

The Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) has announced more than $2.2 million in grants to help identify effective strategies for increasing organ donation.

4 Nov 2010

Endocrine Society unveils new guideline on endocrine and nutritional management of post-bariatric surgery patients

The Endocrine Society released a new clinical practice guideline for the nutritional and endocrine management of adults after bariatric surgery, including those with diabetes mellitus. The guideline features a series of evidence-based clinical recommendations developed by an expert task force. The guideline is published in the November 2010 issue of the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (JCEM), a publication of The Endocrine Society.

4 Nov 2010

VA awards QuadraMed $211M contract to implement Quantim Coding, Compliance and Abstracting solution

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has awarded QuadraMed® Corporation, a leading provider of healthcare technologies and services, a five-year, $211 million contract to implement its Quantim® Coding, Compliance and Abstracting solution. The comprehensive, integrated solution will improve the VA healthcare system's coding productivity and accuracy through real-time compliance monitoring and customizable billing processes.

4 Nov 2010

Georgia Tech hosts symposium to discuss sickle cell disease

Georgia Tech will host the Sickle Cell Disease Symposium bringing together researchers, policy experts and community advocates to discuss the latest research and strategies for future success in combating this complex and debilitating blood disorder. The symposium begins at Georgia Tech's Institute for Bioengineering and Bioscience on November 4 and concludes the evening of November 5.

4 Nov 2010

Acceleron receives grants for five projects under QTDP program

Acceleron Pharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing novel therapeutics that modulate the growth of cells and tissues including muscle, bone, fat, red blood cells and the vasculature, today announced it has been awarded grants for five projects under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) program.

4 Nov 2010

Study links positive well-being to higher telomerase activity

Positive psychological changes that occur during meditation training are associated with greater telomerase activity, according to researchers at the University of California, Davis, and the University of California, San Francisco. The study is the first to link positive well-being to higher telomerase, an enzyme important for the long-term health of cells in the body.

4 Nov 2010

AAPC launches beta version of Health Plan Policy Search Tool

AAPC has launched the beta version of its Health Plan Policy Search Tool giving providers access to more than 500 local and national health plans. This online search tool retrieves provider manuals, policies, physician credentialing and Medicare/Medicaid eligibility through an easy to use online tool. Users can now quickly find vital information instead of spending hours searching for the same information on each health plans website.

4 Nov 2010

Florida to drop 350 uninsured HIV/AIDS patients from drug program; Ore. and Wash. set up enrollment periods for children's insurance; Calif. gets federal grant to update Medicaid program

The Miami Herald/The Sun Sentinel: "The Florida Department of Health plans to drop about 350 uninsured HIV/AIDS patients from a federally funded program that pays for all or most of their drugs, because of a budget crisis. An additional 2,000 or more HIV-positive patients are at risk of being bumped from the program unless the state can close a $16 million shortfall in the next few months, officials said Tuesday.

4 Nov 2010

Medicare reimbursement cuts lead to decline in unnecessary or inappropriate care

When Medicare policy changes led to reductions in reimbursement for hormonal treatment of prostate cancer, there was a sharp decline in its use among patients not likely to benefit from the treatment. But among patients for whom the therapy is clearly beneficial, doctors continued to prescribe it at the same rate, according to a new study.

4 Nov 2010

During stop in Papua New Guinea, Secretary Clinton promotes women's rights

As part of Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton's two-week Asia-Pacific tour, Clinton stopped in Papua New Guinea (PNG) on Wednesday to "promote human rights and women's empowerment in a South Pacific nation suffering from an epidemic of rape and police brutality," the Associated Press reports.

4 Nov 2010

Republican leaders say health law repeal is 'a top GOP priority'

Reuters: "Representative John Boehner, expected to be named the next speaker of the House of Representatives, vowed on Wednesday to repeal health care reforms pushed into law by the Obama administration. 'I believe that the healthcare bill that was enacted by the current Congress will kill jobs in America, ruin the best healthcare system in the world, and bankrupt our country,'" Boehner, an Ohio Republican, told a news conference" today (Lawder, 11/3).

4 Nov 2010

GOP claims Statehouse victories that could set back health law implementation

"The Democrats' ambitious health care overhaul is facing roadblocks from newly elected state officials who harshly criticized it while campaigning and who are now in a position to make good on their promises," Kaiser Health News reports. The GOP made significant political gains in Tuesday's election, taking "Governors' mansions in several states." Among the newly elected governors were Sam Brownback of Kansas, "who called the reform law 'an abomination,'" and Tennessee's Bill Haslam, who called the law "an 'intolerable expansion' of federal power."

4 Nov 2010

Michigan BCBS sued for second time over hospital contracts

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan is being sued for a second time in two weeks for allegedly pressuring hospitals to sign "most favored nation" contracts that required them to charge competing insurers higher rates.

4 Nov 2010

Republicans look to use majority for health overhaul repeal, plan vote

Now in control of the House of Representatives, Republicans are planning to flex their muscles quickly to try to repeal the Democratic health law but even some GOP leaders acknowledge it is likely they can get rid of the law right away.

4 Nov 2010

SPRC receives funds from SAMHSA to focus on populations at high risk for suicide

In the United States, suicide claims over 34,000 lives annually, the equivalent of 94 suicides per day; one suicide every 15 minutes. To address this national crisis the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) is awarding a total of up to $22.4 million in additional funds over the course of the next five years to the Suicide Prevention Resource Center (SPRC).

4 Nov 2010

With newly-elected governors, GOP gains clout to fight health reform law

Kaiser Health News staff writers Julie Appleby and Mary Agnes Carey report: "The Democrats' ambitious health care overhaul is facing roadblocks from newly elected state officials who harshly criticized it while campaigning and who are now in a position to make good on their promises" (Appleby and Carey, 11/3).

4 Nov 2010

Economy saps hospital's earnings as patients avoid treatment

Reuters: The slow economy is infiltrating the hospital sector, too. "As the economic downturn drags on and the unemployment rate remains stubbornly high, patients who have lost private insurance coverage or watched their co-payments and deductibles spike up are simply not getting medical care at the rate they once did."

4 Nov 2010