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Gov. candidates in Florida, Minnesota offer few details on health care

News outlets report that gubernatorial candidates in Florida and Minnesota are offering little details about their plans for health spending.

28 Oct 2010

Candidates on health care offense, defense in final week before election

Candidates are in full campaign mode ahead of midterm elections that will likely spell out how the health law is implemented. The New York Times reports that some Democrats are playing defense after voting for health reform. They include Virginia Rep. Tom Perriello who is running against Republican state Sen. Robert Hurt.

28 Oct 2010

Health IT Roundup: Digital divide, a VA contract, the open data movement

Computerworld: The digital divide is alive and well when it comes to health care technology. Although President Barack Obama has made it a priority to have medical facilities deploy electronic health records (EHR) over the next four years, the people most likely to benefit -- those in poor and minority communities -- are unlikely to see them anytime soon.

28 Oct 2010

Glaxo to pay $750 million settlement for defective, unsafe medicines

The New York Times: "GlaxoSmithKline, the British drug giant, has agreed to pay $750 million to settle criminal and civil complaints that the company for years knowingly sold contaminated baby ointment and an ineffective antidepressant — the latest in a growing number of whistle-blower lawsuits that drug makers have settled with multimillion-dollar fines." The 20 medicines that were produced with "questionable safety" measures included "Avandia, a troubled diabetes drug; Coreg, a heart drug; and Tagamet an acid reflux drug."

28 Oct 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Costs of health care lawsuits; politics and the deficit; self-recusal and the Supreme Court

As a patient advocate, my top priority for health reform is expanding coverage and giving people access to the best treatments. Controlling costs is important, but it shouldn't come at the expense of patients.

28 Oct 2010

Public and private investment approaches carry potential for eliminating health disparities

According to Dr. Calvin B. Johnson, former PA Secretary of Health, there have been far too few meaningful, public discussions with regard to the substantial economic costs being borne by the U.S., as a result of its lengthy pattern of race – and gender – based health disparities. Johnson is planning to address that issue and the ability to eliminate disparities by investing in businesses, communities, and people, specifically, when he leads a panel, titled “Using Public and Private Equity Investment to Strengthen and Sustain Our Communities: Can we strategically invest our way out of health disparity and into health equity?”, at the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities, November 12, 2010, at 2:45pm, at the Philadelphia Marriott Hotel.

27 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 27, 2010

Today's headlines note that the new health law has Democrats playing defense, while Republicans offer few new alternatives to the sweeping measure.

27 Oct 2010

notifymd announces new offering in MGMA's AdminiServe Partner Network

notifymd, a leading provider of patient communication solutions, announced a new offering in MGMA's AdminiServe Partner Network. notifymd is aimed at helping physician practices maximize practice schedules and decrease patient no-show rates through notifypatient, notifymd's automated call solution.

27 Oct 2010

HHS announces $3.9 million in funding to support Family-to-Family Health Information Centers

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today announced $3.9 million in funding to continue support for Family-to-Family Health Information Centers, non-profit organizations run by families and for families with children with special health care needs. Funding for the centers was extended through 2012 by the Affordable Care Act.

27 Oct 2010

Tips to prevent lead poisoning in children

California Poison Control System is observing National Lead Poisoning Prevention Week and warns consumers that lead can be found in a variety of products available to children.

27 Oct 2010

Bruegger's announces new partnership with Children's Miracle Network

Today Bruegger's Enterprises Inc. announced a new partnership with Children's Miracle Network, a charity that raises funds for 170 children's hospitals throughout North America.

27 Oct 2010

PLoS Medicine: Journals need to develop policies for inevitable competing interests

Journals need to develop policies to handle the inevitable competing interests that arise when they publish papers that may bring them reprint revenue or increase their impact factors. This is the conclusion of a research article by Andreas Lundh and colleagues from the Nordic Cochrane Centre published in this weeks PLoS Medicine.

27 Oct 2010

Survey finds significant increase in cost of care in nursing homes and assisted living

Nursing home and assisted living rates rose significantly from 2009 to 2010, according to the Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs. Private room nursing home rates rose 4.6% to $229 per day or $83,585 per year, while assisted living rose 5.2% on average to $3,293 per month, or $39,516 per year. These increases come on top of increases from 2008 to 2009 when both nursing home and assisted living costs were up 3.3%.

27 Oct 2010

MedLearn and Panacea launch coding, compliance, and reimbursement system for pharmacy departments

Medical Learning, Inc. also known as MedLearn, a company specializing in Hospital Coding, Compliance, Reimbursement and Financial Systems and Services, today announced that, together with its business partner Panacea Healthcare Solutions, LLC, it has introduced PharmAuditor.com as the industry's newest and most comprehensive coding, compliance, and reimbursement system and service for hospital based Pharmacy Departments.

27 Oct 2010

Tips to maintain healthy weight through Halloween and holidays

For many people, the scariest part of every Halloween is not a visit from ghouls and ghosts, but the chocolaty temptation of crunchy candy bars and sweet treats that surround us in stores, at work - even in our own homes. And sometimes it can be just too hard to resist. In fact, the average American will spend more than $20 on candy treats this Halloween, according to the National Retail Federation's 2010 Halloween Consumer Intentions and Actions Survey.

27 Oct 2010

HRS to co-sponsor world's premier annual electrophysiology meeting

The North American Center for Continuing Medical Education, LLC in partnership with HMP Communications, LLC, publisher of EP Lab Digest, today announced that the Electrophysiology Innovations Congress--EP Innovations 2010 will be co-sponsored by the Heart Rhythm Society. Electrophysiology Innovations Congress EP Innovations 2010, the world's premier annual electrophysiology meeting, will take place December 9-11, 2010, at the Washington Hilton in Washington, DC.

27 Oct 2010

DMC and Vanguard extend definitive purchase agreement

The DMC Board voted this afternoon to extend their definitive purchase agreement with Vanguard Health Systems through the end of the year, allowing more time to complete governmental approvals. Vanguard's purchase of – and $850 million capital investment in – the Detroit Medical Center is the single largest private investment in Detroit's history.

27 Oct 2010

Baxa announces 2011 dates for courses at STAR Center training facility

Baxa Corporation, a leading provider of medical devices and systems that automate pharmacy operations, today announced the 2011 dates for its STAR (Skills Training, Academics and Resources) Center. Located at the Baxa global headquarters in Englewood CO, the STAR Center furthers best practice in health-system pharmacy operations. The ACPE-accredited 2011 curriculum offers participants hands-on training in a state-of-the-art cleanroom and pharmacy training facility.

27 Oct 2010

AseraCare publishes guide book on hospice

AseraCare Hospice, one of the nation's premier providers of hospice and palliative care services, has published Hospice: The Loving Circle of Care, a book that guides readers through the difficult process of deciding when to seek hospice. Hospice: The Loving Circle of Care helps hospice patients and their families as well as physicians and caregivers understand hospice and its benefits, while providing personal accounts of AseraCare patient experiences.

27 Oct 2010

New campaign raises funds for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital

UCSF has launched an innovative fundraising campaign that leverages social media to raise awareness of and dollars for UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital. The UCSF Challenge for the Children, a collaboration with the online fundraising platform Causes.com, kicks off today (Oct. 26, 2010) as part of the groundbreaking festivities for the new UCSF Medical Center at Mission Bay, site of the future children's hospital as well as women's and cancer hospitals.

27 Oct 2010