Healthcare News

RSS

Report examines African government funding for child development

Tanzania, Mozambique and Niger spend the most on child wellbeing in Africa - with Sudan, Angola and Burundi at the bottom of the table," according to an African Child Policy Forum report, which was launched in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on Tuesday at the opening of the Fourth International Policy Conference on the African Child, Deutsche Presse-Agentur/M&C reports (12/7).

9 Dec 2010

Arizona State Dem. lawmakers push for restoring Medicaid transplant money

The Fiscal Times: "Organ transplants are considered optional by the federal government. And in today's economic climate, 'optional' means endangered. In Arizona, the expenses for transplants are generally covered by the Arizona Health Care Cost Containment System (AHCCCS), or 'Access,' as the state's version of Medicaid is known. But since cash-strapped Arizona is having trouble covering its mandated medical costs—never mind anything else—[some] transplants, among other things, are on the chopping block" (Mackey, 12/7).

9 Dec 2010

Nottingham researchers develop new 'score' to detect heart disease in younger people

Experts at The University of Nottingham have developed a new 'score' to help GPs detect heart disease in younger people - before it damages their health.

9 Dec 2010

Study: Adding community features to online health programs could reduce attrition

In an era when social networking sites and blogs are visited by three quarters of online users, it's only natural that the medical profession would also tap into the power of social media tools.

9 Dec 2010

Texas leaders cut spending for Medicaid, Wyo. begins to set up state exchange

"State leaders, trying to dig out of a hole in the current two-year budget before the next one has to be whacked, ordered agencies Tuesday to further curb spending. Agency chiefs were told in a letter that they must reduce expenditures by 2.5% in the remaining nine months of the fiscal year. Managers of the state Medicaid program immediately announced they would cut another 1% from the fees paid to doctors, dentists and hospitals, along with 2% in payments to nursing homes and home health care providers. The decreases take effect Feb. 1, and they come on top of 1% cuts that kicked in just before Labor Day" (Garrett, 12/8).

9 Dec 2010

Annual survey ranks states on health, health care

An annual survey ranks state's overall health and gives snap shots of specific measures including crime, air pollution and smoking rates.

9 Dec 2010

Senators announce deal to 'fix' Medicare doctor payments - for now

Senate leaders announced a deal late Tuesday to stave off deep cuts to physicians' Medicare payments by repurposing money set aside for the health law, Politico reports. The deal, announced by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., and Minority Leader Mitch McConnell, R-Ky., changes ... "how much money consumers would have to repay if they receive too large a subsidy in the health insurance exchanges after 2014.

9 Dec 2010

Home health care technology could help patients improve their health, overall well-being: Study

Home health care technology may provide one important solution to global concerns about how to sustain health care systems threatened by rising costs and manpower shortages, but such a change faces multiple obstacles to adoption, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

9 Dec 2010

Personalized medicine advocates push for better reimbursement system

The U.S. reimbursement for diagnostic tests is outdated and inhibits the development of more personalized tests for patients, according to a report released Tuesday by the Personalized Medicine Coalition.

9 Dec 2010

NIH to create new translational science center

National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins on Tuesday announced the agency is moving forward on plans to create a new research center focused on translational science, after NIH's advisory board voted to create the new center, Science's "Science Insider" blog reports (Kaiser, 12/7).

9 Dec 2010

Docs distrust hospitals; Americans divided over health law; Children's hospitals lose discounts on orphan drugs

"The successful implementation of the new health care reform law will hinge on physicians and hospitals working out trust issues with one another," according to a new PricewaterhouseCoopers survey. "The reform law requires increased collaboration and information sharing between physicians and hospitals, including through new accountable care organization arrangements, to reduce costs and increase quality."

9 Dec 2010

AJPH publishes study on importance of preventive dental treatment for pregnant women

Aetna today announced that the study, An Examination of Periodontal Treatment, Dental Care and Pregnancy Outcomes in an Insured Population, has been published online by the American Journal of Public Health.

9 Dec 2010

India, EU trade agreement will not restrict ability for India's pharmaceutical firms to export generic drugs, official says

"India and the European Union (EU) have agreed that the comprehensive bilateral trade agreement being negotiated by the two will not result in an intellectual property regime that restricts the ability of Indian pharmaceutical firms to export generic or off-patent drugs by being far more stringent than the TRIPS [Trade-Related Aspects of International Property Rights] regime of the World Trade Organization," LiveMint.com reports in an article that describes recent debates over the agreement.

9 Dec 2010

Three drug companies to pay $421 million in fraud settlement

Los Angeles Times: Three pharmaceutical firms — Roxane, Abbott Laboratories and B. Braun Medical — "agreed to pay more than $421 million to settle claims of defrauding Medicare and Medicaid — the latest in a string of large healthcare fraud settlements announced by the Justice Department. The drug companies charged one set of prices to doctors and pharmacies but reported another set of inflated figures that were used as benchmarks by government insurers reimbursing healthcare providers, authorities said" (Zajac, 12/8).

9 Dec 2010

Private insurers, employee wellness programs seek to control costs

Modern Healthcare: "Private insurers may be better at controlling healthcare costs than Medicare, according to a Health Affairs study of two Texas cities. The study is a follow-up to a widely read 2009 New Yorker article by Atul Gawande that showed per-capita Medicare spending in McAllen, Texas, was 86% higher than in El Paso.

8 Dec 2010

Neurologist wins trial for defamation against Utah Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

The worst abuses in government health programs may be by officials who press false charges. Threatening criminal prosecution to try to get a physician to pay monies amounts to "extortion," admitted one prosecutor in sworn testimony published in the winter 2010 issue of the Journal of American Physicians and Surgeons (http://www.jpands.org/vol15no4/becker.pdf).

8 Dec 2010

Aetna to acquire health information exchange firm for $500 million

Aetna, one of the largest U.S. insurers, is expanding its health information technology presence with its $500 million acquisition of technology firm Medicity, Bloomberg reports. "Medicity, based in Salt Lake City, offers technology that helps 760 hospitals and 125,000 physicians in the U.S. exchange medical data, according to the statement." Aetna said it financed the deal with "available resources" that wouldn't affect its financial results (Nussbaum, 12/7).

8 Dec 2010

New Hora de Hablar CARDIO program launched to help better manage heart health

An innovative new program, Hora de Hablar CARDIO – Creando la Atencion Real y Dialogo Inmediato en la Oficina, launched today to encourage patients and health care professionals to actively partner to help better manage heart health through more productive conversations during medical visits.

8 Dec 2010

MedeAnalytics introduces Accountable Care Solution for healthcare provider and payer organizations

MedeAnalytics, a leading provider of healthcare performance management solutions, today announced the launch of its Accountable Care Solution for healthcare provider and payer organizations.

8 Dec 2010

MassMutual broadens life insurance underwriting guidelines for prostate cancer survivors

Building on a long-standing commitment to helping people before, during and after a cancer diagnosis, Massachusetts Mutual Life Insurance Company has broadened its life insurance underwriting guidelines for prostate cancer survivors.

8 Dec 2010

Healthcare News

Report examines African government funding for child development

Arizona State Dem. lawmakers push for restoring Medicaid transplant money

Nottingham researchers develop new 'score' to detect heart disease in younger people

Study: Adding community features to online health programs could reduce attrition

Texas leaders cut spending for Medicaid, Wyo. begins to set up state exchange

Annual survey ranks states on health, health care

Senators announce deal to 'fix' Medicare doctor payments - for now

Home health care technology could help patients improve their health, overall well-being: Study

Personalized medicine advocates push for better reimbursement system

NIH to create new translational science center

Docs distrust hospitals; Americans divided over health law; Children's hospitals lose discounts on orphan drugs

AJPH publishes study on importance of preventive dental treatment for pregnant women

India, EU trade agreement will not restrict ability for India's pharmaceutical firms to export generic drugs, official says

Three drug companies to pay $421 million in fraud settlement

Private insurers, employee wellness programs seek to control costs

Neurologist wins trial for defamation against Utah Medicaid Fraud Control Unit

Aetna to acquire health information exchange firm for $500 million

New Hora de Hablar CARDIO program launched to help better manage heart health

MedeAnalytics introduces Accountable Care Solution for healthcare provider and payer organizations

MassMutual broadens life insurance underwriting guidelines for prostate cancer survivors

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

Expanding access to NMR with the Fourier 80 Duo

Latest News