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Medicare's annual open-enrollment period starts in Idaho

Today marks an important day for roughly 15% of Idaho's population, it's the start of Medicare's annual open-enrollment period, the only time of the year beneficiaries can drop or change prescription drug and health care plans for 2011.

16 Nov 2010

Republicans increase challenges to health law, repeal rhetoric

With their eyes on the 2012 election, Republicans are preparing to maximize conflict with Democrats over healthcare in the new Congress and minimize potential compromises, according to GOP strategists, lawmakers and lobbyists. That strategy is setting the stage for a bitter stalemate on Capitol Hill over the next two years ... Republican leaders and strategists think a renewed battle over healthcare will help the party expand its electoral gains and drive President Obama from the White House.

16 Nov 2010

HHS seeking to publish new health insurance data

The Department of Health and Human Services is working on regulations that would allow it to publish additional in-depth health insurance data, including the number of people enrolled in each insurance plan.

16 Nov 2010

BIDMC, IPFnet to conduct clinical trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will join the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research Network (IPFnet), a clinical research network sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to conduct randomized clinical trials to evaluate new and existing medications for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The network is made up of healthcare institutions from around the United States.

16 Nov 2010

Physician-owned hospitals gear up to fight health law restrictions

Doctors are challenging provisions of the new health law that seemed to spell the demise of physician-owned specialty hospitals, a fast-growing phenomenon in states such as Texas where hospital growth is largely unregulated.

15 Nov 2010

Cholera deaths in Haiti top 900; U.N. appeals for $164m to deal with outbreak that could affect 200,000

Haiti's Health Ministry on Sunday said 917 cholera deaths had been reported in the country as of Friday and more than 14,600 people had been hospitalized, according to an update on the ministry's website, Reuters reports.

15 Nov 2010

State roundup: Colorado high-risk insurance pool; Ariz. and Mich. medical marijuana issues; high-deductible insurance

Nearly 500 people in Colorado have applied for the new high-risk health-insurance pool since the program started in the state 10 weeks ago. About 430 people who already have health problems that make it difficult to get private insurance have been enrolled; 43 applications are pending.

15 Nov 2010

KHN column: For health overhaul, implementation is now job one

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Timothy Jost writes, The foremost concern of many of us who fought for health care reform is what its fate will be in the post-midterm-election world.

15 Nov 2010

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

Focusing on the disparities in the quality of health care across demographic groups, the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities brought together White House officials and national and local healthcare executives to address a series of key questions about non-medical determinants of health quality and to recommend strategies to bring more equitable healthcare access to the underserved. The determinants discussed at the four-day-long conference, which began November 10, 2010 and concluded Saturday, November 13, 2010, included education levels, health literacy, poverty, public safety, community design, access to care, environmental quality and personal, government and corporate responsibility.

15 Nov 2010

MEDecision earns NCQA Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set Software Certification

MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has earned the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) Software Certification for its programs that identify "care opportunities."

15 Nov 2010

MedClean enters distribution agreement with SunBelt

MedClean Technologies, the leading provider of on-site technology for the treatment and disposal of medical waste and the destruction of confidential documents and related media, today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with SunBelt Medical Services, Inc. With this agreement, MedClean now has 11 regional distributors covering 41 states, one national partner targeting the Veteran's Administration, and one international partner covering Canada.

15 Nov 2010

Autonomy introduces Meaning Based Healthcare platform

Autonomy Corporation plc, a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise, today announced the availability of the Autonomy Meaning Based Healthcare (MBH) platform, a comprehensive set of clinical diagnosis and information governance technologies designed to help Healthcare Delivery Organizations (HDOs) provide higher quality care at lower costs.

15 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 15, 2010

According to today's headlines, Republicans are spoiling for a health care fight and doctors are bracing from scheduled Medicare cuts.

15 Nov 2010

Graphic images of negative consequences of smoking have greatest impact on smokers

Marketing researchers at the University of Arkansas, Villanova University and Marquette University surveyed more than 500 U.S. and Canadian smokers and found that the highly graphic images of the negative consequences of smoking have the greatest impact on smokers' intentions to quit. The most graphic images, such as those showing severe mouth diseases, including disfigured, blackened and cancerous tissue, evoked fear about the consequences of smoking and thus influenced consumer intentions to quit.

15 Nov 2010

50% of nut allergic patients not able to recognize nut types

Only half of people with peanut or tree nut allergies know what the nut they are allergic to looks like, according to a study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting in Phoenix Nov. 11-16. Researchers assembled a nut display that held peanuts and nine tree nuts in 19 different forms. A worksheet, which listed the items, was completed by 1,105 participants 6 years or older. Responses were analyzed based on demographics, presence or absence of food allergies, and occupational history.

15 Nov 2010

Study finds asthma care inferior

Researchers assessed asthma burden and treatment practice in the U.S. based on results of the recently completed Asthma Insight and Management telephone survey in a new study presented at the American College of Allergy, Asthma and Immunology annual meeting in Phoenix, Nov. 11-16.

15 Nov 2010

ATA publishes 'A blueprint for telerehabilitation guidelines'

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has just announced its latest standard publication, 'A Blueprint for Telerehabilitation Guidelines,' which discusses the key administrative, clinical technical and ethical principles that should be considered in the course of providing telerehabilitation services. The purpose of these guidelines is to inform and assist practitioners in providing effective and safe services based on client needs, current empirical evidence, and available technologies.

15 Nov 2010

Study analyzes neurological recovery after hypothermia treatment in cardiac arrest patients

Heart experts at Johns Hopkins say that physicians might be drawing conclusions too soon about irreversible brain damage in patients surviving cardiac arrest whose bodies were for a day initially chilled into a calming coma.

15 Nov 2010

AHA/ASA announce need for comprehensive hospital certification program for heart and stroke care

The American Heart Association should develop a comprehensive hospital certification program with policies and evidence-based criteria for cardiovascular disease and stroke care in the United States, according to an American Heart Association Presidential Advisory published in Circulation: Journal of the American Heart Association.

15 Nov 2010

Best ways for proper disposal of unused medicines

Patients in cities all over the country will learn tomorrow about one of the best ways to avoid today's rampant prescription drug abuse – proper disposal of unused medicines.

15 Nov 2010