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Florida doctors struggle to meet new standards for electronic records; Arizona faces sharp cuts in residency-training programs

"New federal standards unveiled last month require doctors to start using electronic medical records routinely, including logging patients' diagnoses and visits, ordering prescriptions, monitoring for drug interactions and making records accessible to other medical providers. ... Only about 20 percent of South Florida medical providers use electronic records now, experts said, and while many doctors are already making the change, some fear that older family physicians may one day close their practices rather than spend the money and time to go digital"

18 Aug 2010

Smoking rates among teenagers drop after illegalizing cigarette sales to under 18s

The number of 16 and 17 year old smokers has dropped since it became illegal to sell cigarettes to under 18s according to new research published in Addiction today (Wednesday).

18 Aug 2010

Activists sue for documents detailing downfall of St. Vincent's Hospital

Community activists and former staffers of the now-shuttered St. Vincent's Hospital in New York City filed a lawsuit Monday saying the facility was brought down by mismanagement including things like golf outings that drew bills in excess of $250,000, The Associated Press reports. "The city's last Catholic-affiliated hospital filed for bankruptcy before closing in April, citing a debt topping $1 billion.

18 Aug 2010

Hearing loss in adolescents on the rise

Hearing loss is now affecting nearly 20 percent of U.S. adolescents age 12-19, a rise of 5 percent over the last 15 years, according to a new Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) study co-led by Ron Eavey, M.D., director of the Vanderbilt Bill Wilkerson Center and the Guy M. Maness Professor in Otolaryngology.

18 Aug 2010

Iyengar yoga program improves quality of life for breast cancer patients

University of Alberta research fellow Amy Speed-Andrews has examined how a specialized Iyengar yoga program for women currently in treatment for breast cancer, and who have completed treatment, makes a difference in their recovery.

18 Aug 2010

Sec. of State Clinton discusses Global Health Initiative

Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton spoke about President Barack Obama's $63 billion Global Health Initiative (GHI) during a speech on Monday at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, Reuters' "Front Row Washington" blog reports (Ashburn, 8/16).

18 Aug 2010

Dysphagia impacts length of hospital stay and prognosis

Researchers from Mount Sinai School of Medicine have found that hospitalized patients with dysphagia, or difficulty swallowing, averaged a 40 percent longer hospital stay than patients without the condition. They also had a generally poorer prognosis. The research is published in the August issue of Archives of Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

18 Aug 2010

Virginia creates health law panel, groups prepare for overhaul changes

Virginia has created a task force to slow health costs and implement health care reform even as the state is suing to stop a key mandate in the law, The Washington Post reports. Gov. Bob McDonnell "introduced the 24-member panel, comprised of legislators, health professionals, doctors and insurers, at a news conference Monday afternoon at the Capitol.

18 Aug 2010

Cigna lobbies to define medical loss ratio on insurers' terms

Cigna has become a player in the insurance industry's lobbying on what should count as medical care under new rules governing health care spending, Kaiser Health News and McClatchy report. "The insurer has stayed in step with larger rivals such as Aetna and WellPoint in an often contentious dialogue with the National Association of Insurance Commissioners — a network of state regulators that's been charged with advising federal officials on implementing the health care law.

18 Aug 2010

Insurer mounts offensive and defensive strategies on health law

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Arlene Weintraub writes: "In the increasingly tense wrangling between the insurance industry and state regulators over the definition of what spending can qualify as medical care under the new health law, one of the loudest lobbying voices is a relatively small player: Cigna Corp" (Weintraub, 8/16).

18 Aug 2010

Pharmacy drug information confusing or lacking, study says

NPR: The Food and Drug Administration is about to make changes to drug information — often filled with technical medical jargon — to help consumers understand the risks and benefits of the drugs they take. "University of Florida professor Carole Kimberlin worked with colleagues to sample leaflets from some 400 pharmacies across the country recently at the request of the FDA. They found wide differences. 'Some of them were as little as 30 words, while others were over 2,500 words,' she says.

18 Aug 2010

Recession led to cuts in health system use

The New York Times: The recession is causing d people in the United States to cut their use of the health care system "much deeper than in countries with universal health care systems," a new report says. "The study, published by the National Bureau of Economic Research, finds that 'Americans, who face higher out-of-pocket health care costs, have reduced their routine medical care' much more than people in Britain, Canada, France and Germany.

18 Aug 2010

Biomet provides explanation to FDA regarding marketing rights for Signature Personalized Patient Care system

Biomet received a Warning Letter from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) regarding the Signature™ Personalized Patient Care system, alleging that Biomet does not have appropriate clearance or approval to market the system in the United States.

18 Aug 2010

HHS awards $1 million grants to state insurance regulators

The Los Angeles Times: "The Obama administration is sending $1-million grants to state insurance regulators to help increase oversight of rising health insurance premiums, a key step in implementing the new healthcare law. The grants announced Monday, which went to all but five states, will enable many to expand public access to information about rate hikes and to hire experts to review what insurers want to charge.

18 Aug 2010

Cancer is the world's top 'economic killer,' report finds

The Associated Press: "Cancer is the world's top 'economic killer' as well as its likely leading cause of death, the American Cancer Society contends in a new report it will present at a global cancer conference in China this week. Cancer costs more in productivity and lost life than AIDS, malaria, the flu and other diseases that spread person-to-person, the report concludes.

18 Aug 2010

Health on the Hill – August 16, 2010

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey talks with Bloomberg News' Drew Armstrong and KFF's Jackie Judd about recent developments, including the latest on the medical loss ratio calculation and how much power states have to enforce provisions of the health law (8/16).

18 Aug 2010

Bid to save the Gulgong Hospital

Residents campaigning to save the 100 year old Gulgong Hospital from closing have been informed that it could be some time before it is known whether the Federal Government will support plans for a multi-purpose health service (MPS).

17 Aug 2010

President Clinton praises Starkey Hearing Foundation for global initiative to help the world hear

Bill and Tani Austin received a standing ovation during President Bill Clinton's keynote address to over 500 guests on August 13th during the 50th Anniversary Celebration of the Lexington Hearing and Speech Center in Lexington Kentucky. President Clinton praised the Starkey Hearing Foundation for its global initiative to help the world hear. "I thank Bill and Tani Austin for the work they have done," said President Clinton.

17 Aug 2010

Merck's SIMPONI anti-TNF therapy now reimbursed in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Alberta

Merck is pleased to announce that New Brunswick, Nova Scotia and Alberta are the first provinces in Canada to reimburse SIMPONI(golimumab) for the treatment of three different rheumatic conditions. SIMPONI, a subcutaneous anti-tumor necrosis factor therapy, is now reimbursed by the drug formularies of these three provinces for people living with moderately to severely active rheumatoid arthritis, moderately to severely active psoriatic arthritis and active ankylosing spondylitis.

17 Aug 2010

HealthGrades honors Eastern Long Island Hospital with Outstanding Patient Experience Award

Eastern Long Island Hospital (ELIH) is among the top 15 percent in the nation for patient experience based on an analysis of patient surveys from 3,775 hospitals across the country by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization. By placing in the top 15 percent, ELIH received the 2010/2011 HealthGrades Outstanding Patient Experience Award(TM).

17 Aug 2010