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Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution to use Axon Sports CCAT for Baseline testing

Wells Fargo Insurance Services' Student Insurance Division announced today that its Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution will use Axon Sports Computerized Cognitive Assessment Tool for its Baseline testing. Launched in 2009, the Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution is a broad concussion management treatment and services solution for athletes nationwide.

13 Aug 2010

Insurers defend less generous policies, medical loss ratio definitions; Obama to talk with insurance commissioners

Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with USA Today, reports on insurers who are defending less generous "limited-benefit" health policies as implementation of the health law proceeds. That law forbids annual dollar limits in such plans. "Starting this fall, most health care policies — except existing policies purchased by individuals on their own — will have to cover at least $750,000 in medical care per person.

13 Aug 2010

Four Mass. hospitals investigate trashing of patient health records, Calif. employers worry about workers using marijuana on job

"Four Massachusetts community hospitals are investigating how thousands of patient health records, some containing Social Security numbers and sensitive medical diagnoses, ended up in a pile at a public dump. The unshredded records included pathology reports with patients' names, addresses, and results of breast, bone, and skin cancer tests, as well as the results of lab work following miscarriages. By law, medical records and documents containing personal identifying information must be disposed of in a way that protects privacy, and leaving them at a dump is probably illegal, privacy lawyers and hospital officials said" (Kowalczyk, 8/13).

13 Aug 2010

Travelers launches MedFirst to address new combination of risks in medical technology industry

The evolution of software and electronics for medical devices and the transferring of electronic personal identity records is creating a new combination of risks in the medical technology industry. To address these risks, Travelers announces MedFirstSM - a combination of three liability coverages packaged in a single insurance policy: products/completed operations liability, errors & omissions and information security liability.

13 Aug 2010

Obama Administration should adopt new regulations to insulate Americans from rate increases: Consumer Watchdog

Consumer Watchdog called on the Obama Administration to adopt new regulations requiring broad financial disclosures by health insurance companies to help insulate Americans from double-digit rate increases. Insurers should provide details of shadowy multibillion-dollar transfers to out-of-state affiliates and parent companies when they are required to justify "unreasonable" rate increases under the health reform law, said the group.

13 Aug 2010

Arizona lawmakers challenge health overhaul

A group of Arizona lawmakers has become the latest to challenge the federal health law as they "joined a conservative watchdog group Thursday in filing a 78-page lawsuit" challenging the law's mandate on Americans to carry health insurance and its Independent Payment Advisory Board in Medicare, Fox News reports.

13 Aug 2010

UT System Board of Regents approve plans for new University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center

The UT System Board of Regents today gave its approval to plans for a new state-of-the-art University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. The project now will go to the Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board for its review and final approval.

13 Aug 2010

Today's opinions: Rep. Ryan's plan to aid Medicare; The burden on health law supporters in Va.; Evaluating Medicare actuary's estimates

Only in Washington could the government raid one entitlement program to finance a brand-new one and still claim that deficits have been reduced and entitlements have been reformed (Rep. Paul Ryan, 8/13).

13 Aug 2010

Hospitals' 'bad debts' grow as even insured patients have trouble paying medical bills

A "local hospital group says the fastest-growing part of what hospitals call 'bad debt' -- basically, uncollectible bills -- is money owed by patients who have insurance. As employers dump costs onto workers, so now are workers dumping costs onto hospitals. Because of rising deductibles and cost-sharing rules, patients are increasingly faced with bills that would have been unusual for someone with insurance a few years ago. Growing numbers of them can't pay, or won't. Total bad debt grew 12 percent, from $490 million in fiscal 2007 to nearly $550 million in fiscal 2008, at 36 area hospitals that responded to a 2009 survey by the Delaware Valley Healthcare Council of HAP, a hospital association that released the data this week. But bad debt from insured patients grew twice as fast: 28 percent, from $76 million to $97 million."

13 Aug 2010

KHN column: Medicaid rescissions worse than private insurers

On Tuesday, members of the House of Representatives interrupted their August vacation and returned to Washington to vote on a bill to send money to the states. The issue that dominated the news was saving the jobs of teachers, police officers and other public employees. But most of the money allocated will prevent the states from cutting off health benefits for millions of people.

13 Aug 2010

ACAM, AAEM sign agreement to host joint conference in Portland

The American College for Advancement in Medicine and the American Academy of Environmental Medicine are excited to announce they have reached an agreement to host a joint conference and tradeshow, November 16 - 20, 2011 in Portland, Oregon.

13 Aug 2010

Five tips for seniors researching MA or Medigap plan options

Health Plan One, a general agent in the online health insurance market, seeks to guide seniors to choose carefully when selecting their Medicare Advantage or Medicare supplement plan. Seniors will have only one opportunity to make changes to their Medicare plans during the Annual Enrollment Period this November 15 through December 31.

13 Aug 2010

Activists, care providers, patients protest against Senator Nelson's silence on AIDS drug program

While Florida continues to add up to 300 people each month to its waiting list for its AIDS Drug Assistance Program, scores of AIDS activists, care providers and patients will gather at a protest and press briefing hosted by AIDS Healthcare Foundation, Friday, August 13th at 12:00 Noon outside the Tampa offices of United States Senator Bill Nelson (D, FL).

13 Aug 2010

Canadian Red Cross ramps up relief efforts in flood ravaged Pakistan

The Canadian Red Cross is ramping up relief efforts in flood ravaged Pakistan. A Red Cross distribution planned for Sunday will put much-needed emergency supplies into the hands of 400 families in the SWAT valley. The supplies, funded by Canadian donations, will include tents, blankets and hygiene kits.

13 Aug 2010

Management of therapy-resistant schizophrenia

The psychotic symptoms of up to 30% of schizophrenic patients do not respond adequately to treatment with antipsychotic drugs, other than clozapine. These refractory patients are generally among the most disabled of all people with schizophrenia and require special assessment and treatment.

13 Aug 2010

THN President applauds FTC, State enforcement officials for crackdown on insurance scammers

Betty Heiman, Founder and President of Transparent Health Network, praised the announcement made today that the FTC and State enforcement officials will crackdown on scammers who target uninsured, unemployed and uninsurable individuals by peddling fraudulent medical discount plans. These plans, according to government officials, are marketed as health insurance but possess few or none of the features either of insurance or of actual plans.

13 Aug 2010

Validare achieves national certification from ACCME for medical education program

Validare has been awarded national certification for their continuing medical education program. The training that Validare provides to physicians and their staff on how to become accredited for Office Based Surgery has now been recognized by the ACCME. Physicians who participate in Validare's accreditation preparation program will receive CME credits for the time they spend working on becoming accredited for office based surgery.

13 Aug 2010

Health 2.0 Developer Challenge initiative announces four new challenges

The Health 2.0 Developer Challenge, an initiative designed to stimulate new innovative application development and data use, announces its four newest challenges which include prize money of over $15,000.

13 Aug 2010

ISW calls upon states to consider community-based programs as treatment for sex offenders

A recent analysis conducted by the Associated Press revealed that the 20 states with civil commitment laws will spend nearly $500 million in 2010 to incarcerate only 5,000 offenders. According to experts at the Boston-based Institute for Sexual Wellness (ISW), states concerned with how to pay for these programs over the long term should investigate community-based programs. Not only are such programs available at a fraction of the cost of civil commitment, but they are demonstrating high success in preventing recidivism.

13 Aug 2010

Challenges in interrelated disciplines of information governance in effective e-Health systems

According to a new report from Accenture, healthcare organizations planning large investments in e-health solutions face challenges in five interrelated disciplines of information governance - data privacy, confidentiality, security, quality and integrity.

13 Aug 2010

Healthcare News

Play It Safe Concussion Care Solution to use Axon Sports CCAT for Baseline testing

Insurers defend less generous policies, medical loss ratio definitions; Obama to talk with insurance commissioners

Four Mass. hospitals investigate trashing of patient health records, Calif. employers worry about workers using marijuana on job

Travelers launches MedFirst to address new combination of risks in medical technology industry

Obama Administration should adopt new regulations to insulate Americans from rate increases: Consumer Watchdog

Arizona lawmakers challenge health overhaul

UT System Board of Regents approve plans for new University Hospital at UT Southwestern Medical Center

Today's opinions: Rep. Ryan's plan to aid Medicare; The burden on health law supporters in Va.; Evaluating Medicare actuary's estimates

Hospitals' 'bad debts' grow as even insured patients have trouble paying medical bills

KHN column: Medicaid rescissions worse than private insurers

ACAM, AAEM sign agreement to host joint conference in Portland

Five tips for seniors researching MA or Medigap plan options

Activists, care providers, patients protest against Senator Nelson's silence on AIDS drug program

Canadian Red Cross ramps up relief efforts in flood ravaged Pakistan

Management of therapy-resistant schizophrenia

THN President applauds FTC, State enforcement officials for crackdown on insurance scammers

Validare achieves national certification from ACCME for medical education program

Health 2.0 Developer Challenge initiative announces four new challenges

ISW calls upon states to consider community-based programs as treatment for sex offenders

Challenges in interrelated disciplines of information governance in effective e-Health systems

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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