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Medicare physician payment cuts could cost millions more in reprocessing

Politico reports that the fight over a "doc fix" — fixing the Medicare reimbursement rate for doctors — is "straining not just doctors but also House-Senate relations" and could cost taxpayers millions of dollars. "Having waited for weeks in hopes of a stay, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, or CMS, is now enforcing a 21 percent cut in physician payments, and an estimated 50 million claims, held back since June 1, will be the first affected."

23 Jun 2010

Study investigates benefits of filtering blood to create safer approaches to transfusion therapy

Researchers at the University of Rochester Medical Center have discovered yet another reason to filter the foreign white cells from donor blood: The resulting blood product is associated with dramatically fewer cardiopulmonary complications for patients who received a transfusion.

23 Jun 2010

HHS, insurers, health systems preparing for health law's impact

Politico reports on the Department of Health and Human Services' HealthCare.gov, "the new Web portal that goes live July 1 and is designed to give consumers a place to research and compare health insurance plans. Since it will be the most tangible link to the health reform law for many Americans, health policy experts and administration officials say it's crucial that the site is well-designed, easy to navigate and free of the jargon that makes the field of health insurance so unintelligible to the public. ... When HealthCare.gov launches next Thursday, it will have information about insurance plans that users can sort based on their own situation and their eligibility for public insurance programs, like Medicare, the Children's Health Insurance Program and the new high-risk pools for individuals with pre-existing conditions" (Kliff, 6/22).

23 Jun 2010

Senate Dems explore phase-out of Medicaid enhanced funding

Congressional Quarterly: Senate Democrats are negotiating with "a pair of pivotal Republicans" a slimmed-down version of the tax bill that they were unable to clear last week. "The most significant change being discussed would shrink the cost of a $24.2 billion provision that extends extra federal Medicaid funds to struggling states."

23 Jun 2010

AIDS specialist leaves Calif. practice, citing rising costs

A long-time San Francisco AIDS specialist is closing his clinic and moving to Manhattan because of frustration with the insurance industry and the rising cost of practicing medicine, the San Francisco Chronicle reports. "The bottom line is, you cannot make a living practicing medicine unless you work at least 50 to 60 hours a week," said Dr. Marcus Conant, one of the first AIDS doctors in the area. "I'm not the only doctor who's getting to the point where it's not worth it."

23 Jun 2010

Health reform includes changes to denied claims, health savings accounts

News outlets examine some changes to the health care system that health reform will bring, including help for those with denied insurance claims and health savings account modifications.

23 Jun 2010

States worry about Medicaid funding caught in Congressional impasse

Washington Examiner: "Lawmakers in Virginia and Maryland are bracing for a congressional impasse over millions of dollars in health care funding that threatens to thrust both states into the red. The Medicaid funding is set to expire in January, and a measure to extend it is stalled in the Senate over concerns about the ballooning federal deficit.

22 Jun 2010

Benioff family gifts $100 million for construction of new UCSF Children's Hospital at Mission Bay

Salesforce.com chairman and CEO Marc Benioff and his family have given a $100 million private gift to help fund the construction of the new UCSF Children's Hospital at the UCSF Mission Bay campus near downtown San Francisco. The gift is both the largest gift the donors have ever made and the largest gift ever granted specifically to the UCSF Children's Hospital.

22 Jun 2010

Nature Rocks, American Heart Association encourage increased physical activity among all Americans

Today Nature Rocks, a national program created to inspire and empower parents to take their families to play, explore and enjoy quality time in nature, announced a collaboration with the American Heart Association's Start! Initiative. Start! encourages increased physical activity among all Americans, emphasizing walking because it's easy, free and has the lowest dropout rate of any form of activity.

22 Jun 2010

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network hosts fourth annual Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day

The Pancreatic Cancer Action Network today hosts its fourth annual Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day in Washington, D.C. Nearly 500 advocates, including patients, survivors and loved ones, from across the United States will meet with members of Congress to call for congressional action to ensure progress is made against the fourth leading cause of cancer death in our country by co-sponsoring the Pancreatic Cancer Research and Education Act.

22 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 22, 2010

In this Kaiser Health News consumer column, Michelle Andrews writes: "High-deductible health plans and the health savings accounts (HSAs) that link to them are becoming a familiar fixture on the insurance landscape, even though they get mixed reviews from many consumers and health-policy experts" (Kaiser Health News).

22 Jun 2010

Diabetes control in COPD patients could improve outcomes, length of hospital stays and risk of death

A new study in the journal Respirology reveals that patients with diabetes who are hospitalized with acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) experience longer time in the hospital and are also at an increased risk of death, compared to those without diabetes.

22 Jun 2010

Complimentary analyst briefing on the potential of European remote patient monitoring market

Across Europe, governments have realized the need to introduce remote monitoring into the mainstream of healthcare services. Currently, the market experiences heavy investment regarding the development of various patient monitoring systems using information and communication technology and enabling the remote monitoring of a patient.

22 Jun 2010

CHOICE Administrators, E-chx announce exclusive payroll product for health insurance market

CHOICE Administrators®, Inc. and E-chx, Inc. announced today the co-branding of CHOICE Administrators Payroll Services, an exclusive payroll product for the health insurance market, powered by E-chx, one of the nation's largest independent payroll services. CHOICE Administrators Payroll Services is available to businesses nationwide and provides a hassle-free payroll solution that includes payroll processing, direct deposit, check signing/stuffing, and customizable reporting.

22 Jun 2010

Concord Medical adds two new centers by furthering partnership with Navy General Hospital

Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited, the operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, today announced that it will add two new centers to its extensive network by furthering its partnership with the PLA Navy General Hospital, located in Beijing.

22 Jun 2010

Improving health care for Saskatchewan patients remains a challenge: HQC report

In October 2008 the province's Health Quality Council released its first "state of health care quality" report, called Quality Insight. Key messages in that inaugural report were that limited access to timely data and the absence of an electronic health record were making it hard for HQC, health providers, and system leaders to improve health care for Saskatchewan patients.

22 Jun 2010

Most Americans view paid sick days as basic worker right

Paid sick leave is a benefit prized by American workers but frequently missing on the job — a situation that leads to serious consequences, a new study released Monday by the National Opinion Research Center at the University of Chicago shows.

22 Jun 2010

Access to Healthcare signs contract with World Diabetes Foundation for new healthcare project in India

Coloplast's donation programme Access to Healthcare just signed a contract with the World Diabetes Foundation (WDF) about a new healthcare project in India. The project aims to improve the treatment of diabetic wounds.

22 Jun 2010

Insurance cover in "passive war" environment saves reforestation expert

Conflicts and wars not only take their toll on human lives, but also on the local environment. Whilst much publicity is focused on International efforts to help rebuild Afghanistan's economy and social structures, less well known is the - often voluntary - work going on to rebuild the environment, part of which involves the planting of millions of trees, as a more green environment helps to improve the dusty landscape damaged by years of fighting. More greenery also means cleaner air.

22 Jun 2010

Veterans with substance use disorders utilize violent means to commit suicide: Study

Veterans with substance use disorders who die by suicide are more likely to use violent means (such as a firearm) rather than nonviolent means (such as a drug overdose), new research suggests.

22 Jun 2010

Healthcare News

Medicare physician payment cuts could cost millions more in reprocessing

Study investigates benefits of filtering blood to create safer approaches to transfusion therapy

HHS, insurers, health systems preparing for health law's impact

Senate Dems explore phase-out of Medicaid enhanced funding

AIDS specialist leaves Calif. practice, citing rising costs

Health reform includes changes to denied claims, health savings accounts

States worry about Medicaid funding caught in Congressional impasse

Benioff family gifts $100 million for construction of new UCSF Children's Hospital at Mission Bay

Nature Rocks, American Heart Association encourage increased physical activity among all Americans

Pancreatic Cancer Action Network hosts fourth annual Pancreatic Cancer Advocacy Day

First Edition: June 22, 2010

Diabetes control in COPD patients could improve outcomes, length of hospital stays and risk of death

Complimentary analyst briefing on the potential of European remote patient monitoring market

CHOICE Administrators, E-chx announce exclusive payroll product for health insurance market

Concord Medical adds two new centers by furthering partnership with Navy General Hospital

Improving health care for Saskatchewan patients remains a challenge: HQC report

Most Americans view paid sick days as basic worker right

Access to Healthcare signs contract with World Diabetes Foundation for new healthcare project in India

Insurance cover in "passive war" environment saves reforestation expert

Veterans with substance use disorders utilize violent means to commit suicide: Study

How the Vutara VXL simplifies single-molecule imaging

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

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