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Advocacy group critiques patient debt load in Indiana

A new survey has sparked an Indiana patient advocacy group to say hospitals in the state should earn their nonprofit status by providing more low-cost charity care, The Indianapolis Star reports. "Armed with a survey that showed close to half of hospital patients going into debt to pay their bills, the Consumer Action Coalition Education Fund and Indiana Legal Services said hospitals are doing too little to inform people about alternative payment plans." Medical debt is a large problem in the city, said the study's author and the education fund director.

28 Jul 2010

Report: Generic drugs offer savings for Medicaid

A new report suggests that expanding use of generic drugs could offer significant savings for Medicaid.

28 Jul 2010

WWHI participates in joint meeting to explore barriers to wireless communications, health care solutions

The West Wireless Health Institute today announced its participation in the first joint meeting hosted by the Federal Communications Commission and Food & Drug Administration to explore the potential barriers that may slow the convergence of wireless communications and health care solutions.

27 Jul 2010

Millennium Laboratories urges for increase in physician reimbursement for POC urine drug screening

Millennium Laboratories, Inc., a national, research-based medication monitoring company specifically focused on clinicians who treat chronic pain, strongly advocated for an increase in physician reimbursement for point-of-care urine drug screening at the Annual Clinical Laboratory Public Meeting of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on July 22, 2010.

27 Jul 2010

Free health, vision and dental screenings for children, adults at Family First Health in York

The Highmark Partners for a Healthy Community will offer free health, vision and dental screenings from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday, Aug. 7 at Family First Health in York. The event is open to children and adults who are uninsured or have minimal coverage.

27 Jul 2010

SBHCS deploys MedeAnalytics platform to automate patient access process of health system

MedeAnalytics, a leading provider of healthcare performance management solutions, today announced that the Saint Barnabas Health Care System has selected MedeAnalytics Patient Access Intelligence solution to automate the complete patient access process of the health system.

27 Jul 2010

VillageReach announces $5.6M program to strengthen national health system in Mozambique

VillageReach, the Seattle-based social enterprise that increases access to healthcare for remote, last mile communities in low-income countries, today announced a $5.6 million program to strengthen the national health system in Mozambique. Contributions for the six-year program total $1.2 million to date.

27 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 27, 2010

Today's health policy news includes reports about the continuing Senate backlash to Dr. Donald Berwick's appointment to head the Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services as well as findings from a new poll that reveal seniors really don't understand health reform.

27 Jul 2010

Age-in Study 2010 shows how age 65 has become irrelevant to boomers' retirement plans

Leading boomers (aged 63-64) want to continue working, but three times as many are unemployed today as were two years ago. They face high unemployment, unwanted early retirement, and early draws on Social Security, meaning less retirement income. This critical finding is from Deft Research's just-released Age-in Study 2010.

27 Jul 2010

SeeChange Health Insurance to offer value-based HSA products to California employers

SeeChange Health Insurance Company, a provider of value-based health insurance plans to employers, will offer a variety of Health Savings Account products in parts of California beginning August 1, 2010. The product launch will make SeeChange Health the first insurance company to offer value-based HSA products to California employers.

27 Jul 2010

Rockport adds 25,000 OptumHealth physical medicine specialists to workers' compensation PPO network

Rockport Healthcare Group announced it is adding more than 25,000 OptumHealth physical medicine specialists to its workers' compensation Preferred Provider Organization (PPO) network. The PPO program launched May 1, 2010.

27 Jul 2010

USDA to facilitate virtual public discussion on power of telemedicine

Agriculture Under Secretary for Rural Development Dallas Tonsager announced late last week that the USDA will facilitate a virtual public discussion in the field of telemedicine. "The Power of Telemedicine" web discussion is an extension of the USDA's Open Government effort and Rural Development's latest effort to encourage a more widespread use and understanding of telemedicine.

27 Jul 2010

Economic uncertainty, healthcare issues have hit nation's cardiologists, survey shows

The economic uncertainty and healthcare issues affecting millions of Americans have hit the nation's cardiologists as well, according to a new survey: they are seeing more "baby boomer" patients than ever as Americans get older and demand more care. But they are being reimbursed less for those services by Medicare and insurance firms, in what one cardiologist calls "a revenue roller coaster of uncertainty."

27 Jul 2010

NPMA releases results of 2010 Comprehensive Global Bed Bug Study

A new survey conducted by the National Pest Management Association and the University of Kentucky, confirms what pest management professionals across the U.S. and around the world have been seeing in the field - bed bugs are back in a very big way, with 95 percent of U.S. survey respondents indicating that their company has encountered a bed bug infestation in the past year. Prior to 2000, only 25 percent of U.S. survey respondents encountered a bed bug infestation.

27 Jul 2010

NCPDP offers compelling testimony on Proposals for a National Health Plan Identifier

The National Council for Prescription Drug Programs offered compelling testimony to the National Committee on Vital Health Statistics last week on Proposals for a National Health Plan Identifier, citing the existing operational processes that have been successfully used in the pharmacy industry for over 25 years.

27 Jul 2010

Physicians often guess wrong about patients' beliefs about health

US physicians are often poor judges of their patients' health beliefs, according to a new study by Dr. Richard Street from Texas A&M University and Paul Haidet from The Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, USA. However, physicians' understanding is better the more patients are involved by asking questions, expressing concerns, and stating their beliefs and preferences for care. Their analysis of how patients' health beliefs differ from their physicians' perception of these beliefs was just published online by Springer in the Journal of General Internal Medicine.

27 Jul 2010

Life-saving interventions can save 11 million African women, children over next five years: Countdown report

In the next five years, 11 million African women and children could be saved by creating near-universal availability of key life-saving interventions, according to The Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health and the Countdown to 2015 Decade Report (2000-2010).

27 Jul 2010

President Obama launches new series of television, radio PSAs to mark the 20th anniversary of ADA

To coincide with the twentieth anniversary of the enactment of the Americans with Disabilities Act today, President Obama is joining the Ad Council and the American Association of People with Disabilities to launch a new series of television and radio public service advertisements. The ads, which feature the President, celebrate the progress that has been made during the last two decades and remind the public that there is still a lot of work to do so that all Americans have equal opportunity and full participation in this country.

27 Jul 2010

Psychologists to host China's first-ever conference on positive psychology

The ranks of China's millionaires continue to grow, but the increased wealth has done little to boost the country's gross domestic happiness, according to psychologists at the University of California, Berkeley. They say the pursuit of prosperity in the nation is fast outpacing mental health and well-being, and are seeking to correct that imbalance by spreading the science of happiness in China.

27 Jul 2010

Glaxosmithkline to implement new compensation program for sales professionals

GlaxoSmithKline today confirmed that it will implement a new system for evaluating and compensating its sales professionals beginning in 2011.Under the new system, bonuses for sales professionals who work directly with healthcare professionals and other customers will no longer be based on individual achievement of sales targets, but will be based primarily on the service they deliver to customers. Bonuses will be determined, in part, by customer feedback, and by a sales professional's adherence to the company values of transparency, integrity, respect and patient-focus.

27 Jul 2010

Healthcare News

Advocacy group critiques patient debt load in Indiana

Report: Generic drugs offer savings for Medicaid

WWHI participates in joint meeting to explore barriers to wireless communications, health care solutions

Millennium Laboratories urges for increase in physician reimbursement for POC urine drug screening

Free health, vision and dental screenings for children, adults at Family First Health in York

SBHCS deploys MedeAnalytics platform to automate patient access process of health system

VillageReach announces $5.6M program to strengthen national health system in Mozambique

First Edition: July 27, 2010

Age-in Study 2010 shows how age 65 has become irrelevant to boomers' retirement plans

SeeChange Health Insurance to offer value-based HSA products to California employers

Rockport adds 25,000 OptumHealth physical medicine specialists to workers' compensation PPO network

USDA to facilitate virtual public discussion on power of telemedicine

Economic uncertainty, healthcare issues have hit nation's cardiologists, survey shows

NPMA releases results of 2010 Comprehensive Global Bed Bug Study

NCPDP offers compelling testimony on Proposals for a National Health Plan Identifier

Physicians often guess wrong about patients' beliefs about health

Life-saving interventions can save 11 million African women, children over next five years: Countdown report

President Obama launches new series of television, radio PSAs to mark the 20th anniversary of ADA

Psychologists to host China's first-ever conference on positive psychology

Glaxosmithkline to implement new compensation program for sales professionals

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

PhD researcher at LifeArc

Unveiling Hidden Potential: Organoids for Disease Modeling in Neuroscience Research

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