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Hospital updates: ERs try to shorten waits, Florida Children's Hospital to join with Johns Hopkins

To attract patients, hospitals are increasingly posting wait times for their emergency rooms "on billboards, websites, social media outlets like Twitter and in text messages," The Salt Lake Tribune reports. "It's a competitive strategy, but also a tool for bending the wait-time curve and, hopefully, improving patient care, said Mary Joe Jones, chief clinical nursing officer at St. Mark's Hospital in Salt Lake City."

22 Jul 2010

Eli Lilly CEO says U.S. drugmakers' biggest challenge is sustaining innovation

USA Today/Indianapolis Star: Drugmakers are facing an array of challenges, like lawsuits and patent losses, but also new opportunities including global growth and an expected surge in the number of U.S. residents with health insurance. Eli Lilly CEO John Lechleiter comments in a Q&A: "The biggest challenge facing the industry is to be able to sustain the flow of innovative medicines from our pipelines that can effectively compete against the generic versions of our own products" (Chu, 7/21).

22 Jul 2010

Stop & Shop offers high quality, fresh from farm produce

Ice cream and popsicles aren't the only treats to offer kids after a long day of fun in the sun. With an abundance of in season fruits and veggies, Summer is the perfect time to instill healthy eating habits. Thanks to Stop & Shop's 6oyears partnership with local farmers, shoppers can purchase high quality, fresh from the farm produce.

22 Jul 2010

Despite law, mental health coverage lacking in many insurance plans

Kaiser Health News staff writer Kate Steadman checks in with Andrew Sperling, the National Alliance on Mental Illness's director of federal legislative advocacy, for a progress report on the implementation of the new mental health parity law (Steadman, 7/21).

22 Jul 2010

Current myths vs. realities in global AIDS funding

Activists at the International AIDS Conference in Vienna are charging developed and developing country governments with writing checques that bounce to the millions of people in need of lifesaving HIV treatment. Despite the gains in treatment numbers reported by WHO, the International Treatment Preparedness Coalition's (ITPC), latest report, Rationing Funds, Risking Lives, documents early warnings of the global pullback on AIDS commitment and funding.

22 Jul 2010

Wal-Mart sued for limiting employee medical care

Wal-Mart Stores Inc. is facing a class-action lawsuit in Colorado accusing the company "of conspiring to limit medical care for injured employees in a bid to save money," The Wall Street Journal reports.

22 Jul 2010

Canon Communications to redesign NutritionalOutlook for quick access to relevant content

Today, at the IFT Annual Meeting and Food Expo, the largest annual food science forum and exposition in the world, Canon Communications LLC announced it is in the process of a redesign of NutritionalOutlook.com, the leading online resource for manufacturers of dietary supplements and healthy foods. The website redesign, featuring new content, qualified supplier search, community-building tools, and nutraceutical industry resources, will launch in fall 2010.

22 Jul 2010

AU Pre-Summit on Gender concludes

The African Union (AU) Pre-Summit on Gender concludes Wednesday after three days of discussion about how African countries could improve progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) targeting women and children's health, the Independent reports.

22 Jul 2010

FSH selects HMS to provide clinical, financial information system applications for neuro-spine facility

Foundation Surgical Hospital has selected Healthcare Management Systems, Inc. to provide a full suite of integrated clinical and financial information system applications for the 64-bed orthopedic and neuro-spine facility, located in the Greater Houston market.

22 Jul 2010

Severe state budget shortfalls trigger Medicaid program cuts

As states face severe budget shortfalls, many have cut home-care services for the elderly or the disabled, programs that have been shown to save states money in the long run because they keep people out of nursing homes. Since the start of the recession, at least 25 states and the District of Columbia have curtailed programs that include meal deliveries, housekeeping aid and assistance for family caregivers, according to the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, a research organization.

22 Jul 2010

Call for American manufacturers to include medicinal ingredients from around the globe in foods, beverages

As consumers overseas embrace foods and beverages made with ingredients long known to have health and wellness benefits, American manufacturers can take a cue from their success and add such medicinal ingredients to their foods and beverages, according to a scientific discussion at the 2010 Institute of Food Technologists (IFT) Annual Meeting and Food Expo®.

22 Jul 2010

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Health insurer UnitedHealth Group reported a second quarter profit jump of 31 percent as enrollment in the insurer's plans went up, The Associated Press/The New York Times reports. "The company's total enrollment grew about 1 percent, to 32.5 million compared with last year, with gains in Medicare and Medicaid businesses offsetting commercial health insurance losses." The company's commercial enrollment fell 440,000 as the sector deals with job cuts and the recession (7/20).

22 Jul 2010

Researchers speculate about risks, rewards of making clinicians' notes transparent to patients

Technology has placed vast amounts of medical information literally a mouse click away. Yet what often may be central - a doctor's notes about a patient visit - has traditionally not been part of the discussion. In effect, such records have long been out of bounds.

22 Jul 2010

Harvard cracks down on doctors' ties to industry

In the face of increased scrutiny of ties between industry and medical school faculty, Harvard is tightening its conflict-of-interest policies, The Boston Globe reports.

22 Jul 2010

SWHR hosts briefing on urinary incontinence, overactive bladder

The Society for Women's Health Research (SWHR) hosted the Capitol Hill briefing, The Bladder Matters: What Women Need to Know on Thursday, July 15, which highlighted startling statistics and an insightful patient perspective. Featuring noted researchers, physicians, Hill staff, and a UI-afflicted patient, the aim of this widely attended briefing was to detail current research on urinary incontinence (UI) and present future outlooks.

22 Jul 2010

'Meaningful use' guidelines under fire from Republicans

NextGov: Recently released requirements for physicians and hospitals to earn cash rewards for the "meaningful use" of electronic medical records are not tough enough to justify an investment of billions of dollars, House Republicans said Tuesday. "In a hearing of the House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee, officials from the Health and Human Services Department defended the recently released standards.

22 Jul 2010

Flat global funding for HIV prevention research could have serious consequences: Report

Following significant advances in vaccine and microbicide research, including results presented today of 39% efficacy in the CAPRISA 004 microbicide gel trial among women in South Africa, a new report released today warns that flat funding for HIV prevention research may limit researchers' ability to quickly move promising approaches forward.

22 Jul 2010

Lawmakers: Extend Medicaid subsidies to help African-American seniors

"Three black members of Congress on Tuesday said minority nursing home patients would be disproportionately affected if Congress fails to extend bonus payments to state Medicaid programs" (Galewitz, 7/20).

22 Jul 2010

Justice Department officials ask for more time to reply to USCA's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul

Lawyers for Barack Obama and other defendants in the U.S. Citizens Association's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul have asked a federal judge in Akron, Ohio for more time to respond to the lawsuit suit because "this case presents claims not yet addressed in other litigation."

22 Jul 2010

AIDS 2010 interviews

Managing editor of the Kaiser Daily Global Health Policy Report, Jill Braden Balderas, interviews global health leaders participating in AIDS 2010.

22 Jul 2010

Healthcare News

Hospital updates: ERs try to shorten waits, Florida Children's Hospital to join with Johns Hopkins

Eli Lilly CEO says U.S. drugmakers' biggest challenge is sustaining innovation

Stop & Shop offers high quality, fresh from farm produce

Despite law, mental health coverage lacking in many insurance plans

Current myths vs. realities in global AIDS funding

Wal-Mart sued for limiting employee medical care

Canon Communications to redesign NutritionalOutlook for quick access to relevant content

AU Pre-Summit on Gender concludes

FSH selects HMS to provide clinical, financial information system applications for neuro-spine facility

Severe state budget shortfalls trigger Medicaid program cuts

Call for American manufacturers to include medicinal ingredients from around the globe in foods, beverages

Enrollment jump helps UnitedHealth Group profits soar 31 percent

Researchers speculate about risks, rewards of making clinicians' notes transparent to patients

Harvard cracks down on doctors' ties to industry

SWHR hosts briefing on urinary incontinence, overactive bladder

'Meaningful use' guidelines under fire from Republicans

Flat global funding for HIV prevention research could have serious consequences: Report

Lawmakers: Extend Medicaid subsidies to help African-American seniors

Justice Department officials ask for more time to reply to USCA's lawsuit against Obama's health care overhaul

AIDS 2010 interviews

Exploring the nanoscale: How AFM is transforming cosmetic science

Innovating Texture and Culture in Plant-Based Foods

Advancing brain microphysiological systems (bMPS)

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