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Home health care stocks fall with Senate Finance Committee inquiry

Shares of four home health care providers tumbled Thursday after the Senate Finance Committee raised questions about how the companies bill Medicare for home health therapy visits, The Associated Press/ABC News reports.

14 May 2010

First Edition: May 13, 2010

Among today's headlines are reports that some Republican senators are taking aim at President Obama's pick to run the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services.

13 May 2010

New research: 10-minute frailty test can predict surgical outcomes in older patients

A simple, 10-minute "frailty" test administered to older patients before they undergo surgery can predict with great certainty their risk for complications, how long they will stay in the hospital and - most strikingly - whether they are likely to end up in a nursing home afterward, new research from Johns Hopkins suggests.

13 May 2010

HHS, DOJ officials to release new report on fraud prevention, enforcement efforts at press conference

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Attorney General Eric Holder will discuss the Obama Administration's efforts to fight fraud using new tools provided by the Affordable Care Act at a press conference on Thursday, May 13, 2010, at 4:00 p.m. EDT. HHS and DOJ officials will also release a new report on fraud prevention and enforcement efforts.

13 May 2010

U.S. Well-Being Report for April 2010

The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index was a tie (63.3) for all-time overall well-being in April, revealing a continued recovery of American well-being despite continuing challenges and high unemployment. The only other time in 28 months of measurement the WBI reached 67 was in August 2009.

13 May 2010

SAGE launches further two Therapeutic Advances journals

SAGE has extended its suite of Therapeutic Advances journals with the launch of a further two titles: Therapeutic Advances in Chronic Disease and Therapeutic Advances in Endocrinology and Metabolism.

13 May 2010

NPTA launches new ACPE-accredited certification course to improve safety of pharmacy technicians

The National Pharmacy Technician Association is doing its part to improve the safety of pharmacy technicians with the launch of a new ACPE-accredited certification course on the safe handling of hazardous medications, also referred to as Chemo Certification.

13 May 2010

Current residency programs do not have capacity to address growing shortage of general surgeons

Current residency programs do not have the capacity to address the growing shortage of general surgeons, according to survey research presented today at the Sixth Annual Association of American Medical Colleges Physician Workforce Research Conference in Alexandria, Va.

13 May 2010

Two LSU researchers tackle incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults in the U.S.

In a paper published in the May 2010 issue of the scholarly journal Annals of Epidemiology, two LSU researchers tackle a problem seldom acknowledged in the United States - the incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults

13 May 2010

Study: When incentive payments are removed, quality of health care suffers

Los Angeles Times: Researchers in Britain teamed with Kaiser Permanente in Northern California "to see what happened in Northern California when the health giant stopped rewarding doctors who screened patients for diabetic retinopathy and cervical cancer."

13 May 2010

Florida weighs next steps for small business insurance exchange; N.J. considers COBRA eligibility expansion; Other highlights

When Republican lawmakers created the Florida Health Choices program in 2008, they billed it as a way to deregulate the health-care market for small businesses. Two years later, Florida Health Choices has still not started offering coverage, and its leaders and lawmakers face a philosophical choice that could determine whether the program survives.

13 May 2010

Prescription costs more likely to keep Hispanics away from pharmacy counter: Study

Drug costs could prevent some people from filling their prescriptions, which can interfere with optimal health care. A new study of Medicare beneficiaries finds that cost concerns are more likely keep Hispanics away from the pharmacy counter than non-Hispanics.

13 May 2010

Seriously mentally ill are three times more likely to be imprisoned than hospitalized, report finds

USA Today: "On average, a seriously mentally ill person in the USA is three times more likely to be incarcerated than hospitalized, a report concludes today. In no state was a seriously mentally ill person — someone with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, for example — less likely to be incarcerated than hospitalized, the report by the National Sheriffs' Association and the Treatment Advocacy Center found.

13 May 2010

World Bank announces five-year plan to reduce maternal deaths, fertility rates in 58 low-income countries

During the release of its five-year plan to help drive down high maternal death and fertility rates in low-income countries, the World Bank on Tuesday said "that family planning and other reproductive health services have fallen off the radar of many governments, donors and aid agencies," Reuters reports.

13 May 2010

Two-thirds of child deaths in 2008 due to infectious diseases, report finds

Pneumonia, diarrhea, malaria and other infectious diseases accounted for two-thirds of the 8.8 million deaths in 2008 among children under age 5 around the world, according to a Lancet study published on Wednesday, HealthDay News/Bloomberg BusinessWeek reports. The highest numbers of childhood deaths were in Africa (4.2 million) and Southeast Asia (2.39 million), according to the news service (5/11).

13 May 2010

Proposed cuts in Medicare payments impact access to healthcare: Poll

An independent poll recently conducted on behalf of the American Osteopathic Association (AOA) shows that an alarming number of physicians will stop seeing Medicare beneficiaries if current payment policies are not reformed.

13 May 2010

Missouri to hold August vote on insurance mandate

KWMU/St. Louis Public Radio: "Missouri will be the first state to let citizens vote on whether to defy the federal health care law signed by President Obama. The Missouri House today passed legislation authorizing a referendum stating that citizens and employers cannot be forced to participate in any public or private health care system. It's designed to challenge the new health care law that requires most Americans to have health insurance or face fines" (Griffin, 5/11).

13 May 2010

FDA warns of side effects from swallowing Benadryl Extra Strength Itch Stopping Gel

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers about potentially serious side effects from mistakenly swallowing Benadryl Extra Strength Itch Stopping Gel, an over-the-counter (OTC) product that should only be used on the skin.

13 May 2010

Justice Department responds to health law's first legal challenge

The Obama administration late Tuesday filed a response to one of the first lawsuits against the new health overhaul, "saying it was constitutional and any challenge was premature," Reuters reports.

13 May 2010

PositiveID files provisional patent covering glucose level RF sensing technology

PositiveID Corporation announced today that it has filed a provisional patent application with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office covering the interface between a radio frequency ("RF") powered resonant electromechanical drive and the fluids in the interstitial space of a patient for continuous detection of glucose levels in a patient. The interface employs a resonant electromechanical drive for mass sensing and RF communication of glucose levels.

13 May 2010

Healthcare News

Home health care stocks fall with Senate Finance Committee inquiry

First Edition: May 13, 2010

New research: 10-minute frailty test can predict surgical outcomes in older patients

HHS, DOJ officials to release new report on fraud prevention, enforcement efforts at press conference

U.S. Well-Being Report for April 2010

SAGE launches further two Therapeutic Advances journals

NPTA launches new ACPE-accredited certification course to improve safety of pharmacy technicians

Current residency programs do not have capacity to address growing shortage of general surgeons

Two LSU researchers tackle incidence of malnutrition-related deaths among older adults in the U.S.

Study: When incentive payments are removed, quality of health care suffers

Florida weighs next steps for small business insurance exchange; N.J. considers COBRA eligibility expansion; Other highlights

Prescription costs more likely to keep Hispanics away from pharmacy counter: Study

Seriously mentally ill are three times more likely to be imprisoned than hospitalized, report finds

World Bank announces five-year plan to reduce maternal deaths, fertility rates in 58 low-income countries

Two-thirds of child deaths in 2008 due to infectious diseases, report finds

Proposed cuts in Medicare payments impact access to healthcare: Poll

Missouri to hold August vote on insurance mandate

FDA warns of side effects from swallowing Benadryl Extra Strength Itch Stopping Gel

Justice Department responds to health law's first legal challenge

PositiveID files provisional patent covering glucose level RF sensing technology

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

Scaling organ‑chip technology for human‑relevant drug discovery

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