Healthcare News

RSS

KHN column: The Independent Payment Advisory Board and health care price controls

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, James Capretta writes: "White House Budget Director Peter Orszag has speculated that creation of the new Independent Payment Advisory Board just might be viewed decades from now as the most important and far-reaching change enacted in the entire health reform legislation--despite the lack of significant public attention to it before passage.

7 May 2010

SBMC 2010 to focus on systems-biological analysis of processes in mammalian cells

More targeted drug development thanks to systems biology - scientists at the SBMC 2010 in Freiburg explain how this works. Systems biology has finally come of age. Evidence for this is the third Conference on Systems Biology of Mammalian Cells (SBMC), which will take place on June 3-5, 2010 at the Concert Hall Freiburg (Konzerthaus) under the auspices of Prof. Dr. Annette Schavan, German Federal Minister of Education and Research.

7 May 2010

Majority of Americans fall short in consuming key phytonutrients

Americans who fall short in meeting their daily fruit and vegetable intakes based on government guidelines are also likely to fall short in common bone-building nutrients like calcium and vitamin D, according to a newly released report by the Nutrilite Health Institute called America's Phytonutrient Report: Bone Health by Color.

7 May 2010

Georgia Tech Flatliners make big push into grand challenge of health IT

Key to the future efficiency of the United States' health care system is effective implementation of new technologies, such as electronic medical records, as well as dovetailing those technologies with the human care and decision-making that is so critical to good medicine.

7 May 2010

USAID head outlines 'core areas' for agency's reform, announces policy bureau launch

USAID Administrator Rajiv Shah outlined a "broad plan" for reforming the agency and discussed the "overarching themes that will guide USAID reform under his tenure" during a town-hall meeting on Wednesday, Foreign Policy's blog, "The Cable," reports.

7 May 2010

Sleep disturbance may result in negative consequences among residents of ALFs: Study

In a study of residents of Assisted Living Facilities in Los Angeles showed that 65% had clinically significant sleeping problems and that poor sleep was associated with declining quality of life and increased depression over a six month follow-up period. This study is published today in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society.

7 May 2010

AACN hosts NTI conference to discuss emerging trends in patient care

Latest advances in complex medical treatments and delivering safe, patient-centered, cost-effective care will be among the hot topics as thousands of nurses who care for high acuity and critically ill patients and their families convene this month in Washington, D.C.

7 May 2010

Celebrity chef extends support to prevent malnutrition in older people

Pioneering research from the University of Reading is being used to enhance the taste of hospital food to help prevent or treat malnutrition in older people.

7 May 2010

RFID tags could be used in the immediate aftermath of earthquake to save lives: Research

Radio frequency identification, RFID, could be used in the immediate aftermath of a major earthquake to save lives, according to new research published in the International Journal of Innovation and Sustainable Development.

7 May 2010

States continue to react to health reform's high-risk insurance pools, individual insurance requirement

"Gov. Jan. Brewer told the Obama administration that Arizona can't afford an insurance program that would extend health coverage to Arizonans unable to purchase insurance because of pre-existing medical conditions. Arizona is among 19 states that have rejected federal funds to administer a high-risk insurance pool. That means the federal government will create and run such a pool on behalf of Arizona and the other states that have declined participation" (Alltucker, 5/5).

7 May 2010

The Forum calls upon pharma suppliers, distributors, pharmacies to stop distribution of unapproved drugs

Gary Puckrein, President and CEO of the National Minority Quality Forum (The Forum), recently sent a letter to the CEOs of eight major pharmaceutical suppliers, distributors and pharmacies to educate them on the potential threats posed by unapproved drugs in the United States and to ask that they do their part to protect consumers from the harms that can be caused by these unproven products.

7 May 2010

Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduces $3.5B 5-year bill to support Haiti reconstruction

The Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduced legislation Wednesday that "authorizes $3.5 billion over five years to support Haiti's rebuilding and reconstruction," Politico's Laura Rozen writes on her blog.

7 May 2010

Obama signs bill to expand health care access for veterans, provide more caregiver benefits

President Barack Obama signed a bill Wednesday that expands access to health care for veterans and provides a monthly stipend and health care for caregivers of American soldiers severely injured in Afghanistan or Iraq, The Associated Press reports. "Under the bill, caregivers of the estimated 2,000 severely wounded veterans from the recent conflicts are eligible for training, a monthly stipend and health care.

7 May 2010

LSTM launches European Union funded adolescent reproductive health programme in Africa

LSTM has launched a four year programme to improve the delivery of reproductive health services in Tanzania and Niger. The programme, funded by the European Union, has been designed by LSTM and the seven project partners to highlight and address the cultural barriers which reduce the reach and effectiveness of existing adolescent reproductive health (ARH) services in partner countries.

7 May 2010

Real-world solutions to improve patient safety and quality of care

The National Patient Safety Foundation will launch an innovative Learning & Simulation Center at the annual NPSF Patient Safety Congress on May 17-19 in Orlando, creating a remarkable environment for attendees to engage in diverse, hands-on, interactive settings and take away real-world solutions to improve patient safety and quality of care.

7 May 2010

WellPoint rate hikes face further scrutiny, says it will review rates more closely

WellPoint Inc., responding to criticism and close scrutiny from lawmakers and officials, will add "new layers of oversight to pricing practices," The Wall Street Journal reports. WellPoint CEO Angela Braly sent a memo to 40,000 employees saying that the company will "implement third-party reviews of its 2010 rate filings and investigate why its actuaries did not find miscalculations uncovered last week by the California Department of Insurance.

7 May 2010

Rising health costs straining public budgets in Massachusetts

The Boston Globe: The town budget in Framingham, Mass. is strained, leading to layoffs and other cuts. "Everyone here seems to agree that a major factor is the rising cost of health care insurance for employees and retirees, which has jumped by $20 million in 10 years." The town picks up 87 percent of the premiums for most public employees and retirees, as negotiated through collective bargaining.

7 May 2010

Florida health agency will use voice recognition to crack down on health fraud

The Associated Press/Miami Herald: Florida health officials announced they will "begin using voice recognition technology to verify whether patients in Miami-Dade County are actually receiving home health care services the state is being billed for."

7 May 2010

VA plans to limit surgeries at some of its facilities

The Department of Veterans Affairs will limit the kinds of surgeries at some hospitals after a review of surgical deaths at a hospital in southern Illinois, The Associated Press reports. "Under a new system, the VA has given each hospital a 'surgical complexity' level. Because of that, hospitals in at least five states — Louisiana, West Virginia, North Carolina, Illinois and Washington state — will now only perform less-complicated surgeries. The VA will pick up the tab for patients who have surgeries performed elsewhere" (Hefling, 5/6).

7 May 2010

A checklist to stay healthy at every age

Shantanu Nundy, MD, a second-year resident in internal medicine at the University of Chicago Medical Center may soon find out. Driven by his mother's health questions and the difficulty of providing simple, reliable answers, Nundy collected all of the "generally accepted truths" about preventing disease, organized them into checklists based on age, and persuaded the Johns Hopkins University Press to publish them as Stay Healthy at Every Age: What Your Doctor Wants you to Know.

7 May 2010

Healthcare News

KHN column: The Independent Payment Advisory Board and health care price controls

SBMC 2010 to focus on systems-biological analysis of processes in mammalian cells

Majority of Americans fall short in consuming key phytonutrients

Georgia Tech Flatliners make big push into grand challenge of health IT

USAID head outlines 'core areas' for agency's reform, announces policy bureau launch

Sleep disturbance may result in negative consequences among residents of ALFs: Study

AACN hosts NTI conference to discuss emerging trends in patient care

Celebrity chef extends support to prevent malnutrition in older people

RFID tags could be used in the immediate aftermath of earthquake to save lives: Research

States continue to react to health reform's high-risk insurance pools, individual insurance requirement

The Forum calls upon pharma suppliers, distributors, pharmacies to stop distribution of unapproved drugs

Senate Foreign Relations Committee introduces $3.5B 5-year bill to support Haiti reconstruction

Obama signs bill to expand health care access for veterans, provide more caregiver benefits

LSTM launches European Union funded adolescent reproductive health programme in Africa

Real-world solutions to improve patient safety and quality of care

WellPoint rate hikes face further scrutiny, says it will review rates more closely

Rising health costs straining public budgets in Massachusetts

Florida health agency will use voice recognition to crack down on health fraud

VA plans to limit surgeries at some of its facilities

A checklist to stay healthy at every age

How cohesin mechanics and nanotracker tech are redefining DNA research

Todd Bauman and Chris Povich

Scaling organ‑chip technology for human‑relevant drug discovery

Latest News