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Families need to achieve optimal oral health: New study

According to a new study surveying U.S. moms, a significant majority (69 percent) feel meeting the specific oral health care needs of each family member is very important, however, nearly half of moms (48 percent) report using a "one size fits all" approach when it comes to oral health care products in their home.

5 May 2010

Clinical preventive services can reduce death rates

"Prevention is the best medicine," the saying goes. According to a new study, increasing the use of that medicine could prevent a significant number of adult deaths annually.

5 May 2010

Polls show slowly shifting opinion on health law

USA Today: "Fifty-five percent of Americans rate the nation's health care system as good or excellent, compared with 44% in February and 35% when President Obama first proposed his health care legislation, according to a poll released today by Rasmussen Reports." USA Today notes that even though many of the changes are not going to be implemented until 2014, many insurance companies are voluntarily changing some practices early (Fritze, 5/3).

5 May 2010

High risk pools, medical loss ratios and other health law implementation issues

News outlets report on state high risk pools and other implementation issues for the new health law.

5 May 2010

AARP implores Governor to enact HIE legislation

Legislation that will help modernize medical records, reduce errors, and improve quality of care for all Illinoisans passed both houses of the Illinois General Assembly and is on its way to the Governor's desk. AARP, which backed the measure, is urging Gov. Quinn to sign it into law.

5 May 2010

Teaching doctors the price of primary care

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with The New York Times, Susan Okie writes: "Doctors in training have traditionally been insulated from information about the cost of the tests and treatments they order for patients — in fact, for decades, the subject was virtually taboo when professors and trainees discussed treatment decisions during hospital rounds.

5 May 2010

Health law program may benefit early retirees, big firms

A health law program that will go into effect next month will steer $5 billion to buttress employer-sponsored health plans for retirees who are not yet old enough to qualify for Medicare and have no other options for buying coverage, The Associated Press reports.

5 May 2010

CBO: Medicare payment 'doc fix' is more expensive than expected

The debate over what to do about Medicare payments to doctors continues. Physicans have been lobbying "to repeal the Sustainable Growth Rate formula, which triggers automatic Medicare payment cuts if spending rises above a certain level," CongressDaily reports. Those cuts have been put off for years.

5 May 2010

Supreme Court decides federal doctors cannot be sued for prisoner's death

The Los Angeles Times: "The family of a Los Angeles-area immigrant who languished in federal detention for nearly a year while a cancerous growth went untreated cannot sue government doctors for medical neglect, the Supreme Court ruled Monday."

4 May 2010

Queensland Health payroll errors still not corrected fully

The payment woes of many Queensland Health care staff continue this pay cycle according to the Queensland Nurses Union. After the installation of a new computerized payroll system this March tens of thousands of health staff have been underpaid, overpaid, or not paid.

4 May 2010

Reprints Desk launches ePrints NRx scientific article collection service

Derycz Scientific, Inc., the content repurposing company, today announced that its subsidiary Reprints Desk, an award-winning provider of information services and content workflow solutions, has launched ePrints NRx, a new scientific article collection service that simplifies the re-use of PDFs by medical marketers, brand managers and sales professionals.

4 May 2010

Cerner, Fort HealthCare collaborate to create connected health community

Cerner Corporation announced a strategic partnership with Fort HealthCare, an integrated hospital and health system in Fort Atkinson, Wis., to create a connected health community. Fort HealthCare will work with Cerner to improve the quality of care and make care processes more efficient for more than 120,000 residents in the organization's service area through the use of Cerner Millennium® solutions.

4 May 2010

Australia to introduce plain cigarette packaging

Cigarettes in Australia will soon have to be sold in plain packaging to prevent consumers - and particularly children - from being influenced by tobacco advertising.

4 May 2010

HPV test recommended for national cervical cancer screening programmes

Two studies suggest that testing for the human papillomavirus (HPV) - the major cause of cervical cancer - could be used in national cervical cancer screening programmes.

4 May 2010

First Edition: May 4, 2010

Today's headlines include stories about parts of the new health reform law dealing with long-term care, high risk insurance pools and early retiree health insurance.

4 May 2010

Pay-for-performance programs could end up widening medical disparities: RAND study

Rewarding primary care physicians for providing better care to patients could end up widening medical disparities experienced by poorer people and those belonging to racial and ethnic minorities, according to a new RAND Corporation study.

4 May 2010

Pilot pneumonia-prevention program reduces postoperative pneumonia in hospital surgical ward: Research

The results of new research results published in the April issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons show that a pilot pneumonia-prevention program significantly reduced postoperative pneumonia in a hospital surgical ward.

4 May 2010

Approval of personalized therapy for lung cancer in Europe will change way of treatment

The recent approval of Europe's first personalized treatment for lung cancer heralds the arrival of a new era for lung cancer treatment that will demand significant changes to the way cancer specialists and other hospital doctors work, a leading expert said today at the 2nd European Lung Cancer Conference in Geneva, Switzerland.

4 May 2010

Role of pharmacists on primary care health teams to be discussed during Health Affairs press briefing

Smith will discuss the role of pharmacists on primary care health teams during a Health Affairs press briefing on Tuesday, May 4 at 11:30 a.m. ET. She will be joined by an interprofessional team of colleagues that includes Christine Cassell of the American Board of Internal Medicine, Joanne Pohl of the University of Michigan School of Nursing and Bill Leinweber from the American Academy of Physician Assistants.

4 May 2010

Study examines sleep issues in 2,800 people 100 years of age and older

A study in the May 1 issue of the journal SLEEP is the first to examine sleep issues in a large sample of exceptionally old adults, including nearly 2,800 people who were 100 years of age and older.

4 May 2010