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Primary care physician practices focus on improving patient outcomes

Patients need help to navigate the health care system and to better manage their own chronic health conditions. New health care delivery models that effectively provide those services have been shown to both lower overall costs and improve patient health.

16 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 16, 2010

Today's headlines highlight the passage of a temporary extension of jobless benefits -- including a COBRA subsidy -- and a directive issued by President Obama to extend medical rights for same-sex partners.

16 Apr 2010

Research shows general health spending offers better return in most affected areas

Eradicating smallpox was one of the greatest human accomplishments of the 20th century, but new research shows initiatives of this kind are not as good a use of health dollars as people might think.

16 Apr 2010

eSET program produces high pregnancy rates, minimizes multiple pregnancy risks

Every year thousand of families are created with the assistance of in-vitro fertilization. Many of those newborns are twins. While some may see this as a double blessing, it is important to understand that there are many potential risks associated with multiple gestation.

16 Apr 2010

Exergen's TemporalScanner effective alternative to rectal thermometry

According to a recent study published by the Journal of Pediatric Nursing, "The utilization of temporal artery thermometry offers a reliable method to measure temperature while also offering significant comfort benefits to children, decreasing risks associated with the rectal thermometry method, improving the quality and efficiency of nursing care, and improving patient and family satisfaction."

16 Apr 2010

Uninsured patients may delay seeking care for heart attacks

Patients who do not have health care insurance, or those with insurance but financial concerns about accessing health care, are more likely to delay seeking emergency care for a heart attack, according to a study in the April 14 issue of JAMA.

16 Apr 2010

ASH named fourth healthiest large-group business employer in San Diego county

American Specialty Health Incorporated (ASH), a leading national health and wellness organization, announced that it was named the fourth healthiest large-group business in San Diego county in the first annual "San Diego's Healthiest Employers Awards," produced by the San Diego Business Journal. Certificates were presented to 50 finalists, and only the top five companies in small, medium, and large categories were named as honorees.

16 Apr 2010

ASH to conduct complimentary screenings in NYC

In the wake of the Institute of Medicine's report on hypertension highlighting it as a 'neglected disease' and urging a more focused and collaborative approach to reduce its prevalence, the American Society of Hypertension, Inc. (ASH), will hold its annual complimentary blood pressure screenings and hypertension counseling in at-risk communities across New York City.

16 Apr 2010

Number of organizations to join in a briefing on health care reform

On May 10, a number of organizations will join in a briefing on health care reform to talk about what would really allow health care to become more affordable and more responsive to the individual rights and choices of Americans.

16 Apr 2010

Follow-up care for health fair participants improves blood-pressure control

UCLA researchers sought to compare how two different approaches to providing follow-up care to health fair participants impacted blood-pressure control.

16 Apr 2010

Road signs could be further improved to ensure older driver safety

Kansas State University researchers are discovering the challenges aging creates for drivers.

16 Apr 2010

Elective single embryo transfer for Canadian women under 35 most efficacious and cost-effective option

Many Canadian couples battling infertility turn to in vitro fertilization (IVF) to have a child. In Canada, IVF is not publicly funded, making the decision on the number of embryos to be transferred more complicated than in many European countries which link funding to elective single embryo transfer (eSET).

16 Apr 2010

Federal report details health care quality across states; Online system ranks quality at Illinois hospitals

A Maryland Web site explores how the state ranked in a federal report about health care quality while other news operations look at an online site offered in Illinois that assesses hospitals there.

16 Apr 2010

Impact of health care reform on federal employees to be discussed on AFGE radio show

The impact of health care reform on federal employees and their families will be discussed this week on the American Federation of Government Employees' "Inside Government" radio show.

16 Apr 2010

HHS Secretary hosts webcast to discuss benefits of the Affordable Care Act

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Nancy-Ann DeParle, director of the White House Office on Health Reform, will host a webcast Thursday, April 15, 2010 to discuss the benefits of the Affordable Care Act.

16 Apr 2010

Seasonal flu tends to move in traveling waves: Researchers

An analysis of hospitalization records for adults age 65 and over found that seasonal flu tends to move in traveling waves, peaking earliest in western states such as Nevada, Utah, and California and working its way east. New England states such as Rhode Island, Maine, and New Hampshire tend to have the latest peak in seasonal flu, according to public health researchers at Tufts University in Boston.

16 Apr 2010

Senate Democrats move closer to passing bill that will delay Medicare pay cut slated for doctors

MedPage Today: Senate Democrats on Wednesday won a "key vote" toward delaying a 21 percent cut in physicians reimbursements from Medicare. Those cuts officially went into effect on April 1. On a 60-40 vote, the Senate agreed to exempt a provision to delay the cuts by Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont., "from a Senate rule that says all spending legislation must be paid for."

16 Apr 2010

Illinois' tobacco tax would bring in $297.6M in new revenue, reduce youth smoking

A new poll released today finds that 74 percent of Illinois voters support raising the tobacco tax by $1 per pack to cut the state's budget deficit and reduce youth tobacco use.

16 Apr 2010

Sebelius: Plan coming to reduce minority health disparities

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that the federal government will soon have a national plan to reduce health disparities between minorities and whites, The Associated Press reports.

16 Apr 2010

Waxman backs away from challenge to big corporations on health costs

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver writes about the cancellation of an upcoming House Energy and Commerce Hearing and what it might mean: "A new congressional staff report has defused a standoff between Democrats and large corporations over losses the firms anticipate because of the new health overhaul law" (Weaver, 4/14).

16 Apr 2010