Healthcare News

RSS

Pelosi says Obama to propose 'smaller' health care bill; Durbin defends reconciliation

During a stop in Denver Monday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said President Barack Obama plans to propose a "health care bill that will be 'much smaller' than the House bill but 'big enough' to put the country on a 'path' toward health care reform" within days, FoxNews.com reports. According to a senior administration official, Obama plans to unveil his proposal Wednesday

2 Mar 2010

Wolters Kluwer Health introduces advanced medication decision support platform for EMR vendors

Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, today unveiled Medi-Span® Clinical, a robust clinical decision support (CDS) platform that delivers the functionality, interoperability and medication-related CDS necessary to advance the practice of evidence-based medicine and to achieve meaningful use of health IT.

2 Mar 2010

Hill-Rom extends smart room technology for improved clinical workflow

Today, Hill-Rom announced the extension of its smart room technology to provide a choice of solutions that connect the smart bed and other medical devices to the Electronic Medical Record (EMR) on both a wired and a wireless platform.

2 Mar 2010

Briggs Medical Service earns ISO Registration and CE Mark certification

Briggs Medical Service Company today announced that it has earned both the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) Registration and the CE Mark certification.

2 Mar 2010

MEDSEEK publishes eHealth patterns guide for healthcare organizations

MEDSEEK, the leading provider of healthcare enterprise portal connectivity solutions, today announced the publication of the first in a series of eHealth patterns guides, eHealth Patterns in the 21st Century: The Patient Experience.

2 Mar 2010

HMS initiates new interoperability product for customers

Healthcare Management Systems, Inc. ® announced today the launch of a new interoperability product for customers that will enable the exchange of clinical data between third party systems, health information exchanges, and public registries. The new product will assist clients in qualifying for the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act HITECH stimulus funds.

2 Mar 2010

Michigan hospitals face rising costs; Doctor urges culture changes to increase safety

Hospitals in Michigan are losing money, according to a report expected to be released today by the Michigan Health & Hospital Association. The Detroit Free Press reports that the losses are leading to "layoffs, hiring freezes and elimination of some services."

2 Mar 2010

Rescission is one of rare points of agreement in health care overhaul

NPR reports that rescission, "where health insurance companies cancel policies after people run up heavy bills" is one of the points of agreement among lawmakers of both parties in health care reform as evidenced by its inclusion in comments at last week's health care summit.

2 Mar 2010

Merge Healthcare launches Patient Kiosk and deploys new patient engagement tool in U.S. imaging centers

In an effort to leverage health information exchange technology for consumers, Merge Healthcare today announced the introduction of the Merge Patient Kiosk™ and the successful deployment of this new patient engagement tool in several imaging centers in the U.S. Combining the best of kiosk technologies already present in other industries and the specific requirements of healthcare consumers, the Merge solution creates a new way for imaging practices to stay connected to their customers.

2 Mar 2010

Hyland Software increases domain expertise in workflow solutions by acquiring eWebHealth

Hyland Software has purchased privately held eWebHealth, a leading provider of hosted medical records workflow solutions. Terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

2 Mar 2010

New report: Federal spending for public health flat for nearly five years

Trust for America's Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation today released a new report, Shortchanging America's Health: A State-By-State Look at How Public Health Dollars Are Spent, which finds federal spending for public health has been flat for nearly five years, while states around the country cut nearly $392 million for public health programs in the past year, which leaves communities around the country struggling to deliver basic disease prevention and emergency health preparedness services.

2 Mar 2010

Catholic directive may thwart end-of-life wishes

Kaiser Health News reports on questions resulting from a directive passed last November in Tulsa, Okla. "An elderly woman taken last year to St. John Medical Center in Tulsa, Okla., had suffered a massive stroke and could no longer speak, eat or drink.

2 Mar 2010

Pelosi 'confident' on health overhaul vote through reconciliation process

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is "confident" she will be able to get the votes needed to pass health care reform, "even if it threatens the political careers of some members of her party," The New York Times reports.

2 Mar 2010

Joint Chiefs Chair visits Haiti to examine aid response

Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair Mike Mullen, who is President Barack Obama's top military adviser, visited Haiti over the weekend to examine relief and rebuilding efforts and meet with local leaders, Agence France-Presse reports. It was his first visit to the country after the earthquake, according to AFP.

2 Mar 2010

Reid planning to start debate on COBRA, Medicaid help extensions

Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is planning to start debate Monday on a bill that would extend COBRA health coverage benefit subsidies for people who have been laid-off. The measure, part of a larger package of expired government programs, also would help states with Medicaid reimbursements.

2 Mar 2010

Towns struggle with high health costs

In the final installment of a two-part series, The Boston Globe reports on municipal health costs and how financially strapped towns are seeking a change in state law so that they can have more flexibility in setting health costs.

2 Mar 2010

Coalition to Protect Patients’ Rights opposes Medicare payment cuts

Due to Congressional inaction, Medicare’s reimbursement rates to doctors for their care of our nation’s elderly population will be cut a staggering 21 percent today.

2 Mar 2010

MedPac urges Feds to cut payments to private insurers

Reuters: The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPac) on Monday issued nonbinding recommendations that Medicare "cut U.S. government payments to private insurers and home healthcare providers." The panel, which is an independent body set up to advise Congress on Medicare, "repeated its earlier call for the federal government to pay private insurers that offer coverage known as Medicare Advantage the same as it pays when Medicare reimburses providers directly."

2 Mar 2010

Opeds: GOP ideas, HSAs, calls for 'yes' on health bill

It turns out that, when someone is spending his own money alone for routine expenses, he is far more likely to ask the questions he would ask if purchasing any other good or service: "Is there a generic version of that drug?" (Gov. Mitch Daniels, 3/1).

2 Mar 2010

New treatment guidelines demonstrate that best care does not always cost more

Arizona Oncology is proud to be a part of the larger network that just completed a recently conducted study by US Oncology and Aetna that finds evidence-based care for patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) results in an average cost savings of 35 percent over 12 months while demonstrating equivalent health outcomes.

2 Mar 2010