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False claims to Medicare: Los Angeles DME company owner pleads guilty

The owner and operator of a Los Angeles durable medical equipment (DME) company pleaded guilty today to submitting nearly one half of a million dollars in false claims to Medicare, announced the Departments of Justice and Health and Human Services.

13 Apr 2010

Military to Medicine program to provide healthcare training, career opportunities to military families

Inova Health System's Military to Medicine program is hosting a national launch event on Tuesday, April 20, at the National Press Club to announce the program will be providing healthcare training and career opportunities to military families across the country.

13 Apr 2010

Experts to discuss changing panorama of healthcare provision for non-English speakers

Language Services Associates, a leading language services provider offering a full suite of interpretation, translation and multicultural solutions, announced today that it will host a panel discussion entitled: "Issues and New Developments in Language-Mediated Healthcare Delivery" at the Society for Healthcare Consumer Advocacy Annual Conference.

13 Apr 2010

Experts begin probe of WHO's response to H1N1

Health experts on Monday began a probe of how the WHO responded to the H1N1 (swine flu) pandemic "nearly a year after global alarm was raised over the new swine flu strain," Agence France-Presse reports (Capella, 4/12).

13 Apr 2010

U.S. seeks to constrain global AIDS program costs

The Boston Globe: "US officials have asked some AIDS clinics overseas to stop enrolling new patients in a US-sponsored program that provides lifesaving antiretroviral drugs" in an effort to stem the rising costs of this assistance program. This step has triggered concern among some AIDS advocates "that the Obama administration is curtailing its commitment to a program that provides lifesaving drugs for 2.4 million people and that many view as President Bush's most successful foreign policy legacy.

13 Apr 2010

New tool for retrieving accurate drug side-effect information

It's not uncommon for individuals to take as many as a dozen different prescriptions, each with its own set of possible side effects. If a patient experiences one of the potential hundreds of different adverse reactions such as nausea, headaches, insomnia or heart palpitations, how does the physician quickly and accurately determine which drug is the culprit?

13 Apr 2010

AP examines micro-insurance in Africa

The Associated Press examines the growth of micro-insurance in Africa, "a product accessible to those earning less than $2 a day, who pay tiny weekly premiums of sometimes less than a cent."

13 Apr 2010

Aegis Health Group to help Inova Health System increase market share

Aegis Health Group will help Inova Health System, a not-for-profit healthcare system based in northern Virginia, grow market share through its proven business development strategies. Using Aegis' program Inova's seven hospitals will begin working with local employers to better manage the health of their workforce and link hospital-sponsored programs and services with the specific health-related needs of local businesses.

13 Apr 2010

Tips to prevent heat-related injuries among seniors

The dog days of summer are fast approaching, and while we cannot control the rising temperatures on the streets, we can control the heat index of our bodies.

13 Apr 2010

Checklist to stay healthy and active during summer season

There are millions of vacation destinations to visit this summer and thousands of sights to see, but there is one surefire way to ruin your trip -- getting sick. Although you may not be thinking about viruses and bacterial infections when you plan your trip, there are a few nasty bugs you should be aware of as you pack your bags.

13 Apr 2010

Uninsured migraine sufferers likely to get inadequate treatment: Neurology

People with no health insurance are less likely than the privately insured to receive proper treatment for their migraines, according to a study published in the April 13, 2010, print issue of Neurology, the medical journal of the American Academy of Neurology.

13 Apr 2010

Physicians warn parents on dangers of prescription drug abuse among children

With reports of increased prescription drug overdoses in emergency departments, the nation's emergency physicians are issuing a strong warning to parents about the dangers of abusing prescription drugs, which are now the second most abused drugs, after marijuana. Hospital visits caused by accidental and unintentional prescription drug overdoses went up 37 percent between 1999 and 2006, according to new data released by the American Journal of Preventive Medicine.

13 Apr 2010

KHN column - Medicare advantage competitive pricing: The political failure of a good idea

Few Americans should be satisfied with the way the government pays private health insurance plans that participate in the Medicare Advantage program. Taxpayers pay 14 percent more to insure a beneficiary through the Advantage program than through traditional, fee-for-service Medicare, the program's 'public option.'

13 Apr 2010

Small businesses continue search for health reform information

The Bergen County (N.J.) Record/NorthJersey.com: Small businesses continue to assess the impact health reform will have on them. "While some believe the reforms will help control health costs and give assistance to small businesses that can't afford worker coverage, others are skeptical they will benefit when the plan is up and running — and some are sure it will hurt.

13 Apr 2010

Tips to avoid burns and injuries during summer season

Take extra care at your Memorial Day, Fourth of July and Labor Day celebrations this year by ensuring that accidents do not interfere with summer fun. Dr. Roger Yurt, director of the Hearst Burn Center of NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center, recommends the following safety tips to avoid burns from barbecues, fireworks and other routine activities that can pose a hazard this season.

13 Apr 2010

Lockheed Martin pledges $4M to aid UCLA Health System's Operation Mend program

The Lockheed Martin Corp. announced today a pledge of $4 million to benefit the UCLA Health System's Operation Mend program, which provides reconstructive surgeries and other health care needs to U.S. military personnel wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan.

13 Apr 2010

Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior awarded $14.9M for establishing new IPCN

The Semel Institute for Neuroscience and Human Behavior at UCLA has been awarded $14.9 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to establish a center dedicated to interdisciplinary research on the role of genetic and environmental factors in neuropsychiatric and behavioral disorders.

13 Apr 2010

Stress and genetic factors may raise depression among medical interns

The percentage of clinicians who meet criteria for depression appears to increase significantly during medical internship, according to a report posted online that will appear in the June print issue of Archives of General Psychiatry, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

13 Apr 2010

Health insurance customers in California, Mass. await decisions about premium increases

Thousands of worried Californians who buy individual insurance policies from Anthem Blue Cross will soon learn whether they face rate increases of up to 39% that were put on hold for two months amid a public outcry that helped revive national healthcare legislation.

13 Apr 2010

Dems defend health votes; GOP hoping for repeat of 1994 elections

Congressional Republicans are hoping Democrats suffer the same fate in 2010 as they did after President Clinton's failed health reform bid in 1994, The New York Times reports. "That fall, Republicans swept to power, capturing nine seats in the Senate and 52 in the House. … In many ways, the 1994 election has become the template both Republicans and Democrats are looking to as they set their strategies for the fall Congressional elections.

13 Apr 2010