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NBCSL lauds the Veterans’ Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

NBCSL President, Rep. Calvin Smyre (GA), applauds the Obama Administration’s efforts to improve health care for veterans. Today, President Barack Obama signed the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act, which provides one year of advance funding for veterans’ medical programs. The VA now has one year to plan how to best allocate funds and deliver care to returning veterans.

23 Oct 2009

Perot Systems to develop plans for Regional Health Information Platform in China

Perot Systems Corporation (NYSE: PER) (www.perotsystems.com) announced today that it has signed a healthcare information technology agreement with the Changsha Municipal Government in the Hunan Province of China.

23 Oct 2009

Lawmaker to introduce patient safety bill with error reporting requirement

Rep. Bruce Braley, D-Iowa, will introduce legislation creating a mechanism "to monitor medical errors and have a mandatory reporting requirement" for hospitals and doctors that make mistakes, Modern Healthcare reports.

23 Oct 2009

Physicians' negative attitudes toward obese patients can affect quality of care

Doctors have less respect for their obese patients than they do for patients of normal weight, a new study by Johns Hopkins researchers suggests. The findings raise questions about whether negative physician attitudes about obesity could be affecting the long-term health of their heavier patients.

23 Oct 2009

Some Senate Democrats help republicans defeat $247 billion Medicare payment 'doctor fix'

"Democrats lost a big test vote on health care legislation on Wednesday as the Senate blocked action on a bill to increase Medicare payments to doctors at a cost of $247 billion over 10 years," the The New York Times reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Nevada Democrat, "needed 60 votes to proceed. He won only 47. And he could not blame Republicans.

23 Oct 2009

Some seniors could be cushioned from proposed cuts in Medicare Advantage funding

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz reports on how some seniors would be shielded from planned cuts to the Medicare Advantage program currently included in the Senate Finance Committee's health overhaul legislation.

23 Oct 2009

Obama administration disputes government report on reform's higher costs

Administration officials quickly rejected a new analysis that found "the nation's medical costs will keep spiraling upward even faster than they are now under Democratic legislation pending in the House," the Associated Press reports.

23 Oct 2009

Study: Massachusetts health reform popular with doctors, doesn't hold costs down

"The first broad-based survey of how physicians feel about the Massachusetts experiment shows strong and deep support: 70 percent favor the law; three-quarters want to keep it," NPR reports.

23 Oct 2009

Some hospital revenues could decline if H1N1 becomes pandemic

"While it's common for hospitals to see a revenue boost at the onset of seasonal influenza season, the additional threat of cases from the H1N1 swine flu virus could complicate this fall's and winter's financial picture for such health facilities," The Chicago Tribune reports.

23 Oct 2009

Pelosi's statement after President Obama signs the Veterans' bill

Speaker Nancy Pelosi issued the following statement today after attending a ceremony at the White House during which President Obama signed into law the Veterans Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act.

23 Oct 2009

White House leaning towards public option with state opt out provision, Sen. Nelson says

"Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) and the White House are leaning towards including a national public option -- with a provision for states to opt out of it -- in the Senate health care bill, Sen. Ben. Nelson (D-Neb.) said Thursday" after a briefing with Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.), Politico's Live Pulse blog reports.

23 Oct 2009

Twenty charged with Medicare fraud; and such crimes are emerging as a new area for gang activity

Federal authorities have charged 20 people with Medicare fraud in seven different cases. Those charged alledgedly bilked the government out of about $26 million in unneeded or undelivered medical equipment in California and Las Vegas.

23 Oct 2009

Report: Quality of care for insured Americans slipped in 2008

CNNMoney reports that for the first time in more than 10 years, the "overall quality of health care" for Americans insured through commercial and public plans appears to have slipped.

23 Oct 2009

Lumetra awarded a Veterans Health Administration Protected Clinical Peer Review Services contract

Lumetra is pleased to announce that the Department of Veterans Affairs has awarded the California-based healthcare consulting organization a contract for Veterans Health Administration (VHA) Protected Clinical Peer Review Services. Effective on September 30, 2009, the contract is for a one-year period, with the VHA having the choice to exercise four option years.

23 Oct 2009

Large firms that 'self-insure' are resisting new regulations

"Despite promises by President Barack Obama, more than 70 million Americans who have health insurance through their jobs could be open to higher costs or denials of some coverage under a leading overhaul plan making its way through Congress," The Associated Press reports.

23 Oct 2009

American Thoracic Society releases new clinical guidelines for pulmonary exacerbation of cystic fibrosis

The American Thoracic Society has released new clinical guidelines for the treatment of exacerbations in cystic fibrosis based on a review of the literature on current clinical practices.

23 Oct 2009

Obama adopting a more partisan tone on health care

"In sharp contrast to how he got elected, President Barack Obama is bashing Republicans this week while urging Democrats to unite behind his effort to reform the nation's healthcare system," The Hill reports. "Months after some Democrats on and off Capitol Hill were suggesting that healthcare reform could attract 70 to 80 votes in the Senate, Obama and congressional leaders are focused on uniting their party and picking up, at most, a couple GOP defectors to help clear the 60-vote hurdle in the upper chamber."

23 Oct 2009

Senate Dems still debating public option in health bills

Senate Democratic leaders are tracking the support of a government-run public option in health care reform legislation.

23 Oct 2009

Healthcare expense experts develop new model to eliminate inefficient processes and wasteful spending

As Washington wrestles with reforming the healthcare insurance system, The Center for Modeling Optimal Outcomes® LLC, a Jackson, NJ-based think tank, developed an organizational operating model that focuses on eliminating inefficient processes and wasteful spending.

23 Oct 2009

Leaders confident they have support for a public option in final House health bill

There are 256 Democrats in the House, but some moderates have balked at inclusion of a public plan, "especially one linked to Medicare rates," CQ Politics reports (10/21).

23 Oct 2009

Healthcare News

NBCSL lauds the Veterans’ Health Care Budget Reform and Transparency Act

Perot Systems to develop plans for Regional Health Information Platform in China

Lawmaker to introduce patient safety bill with error reporting requirement

Physicians' negative attitudes toward obese patients can affect quality of care

Some Senate Democrats help republicans defeat $247 billion Medicare payment 'doctor fix'

Some seniors could be cushioned from proposed cuts in Medicare Advantage funding

Obama administration disputes government report on reform's higher costs

Study: Massachusetts health reform popular with doctors, doesn't hold costs down

Some hospital revenues could decline if H1N1 becomes pandemic

Pelosi's statement after President Obama signs the Veterans' bill

White House leaning towards public option with state opt out provision, Sen. Nelson says

Twenty charged with Medicare fraud; and such crimes are emerging as a new area for gang activity

Report: Quality of care for insured Americans slipped in 2008

Lumetra awarded a Veterans Health Administration Protected Clinical Peer Review Services contract

Large firms that 'self-insure' are resisting new regulations

American Thoracic Society releases new clinical guidelines for pulmonary exacerbation of cystic fibrosis

Obama adopting a more partisan tone on health care

Senate Dems still debating public option in health bills

Healthcare expense experts develop new model to eliminate inefficient processes and wasteful spending

Leaders confident they have support for a public option in final House health bill

Sensing a Healthier Future

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

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