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U.S. Navy hospital ship reaches Haiti

Even before the U.S. Navy's hospital ship, Comfort, anchored off the coast of Haiti on Wednesday, patients who were injured in last week's earthquake were airlifted onto the ship to receive care, the Miami Herald reports (Clark, 1/21). According to the Baltimore Sun, "patients were flown in by the Navy, Coast Guard or Air Force in one of the 30 helicopters available within the ship's range. Plans for a boat-based shuttle were foiled by an earthquake aftershock that flattened the pier the Comfort had expected to use and that jolted the ship as if it had hit ground. Ship officials identified an alternate boat-landing site by midafternoon" (Little, 1/21).

21 Jan 2010

Democrats weigh imperfect options for moving forward on health reform

USA Today reports that "Democratic leaders say [Mass. Republican Scott] Brown's win hasn't killed the $1 trillion health care bill," but after a series of meetings Wednesday they still had no "clear plan for how to proceed."

21 Jan 2010

Medicare fraud round-up: N.D. beneficiaries getting illegal phone calls, doctor indicted in Ohio

The Bismarck Tribune reports on a new scheme "asking seniors to pay up for not having Part D coverage. The scammers have been calling beneficiaries saying they owe a penalty for not having the Part D prescription drug coverage and that they need to pay the fine right away, said a release from the office of the Insurance Commissioner" (1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Brown: Mass. voters shouldn't have to pay for national health reform

The Washington Post: "While many are describing the election to fill the late Edward M. Kennedy's Senate seat as a referendum on national health-care reform, the Republican candidate rode to victory on a message more nuanced than flat-out resistance to universal health coverage: Massachusetts residents, he said, already had insurance and should not have to pay for it elsewhere." The Post notes that Scott Brown "voted for the state's health-care legislation, which was signed by then-Gov. Mitt Romney (R)" and has "not disavowed his support for the state's law."

21 Jan 2010

News outlets focus on Pelosi, Nelson, Grassley, Harkin, Snowe and McCaskill

News outlets report on some of the major players in the health care debate, including House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, D-Calif., Sen. Ben Nelson, D-Neb., Iowa Sens. Charles Grassley and Tom Harkin, Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, and Sen. Claire McCaskill, D-Mo.

21 Jan 2010

Democrats consider scaling back health reform package

ABC News interviewed President Barack Obama, who said: "The Senate certainly shouldn't try to jam anything through until Scott Brown is seated. People in Massachusetts spoke. He's got to be part of that process. ... I think point number two is that it is very important to look at the substance of this package and for the American people to understand that a lot of the fear mongering around this bill isn't true. I would advise that we try to move quickly to coalesce around those elements of the package that people agree on" (Stephanopoulos, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

For now it appears that Washington's polarizing ways, and public anxiety about change, have again left Americans with the most expensive, least reliable health care system in the developed world. No matter who you are, that's hardly cause to celebrate (1/21).

21 Jan 2010

ResCare chooses GuardianEdge to assist in HIPAA compliance

GuardianEdge, the leader in endpoint data protection, today announced that ResCare, one of the nation's leading providers of services to people with disabilities and the elderly, has selected GuardianEdge to secure the company's more than 6,000 endpoint devices and to assist in Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) compliance. To ensure that sensitive patient data is secure, ResCare has deployed GuardianEdge Hard Disk Encryption, GuardianEdge Removable Storage Encryption and GuardianEdge Device Control.

21 Jan 2010

Rules for patient data security remain widely unenforced

"As the federal government prepares to spend up to $27 billion in stimulus funds to promote electronic medical records, a health technology industry survey suggests that a number of hospitals, health clinics, and insurance firms are violating federal security rules on patient data and putting sensitive health information at risk," The Center for Public Integrity reports.

21 Jan 2010

Health IT news: Grassley queries hospitals, Microsoft's CEO sees need to boost tech for doctors, hospitals

Modern Healthcare: "Sen. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) has sent a letter asking 31 hospitals to report on their relationships with healthcare IT vendors, focusing on errors caused by IT systems and on so-called 'gag order or non-disclosure clauses' in vendor contracts that might prohibit the hospitals from disclosing information about system flaws." Grassley made a similar request to the IT vendors themselves last fall, and said his new letter was prompted by concern about taxpayers' investment in health IT as part of the economic stimulus (Conn, 1/20).

21 Jan 2010

Health care companies assess where they stand on health reform after election

The Wall Street Journal reports that several firms reiterated support for a health care reform bill Wednesday, a day after the overhaul's viability was called into question by the victory of Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown in Massachusetts. "PhRMA, the drug industry association, as well as companies including Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc., voiced support for an overhaul of some kind, despite objections among insurers about the efforts to date."

21 Jan 2010

Zirmed achieves EHNAC HNAP accreditation

ZirMed®, a leading national provider of revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare providers, announced yesterday it has achieved full accreditation with the Healthcare Network Accreditation Program (HNAP) from the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). EHNAC's HNAP accreditation recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions, and indicates compliance with industry-established standards and HIPAA regulations.

21 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 21, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the idea that health reform stakeholders -- be it the White House, congressional Democrats or others -- are all trying to figure out how to proceed in this changed political landscape.

21 Jan 2010

FRC's statement on Massachusetts Senate election results

"President Obama's defeat yesterday is the culmination of the town halls, tea parties, and other efforts of the millions of Americans who continue speaking out against the takeover of our health care system.

21 Jan 2010

MaMayo Clinic experts available to discuss health issues and concerns related to Olympic Games

Mayo Clinic's medical experts are sources of in-depth expertise and commentary about health issues and background related to the Olympic Games and Olympians. Below is a sampling of Mayo Clinic experts available to discuss numerous topics related to the Olympic Games, including concussions, performance enhancing drugs, sports psychology, joint injuries, etc. Mayo has satellite capability for broadcast requests.

21 Jan 2010

International Medical Corps sets up mobile medical unit at epicenter of Haiti earthquake

A 6.1-magnitude aftershock hit Haiti at 6:03 am Eastern Time. All International Medical Corps staff and medical teams are unharmed and are now working to assess the damage left by the strongest aftershock since the 7.0 earthquake that hit Haiti eight days ago.

21 Jan 2010

ETMC Athens effectively handles record number of H1N1 cases

Throughout the month of September, East Texas Medical Center Athens (ETMC Athens) has seen a 42% average increase in number of patients per day and is taking it in stride. Improved efficiencies in the Emergency Department facilitated by a process improvement firm, Compirion Healthcare, have allowed the hospital to absorb the volume and see an improvement in quality.

21 Jan 2010

Unpopularity of health care reform led to Republican win in Massachusetts: Hoover study

How could a little-known Republican possibly have won a competitive U.S. Senate race in Massachusetts, the bluest of blue states? A new study by a team of Hoover researchers indicates that the culprit is the unpopularity of health care reform, and it likely means that Democrats will face even greater challenges later this year in less liberal states than Massachusetts.

21 Jan 2010

Canadian Red Cross ships tents to Haiti

As large-scale Red Cross relief efforts in Haiti continue, a shipment of Canadian Red Cross tents arrived in Haiti. These tents are part of a series of expected Canadian Red Cross shipments from around the world and will temporarily shelter 1,500 people.

21 Jan 2010

Congressman Chaka Fattah comments on the Massachusetts election results

"We as Democrats respect the results of yesterday's special election in one state, Massachusetts, and will shortly welcome Senator-elect Scott Brown to Washington. In the same spirit I call upon our Republican colleagues to respect the results of the 50-state election that led to the inauguration, just one year ago today, of President Barack Obama. That 50-state election of 2008 produced overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress for the Obama program of progress, dignity and equity, especially in his advocacy for comprehensive healthcare reform.

21 Jan 2010