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Looking Forward: What might change quickly if health overhaul passes

Several news outlets look at what might happen if health reform legislation passes.

7 Jan 2010

Antiretroviral therapy improves health outcomes for HIV patients

High antiretroviral therapy adherence, which has been shown to be a major predictor of HIV disease progression and survival, is now associated with lower health care costs, according to researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

7 Jan 2010

Veterans Affairs and Kaiser Permanente launch pilot medical data exchange program in San Diego

The U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs and Kaiser Permanente recently launched a pilot medical data exchange program in San Diego using the Nationwide Health Information Network. This

7 Jan 2010

Pelosi feeling the pressure of health bill negotiations

The Hill reports on House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's "difficult task of selling a healthcare bill heavily influenced by Senate centrists to her liberal members" and notes that she "will have the support of Obama and Senate liberals, many of whom have already started emphasizing the positive elements of the bill that passed their chamber on Christmas Eve.

7 Jan 2010

U-M study reveals black men are misdiagnosed with schizophrenia five times higher than any other group

Black men are over-diagnosed with schizophrenia at least five times higher than any other group--a trend that dates back to the 1960s, according to new University of Michigan research.

7 Jan 2010

Health care jobs top future employment opportunity list

Health care jobs, especially in nursing, dominate the country's employment future in the next decade. NPR reports that "[m]ore than 3 million jobs in the health care industry will be created this decade, ranging from highly paid neurosurgeons to home health aids making barely above minimum wage.

7 Jan 2010

Senate: Democratic retirements raise questions about political support for health reform

The retirement announcements from Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) and Sen. Chris Dodd (D-Conn.) [are] unlikely have a direct impact on the final push for health care legislation, Democratic and health care insiders said Wednesday.

7 Jan 2010

Meridian Health and Cypak collaborate to improve patient care and clinical outcomes

Meridian Health and Cypak today announced a partnership to jointly develop new technology-based products and services aimed at improved patient care and clinical outcomes.

7 Jan 2010

Canada supports Mexico's pandemic response efforts

The Honourable Leona Aglukkaq, Minister of Health, on behalf of the Government of Canada, has announced it will be providing five million doses of H1N1 flu vaccine to Mexico to help bridge that country's immediate pandemic vaccine requirements. This is not a donation. Mexico will replenish Canada's H1N1 vaccine supply by March 31, 2010.

7 Jan 2010

Up to final hours, lobbyists influence health overhaul

Language in both the House and Senate bills would reward hospitals for efficiency in their Medicare spending, a dramatic change in the formula for parceling out the public dollars, which can account for as much as half of a hospital's budget. That could prove to be a windfall for some hospitals but a significant loss of funding for others, mostly those in big cities and the South.

7 Jan 2010

LIBERTY Dental Plan receives Certificate of Authority from Office of Insurance Regulation in Florida

LIBERTY Dental Plan of Florida today received a Certificate of Authority from the Office of Insurance Regulation in Florida, recognizing the company as a Prepaid Limited Health Service Organization authorized to do business in the Sunshine State.

7 Jan 2010

Odyssey HealthCare acquires Westchester

Odyssey HealthCare, Inc., one of the largest providers of hospice care in the United States, today announced that it has acquired Westchester, Illinois-based Generations Healthcare, expanding the Company’s presence in the Chicago metropolitan area.

6 Jan 2010

Dialysis extension at Atlanta hospital eases crisis for illegal immigrants

The New York Times: "In early October, when Grady, Atlanta's public hospital, closed its outpatient dialysis unit for budgetary reasons, it agreed to pay for three months of dialysis at private clinics for about 50 dislocated patients.

6 Jan 2010

House Democrats develop wish list for final reform package, return to the White House

Heading into a key White House meeting this afternoon, House leaders are eyeing several items that they would like in a final health care reform deal with the Senate, but it's not clear whether their wish list will have much of an impact in the face of threats from conservative Senators to withdraw their support for the bill.

6 Jan 2010