Healthcare News

RSS

Final Senate health bill includes many last-minute changes

New outlets detailed Majority Leader Harry Reid's final changes to the Senate health care bill.

21 Dec 2009

Senate compromise amendment to health reform bill includes Small Business provisions

Several provisions authored and promoted by U.S. Senate Committee on Small Business and Entrepreneurship Chair Mary L. Landrieu, D-La., were included today into the Senate compromise amendment to The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

21 Dec 2009

How the Senate health reform deal happened

A number of news outlets deconstructed the activity before Senate Democrats achieved the 60th vote for their health reform bill.

20 Dec 2009

XSPA Profile of SAML and XSPA Profile of XACML approved as OASIS Standards for Healthcare

The OASIS international consortium today announced two new information standards that give hospitals, insurers, and others in the healthcare community much-needed mechanisms for exchanging privacy policies, evaluating consent directives, and determining authorizations.

19 Dec 2009

Data released by CIHI supports CNA's vision on nursing and health

A growing number of registered nurses (RNs) and nurse practitioners (NPs) are working in positions of first point of contact between patients and the health-care system, helping improve patient access to primary care and driving down wait times.

19 Dec 2009

$4.2M Medicare fraud: Three Detroit-area residents plead guilty

Jackson, Mich., resident Terrence Hicks and Detroit residents Muhammed Al Mahdi and John Saunders pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of Michigan this week for their roles in a $4.2 million Medicare fraud scheme, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division, Acting U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg of the Eastern District of Michigan, Special Agent in Charge Andrew G. Arena of the FBI's Detroit Field Office and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced today.

19 Dec 2009

'Help is Here Express' helps uninsured and financially-struggling patients with free prescription medicines

The Beaches Leader recently reported that the "Help is Here Express" bus tour visited Jacksonville Beach's Mission House to help uninsured and financially-struggling patients access information on programs that provide prescription medicines for free or nearly free.

19 Dec 2009

HHS Secretary releases new report highlighting health insurance reform

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report, Protecting Families and Putting More Money in Your Pocket: How Health Insurance Reform Will Lower Costs and Increase Choices.

19 Dec 2009

SUPPORT tools for evidence-informed health policymaking

A comprehensive review of evidence-informed health policymaking was recently launched in BioMed Central's journal Health Research Policy and Systems. This free supplement, entitled 'SUPPORT tools for evidence-informed health policymaking' provides an essential reference and set of tools that can be used by those involved in finding and using research evidence to support evidence-informed health policymaking.

19 Dec 2009

Majority of young adults support health reform legislation, says survey

An overwhelming majority-88 percent-of young adults across the political spectrum think it is important for Congress and the President to pass health reform legislation that would assure affordable health insurance for all and improve health care, according to a Commonwealth Fund survey released today.

19 Dec 2009

Only half of eligible heart failure patients receive implantable devices

A study of heart failure patients who meet national guidelines for devices that stabilize and strengthen the heart's electrical system found that only half of eligible patients received the devices.

19 Dec 2009

Pennsylvania pro-lifers to hold vigil at Senator Casey's home until the vote for cloture

...

19 Dec 2009

GSA publication focuses on health disparities minority elders face

The premiere issue of an aging-focused newsletter deals with two pressing societal concerns - the economic downturn and health care reform - from the perspective of older minority adults.

19 Dec 2009

Medica's clinic-based chronic care management program delivers promising results

Medica’s clinic-based chronic care management program with six clinic partners shows that focusing on care coordination is beginning to deliver promising results. A recent program evaluation reported that members participating in the clinical pilots had 1 percent more doctor visits and 3 percent more prescription fills than members with similar conditions seen in traditional clinic settings.

19 Dec 2009

HHS announces $60M to address barriers in adopting health IT

David Blumenthal, M.D., Department of Health and Human Services’ (HHS) National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, today announced plans to make available $60 million to support the development of Strategic Health IT Advanced Research Projects (SHARP). SHARP projects will conduct focused research in critical areas where breakthrough advances are needed to address existing barriers to the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology (health IT).

19 Dec 2009

Latest issue of Johns Hopkins Nursing shows how nursing education has changed over the years

The latest issue of Johns Hopkins Nursing (http://web.jhu.edu/jhnmagazine) —the magazine named the best nursing print media of 2009 by Sigma Theta Tau international honor society for nurses—takes a look at how nursing education has changed over the years and how generational differences are driving those changes.

19 Dec 2009

InHealth to further understand socioeconomic impact of medical devices and diagnostics

As the Institute for Health Technology Studies (InHealth) marks its five-year milestone, the research and educational nonprofit is taking stock of its contributions to objective evidence about the roles that medical technologies play in the economy, in the healthcare system, and in patients' lives.

19 Dec 2009

AAPS: Withdraw the healthcare reform bill

The Association of American Physicians and Surgeons (AAPS) asked Senate Majority Harry Reid to give America a real Christmas gift: withdraw the divisive healthcare reform bill.

19 Dec 2009

Medical liability concerns lead to overprescription of antibiotics

A new study led by a team of researchers at New York Medical College suggests that that medical liability concerns may be playing a role in the increase of MRSA in healthcare settings by encouraging clinicians to prescribe antibiotics more often and more broadly than clinical circumstances and evidence-based guidelines warrant. The study appeared in the September-October issue of the American Journal of Therapeutics.

19 Dec 2009

NPRC urges Senators to work for final passage of the health care reform bill

Saying that "Hispanics have more at stake in the health care reform debate than any other group because we're least likely to be insured," the new President of the National Puerto Rican Coalition today urged Senators to "keep working" on getting the 60 votes necessary for final passage of the health care reform legislative package being assembled by Majority Leader Harry Reid.

19 Dec 2009