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Palin resurrects 'death panel' claims, controversy is decades-old

Sarah Palin has returned to the battle over health care reform with a familiar refrain, slamming what she and others dubbed 'death panels' over the summer. Following passage of the health care overhaul in the House on Saturday night, Palin took to her Facebook page to register her well-known opposition to the Democratic plan.

11 Nov 2009

Medical schools change curriculum to adapt to different policies, care standards

Medical schools are changing to adapt to the shifting medical landscape around America by increasingly preparing students for alternative methods of care, increased demand for their services and a world where health care reform will likely soon change the landscape again, The Washington Post reports.

11 Nov 2009

Some Dems worry health bill will come up short on savings

The New York Times: "As health care legislation moves toward a crucial airing in the Senate, the White House is facing a growing revolt from some Democrats and analysts who say the bills Congress is considering do not fulfill President Obama's promise to slow the runaway rise in health care spending. ... The debate underscores a fundamental tension inside the White House between cost-containment idealists and pragmatists."

11 Nov 2009

Medicare Advantage plans are largely unpopular in rural states

Kansas Health Institute examines Medicare Advantage plans, which are less popular in rural areas, in a series of reports.

11 Nov 2009

American Pathology Partners to deploy Halfpenny Technologies' ITF platform for HIE

Halfpenny Technologies, Inc., a leading health information exchange (HIE) company that enables interoperability between physician electronic medical record systems (EMRs) and hospitals, laboratories and other ancillary service providers, today announced that American Pathology Partners, a nationwide, private diagnostic testing services provider based in Nashville, Tenn., will deploy the company’s Integration Technology Framework (ITF) platform.

11 Nov 2009

Study: Face time at doctor visits expanding, not dwindling

Researchers have found that, contrary to conventional wisdom backed by "a more than 10 percent drop" in physician pay and consumer complaints, doctors are actually spending more time with their patients than they used to, the Los Angeles Times' Booster Shots blog reports.

11 Nov 2009

New educational program for caregivers of patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome

Eisai Inc. introduced a new educational program today to help parents and caregivers of patients with Lennox-Gastaut syndrome (LGS), a rare form of epilepsy in which patients have frequent seizures of multiple types.

11 Nov 2009

Senate braces for final reform drive

Roll Call: "Senate Democratic leaders are still pushing to bring up their health care reform bill next week, even though the gambit comes with risks as they race against the clock to get a measure passed before the end of the year." In his effort to bring the health bill to the floor next week before the Thanksgiving recess, Reid "appears to be calculating the public relations dangers of suspending debate" for the weeklong recess "do not outweigh the need to get the debate rolling" (Pierce, 11/10).

11 Nov 2009

Key Senators could influence – even halt – action on health bill

In anticipation of the full Senate debate on health reform, news organizations are keeping tabs on lawmakers who could become players - or obstructers - when the bill hits the floor.

11 Nov 2009

Bayfront Medical Center to implement CareFocus clinical surveillance solution from Thomson Reuters

Bayfront Medical Center has selected Clinical Xpert CareFocus from Thomson Reuters as its clinical surveillance solution for improving Core Measures outcomes and patient safety indicator (PSI) scores while also supporting infection control and pharmacy intervention initiatives.

10 Nov 2009

State News: State budgets and Medicaid continue to draw headlines

The Associated Press/The Houston Chronicle reports that Texas lawmakers will add $5 million to expand mental health services — specifically veteran-to-veteran peer support groups — in the state. "Gov. Rick Perry on Monday announced the plan that calls for directing money from the state Health and Human Services Commission budget toward mental health treatment programs for veterans and their families" (11/9).

10 Nov 2009

Abortion restrictions in House health reform bill triggering outrage from the Left

ABC News reports that the abortion amendment to the House health reform bill has reignited a fiery debate on one of the most controversial issues in the country." Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., co-chair of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus, "said in a statement that the restrictions the amendment would place on a woman's right to choose 'sets a terrible precedent and marks a significant step backwards.'

10 Nov 2009

Abortion clash moves to Senate as Centrists seek House-like provision in health bill

Roll Call reports that the impending fight has also sparked the attention of the abortion-rights lobby. "Abortion-rights advocates, who were outmaneuvered in the House's health care reform vote, are banking on tougher Senate rules and targeted lobbying to keep restrictive abortion language out of that chamber's bill."

10 Nov 2009

Science-based health policies could prevent nearly 4m maternal, child deaths in Africa, report says

Nearly 4 million deaths among women and children in sub-Saharan Africa could be prevented annually if relatively inexpensive, "science-based health policies" reached 90 percent of families, according to an African Science Academy Development Initiative (ASADI) report (.pdf) published Monday, Nature News reports.

10 Nov 2009

Recent 'death panel' uproar echoes age-old controversy

Kaiser Health News staff writer Christopher Weaver details events similar to this summer's "death panel" controversy, but that happened decades ago. "It was early summer. A senior federal health official wrote a memo suggesting that living wills -- documents that can convey patients' wishes about when to end life support -- could help curb health-care costs.

10 Nov 2009

Report finds hospitals rebound from recession

Hospitals are beginning to rebound from the recession, which many economists think ended last month. The Dallas Morning News reports: "Thompson Reuters Corp., a New York-based financial information company, tracked 439 hospitals nationwide - 37 in Texas - covering small, medium and large community hospitals and teaching hospitals" to create a report released Monday that showed the change.

10 Nov 2009

House health bill votes stir political action, ads

The Washington Post reports that "the House's passage Saturday of a sweeping health-care bill has pushed the advertising battle over reform into a new phase, as competing groups have taken to the airwaves to thank or punish Democrats for their votes."

10 Nov 2009

Clinton delivers health reform pep talk to Senate Dems

The Associated Press reports on Former President Bill Clinton's pep talk to Senate Democrats today. Stressing what he said was "an economic imperative," he told "anxious Senate Democrats ... to pass a health care bill soon because the U.S. economy can't resist the toxic combination of exorbitant medical costs and nearly 50 million uninsured for much longer."

10 Nov 2009

Dutch health minister critiques U.S. health system

The New York Times interviews Ab Klink, the Dutch health minister, about the Dutch view of U.S. health care: "The health system in the United States may be twice as expensive as those in Europe, and the population may be less healthy, but at least Americans have access to many more choices of doctors and insurers.

10 Nov 2009

GSK to donate 50M H1N1 vaccine doses to WHO in coming months

Drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline announced plans on Tuesday to donate 50 million doses of its H1N1 (swine flu) vaccine to the WHO for use in developing countries within the next few months, Reuters reports. "We expect to start receiving [the first of the H1N1 doses] at the end of the month or early December and that the full 50 million will come by the end of spring," WHO spokesman Gregory Hartl said, adding, "We hope it is the first of many donations."

10 Nov 2009