Healthcare News

RSS

New trends in hospital design help health-care systems to better choreograph care

Heading to the hospital? These days, the newest member of your medical team just might be the building itself -- and it's likely to play a bigger role in your healing than you might think.

24 Oct 2009

New IndustryEdge product for healthcare organizations from Travelers

As the healthcare industry continues its expansion, Travelers Commercial Accounts today announced the availability of a new IndustryEdge® product for Healthcare Organizations. Integrating the feedback provided by Travelers’ specialist agents and brokers, this product addresses the unique property & casualty insurance needs (excluding professional liability) of mid-sized healthcare clients.

24 Oct 2009

Bioethicist honored with March of Dimes Distinguished Lectureship in Perinatal Bioethics award

A bioethicist who specializes in moral dilemmas families face when making medical decisions for critically-ill newborns was honored with the first-ever March of Dimes Distinguished Lectureship in Perinatal Bioethics.

24 Oct 2009

Senate negotiators wrestle with employer mandate, unemployed have mixed feelings on health bills

News reports reflect how current reform plans are likely to affect employers as well as people who are unemployed.

24 Oct 2009

Washington Independent examines QDDR process, implications for State Dept., USAID

The Washington Independent examines the State Department's Quadrennial Diplomacy and Development Review, or QDDR, announced in June by Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton. Anne-Marie Slaughter, the State Department's director of policy planning; James Michael, a senior USAID official; and Deputy Secretary of State Jack Lew are "in charge of creating the document — a process of managing five working groups chaired by top-level agency heads to produce an interim report in January and a final document by next September."

24 Oct 2009

Multiple programs and strategies to improve patient safety presented

Kathy Donohue, R.N. of Independence Blue Cross (IBC), will present on a patient safety panel as part of the Pennsylvania State Nurses Summit this morning at 10:30 a.m. at DeSales University in the Lehigh Valley.

24 Oct 2009

New report on the true cost of ObamaCare released

Far from providing "affordable" care for everyone, ObamaCare would result in higher insurance premiums, more and higher taxes, fewer jobs, lower wages, a reduced standard of living and an erosion of privacy and individual liberty.

24 Oct 2009

Today's opinions and editorials

Increasing government oversight will not only hurt doctors in the pocketbook, as reimbursements are inevitably cut. It will also lead to greater bureaucratic inefficiencies (Marc Siegel, 10/22).

24 Oct 2009

Senate leaders close to including a version of public option in health bill

The New York Times: "In pushing to include a government-run health insurance plan in the health care bill, the Senate majority leader, Harry Reid, is taking a calculated gamble that the 60 members of his caucus could support the plan if it included a way for states to opt out."

24 Oct 2009

Recent releases in Global Health

"The spread of dengue virus throughout the tropics represents a major, rapidly growing public health problem with an estimated 2.5 billion people at risk of dengue fever and the life-threatening disease, severe dengue," write the authors of a Lancet Infectious Diseases review that examines what is known about the virus and progress in the development of a dengue vaccine (Webster et. al, 11/09).

24 Oct 2009

Michelle Obama to speak to the American women on Health Care Reform through a video

First Lady Michelle Obama will be speaking to the women of America about Health Care Reform through a video produced by the White House, which will break exclusively on www.iVillage.com at 7:00 am on Friday, October 23rd at http://www.ivillage.com/michelleobama.

24 Oct 2009

LifeLock and Arthritis Foundation announce new partnership deal

With identity theft complaints reaching a 5-year high, and the cost to consumers increasing, the longer the fraud goes undetected, according to Javelin Strategy & Research, the urgency to guard against this crime has increased as well.

24 Oct 2009

Pennsylvania allocated 566,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine

The Department of Health today announced the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, or CDC, has allocated more than 566,000 doses of H1N1 vaccine to Pennsylvania. While delays in vaccine production have occurred, the department is placing orders as soon as vaccine is allocated to ensure it reaches Pennsylvania residents as quickly as possible.

24 Oct 2009

New law speeds up VA's beleaguered budget process

President Obama signed a law Thursday to grease the Veterans Affairs Department's troubled budgeting process by changing the schedule to allocate funds a year in advance, the Washington Post reports.

24 Oct 2009

Ontario doctors urge employers not to ask sick note from a physician for employees taking leave this flu season

In advance of what is shaping up to be an unprecedented flu season, Ontario's doctors are encouraging employers to reconsider asking their employees for a sick note from a physician because of an absence from work.

24 Oct 2009

John Muir Health earns Network Cancer Program accreditation

John Muir Health’s Walnut Creek and Concord campuses have earned a three-year accreditation with commendation as a Network Cancer Program (NCP) from the American College of Surgeons Commission on Cancer (CoC), a consortium of professional organizations dedicated to improving survival and quality of life for cancer patients. John Muir Health is one of only two hospitals in California and the only one in the San Francisco Bay Area to receive the recognition.

24 Oct 2009

Health care changes forcing companies to adapt, could cost doctors

"Although thousands of doctors are converting their offices to electronic health records, a change the federal government supports with $19 billion in grants, there is a major catch — the government is still working on establishing a standard for e-records," the Las Vegas Sun reports. "Doctors who buy a software program could lose hundreds of thousands, if not millions of dollars, if their systems aren't compatible with the future government standard."

24 Oct 2009

Poll: Public expects big changes sooner than Congress plans

"Democrats are promising significant changes in the health insurance market with the passage of their health care legislation, but they may not be able to deliver as quickly as most Americans would expect," CBS News reports.

24 Oct 2009

Obama won't tout Massachusetts health coverage plan during trip today

President Obama will not talk about the Massachusetts health care program to cover the uninsured or even talk about health reform for the country on a trip to that state today, focusing instead on clean energy and fundraising, The Washington Post reports.

24 Oct 2009

Health Canada issues medical device license for IMRISNV and IMRIScardio systems

IMRIS Inc. (TSX: IM) ("IMRIS" or the "Company") today announced that Health Canada has issued a medical device licence for the Company's IMRX system permitting IMRIS to market its newest products, IMRISNV and IMRIScardio in Canada.

24 Oct 2009