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Unattached patients will have access to primary health care

The Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario (NPAO) applauds the McGuinty government for their announcement today to fund three new Nurse Practitioner (NP) Led Clinics in Belle River, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

25 Feb 2009

Living wills have an impact on pre-hospital lifesaving care

A new study conducted at the Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, and published by Elsevier in the February 2009 issue of The Journal of Emergency Medicine shows that there is a lack of education and understanding in what sets a living will in motion in a pre-hospital setting. Education and implementation of code status designations can clarify this confusion.

24 Feb 2009

Having health insurance essential for people's health and well-being

The evidence shows more clearly than ever that having health insurance is essential for people's health and well-being, and safety-net services are not enough to prevent avoidable illness, worse health outcomes, and premature death, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

24 Feb 2009

Canada urgently needs a prescription for heart health

"The Canadian Heart Health Strategy and Action Plan is the prescription that Canada urgently needs to ensure that Canadians get timely and efficient patient-centred services and access to care when they need it," says Dr. Charles R. Kerr, President of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

24 Feb 2009

Get personal to improve heart health

Scare tactics may not be necessary when trying to get patients at risk of heart disease to change their diet or behaviour, a new study has found.

23 Feb 2009

Investing in personalized medicine will benefit Canada

Canada has the opportunity to be an international leader in personalized medicine and needs to invest in this area for the health of Canadians and to reap the benefits of job creation, writes Dr. Thomas Hudson in a commentary http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.1090199 released online today in CMAJ ( Canadian Medical Association Journal ).

20 Feb 2009

Cancer Research UK launches first super cancer centre in Birmingham

Birmingham will become the first link in a unique chain of Cancer Research UK Centres to be launched round the country.

20 Feb 2009

Opportunities for the health system in a sick economy

With the interim report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission published yesterday the time for implementing reform could hardly be better.

18 Feb 2009

Hertfordshire to train new mental health workforce

The University's School of Social Community & Health Studies has won a three year contract worth one million pounds a year with the East of England Strategic Health Authority to implement training for a major government policy in mental health entitled Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).

17 Feb 2009

Caregivers not receiving the help they need, study shows

Caregivers of children with special health care needs often do not get the respite care they need, according to the findings of a recent study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

16 Feb 2009

Most coordinated care programs for Medicare beneficiaries do not show benefit

Only 2 of 15 Medicare programs designed to improve care and costs for patients with chronic illnesses resulted in reduced hospital admissions, and none of the programs generated net savings, according to a study in the February 11 issue of JAMA.

10 Feb 2009

Clinicians override most electronic medication safety alerts

Computer-based systems that allow clinicians to prescribe drugs electronically are designed to automatically warn of potential medication errors, but a new study reveals clinicians often override the alerts and rely instead on their own judgment.

10 Feb 2009

Minority health-care clinics separate but unequal

A study published today in the Archives of Internal Medicine may shed new light on why minority Americans have poorer health outcomes from chronic conditions such as hypertension, heart disease and diabetes.

9 Feb 2009

A happy hospital makes for happy patients

Imagine a hospital where morale is high, employee turnover is low and patient call buttons rarely go unanswered---and if they do, you can call the hospital's CEO.

9 Feb 2009

Healthcare reform

Faced with a barrage of pressing issues, the Obama administration has placed health-care reform high on its agenda.

8 Feb 2009

HIPAA privacy rule fails to adequately protect patient privacy and hampers health research

The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) Privacy Rule does not adequately protect the privacy of people's personal health information and hinders important health research discoveries, concludes a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

5 Feb 2009

Seniors in Medicare's doughnut hole decrease use of meds

Beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare Part D who reached a gap in health care coverage known as the "doughnut hole" were much less likely to use prescription drugs than those with an employer-based plan, according to a University of Pittsburgh Graduate School of Public Health study.

3 Feb 2009

High-tech hospitals see fewer complications, lower costs

Texas hospitals using health information technologies had fewer complications, lower mortality rates and lower costs, a UT Southwestern Medical Center researcher has found.

3 Feb 2009

The state of America's health care is poor

"The state of America's health care is poor," Jeffrey P. Harris, MD, FACP, president of the American College of Physicians (ACP), reported today at the annual State of the Nation's Health Care briefing.

2 Feb 2009

Top hospitals have 27 percent lower mortality: Annual HealthGrades study

Medicare patients treated at top-rated hospitals nationwide across the most common Medicare diagnoses and procedures are 27 percent less likely to die, on average, than those admitted to all other hospitals, according to a study released today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization.

29 Jan 2009