Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

HPA urges routine vaccination after surge of whooping cough cases

The Health Protection Agency (HPA) said there have been 665 confirmed cases already this year, compared with 1,040 in the whole of 2011. Cases have been reported across all regions in England with some areas reporting clusters in schools, universities and healthcare settings.

15 Apr 2012

Bahrain: Despite reforms access to healthcare still a concern, says Médecins Sans Frontières

As Bahrain implements reforms following protests that started last year, a significant number of patients – from all political and religious backgrounds - continue to avoid seeking medical care in public hospitals due to perceived discrimination, harassment, and ill treatment, the international medical humanitarian organisation Médecins Sans Frontières said today.

12 Apr 2012

Importance of advance healthcare decision-making

Understanding advance directives and making plans for health care issues before there is a crisis, is a difficult task. Johns Hopkins experts are educating patients and families about the importance of advance healthcare decision-making as part of National Healthcare Decisions Day on April 14, 2012.

12 Apr 2012

Tenet enters into settlement with HHS and CMS

Tenet Healthcare Corporation announced that it has entered into an agreement as part of an industry-wide settlement with the United States Department of Health and Human Services, the Secretary of HHS, and the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services that is expected to result in approximate net cash proceeds to Tenet of $84 million, of which $77 million is expected to relate to continuing operations.

12 Apr 2012

Romney says he'll dismantle health law day 1 at the White House -- will that help him win over the right?

On the Democratic side, Vice President Joe Biden takes on Romney, while news outlets offer fact checks and reports of health policy sparring on the congressional campaign trail.

12 Apr 2012

Survey: Health insurance cost growth outpaces everything else

Costs for all types of medical plans are expected to increase by 9.9 percent in 2012, according to a survey by Buck Consultants, a division of Xerox. This is the first time since 2001 that the survey has projected cost increases less than 10 percent for any type of plan, so a 9.9 percent increase can almost be seen as a victory.

12 Apr 2012

Bariatric surgery more effective in treating people with type 2 diabetes

Approximately 200,000 people in the U.S. have bariatric surgery each year as a means to achieve significant weight loss. Recent reports indicating that bariatric surgery is more effective in treating people with type 2 diabetes than medication alone is likely to make this procedure even more popular.

12 Apr 2012

Mass. hospitals mull acquisition, layoffs in changing market; Calif. hospital districts questioned

In Massachusetts, Partners HealthCare is in talks to acquire South Shore hospital and Beth Israel Deaconess cuts jobs after an admissions dip. In California, lawmakers probe taxpayer-funded hospital districts and their stockpiling of cash.

12 Apr 2012

Planned Parenthood sues Texas after exclusion from women's health program

In March, Texas dropped its state Medicaid funding for Planned Parenthood because the organization provides abortion services.

12 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Medicare may be unintended victim of bank crisis; Health care industry's fears of law's reversal

The banks' actions led directly to an increase in government debt, which in turn has made the reduction of that debt by "cutting runaway spending" a centerpiece of the Republican presidential campaign to date.

12 Apr 2012

ACOs, IRS role in health reform implementation grab headlines

The inside joke among lobbyists as the health care law took shape was that it was so big and so sprawling, it would provide enough work for all of them for years to come. It became known as the "Full Employment Act." Now, it's not looking like such a sure thing anymore.

12 Apr 2012

New preoperative prepping kit to address surgical site infection risk

3M's Infection Prevention Division and Sage Products are working together to offer surgical staff and patients a new preoperative prepping kit to help address surgical site infection (SSI) risk within three main reservoirs of bacteria in the body: the nares, the oral cavity and the skin.

12 Apr 2012

Berwick: Six categories represent 20% of nation's health care expenditures

In an article in the April 11 issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association, Dr. Donald Berwick, former CMS administrator and current senior fellow at the Center for American Progress, and Andrew Hackbarth, an assistant policy analyst for the RAND Corp., listed six categories of waste they say represent more than 20% of the nation's ever-increasing healthcare expenditures...

12 Apr 2012

Tenet to pay $43M to settle Medicare overbilling claims

The settlement ends an investigation into allegations the Dallas-based hospital operator overbilled Medicare for treating patients at certain inpatient rehabilitation centers.

12 Apr 2012

IOM report: Tax medical care, double public health spending

An Institute of Medicine panel recommended a new tax on medical care to generate more funding for public health initiatives to help prevent disease.

12 Apr 2012

Fighting words: White House responds to claim that health law would add to deficit

The White House criticized the findings of a report by a conservative economist who serves as a trustee overseeing Medicare and Social Security finances, saying they represented a partisan analysis.

12 Apr 2012

Shinseki: VA pushing to improve vets' access to care

US Veterans Affairs Secretary Eric Shinseki was in New Hampshire Tuesday to visit the site of the new Veterans Center in Hooksett. The new center, which will be completed in August, is part of an effort by the VA to help Vets gain better access to medical care and mental health counseling.

12 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Santorum pushed Romney on health care; GOP's 'classic male mistake'; ACOs and the anti-trust challenge

The Pennsylvanian was also by far the most effective Republican critic of RomneyCare. When he stood on stage in a debate and took apart the Massachusetts health law as a prototype for ObamaCare, Mr. Romney realized he couldn't coast to the nomination. That's when the former Massachusetts Governor came out with his own tax cut and tax reform plan to appeal to economic conservatives.

12 Apr 2012

KineMed receives NIH RAID grant to advance FX-5A for heart disease

KineMed Inc. today announced its successful award of a Rapid Access to Intervention Development (RAID) peer-reviewed grant by the National Institute of Health to advance an HDL mimetic, designated FX-5A, designed to reverse atherosclerosis and heart disease.

12 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 11, 2012

In today's news highlights, reports about the Obama administration's latest ACO announcement as well as a new poll exploring Americans' expectations for the Supreme Court's health law ruling.

12 Apr 2012