Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

First Edition: May 7, 2012

Today's health policy highlights include reports detailing what's ahead this week on Capitol Hill as well as state-level developments.

7 May 2012

American CareSource launches ACS DiaSource solution for containment of dialysis costs

American CareSource Holdings, Inc. today introduced its new DiaSource solution for containment of dialysis costs. The solution is from Ancillary Care Services (ACS), the leading national network of ancillary healthcare providers and a wholly owned subsidiary of American CareSource.

7 May 2012

Drug-related morbidity perceived to affect half of all patients attending healthcare

It is well known that drug-related morbidity is common among hospitalized patients, and is to some extent preventable, but less is known about drug-related morbidity outside hospitals. Two new studies conducted at the Nordic School of Public Health NHV, show that healthcare professionals perceive drug-related morbidity to affect half of all patients attending healthcare.

7 May 2012

Survey: First-year medical school enrollment expected to increase

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the number of students entering medical school will show an increase of nearly 30 percent from its starting point in 2002 to projections for 2016.

5 May 2012

State legislative news: Mass. legislature poised to consider cost control plan

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the legislature approves a bill giving collective bargaining rights to home health care workers and goes against leadership to gut a bill that would loosen requirements for suing a health care provider.

5 May 2012

High profile judge hints that Supreme Court decision to strike health law 'would be a mistake'

The Wall Street Journal reports that Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson said the high court should "think twice" about overturning the law. In other health law news, the White House's under-the-radar effort to build support for the overhaul appears to be working.

5 May 2012

Oregon gets $1.9B to launch Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations to try to cut health spending

The federal support will help Oregon's Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations as they try to cut health costs by 2 percent over two years using preventive care to keep patients healthy.

5 May 2012

HIMSS Analytics recognizes 17 Banner Health facilities with Stage 7 award

Seventeen Banner Health facilities have achieved Stage 7, the final stage in the adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) as acknowledged by HIMSS Analytics, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

5 May 2012

LRI applauds ACR colleagues for new lupus nephritis guidelines

The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) applauds our colleagues at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for issuing new guidelines to help healthcare professionals screen, diagnose and treat lupus nephritis, a type of kidney disease associated with lupus. Available on the ACR website, the new guidelines are just published in the April 2012 issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

5 May 2012

American Anesthesiology acquires BAA

American Anesthesiology, a division of MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Brazos Anesthesiology Associates, P.A. (BAA), a physician group practice based in Bryan, Texas that provides anesthesia services, including cardiac, pediatric, obstetric, regional anesthesia and chronic pain management, throughout the Brazos Valley.

5 May 2012

Highlights: D.C. may have funds for illegal immigrant health care; Fla. passed up $200M because it comes from health law; Texas to build 2 new med schools

D.C. Council member David A. Catania has found an additional $20 million in the budget to continue offering free health insurance to 19,000 undocumented immigrants, reversing a proposal by Mayor Vincent C. Gray (D) that could have restricted them from receiving emergency care. Catania (I-At Large) … has made full funding of the Alliance Insurance program a chief priority as the council prepares for final budget deliberations.

5 May 2012

Dade Medical College introduces new online campus

Dade Medical College launches its new online campus as the college continues to expand its offerings of specialized allied healthcare and nursing education programs for the community.

5 May 2012

Strong link between HAIs and patient readmission after initial hospital stay

New research finds a strong link between healthcare-associated infections (HAIs) and patient readmission after an initial hospital stay. The findings, published in the June 2012 issue of Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America (SHEA), suggest that reducing such infections could help reduce readmissions, considered to be a major driver of unnecessary healthcare spending and increased patient morbidity and mortality.

5 May 2012

CINJ develops electronic documentation tool to improve patient care

A continuing challenge that oncology nurses face is providing clear documentation of patient care. In order to maximize their ability to improve patient outcomes, nurses at The Cancer Institute of New Jersey (CINJ) have developed an electronic documentation tool that integrates a number of key measurement and evaluation resources utilized in the oncology nursing field.

5 May 2012

Oxford closes term loan securitization transaction

Oxford Finance LLC, a specialty finance firm that provides senior debt to life sciences and healthcare services companies, today announced the closing of a term loan securitization transaction completed on April 26, 2012.

5 May 2012

More than 15000 health-care facilities to participate in WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Initiative

On Hand Hygiene Day (5 May), more than 15 000 health-care facilities from 156 countries are participating in the WHO Save Lives: Clean Your Hands Initiative by committing to improve patient safety by practicing better hand hygiene.

5 May 2012

UnitedHealthcare offers ‘SignatureValue Alliance’ in California

UnitedHealthcare is offering "SignatureValue Alliance" in California, a new health benefits plan featuring high-performance care provider networks committed to delivering effective, evidence-based and cost-efficient care.

4 May 2012

State governments wrestle with Medicaid expenses, lawsuits

Officials reckon with health care costs in the context of budget dilemmas in Illinois, Kentucky, Connecticut, Alabama and Wisconsin.

4 May 2012

Study confirms U.S. health spending far outpaces other industrialized nations

According to The Commonwealth Fund, the U.S. spends more than 12 other industrialized countries, but the care here is not necessarily better.

4 May 2012

State roundup: Pittsburgh insurer, hospital extend contract despite ongoing fight

A restaurant workers' group and a Los Angeles community clinic have launched a unique cooperative to provide health coverage to a group of people excluded from federal health care reform -- illegal immigrants. The pilot program, believed to be the first of its kind in the nation, offers preventive and primary care to low-wage, uninsured workers in the restaurant industry. Legal immigrants and other restaurant workers who don't meet the criteria or cannot afford coverage under the health care law are also eligible.

4 May 2012