Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Health law message machine, implementation rolls on

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Florida Tuesday pointing out the health law's accomplishments. Meanwhile, news outlets offer implementation reports from California and Arkansas.

22 Mar 2012

New GOP budget triggers immediate budget battles, political reactions

News outlets report that the plan unveiled Tuesday by House Budget Committee Chairman Paul Ryan, R-Wis., almost automatically became "the centerpiece" of the upcoming election-year discourse. The document, which was cheered by the GOP for its smaller government vision, is certain to be rejected by the Senate.

22 Mar 2012

Ryan budget plan would revamp Medicare, Medicaid

The blueprint is an election-year marker that envisions a smaller government and deep cuts to entitlement and safety net programs. It has no chance of passage this year.

22 Mar 2012

Supreme Court braces for health law frenzy

The high court is scheduled to hear three days of oral arguments related to the legal challenges to the health law. Amid the expected media attention, political posturing and spin contests, interested parties are finalizing their arguments and strategies.

22 Mar 2012

House preps pre-SCOTUS IPAB repeal vote with eye on doc relationship

Republicans are not united in their attempted repeal of the Independent Payment Advisory Board, which will come up for a vote in the House this week. In the meantime, the GOP is attempting to mend fences with the American Medical Association by offsetting the cost of repeal with medical malpractice tort reforms.

22 Mar 2012

Drexel experts available to comment for news stories about autism

Experts at Drexel University are available to comment for news stories about autism for Autism Awareness Month in April. Drexel recently established the A.J. Drexel Autism Institute, the nation's first autism center focused on public health science.

22 Mar 2012

UTHealth launches CenteringPregnancy program

CenteringPregnancy, a national model of group care for underserved pregnant women, is part of a new study by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston.

22 Mar 2012

More colonoscopy procedures under anesthesia than expected: Study

According to researchers more patients underwent general anesthesia during gastroenterological procedures such as colonoscopy between 2003 and 2009.

21 Mar 2012

Nurses too pushed for basic elderly care: Report finds

A new report found that three out of four nurses say they have no time to talk to older hospital patients and many are so rushed they can’t help them to eat. A lack of qualified nurses is jeopardizing safe care for the elderly on wards which are still dominated by age discrimination, according to the Royal College of Nursing.

21 Mar 2012

Study finds safety and quality problems in hospitals throughout 13 countries

In one of the largest studies of its kind, a consortium of investigators from 13 countries led the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in the U.S. and the Catholic University of Leuven, Belgium in Europe, found that nurses who reported better working conditions in hospitals and less likelihood of leaving also had patients who were more satisfied with their hospital stay and rated their hospitals more highly.

21 Mar 2012

Health law oral arguments: Analyzing the moving parts

News reports explore the constitutional questions to be explored in the high court's review of the health law and the most likely potential outcomes.

21 Mar 2012

Malpractice reform, IPAB repeal, NIH funding among hot topics on Capitol Hill

News outlets report on various legislative proposals and planned funding cuts, and what kind of reactions they are drawing.

21 Mar 2012

Roundup: States face new revenue downturn; Calif. county has disparities in life expectancy

Revenues in most U.S. states increased in the fourth quarter of 2011, but their recent surge is tapering off, as they grew just 2.7 percent from the final quarter of 2010, according to a report released on Monday. "This is a noticeable slowdown from the 11.1 (percent) and 6.1 percent year-over-year growth reported in the second and third quarters of 2011, respectively," the Rockefeller Institute, a think tank that closely watches states' revenues, said in the report.

21 Mar 2012

Marking the health law's second anniversary

News outlets report on what the future holds as the health law turns 2. Meanwhile, the Department of Health and Human Services steps up its messaging related to the measure's benefits.

21 Mar 2012

GOP coordinates renewed assault on health law as its two-year anniversary, court date near

The fight for public opinion is expected to intensify in the days ahead -- as the date of the health law's Supreme Court oral arguments closes in.

21 Mar 2012

House GOP to propose budget with significant tax code changes; Dems ready to take on its efforts to reshape Medicare

News report suggest that the budget plan being unveiled today by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., will cut tax rates sharply. But Democrats opposed to its expected overhaul of Medicare are already lining up.

21 Mar 2012

MDOL announces acquisition of MD Technologies

MD On-Line, Inc. (MDOL), a leading provider of electronic healthcare solutions that leverage data to improve practice efficiency and industry connectivity, announced today that it has acquired MD Technologies Inc., a healthcare technology company based in Baton Rouge, Louisiana.

21 Mar 2012