Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Staggering economic costs of autism will continue to rise

Autism Speaks, the world's leading autism science and advocacy organization, today announced preliminary results of new research that estimates autism costs society a staggering $126 billion per year (U.S.) - a number that has more than tripled since 2006, and annually in the U.K. has reached more than -34 billion (equivalent to $54 billion U.S.).

30 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 30, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports that the House yesterday approved the $3.5 trillion budget plan proposed by Paul Ryan -- which includes deep cuts in entitlements and will likely trigger the election-year fiscal debate.

30 Mar 2012

Paying doctors and hospitals for better outcomes may not pay off

Medicare's largest effort to pay bonuses to hospitals that hit key performance measures -- or dock them if they miss -- did not lead to fewer deaths for heart attacks and heart bypass surgery, a new study finds. The analysis could lead to a reexamination of the idea of paying providers based on quality metrics, rather than on volume, which is key to the health law.

30 Mar 2012

Study looks at how health care providers react to medication alerts in EMR systems

A study by Regenstrief Institute and U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs investigators provides the first in-depth look at how health care providers react to medication alerts generated by electronic medical record systems. The researchers plan to use this information to improve the design of medication alerts and diminish the phenomenon known as alert fatigue, where providers can become desensitized and may start unintentionally ignoring some important warnings.

30 Mar 2012

Medicaid questions complete the court's health law review

At some points during the Supreme Court's consideration of the health law's Medicaid expansion, conservative justices not only questioned this provision of the law, but the program itself.

30 Mar 2012

Small electrical sensors can quickly detect MRSA infection

A simple test to identify MRSA in wounds could identify the superbug quickly and help prevent infection from spreading.

30 Mar 2012

The Supreme Court arguments are over - what happens now?

News outlets sum up the oral arguments and preview when to expect a decision, what impact the legal review might have on politics and what other ripple effects could occur.

30 Mar 2012

Who was who during the Supreme Court arguments?

News outlets take a look at key personalities on the bench, in front of the justices, in the gallery and in the creation of the health law itself -- including examinations of the closing arguments by both the plantiffs' attorney and the federal government's lawyer.

30 Mar 2012

Drexel experts available to comment on new CDC study on autism prevalence

Experts from Drexel University are available to comment on a new study on autism prevalence released today by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

30 Mar 2012

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital receives John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award

NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital's distinguished record in patient safety and quality received a pivotal boost this month when the National Quality Forum and The Joint Commission named the Hospital a winner of their prestigious John M. Eisenberg Patient Safety and Quality Award.

30 Mar 2012

Roundup: N.H., Kansas move towards health care 'compacts'; Mass. payment reform 'not enough'?

The N.H. House has voted to form an interstate health care compact, rejecting an effort to instead study the cost implications for New Hampshire if the state assumed control for health care within its boundaries. Under the bill, the states would receive block grants from the federal government and would take over Medicare and Medicaid.

30 Mar 2012

NABJ convenes first day of annual Media Institute on Health conference

Today, the National Association of Black Journalists (NABJ) convened the first day of its annual Media Institute on Health: Health Policy and Health Inequities, March 29-31, at the Kaiser Family Foundation's Barbara Jordan Conference Center.

30 Mar 2012

Scientists produce first genetic brain atlas

The first atlas of the surface of the human brain based upon genetic information has been produced by a national team of scientists, led by researchers at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine and the VA San Diego Healthcare System.

30 Mar 2012

Calif. readies Medicaid changes for dual-eligibles, adult day care program; Other Medicaid news from the states

California is revamping its adult day health care program as well as its program for people who are eligible for both Medicare and Medicaid. In Florida, a judge orders the Medicaid program there to cover autism therapy, and Georgia prepares to restructure its program.

30 Mar 2012

Longer looks at Supreme Court battle: Interactions of justices are key to decision; Creating 'Zombie Obamacare'

Welcome to the world of the law, Supreme Court edition, where after Tuesday's remarkable hearing the five conservative justices appeared eager, or at least willing, to defend an unworkable status quo that rewards people who choose to blow off health insurance coverage knowing that they will be treated anyway if they show up ill at a hospital.

30 Mar 2012

Perspectives on court's political fallout: A loss could boost Obama; Mandate could be replaced with large tax credits

The heart of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is the requirement that every American purchase health insurance or pay a penalty. Justice Anthony Kennedy - widely considered the "swing vote" on cases that divide the Supreme Court evenly along ideological lines - raised concerns on Tuesday that this individual mandate "changes the relationship of the federal government to the individual in the very fundamental way."

30 Mar 2012

XRCC2 gene mutations cause increased breast cancer risk

Mutations in a gene called XRCC2 cause increased breast cancer risk, according to a study published today in the American Journal of Human Genetics. The study looked at families that have a history of the disease but do not have mutations in the currently known breast cancer susceptibility genes.

30 Mar 2012

Perspectives on the court and the health law: Is this judicial activism?; Decision could define Roberts; Health economics 101

The ideological nature of the health care case was obvious on the last day of oral argument. By the time the proceedings were over, much of what the conservative justices said in court seemed like part of a politically driven exercise - especially because the issues addressed on Wednesday were not largely constitutional in nature.

30 Mar 2012

First Edition: March 29, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports detailing Wednesday's Supreme Court oral arguments on severability as well as the Medicaid expansion. News coverage also sums up the week's high court activity and looks forward to what might happen next.

29 Mar 2012

Evergreen utilizes spinal navigation system for Transforaminal Lumbar Interbody Fusion procedure

Evergreen Hospital, a statewide leader in minimally invasive spine surgery, today announced it had completed the first minimally invasive spinal surgery procedure in the region using a state-of-the-art spine navigation system.

29 Mar 2012