Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Speculation abounds about what is on the deficit panel's list

Some Democrats have concerns that defense budget cuts are no longer being considered by the super committee. If this is true, it would force deep cuts to health programs and other discretionary spending.

27 Oct 2011

IAC enters cooperative agreement with NCIRD

The Immunization Action Coalition (IAC), one of the nation's premier sources of immunization information, and the National Center for Immunization and Respiratory Diseases (NCIRD) of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are entering into a cooperative agreement that will distribute IAC's highly regarded publications to pediatricians, family physicians, and other healthcare professionals involved in providing immunization services. The award is for $1.4 million over five years.

27 Oct 2011

State roundup: Ohio voters will determine public employee benefits

On Nov. 8, Ohio voters will decide the fate of the law, which allows public employees to bargain for wages and working conditions but prohibits strikes. Workers will also have to pay for healthcare insurance and pensions. The law is on hold pending the referendum.

27 Oct 2011

Largest study on diabetes and foot ulcers

What's crucial for a diabetic's foot sore to heal is that the ulcer is superficial, blood circulation is normal, and the person has had diabetes for short time. This is shown in the world's largest diabetes study regarding foot ulcers, which has been carried out by the researcher Magdalena Annersten Gerhater at Malmö University in Sweden.

27 Oct 2011

As High Court considers health law challenges, key legal issues take shape

Reuters details a number of the key questions that have surfaced in legal briefs related to the Supreme Court consideration of challenges to the health law. Meanwhile, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in its brief, took a nuanced approach regarding the individual mandate.

27 Oct 2011

Survey investigates provider-beneficiary ratio in Medicaid managed care plans

Medicaid managed-care plans reported an average ratio of one primary-care provider for every 584 beneficiaries, according to a recent survey. The newly released results of a February survey from the member plans of the Association for Community Affiliated Plans reported that among the 25 responding health plans the ratio ranged from one primary-care provider for every 53 plan enrollees to 1 provider for each 2,000 patients.

27 Oct 2011

Parent behavior training can effectively treat ADHD in young children

Formal training in parenting strategies is a low-risk, effective method for improving behavior in preschool-age children at risk for developing attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), while there is less evidence supporting the use of medications for children younger than 6 years old, according to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ).

27 Oct 2011

No link between Chantix and mental health problems says FDA

According to federal health officials this Monday Pfizer's anti-smoking drug Chantix – known as Varenicline, did not increase psychiatric problems like depression and suicidal thoughts in two studies, though the findings are not definitive.

25 Oct 2011

Your medical privacy – Another Obamacare casualty

It was a sad day recently when a married menopausal woman learned that her recent Pap test was positive for human papilloma virus (HPV). “How could this happen?” she asked. “I have not had relations with anyone but my husband since we married 30 years ago.”

24 Oct 2011

Zirmed releases Patient Payment Developer Kit

ZirMed, a leading provider of revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare providers, today announced the release of the ZirMed Patient Payment Developer Kit, a new partner integration toolkit allowing provider and software vendors to seamlessly leverage ZirMed's Online Bill Pay, Virtual Terminal, and payment processing services.

24 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: Health law curbs savings from OTC meds; Calif. wrestles with managing medical marijuana

[Over-the-counter] medicines play an important role in our nation's health care system, with almost 90 percent of physicians recommending patients try to address many ailments with self-care interventions, including the use of OTC medication, before seeking professional care.

24 Oct 2011

CompCare to distribute innovative lumbar traction DDS belt in the U.S., Canada and Puerto Rico

Comprehensive Care Corporation, which provides behavioral health, substance abuse and psychotropic pharmacy management services for managed care companies throughout the U.S., today announced that it has acquired exclusive distribution rights to an innovative patented product aimed directly at reducing depression in individuals resulting from chronic back pain.

24 Oct 2011

With much at stake, lobbyists stay close to super committee

Politico reports that the high stakes that involve everything from the health industry to Native American tribes in the deficit panel's deliberations have created a veritable "swarm" of lobbyists.

24 Oct 2011

Holes appearing in some states' safety nets for disabled, seniors; Ohio referendum looms

Health care news from Georgia, Ohio, California, Wisconsin, Florida, Iowa, Massachusetts and Texas.

24 Oct 2011

Supreme Court will choose among issues and lawsuits as it decides health law's fate

The moving parts involved in the Supreme Court's determination about whether to review challenges to the health law and which issues it wants to hear are quite complicated.

24 Oct 2011

Premier awards Lantheus three-year supplier agreement for nuclear imaging products

Lantheus Medical Imaging, Inc., a global leader in developing, manufacturing and distributing innovative diagnostic imaging agents, today announced it has been awarded a three-year supplier contract with Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P., the group purchasing unit of the Premier healthcare alliance, for its radiopharmaceutical imaging agents.

24 Oct 2011

Study finds measuring quality does improve care

The Wisconsin Collaborative for Healthcare Quality was founded on a simple premise: To improve the quality of health care, you must be able to measure it. ... Yet the premise that tracking the quality of care truly prods physicians to change the way they practice medicine has been more accepted than studied.

24 Oct 2011