Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Primary care providers treat hepatitis C patients effectively through Project ECHO model

Under a completely new way of providing health care, primary care clinicians in remote villages, prisons and poor urban neighborhoods who were trained to treat patients with hepatitis C achieved excellent results identical to those of specialists at a university medical center.

4 Jun 2011

Compassionate release programs for prisoners need to be reformed: Research

The nation's system of freeing some terminally ill prisoners on grounds of compassionate release is so riddled with medical flaws and procedural barriers that many potentially medically eligible inmates are dying behind bars, say UCSF researchers in a new study.

4 Jun 2011

Five years after cancer treatment, many survivors still suffer symptoms

When people finish treatment for cancer, they want to bounce back to their former vital selves as quickly as possible. But a new Northwestern Medicine study -- one of the largest survivor studies ever conducted - shows many survivors still suffer moderate to severe problems with pain, fatigue, sleep, memory and concentration three to five years after treatment has ended.

4 Jun 2011

GE Healthcare to highlight advanced portfolio of molecular imaging technologies at SNM meeting

Investing and innovating in ways that break through cost, quality and access barriers to health for individuals and entire health systems, GE Healthcare is highlighting an advanced portfolio of molecular imaging technologies at the 58th annual meeting of the Society of Nuclear Medicine (SNM), June 4-8, in San Antonio.

4 Jun 2011

Colo. Gov. signs exchange bill

Colorado Gov. John Hickenlooper signed a bill on Wednesday to set up a marketplace for individuals and small businesses to buy health insurance, making it the eighth state to voluntarily set up the exchanges since President Obama signed the 2010 health care law.

4 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Debating the best ways to 'fix' Medicare; ACO rule; states 'punishing' women?

The truth is, there is no perfect plan — we all know that. We also know that the only way this works is through a bipartisan effort where everyone prods their own sacred cows into the cattle chute, and everyone gives up something they like to protect the country they love. ... Members of both parties and both houses must publicly support the work of the Gang of Six. This is the time for heroes.

4 Jun 2011

Hartford Faculty Scholars Program grants two-year award to geriatric social work researchers

The prestigious Hartford Faculty Scholars Program has granted 11 geriatric social work researchers a two-year award that will provide career development, mentorship, and support for projects that will improve healthy outcomes for the country's aging population.

4 Jun 2011

Hospitals need to measure quality of care

Hospitals that provide quality care for young people do not always provide the same quality care for the elderly, a new study has found.

4 Jun 2011

News highlights: Study finds reform didn't slow ER visits in Mass.; 2 ACOs take shape in Calif.; Md. hospitals report problems

Health care reform in Massachusetts only had a small impact on the number of trips residents took to the emergency room, according to a new study.

4 Jun 2011

Kronos to provide integrated workforce management solution to Beaver Dam Community Hospitals

Kronos Incorporated today announced that Beaver Dam Community Hospitals, Inc. (BDCH), an independent, non-profit healthcare organization serving the regions of Dodge, Columbia, and Fond du Lac Counties in Wisconsin, has selected Kronos® to provide an integrated workforce management solution comprised of time and attendance, absence management, HR/payroll, and selection and hiring.

3 Jun 2011

Highest percentage of readmissions occur in 45 to 64 age group

In 2008 nearly 12 percent of hospital stays were readmissions within 30 days of a previous stay, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

3 Jun 2011

Technology, expert training and real-time feedback improves Hepatitis C outcomes

Widely-available technology, expert training and real-time feedback helped ensure that patients treated for Hepatitis C in local communities did as well as patients treated at a university-based medical center, results of a new study funded by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality show. The study is published in the June 2 online issue of the New England Journal of Medicine and in the June 9 print edition.

3 Jun 2011

Longer looks: Is American medicine destroying itself?

Ever since Republicans took control of half the country's statehouses this year, the anti-abortion movement has won one victory after another. At least 64 new anti-abortion laws have passed, with more than 30 of them in April alone. The campaign is the largest in history and also the most creative.

3 Jun 2011

AHF to host 'Remember AIDS' event on June 5

Hundreds of community members are expected to join AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF) at a candlelight vigil and march to mark the 30th anniversary of the discovery of HIV. The "Remember AIDS" event—which will take place on Sunday, June 5th—will begin with a gathering at Matthew Shepard Memorial Park at 7:00 pm.

3 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 3, 2011

Reporting for Kaiser Health News, Marilyn Chase writes: "Memorial, a 278-bed hospital in this city 55 miles north of San Francisco, sued California to try to stop the payment reductions. Now it is part of a case before the U.S. Supreme Court that could redefine states' responsibilities on Medicaid services and ultimately determine whether Democratic Gov. Jerry Brown can go forward with cuts he says are vital to closing the state's budget gap.

3 Jun 2011

CICC White Paper identifies several care gaps of atrial fibrillation patients in Ontario

A White Paper released today by the Centre for Innovation in Complex Care (CICC), of the University Health Network (UHN), has identified significant care gaps of atrial fibrillation (AF) patients in Ontario, which contribute to debilitating strokes that could be prevented.

3 Jun 2011

HHS inspector general: $3.4 billion recovered in first half of 2011

HHS' inspector general's office tallied $3.4 billion in expected recoveries through its audits and investigations in the first half of fiscal 2011, according to its semiannual report to Congress. The office recovered $3.1 billion in the year-ago period.

3 Jun 2011

AHRQ: States see improvements in health care quality, but disparities persist

States are seeing improvements in health care quality, but disparities for their minority and low- income residents persist, according to the 2010 State Snapshots, released today by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

3 Jun 2011

Medicaid no longer paying for hospital mistakes

Left a sponge inside the patient? Transfused the wrong blood type? Don't look for the federal government to pay for fixing the mistake. Medicaid will no longer pay hospitals or doctors for certain preventable illnesses and injuries, such as operating on the wrong body part, the Health and Human Services Department said Wednesday.

3 Jun 2011

Health law gets mixed reception in Ohio federal appeals court

A panel of federal appellate judges heard oral arguments Wednesday regarding whether the Obama administration can — under the Constitution — require Americans to buy health insurance. A key issue for the judges to determine is whether the plaintiffs have legal standing to sue after one said she recently purchased coverage from her employer. The case was initially brought by the Michigan-based Thomas More Law Center.

3 Jun 2011