Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Research roundup: Moving kids onto Medicaid; competitive markets

Each week, KHN compiles a selection of recently released health policy studies and briefs.

26 Aug 2013

State highlights: Colo. effort to reduce hospital readmissions pays off

A 2-year-old initiative between the Colorado Hospital Association and UnitedHealthcare to reduce costly unnecessary readmissions is reporting major gains on a lingering problem. The readmission rate for "same cause" patients -- those coming back for the same malady as their initial visit -- dropped to just over 5 percent from 9.8 percent the year before, at 19 Colorado hospitals, according to a release by the collaboration (Booth, 8/21).

26 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Health spending driving U.S. recovery; time to get rid of the insurance middle man

Here is the most interesting fact about the economy that you've never heard: Without health-care spending, the rest of the economy is barely producing more than it did in late 2007, just before the start of the Great Recession.

23 Aug 2013

PDI Expands Focus With Mdx Commercialization Deal

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22 Aug 2013

Ireland’s Health Research Board awards €1.2M to UL researchers

University of Limerick researchers have been awarded over €1.2 million funding by Ireland’s Health Research Board. The funding will support health research focused on; primary care reform in Ireland; avoidance of adverse outcomes in vascular surgery; dealing with the progression of chronic kidney disease and enhancing physical activity for multiple sclerosis patients.

22 Aug 2013

Virginia's Medicaid panel meets, but covers little new ground

During a Monday planning meeting, a Virginia Medicaid policymaking panel examined what other states are doing in terms of expanding the program. Hundreds of conservative activists who oppose this health law provision rallied at the state capitol.

21 Aug 2013

Survivorship care plan fills knowledge gaps, arms patients with information to take charge of their care

In 2005, the Institute of Medicine, surveying the outlook for the growing number of American cancer survivors, first described the idea of a survivorship care plan: a roadmap for the group of patients, today numbering nearly 12 million, who are beginning new lives as cancer survivors.

21 Aug 2013

State highlights: Mental health contract raised costs in La., audit says

A selection of health policy stories from California, Louisiana and the District of Columbia.

21 Aug 2013

Research shows high back pain intensity at onset may predict future pain and disability

Up to 70 percent of us will experience low back pain in our lifetimes and many will progress to long term, chronic low back pain. Research reported in The Journal of Pain shows that high pain intensity at onset is predictive of future pain and disability, even after five years.

20 Aug 2013

American Pain Society sponsors two educational symposia at PAINWeek

The American Pain Society strongly believes professional and consumer education programs can achieve significant benefits for patients by improving clinicians' knowledge regarding optimal approaches for assessing and treating chronic pain.

19 Aug 2013

Viewpoints: Latest Health law delay just a 'glitch;' feds' overhaul of health care gets many 'moving parts wrong'

Today brings news of another delay in the implementation of Obamacare -- the second significant glitch this summer. … If this sounds like a winner for Republicans in 2014 it probably isn't.

17 Aug 2013

Research roundup: The health of the U.S.; doctors aren't paid to talk; savings from high-deductible plans

Understanding the major health problems in the United States and how they are changing over time is critical for informing national health policy. ... From 1990 to 2010, the United States made substantial progress in improving health. Life expectancy at birth and [healthy life expectancy] increased, all-cause death rates at all ages decreased, and age-specific rates of years lived with disability remained stable.

17 Aug 2013

Study supports new diagnostic structure in toddlers with ASD

A study published in the August 2013 issue of the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry demonstrates support for the changes in autism symptom structure for toddlers with autism spectrum disorder (ASD found in the newly released Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fifth Edition (DSM-5)).

14 Aug 2013

State highlights: Texas waits for feds' ok on higher Medicaid payments

California schools may give students insulin injections and other medications without having to call in licensed nurses, the state's highest court ruled Monday. … The unanimous decision was a defeat for the powerful California Nurses Assn., which had argued that only licensed health care workers could administer medicine under a state law that bars the unauthorized practice of nursing (Dolan, 8/12).

14 Aug 2013

Sebelius signals openness to state alternatives to Medicaid expansion

Speaking to the National Conference of State Legislatures, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said she is willing to work with states experimenting with new ways to insure poor Americans. Meanwhile, outlets in Virginia and Michigan report on the debate in those states about expanding the program.

14 Aug 2013

Few physicians receive adequate training to help patients with chronic pain

Pain is the most common reason a patient sees a physician but few physicians have received adequate training to help their patients, according to a Henry Ford Hospital article published in the Journal of American Osteopathic Association.

13 Aug 2013

Study investigates issues faced by prisoners with mental health problems after release

Offenders, and especially prisoners, have a high prevalence of mental health problems. Rates for various mental health conditions range from 50 to 90 per cent. Prisoners released from prison with mental health problems face difficulty with family relationships, employment, long-term illness, self-harm, depression and re-offending.

12 Aug 2013

NCQA recognizes Cigna with Physician and Hospital Quality Certification for third time

The strength of Cigna's physician and hospital performance measurement programs for quality and cost has again been recognized by the National Committee for Quality Assurance.

9 Aug 2013

Journey Forward creates tool to help cancer survivors initiate care planning with health care providers

Journey Forward, a leader in Survivorship Care Planning, is moving forward patient-centered care by enhancing its suite of free, award-winning survivorship care planning tools with My Care Plan.

9 Aug 2013

State highlights: Battle over Brooklyn hospital's fate widens in court

Justice Johnny L. Baynes in Brooklyn, who has issued three temporary restraining orders in the case since March, all forbidding SUNY to take steps to close [Long Island College Hospital], asked a lawyer representing Bill de Blasio, the public advocate and a Democratic candidate for mayor, whether he had reported allegations of criminal interference with emergency room services to the Brooklyn district attorney. Murmurs of approval rose from the room, packed with longtime patients, doctors, nurses and residents of northern Brooklyn where the fate of the 150-year-old hospital has become a rallying cry (Bernstein, 8/7).

9 Aug 2013

Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

Research roundup: Moving kids onto Medicaid; competitive markets

State highlights: Colo. effort to reduce hospital readmissions pays off

Viewpoints: Health spending driving U.S. recovery; time to get rid of the insurance middle man

PDI Expands Focus With Mdx Commercialization Deal

Ireland’s Health Research Board awards €1.2M to UL researchers

Virginia's Medicaid panel meets, but covers little new ground

Survivorship care plan fills knowledge gaps, arms patients with information to take charge of their care

State highlights: Mental health contract raised costs in La., audit says

Research shows high back pain intensity at onset may predict future pain and disability

American Pain Society sponsors two educational symposia at PAINWeek

Viewpoints: Latest Health law delay just a 'glitch;' feds' overhaul of health care gets many 'moving parts wrong'

Research roundup: The health of the U.S.; doctors aren't paid to talk; savings from high-deductible plans

Study supports new diagnostic structure in toddlers with ASD

State highlights: Texas waits for feds' ok on higher Medicaid payments

Sebelius signals openness to state alternatives to Medicaid expansion

Few physicians receive adequate training to help patients with chronic pain

Study investigates issues faced by prisoners with mental health problems after release

NCQA recognizes Cigna with Physician and Hospital Quality Certification for third time

Journey Forward creates tool to help cancer survivors initiate care planning with health care providers

State highlights: Battle over Brooklyn hospital's fate widens in court

How microRNA is transforming science: From discovery to diagnostics

Advancing benzodiazepine detection

The Surgeon-Scientist Pioneering Regenerative Engineering

Primary Care News and Research

Latest Primary Care News and Research

How microRNA is transforming science: From discovery to diagnostics

Advancing benzodiazepine detection

The Surgeon-Scientist Pioneering Regenerative Engineering

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