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Insurers scrambling to get expenses defined as patient care

The New York Times looks at current efforts by state insurance officials to set regulations requried under the new health overhaul about insurance company spending. "The legislative battle over the health care overhaul ended months ago, but it is hard to tell from the intense effort now under way by insurance companies to retool a critical provision.

26 Jul 2010

Role of spirituality, spiritual care in palliative care

Relationships hold the key to giving terminally ill patients the spiritual care they need. However, researchers have pinpointed a mismatch between patients' expectations and understanding when it comes to spirituality, and what medical and family caregivers offer. New recommendations to improve this situation appear today, in the journal Palliative Medicine, published by SAGE.

23 Jul 2010

Obama signs legislation to cut improper government spending, largely in Medicare and Medicaid

President Barack Obama signed legislation Thursday that aims "to take on fraudulent and improper government spending that he said diverts money from important priorities," the Los Angeles Times reports.

23 Jul 2010

Study shows largest health benefits from light or moderate activity

A new study by researchers from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, Cambridge University and the Karolinska Institute in Sweden has found that even light or moderate intensity physical activity, such as walking or cycling, can substantially reduced the risk of early death.

23 Jul 2010

First patient enrolled in Phase 3 SyNAPSe study of BHR-100 for TBI

BHR Pharma, LLC announced today that the first patient has been enrolled in its SyNAPSe study, a global, Phase 3, pivotal trial to evaluate the safety and effectiveness of its intravenous progesterone infusion product (BHR-100) as a neuroprotective agent for treating severe (Glasgow Coma Scale scores of 4-8) traumatic brain injury patients.

23 Jul 2010

Health law gives consumers new rights to appeal insurer decisions

The Obama administration issued regulations yesterday addressing a top consumer gripe with health insurers: The rejected claim. "Rejection notices are often unclear, as are the procedures for challenging them." The new regulations are "designed to simplify the process and expand consumers' rights, as required by the recently enacted healthcare law." Current appeals rules differ by insurer. The regulations will standardize the process, allowing consumers to first take their complaints to the insurer, and then to an independent review panel (Levey, 7/22).

23 Jul 2010

Cancer institute offers new tumor monitoring system for radiation therapy patients

A new system that utilizes a precise a GPS-like system to track prostate cancer tumors is now being offered to patients undergoing radiation therapy at Cedars-Sinai's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute. The monitoring system, called Calypso, allows radiation beams to more precisely target the cancer as it gives real-time positioning information that allows the radiation beams to focus directly on the cancer.

23 Jul 2010

LCA survey sheds more light on why support for lung cancer people remains low

A national survey announced today by Lung Cancer Alliance, sheds more light on why support for people affected by lung cancer remains low. The poll indicates Americans are more likely to view lung cancer as "hopeless" and "untreatable" when compared with a diagnosis of breast or colon cancer. In addition, 26% of Americans believe lung cancer is largely "self-inflicted."

23 Jul 2010

Insurers, advocates fight over upcoming spending rules

Insurance companies are banding together to weaken a key health law rule that requires them to spend as much as 85 percent of their revenues on medical care, according to the advocacy group Health Care for America Now. At issue is the definition of 'medical loss ratio,' a figure used on Wall Street to show an insurer's profitability.

23 Jul 2010

Babesiosis disease on the rise in Lower Hudson Valley: NYS DOH

Babesiosis, a rare and occasionally fatal tick-borne disease caused by microscopic parasites known as Babesia which infect red blood cells, is on the rise in the Lower Hudson Valley according to the NYS DOH, including the counties of Westchester, Putnam, Orange, Dutchess, Ulster, Sullivan and Rockland.

23 Jul 2010

Prevalence of HD substantially underestimated in the UK

The prevalence of Huntington's disease is substantially underestimated in the UK, with significant implications for those affected, the healthcare system, and research. New estimates of prevalence, and their implications, are discussed in a comment published in an upcoming Lancet, written by Professor Sir Michael Rawlins, who is the Chairman of the UK National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence, but writes in his capacity as an Honorary Professor of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK.

23 Jul 2010

ACLU says some nursing homes use 'scare tactics' to keep psychiatric patients

The American Civil Liberties Union says in court papers that some for-profit nursing home operators are using "scare tactics" to persuade psychiatric patients to stay in their facilities. "The action follows a historic court settlement in which Illinois authorities pledged to offer supportive community-based housing and treatment to roughly 4,500 psychiatric patients who now live in two dozen large nursing homes designated as Institutions for Mental Diseases.

23 Jul 2010

Reducing calorie intake can restrict growth, spread of brain cancer: Researchers

Researchers at Boston College, MA, have found that reducing calorie intake can restrict the growth and spread of brain cancer. Writing in ASN NEURO, Laura Shelton and colleagues report success with mice suffering from glioblastoma multiforme, the most aggressive and invasive form of primary human brain cancer.

23 Jul 2010

Securing universal access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support

The biennial meeting of the global AIDS community concluded today with clear evidence of tangible progress in HIV research and programme scale up, yet facing an urgent need for increased resources, the protection of human rights, and broader use of scientifically sound prevention strategies. Delegates and organizers depart Vienna - where the conference opened 18 July under the theme of Rights Here, Right Now -- with a renewed commitment to push for securing universal access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support.

23 Jul 2010

Today's OpEds: Varying points on the nation's doctor shortage, benefits of negative studies, and what about universal health care?

In the long list of problems affecting the American health care system, the shortage of general practitioners and overabundance of specialists is usually ranked near the top. There is truth to this: only 32 percent of physicians practice primary care medicine. As a result, patients have to wait longer to see their doctors and are more likely to be seen by nurse practitioners and physician assistants instead. However, pediatrics has the opposite problem: a growing shortage of pediatric subspecialists (Dennis Rosen, 7/22).

23 Jul 2010

Researchers investigate regional variation in Medicare spending

In the latest Health Policy Outlook from the American Enterprise Institute and the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy and Economics at USC, Schaeffer Center researchers investigated whether geographic variations in utilization of health services and spending differed between Medicare and the private sector.

23 Jul 2010

First generic version of Lovenox receives FDA approval for DVT

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today approved the first generic version of Lovenox (enoxaparin sodium injection), an anti-coagulant drug used to prevent deep vein thrombosis, a potentially deadly blood clotting condition.

23 Jul 2010

NYC hospitals agree to pilot program to cut medical-malpractice costs

To cut medical-malpractice costs, five New York City hospitals have agreed to a pilot program to divulge medical mistakes early, offer settlements quickly and use special state 'health courts,' where judges will help negotiate agreements before cases go to trial. The program, funded for three years with $3 million from the federal government, aims to cut the $1.4 billion spent annually in New York State on medical-malpractice premiums, hospital and state officials say.

23 Jul 2010

HPM recognizes 19 Michigan health care providers for outstanding quality, service

The 19 Michigan health care providers were identified as the top primary care offices through a rigorous selection process that was based on Health Plan of Michigan's 2009 quality incentive plan. "We wanted to show our gratitude to our highest ranking health care providers for their excellence in quality and service," said Raymond D. Pitera, Vice President of Provider Service for Health Plan of Michigan. "We truly appreciate the access to quality services they provide to our Medicaid Members."

23 Jul 2010

Tarsa Therapeutics completes patient enrollment in Phase III ORACAL trial of oral calcitonin

Unigene Laboratories, Inc. today noted that Tarsa Therapeutics has completed patient enrollment in the Phase III ORACAL trial of Tarsa's oral calcitonin product for the treatment of postmenopausal osteoporosis. Unigene licensed the product to Tarsa and owns 26% of the company.

23 Jul 2010

Medical News

Insurers scrambling to get expenses defined as patient care

Role of spirituality, spiritual care in palliative care

Obama signs legislation to cut improper government spending, largely in Medicare and Medicaid

Study shows largest health benefits from light or moderate activity

First patient enrolled in Phase 3 SyNAPSe study of BHR-100 for TBI

Health law gives consumers new rights to appeal insurer decisions

Cancer institute offers new tumor monitoring system for radiation therapy patients

LCA survey sheds more light on why support for lung cancer people remains low

Insurers, advocates fight over upcoming spending rules

Babesiosis disease on the rise in Lower Hudson Valley: NYS DOH

Prevalence of HD substantially underestimated in the UK

ACLU says some nursing homes use 'scare tactics' to keep psychiatric patients

Reducing calorie intake can restrict growth, spread of brain cancer: Researchers

Securing universal access to HIV prevention, care, treatment and support

Today's OpEds: Varying points on the nation's doctor shortage, benefits of negative studies, and what about universal health care?

Researchers investigate regional variation in Medicare spending

First generic version of Lovenox receives FDA approval for DVT

NYC hospitals agree to pilot program to cut medical-malpractice costs

HPM recognizes 19 Michigan health care providers for outstanding quality, service

Tarsa Therapeutics completes patient enrollment in Phase III ORACAL trial of oral calcitonin

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