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Capsules: Health IT coordinator: Release of stage 2 guidelines a 'push ahead'

Now on Kaiser Health News' blog, Chrisitian Torres writes about the new "meaningful use" regulation: "It's time to take electronic health records to the next level.

24 Feb 2012

Seven scientists aim to make strides in predicting and preventing preterm birth

With the help of funding from the March of Dimes, researchers from five states and Canada are seeking answers to questions such as how cellular-level processes that control uterine muscles may affect preterm labor, the causes of preeclampsia, and how air pollution may affect pregnancy and preterm birth - all with the goal of preventing preterm birth so more babies will get a healthy start in life.

24 Feb 2012

Texas bars abortion providers from Medicaid, endangering federal money

Texas is barring abortion providers from the state's Medicaid program in defiance of the federal government, sparking a showdown that could close the state's Women's Health Program.

24 Feb 2012

Medicare's fraud-busting computer has slow start

The Associated Press/Washington Post: Inside Washington: Slow Start For Medicare's New Fraud-Busting Computer Disappoints Lawmakers Launched last summer, a $77 million computer system to stop Medicare fraud before it happens had prevented just one suspicious payment by Christmas.

24 Feb 2012

Administration releases new health IT 'meaningful use' rules

Officials with the Centers For Medicare & Medicaid Services published the second stage of "meaningful-use" rules for adoption of electronic medical records Thursday, laying out requirements for better digital communication among doctors and expanded patient access to records, in order for doctors and hospitals to get incentive payments.

24 Feb 2012

Calif. Medicaid chief promises dental changes for kids

California's state Medicaid chief is promising changes to dental care for kids, and North Carolina rolls out a medical home model for pregnant women.

24 Feb 2012

A shifting model of care for older patients

The New York Times reports on an emerging approach that allows many elderly patients to stay in their homes and still receive the medical care and social services the usually would get in a nursing home.

24 Feb 2012

South Sudan's army calls for concerted efforts to fight HIV/AIDS

"South Sudan's army on Wednesday appealed for concerted efforts to fight against HIV/AIDS, stressing that the war against the sexually transmitted disease cannot be fought by one institution or group of some officials tasked by the government," the Sudan Tribune reports.

24 Feb 2012

Two new analyses raise questions about mortality rate of bird flu

In an analysis published Thursday in the online edition of the journal Science, a team led by virologist Peter Palese of Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York argue the mortality rate from H5N1 bird flu is under one percent, much lower than the WHO's estimated fatality rate of 59 percent, Reuters reports.

24 Feb 2012

HIV to be covered under insurance in India beginning in October

In this post in PSI's "Healthy Lives" blog, Benoy Peter, senior manager for knowledge management at Project Connect in India, reports that the government of India will cover HIV care under insurance in the country beginning in October 2012.

24 Feb 2012

Combined bioactive peptides successfully stimulate wound healing

Researchers have combined bioactive peptides to successfully stimulate wound healing. The in vitro and in vivo study, published today in PLoS ONE, demonstrates that the combination of two peptides stimulates the growth of blood vessels and promotes re-growth of tissue. Further development of these peptides could lead to a new treatment for chronic and acute wounds.

24 Feb 2012

Despite economic downturn, Global Fund 'needs and deserves' international support

In recognition of the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria's 10th anniversary, Sisonke Msimang, executive director of the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa, recounts the Fund's history and development in this Project Syndicate opinion piece, stating that the organization is "driven by the idea that people need not die of preventable and treatable diseases simply because they are poor."

24 Feb 2012

Gates calls for greater coordination among U.N. food agencies, announces nearly $200M in grants for agricultural development projects

In a speech delivered at the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) in Rome on Thursday, Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, told IFAD, the World Food Programme (WFP), and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) that the "approach being used today to fight against poverty and hunger is outdated and inefficient" and asked the agencies "to unite around a common global target for sustainable productivity growth to guide and measure their efforts," a Gates Foundation press release states.

24 Feb 2012

Political cartoon: 'Focus, Focus, Focus'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Focus, Focus, Focus" by Mike Luckovich.

24 Feb 2012

Science Speaks blog interviews country director for CDC in Haiti

Science Speaks interviews John Vertefeuille, the country director for CDC in Haiti, "about his time heading the Global AIDS Program in Nigeria, efforts to extend HIV prevention messages to youth in Tanzania with cell phones, and a brief update on current immunization efforts underway in Haiti."

24 Feb 2012

Cardiologists not satisfied with 'doc fix'

The continual postponement of the SGR cuts has dampened the enthusiasm of younger cardiologists, said Robert O. Bonow, MD, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Innovation at Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine.

24 Feb 2012

Access to healthy food most problematic in low-income neighborhoods

Most convenience stores have a wide variety of chips, colorful candies and bottles of sugar-sweetened carbonated beverages. While shoppers can buy calorie-heavy foods wrapped in pretty packages in these locations, what they usually can't find are the fresh produce, whole grains and low-fat dairy products necessary for a healthy diet.

24 Feb 2012

Eradication of river blindness in Africa is feasible

In this AlertNet opinion piece, Simon Bush, director of neglected tropical diseases (NTDs) at Sightsavers, an international NGO helping people with visual impairments in developing countries, examines efforts to rid Africa of onchocerciasis -- a blinding NTD.

24 Feb 2012

Additional discussion needed before final decision made on publication of bird flu studies

Attendees of a recent WHO meeting that discussed the possible publication in the journals Nature and Science of two studies that modified H5N1 bird flu strains to show the virus could be more easily transmissible among humans decided publication of redacted versions would be ineffective and that "a system for distributing the full paper only to selected individuals would be impossible to set up on any relevant timescale," a Nature editorial states.

24 Feb 2012

Certara acquires Simcyp

Simcyp Limited announces its acquisition by Certara, a leading provider of drug discovery and development software and scientific consulting services.

24 Feb 2012