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New updated education course from PARI Respiratory Equipment

Today, PARI Respiratory Equipment launched a newly updated continuing education class, Managing Respiratory Patients Through Efficient Aerosol Delivery, rounding out their free learning program with seven classes for respiratory therapists, nurses, case managers, and pharmacists.

13 Nov 2009

Planetree and CMSA seek to improve viable, cost-effective patient-centered care

Planetree, a non-profit organization facilitating efforts to create patient-centered care in healing environments, has entered into a new strategic business alliance with the Case Management Society of America (CMSA), the nation's largest multi-disciplinary professional association for case management.

13 Nov 2009

CMS approves FDG PET for initial staging of cervical cancer

SNM applauds the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services- (CMS) decision to expand coverage of FDG PET for the initial staging of cervical cancer without previously imposed restrictions.

13 Nov 2009

Healthcare Innovative Solutions and MOSS collaborate to build Health Information Exchanges

Healthcare Innovative Solutions, a full-service clinical consulting firm, today announced a partnership with Misys Open Source Solutions (MOSS), a division of Misys plc, to provide the healthcare community with the consultancy services and open source technology necessary to build Health Information Exchanges (HIEs) -- technological infrastructures that enable the exchange of health information across disparate systems.

13 Nov 2009

Mouth: A diagnostic indicator for general health

The mouth or oral cavity area is an excellent indicator of the whole body's health, says Mao, who is the chair of the new Department of Oncology and Diagnostic Sciences at the School.

13 Nov 2009

Kaiser NW to pay $1.83M for settling False Claims Act liability

Kaiser Foundation Hospitals - Kaiser Sunnyside Medical Center, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan of the Northwest and Northwest Permanente P.C., Physicians & Surgeons (collectively, Kaiser NW) has agreed to pay the United States $1,830,322.41 to settle False Claims Act liability, the Justice Department announced today.

13 Nov 2009

African-Americans more likely to die from colorectal cancer than Caucasians, says new study

New research published in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Surgeons shows that African-American patients with colorectal cancer are more likely to be diagnosed with advanced disease and are less likely to undergo surgical procedures compared with Caucasians, suggesting that improvements in screening and rates of operation may reduce differences in colorectal cancer outcomes for African-Americans.

13 Nov 2009

George W. Bush Institute to include global health focus; University of California system launches Global Health Institute

Former President George W. Bush will deliver a speech on Thursday marking the launch of the "George W. Bush Institute as a forum for study and advocacy in four main areas: education, global health, human freedom and economic growth," the New York Times writes.

13 Nov 2009

Senators won't grow deficit without a cost-cutting commission

Congress may outsource its tough budgetary decisions, if moderate, deficit-anxious lawmakers their way. "Several U.S. senators said on Tuesday they probably could force Congress to cede some control to a bipartisan commission that would tackle the United States' looming budget crisis," Reuters reports.

13 Nov 2009

BMC and Clear One Health Plans team up to offer first Focused Patient Care Model

Bend Memorial Clinic (BMC), the largest provider of quality, comprehensive and convenient physician healthcare in Central Oregon, has joined with Clear One Health Plans to offer the region’s first Focused Patient Care Model, similar to a Medical Home Model, beginning January 1, 2010. BMC’s team of more than 100 physicians and other providers care for approximately 3,800 Clear One Medicare Advantage members all of whom will qualify for the program.

13 Nov 2009

Timeline, vote counting continue to be central To Senate health overhaul

The Associated Press reports that Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid is considering higher payroll taxes on "upper-income earners to help finance health care legislation.

13 Nov 2009

Food summit draft declaration omits hunger eradication deadline, aid commitment

"A declaration to be made at next week's world food summit in Rome will not mention a target to eradicate hunger by 2025 nor a commitment to spend $44 billion a year in agricultural aid, according to a final draft," Reuters reports (Aloisi, 11/12).

13 Nov 2009

Health minister calls for ramped up fight against HIV/AIDS in South Africa

South African health minister Aaron Motsoaledi on Tuesday called for a reinvigorated effort in the country's fight against HIV/AIDS, echoing comments recently made by South African President Jacob Zuma, Agence France-Presse reports. Motsoaledi said to reporters, "In 11 years - from 1997 to 2008 - the rate of death has doubled in South Africa" (11/10).

12 Nov 2009

SPIN program highlights the importance of human milk for preterm babies

UC San Diego Medical Center recently launched a website dedicated to offering families and the medical community valuable information about the best way to provide human milk to premature and underweight infants. The website was developed with a $10,000 grant from The March of DimesSan Diego chapter.

12 Nov 2009

Open EC Technologies, WOW GLOBAL sign Teaming Agreement

Open EC Technologies, Inc. ("Open EC" or the "Company") (TSX VENTURE:OCE) is pleased to report the signing of a Teaming Agreement with WOW GLOBAL, LLC ("WOW") for its subsidiary, SoftCare EC Solution Inc.("SoftCare") www.softcare.com.

12 Nov 2009

Details emerge for possible Medicare payroll tax in Senate health bill

Bloomberg: "White House Budget Director Peter Orszag said a proposal to apply Medicare taxes to capital gains earned by wealthy Americans as part of health-overhaul legislation is 'in play' in order to scale back a proposed levy on high-end insurance plans." Orszag made these comments while speaking at the Bloomberg Washington Summit today.

12 Nov 2009

CDC expected to revise H1N1 mortality figures

The New York Times: "About 4,000 Americans - rather than about 1,200 - have died of swine flu since the disease emerged in April, according to new figures being calculated by [CDC] epidemiologists" - an estimate that combines the number of "deaths from laboratory-confirmed cases of the flu and deaths that appear to be brought on by flu, even though the patient may have ultimately died of bacterial pneumonia, other infections or organ failure."

12 Nov 2009

Businesses at risk from health reform, or status quo, depending on source

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Employment Policies Institute and other friends of business have joined to launch a national television ad campaign, beginning Thursday, that will warn against the health care overhaul, The Boston Globe reports. The $10 million ad blitz "features June O'Neill, former director of the Congressional Budget Office, arguing that the bill would deepen the national debt and hurt job creation."

12 Nov 2009

Pew report: Nine states face budget crises of Californian magnitude

A new Pew analysis, titled "Beyond California: States in Fiscal Peril," warns that nine other states are also on the brink of economic catastrophe and urges state legislatures to act quickly, The Associated Press reports. While Michigan slashed health care spending, Arizona is in such a dire fiscal situation that officials have considered mortgaging state buildings to temporarily fend off disaster. The other states are Florida, Illinois, Nevada, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island and Wisconsin.

12 Nov 2009

KHN column: Don't overlook the other determinants of health

In a column for Kaiser Health News, Gail Wilensky writes that "after months of discussion and debate, the House has passed its version of health care reform. But as many observers, including me, have already noted, health care reform has primarily become health insurance reform over the course of the year."

12 Nov 2009