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MobileHelp allows protected individuals to summon help from anywhere

MobileHelp, America’s premier medical alert system that integrates cellular and GPS technology, allows protected individuals anywhere in the nation to summon help while inside and beyond the home. MobileHelp provides a technology platform that allows families and caregivers to always be in the loop, enabling them to locate loved ones real-time via the Web.

17 Nov 2009

National health leaders collaborate to create environmentally responsible health care system

Twelve national organizations representing all areas of the health sector, joined by the David Suzuki Foundation, have produced a joint statement spelling out a new commitment to creating an environmentally responsible health sector.

17 Nov 2009

Health Mason software to streamline health care claim payment process

With health care reform taking the national spotlight, the sole point of agreement by all parties is that some form of change is necessary. Many health care industry experts believe that now is the worst time for government-mandated change because innovation has already begun to occur organically from within the industry. One Franklin Tennessee-based software company is defining that innovation and garnering attention in the industry.

17 Nov 2009

HealthTrans Access sponsors 50 disadvantaged families to free healthcare support

HealthTrans Access, a comprehensive discount healthcare provider, has arranged for 50 disadvantaged families from the Greater Denver and Boulder areas to receive one year of membership in the HealthTrans Access discount healthcare program at no cost. In partnership with Denver Human Services and several of their community organizations, HealthTrans Access is providing families with its Premium discount program, which provides deep discounts for healthcare services for the entire family.

17 Nov 2009

Pet therapy can have a positive effect on patients’ physical and psychosocial well being

Adults who use pet therapy while recovering from total joint-replacement surgery require 50 percent less pain medication than those who do not. These findings were presented at the 18th Annual Conference of the International Society of Anthrozoology and the First Human Animal Interaction Conference (HAI) in Kansas City, Mo.

17 Nov 2009

Reorganizing the FDA could save Americans trillions of dollars over the next decade, says legal expert

While Congress and the rest of the nation turn the battle over healthcare reform into a pro-wrestling-style steel cage death match with enough rhetoric to choke an English professor, at least one expert is looking beyond the bills on the table for a different solution.

17 Nov 2009

KHN column: Will there be a market for gov't long-term care insurance?

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Howard Gleckman writes about long-term care: "The CLASS Act—the far-reaching proposal to create a national long-term care insurance program—is in the House health reform bill, and is still in the mix as Senate leaders struggle to design their own version of reform."

16 Nov 2009

HELP Committee chairman: Senate will work weekends on health bill

Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, chairman of the Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee, said Monday that the Senate will work weekends in December to try to pass a health care reform bill, The Hill reports.

16 Nov 2009

Strong support from AARP members for Affordable Health Care for America Act

A new poll of AARP members released today finds strong support across party and ideological lines for elements of health care reform included in the Affordable Health Care for America Act, which recently passed the House of Representatives. The AARP-backed bill limits how much more insurance companies can charge based on age and will close the Medicare prescription drug doughnut hole.

16 Nov 2009

NIH grant to establish East African Center of Excellence in Health Informatics

A $1.3 million grant to Indiana University from the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center will establish the East African Center of Excellence in Health Informatics.

16 Nov 2009

Los Angeles Times examines health care in Sierra Leone

The Los Angeles Times writes: "Sierra Leone is one of those nations where decades of foreign aid have failed to appreciably lift the fortunes of the people. The country is a charity case: 60% of its public spending comes from foreign governments and nonprofit organizations.

16 Nov 2009

H1N1 continues to spread, despite leveling off in some regions, WHO reports

Despite reports that the numbers of new H1N1 (swine flu) are leveling off in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the virus continues to spread, the WHO said Friday, Reuters reports. "In an update on the H1N1 swine flu virus, the WHO said parts of the southern and southeastern United States, as well as Iceland and Ireland, seemed to have weakening levels of disease after an unusually early start of the winter flu season," the news service writes.

16 Nov 2009

CMS report: House bill will raise health care costs, affect seniors' benefits

A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finds that the health overhaul bill passed by the House will raise health costs by approximately $289 billion in the next ten years. The report was requested by House Republicans and compiled by CMS' chief actuary, Richard Foster.

16 Nov 2009

SynerMed and L.A. Care team up to launch e-consult program

SynerMed, Inc., the largest Medicaid managed service organization (MSO) in the country, in collaboration with L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today the launch of an e-consult pilot program.

16 Nov 2009

Federal health overhaul could force state changes

The House bill includes, for instance, $23.5 billion to "allow Congress to continue pumping billions in new short-term aid to states to cover Medicaid costs that have increased with rising unemployment in the past year," The Washington Post reports.

16 Nov 2009

States experience Medicaid changes and offer new models for reform

News outlets report on a variety of health issues at the state level including the upcoming launch of a huge Medicaid data project in Florida, health care changes that could reduce spending in Georgia and a model for reform in Vermont.

16 Nov 2009

Abortion-Rights groups mobilizing against House health bill restrictions

Abortions-Rights advocates are pressing lawmakers through new ad campaigns to keep a provision restricting abortion coverage in the House-passed health bill -- the so-called Stupak amendment -- out of the Senate health care bill, CBS News reports.

16 Nov 2009

Amid health bill delays and snags, lawmakers target issues

The wait for the Congressional Budget Office score on the Senate health care reform bill has left Senators with time to carefully consider all the angles on reform, The New York Times reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "has already received some substantial analysis of his measure, and if the numbers had been what he wanted, he would have released a bill by now.

16 Nov 2009

Carefx Fusionfx and Imprivata to provide integrated clinical access solution to Johns Hopkins Health System

Carefx Corporation, a leading provider of interoperable workflow solutions, and Imprivata®, Inc., the employee access management company, today announced that Johns Hopkins Health System, an internationally recognized group of healthcare institutions, has selected Carefx Fusionfx and Imprivata OneSign to deliver an integrated clinical access solution that streamlines access to workstations, applications and patient data. The complete, integrated system will launch in early 2010.

16 Nov 2009

Sentillion reaches milestone: More than 500,000 “live” caregivers use their solutions daily

Sentillion, whose identity and access management (IAM) solutions are the most widely implemented in healthcare, today announced that over 500,000 users are live and productively using its single sign-on and context management solutions. Leading healthcare organizations, ranging from single facilities to large, complex, multi-state health systems are part of a 160+ customer community that has deployed Sentillion’s IAM solutions enterprise-wide in over 1,000 hospitals.

16 Nov 2009