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Miami resident pleads guilty on conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program

Miami resident Daisy Martinez pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Detroit to participating in a conspiracy to defraud the Medicare program, Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer of the Criminal Division; U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg of the Eastern District of Michigan; Andrew G. Arena, Special Agent-in-Charge of the Detroit Field Office of the FBI; and Daniel R. Levinson, Inspector General of the Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) announced.

31 Oct 2009

Initiate Systems announces Accenx Technologies acquisition; expands growth strategy in the healthcare market

Initiate Systems, Inc., a leader in data management solutions for information sharing and improved data quality, has acquired Accenx Technologies, Inc., a leading provider of health information exchange solutions. This acquisition furthers Initiate’s growth strategy and expands its offerings in the healthcare market. The terms of the deal are confidential.

31 Oct 2009

Texas McAllen Hospitals violates the False Claims Act, to pay $27.5M for settling allegations

A hospital group based in McAllen, Texas, has agreed to pay the United States $27.5 million to settle claims that it violated the False Claims Act, the Anti-Kickback Statute and the Stark Statute between 1999 and 2006, by paying illegal compensation to doctors in order to induce them to refer patients to hospitals within the group, the Justice Department announced today.

31 Oct 2009

AARP praises General Assembly for preserving critical health care program

Older adults increasingly feeling the pinch of the recession got a significant break from the Illinois General Assembly, as legislators overrode a partial veto from Gov. Quinn on Thursday, preserving a program aimed at helping Medicare beneficiaries afford prescription drugs.

31 Oct 2009

New teleneurology medicine program to provide 24-hour emergency services launched

Rural and small, suburban hospitals in North Carolina and Virginia can now provide a higher level of emergency stroke and critical neurology care, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, as part of a new teleneurology medicine program announced Oct. 26, 2009, by Forsyth Medical Center (FMC).

31 Oct 2009

Illinois aims to protect consumers in the private health insurance market

While the U.S. Congress is still working to strike a comprehensive health reform package, Illinois is leading the way for the rest of the nation with legislation aimed at helping consumers who are forced to go the private insurance market to get the care they need.

31 Oct 2009

Vigilanz, Orlando Health and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center sign license agreement

VigiLanz Corporation has entered into contracts with Orlando Health, Inc., a group of seven hospitals in Orlando, Florida; and Contra Costa Regional Medical Center in Martinez, California, to license the VigiLanz product suite, consisting of the Dynamic PharmacoVigilance® (DPV) system, the Dynamic PracticeGuidance™ (DPG) system, and the VigiLanz Infection Control Monitor™ (ICM).

31 Oct 2009

Women may need smaller dose of H1N1 vaccine

THE emergence of the H1N1 swine flu has added urgency to what has become an annual ritual for millions of Americans: getting a flu shot. The good news is that scientists have developed a vaccine against the H1N1 virus. But it is taking much longer than expected to produce the hundreds of millions of doses the government had planned to distribute. And it is still too soon to know how effective the vaccine will be in preventing swine flu.

31 Oct 2009

New York Times examines efforts underway to prevent spread of H1N1 during Hajj

The New York Times examines how Saudi Arabia is preparing for the upcoming annual pilgrimage of some "2.5 million people from 160 countries" to Mecca, some who "will be bringing the swine flu. The Saudi authorities, fearing that the hajj could turn their holy city into a petri dish for viral mutations and a hub for spreading a new pandemic wave around the world, are working hard to head that off," the newspaper writes.

31 Oct 2009

Aetna signs new expanded agreement with Sarasota Memorial Hospital

Aetna announced today that it has expanded its relationship with Sarasota Memorial Hospital by reaching agreement on a long-term contract that will provide access for Aetna’s Medicare Advantage members. This agreement marks the first time Sarasota Memorial has agreed to participate in a Medicare Advantage network plan.

31 Oct 2009

Individualized MicroNutrient Testing for patients

In response to the current trend toward personalized medicine, the Beaumont Weight Control Center, affiliated with Beaumont Hospitals, a major Detroit-area health system, now offers individualized MicroNutrient Testing for patients.

31 Oct 2009

Public concern can undermine flu vaccination campaigns

The effectiveness of pandemic flu vaccination campaigns - like that now underway for H1N1 - could be undermined by the public incorrectly associating coincidental and unrelated health events with the vaccines.

31 Oct 2009

As House bill continues to stir reaction, focus turns to costs, potential amendments

Lawmakers and various groups continue to react to the House health bill, which was released Thursday and may significantly increase federal spending on health care.

31 Oct 2009

Advocates call for increased U.S. investment in global health

A report released Thursday (.pdf) by a group of global health advocates outlines ways the U.S. can work toward increasing access to health care throughout the world, Inter Press Service reports. They call "for doubling U.S. aid to global health projects from the current level of nearly eight billion dollars a year to 16 billion by 2011," followed by "annual increase[s] leading to a six-year total investment of 95 billion dollars."

30 Oct 2009

Study: Lack of insurance may have caused 17,000 child deaths over 20 years

"An estimated 17,000 children in the United States might have died unnecessarily over nearly two decades because they didn't have health insurance, according to a report from researchers at Johns Hopkins Children's Center in Baltimore," reports U.S. News and World Report.

30 Oct 2009

Senators jostle for position on health reform provisions

CongressDaily reports that the "only public insurance option proposal Senate Majority Leader (Harry) Reid included in his healthcare overhaul bill this week appears simply to be a starting point that will be sliced and diced before reform is said and done."

30 Oct 2009

Senate confirms Benjamin as surgeon general

The Senate confirmed Alabama doctor Regina Benjamin as surgeon general Thursday night. Her confirmation, which was approved with a voice vote, comes at a critical time as the nation deals with a swine flu emergency.

30 Oct 2009

Wellness programs can be costly, but have proven successful at one corporation

Wellness and prevention programs, part of the health care legislation moving through Congress, are not easy to implement but at least one corporation says they are cost-effective.

30 Oct 2009

Health industry stakeholders focus on pain, not gain

Businesses, including medical device makers, insurers and pharmaceutical companies are bracing for tax and fee provisions in the House health care reform bill.

30 Oct 2009

Obama woos small business to support health reform

Obama told small business owners Thursday that Democrats' health reform plans would mean million of their peers would get new tax credits to help pay for insurance and that the smallest firms could save around 25 percent on insurance costs through new exchanges, BusinessWeek reports. In addition to the president's speech to business people in Washington, the White House published a report pitching those and other benefits. It places the number of businesses in line for tax credits at 3.6 million (Tozzi, 10/29).

30 Oct 2009