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House healthcare bill is radically off the mark: Cinergy Health

Cinergy Health, a nationwide provider of guaranteed issue health insurance benefit programs for the consumer market, expressed its concern for the house healthcare bill that passed Saturday, November 7th.

9 Nov 2009

Costly ER bills raise questions, concerns

McClatchy/The Sacramento Bee reports on a the experience of Scott Hawkins, a 23-year old student who received five minutes of ER care at the UC Davis Medical Center before being pronounced dead. McClatchy reports: "Few question the extent to which doctors tried to save the student's life on Oct. 21, but the amount billed for his emergency care has provoked outrage - a further example, critics said, of what is wrong in a health care system that is roundly maligned for its escalating costs."

9 Nov 2009

China seeks its own health reforms

The Chinese are also trying to change their health care system, but as the United States tries to extend insurance to all, "China is simply attempting to provide a modicum of coverage for its people," Reuters reports.

9 Nov 2009

Cao gives Dems lone GOP vote for health overhaul

Rep. Anh "Joseph" Cao, R-La., was the only Republican to support the health reform bill, just a year after becoming a minor GOP celebrity for capturing a reliably Democratic congressional district in New Orleans, Politico reports. His defection - not his first since joining the House this year - has now made him "a bit of a cult hero on the left" and a sought-after media star.

9 Nov 2009

Access to health care: Neighboring communities suffer differently

"For people lacking health insurance in the Washington [D.C.] region, where they live can make all the difference in getting affordable health care," The Washington Post reports. In the District of Columbia, the city provides tax-payer funded health insurance to many; though 10 percent of eligible adults remain uninsured, the city is actively seeking them out.

9 Nov 2009

Geisinger launches RRVI for rural veterans and their families

Veteran's Day has a new meaning for a Geisinger team of clinicians and researchers who recently launched the Reaching Rural Veterans Initiative (RRVI). Utilizing financial grants from the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania and the Health Resources and Services Administration, the team is focused on developing a model to improve the way healthcare providers identify and care for combat stress-related injuries in returning veterans and their families.

9 Nov 2009

Black Diamond Video’s Integrated Digital Surgical Suites to be installed at the Yale-New Haven Hospital

Black Diamond Video, Inc. announces that Yale-New Haven Hospital has selected BDV to install their state-of-the-art Integrated Digital Surgical Suites (IDSS) into their neurosurgical suite and gastrointestinal suites in the new Smilow Cancer Center.

9 Nov 2009

Netezza's TwinFin appliance to address Marshfield Clinic's research database and computation needs

Netezza Corporation, the global leader in data warehouse and analytic appliances, today announced that Marshfield Clinic, one of the largest private, multispecialty medical systems in the United States, has selected the Netezza® TwinFin™ appliance to address the research database and computation needs of the Marshfield Clinic Research Foundation.

9 Nov 2009

Fire & Emergency Medical Services Division launched by KCE

Kaplan Continuing Education (KCE) has launched a Fire & Emergency Medical Services (EMS) Division with the assistance of Florida Professional Firefighters Medical Director and former National Paramedic Institute president Dr. Steven Katz. Kaplan’s online continuing education courses offer EMT CEUs online for students recertifying their state certifications.

9 Nov 2009

With House hurdle cleared, Democrats reflect on health bill compromises

The Washington Post: "House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) and her leadership team won a hard-fought victory on Obama's most critical domestic policy agenda item by neutralizing the most potentially toxic political issue well in advance of the final vote, siding with centrists on their preferred version of the public option. She then publicly dared the progressive wing, with its strong commitment to establishing national health insurance, to take down the entire package because one piece was not to their liking."

9 Nov 2009

Age rating to continue under health care bills

The Los Angeles Times reports that the health care proposals being considered by Congress would prohibit insurers from charging higher premiums based on preexisting conditions, "[b]ut the far reaching clampdown on insurers leaves one highly controversial element untouched: the issue of charging higher premiums to older policyholders than to younger, presumably healthier consumers who are less likely to file costly claims.

9 Nov 2009

Smoking has a direct negative impact on postoperative outcomes

With the American Cancer Society's Great American Smokeout Challenge just a week away, the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) is giving smokers yet another reason to quit. The scientific evidence is clear -- smoking has a direct negative impact on postoperative outcomes. Quitting smoking is one of the best things people can do to improve their chances of recovering from surgery without complications.

9 Nov 2009

Covisint and Carefx partner to market an integrated workflow solution for health information exchange

Addressing the burgeoning demand for health information exchange (HIE) to coordinate and better leverage patient information, two health IT industry leaders - Covisint, a subsidiary of Compuware Corporation, and Carefx - have partnered to market an integrated workflow solution that ties together the full spectrum of care, from physician offices to labs and pharmacies, to multiple information systems within hospitals.

9 Nov 2009

Recognition for Blue Shield of California for its efforts to promote a healthier workplace

Blue Shield of California announced today that it has earned two prestigious awards for the company's efforts to promote a healthier workplace.

9 Nov 2009

SonoSite offers SonoAccess iPhone application for musculoskeletal physicians

SonoSite, Inc., the world leader and specialist in hand-carried ultrasound for point-of-care medicine, today announced the expansion of the SonoAccess™ iPhone® application to include musculoskeletal specialties. SonoAccess is the first iPhone application to provide physicians with a comprehensive multimedia database of ultrasound resource materials.

9 Nov 2009

Public health experts urge Congress not to overlook the needs of Americans with "morbid obesity"

As the House of Representatives and the Senate debate companion bills to make health care more affordable and accessible, a coalition of obesity and public health experts today urged Congress not to overlook the needs of the more than 15 million Americans who suffer from severe obesity and are at the greatest risk for chronic disease and death.

9 Nov 2009

First Edition: November 9, 2009

Two mornings after, the headlines are still focused on the landmark House passage of the Democratic-backed health overhaul bill and what might happen next... in the Senate.

9 Nov 2009

American Heart Association commends passage of Affordable Health Care for America Act

Today's dramatic vote in the U.S. House of Representatives brings us one step closer to meaningful health care reform. We are very pleased that the Affordable Health Care for America Act makes health care more accessible and affordable for millions of Americans by enhancing coverage, promoting preventive care and improving delivery of care. But this milestone also serves as a sober reminder of the tremendous amount of work we still have before us if we are to ensure that legislation that ultimately emerges from Congress and is sent to the President retains the patient protections and provisions that are in line with the association's tenets of health care reform and are so important to individuals struggling with heart disease and stroke and their families.

9 Nov 2009

Health care executive panel to discus challenges in interoperability between health information networks

A panel of executives representing public-sector health, health care providers, health care information technology, and health plans will address the value of collaboration and the challenges inherent to interoperability, especially as both topics pertain to health information networks.

9 Nov 2009

Toshiba's Aquilion Premium multi-detector CT installed at PinnacleHealth

Leading hospitals require premium diagnostic imaging equipment to image patients faster, with the best possible diagnostic accuracy. PinnacleHealth, a leading health care system in Harrisburg, Pa., has installed Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc.’s Aquilion® Premium multi-detector CT at its Community Campus to enable them to meet these needs while improving patient care. The Aquilion Premium features 160 detector rows to image up to eight cm of anatomy in a single gantry rotation (as fast as 0.35 seconds).

9 Nov 2009