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Physicians having less than six hours of sleep linked to increase rate of surgical complications

Attending surgeons and obstetricians/gynecologists who worked nighttime hours did not have a significantly greater rate of complications for procedures performed the next day, but having less than six hours of opportunity for sleep between procedures was associated with an increased rate of surgical complications, according to a study in the October 14 issue of JAMA, a theme issue on surgical care.

14 Oct 2009

UC Irvine implements automated perioperative solution from Surgical Information Systems

University of California, Irvine Medical Center has used an automated perioperative solution from Surgical Information Systems (SIS) to increase operating room efficiencies, improving quality assurance, enhancing billing revenue and improving compliance.

14 Oct 2009

Swedish Risk Drinking Project surveys physicians and nurses of Sweden

The proportion of health care personnel reporting that they always or often queried their patients regarding alcohol use has increased significantly. This is particularly notable with nurses, where the proportion has doubled to 60 per cent, and midwives, where 92 per cent estimate their capacity to identify risk consumption as good or very good.

14 Oct 2009

NetMotion Wireless publishes free mobile computing white paper for healthcare IT managers

In a recent survey of healthcare IT decision makers, 80 percent reported that mobility initiatives were more important to their organizations than they were a year ago.

14 Oct 2009

NTU condemns Senate Finance Committee's support for health care bill

The 362,000-member National Taxpayers Union (NTU) today condemned the Senate Finance Committee's 14-9 vote to support the health care bill drafted by Senator Max Baucus (D-MT), pointing to hundreds of billions of dollars in damaging tax increases. This so-called "moderate" health care reform bill would grow the already bloated federal budget while saddling middle class families with billions in new taxes.

14 Oct 2009

Important issues facing nephrologists to be presented by Satellite Healthcare

Satellite Healthcare, one of the nation's first and leading providers of kidney dialysis services and a major sponsor of nephrology research, today announced that its chief researchers will present at The American Society of Nephrology (ASN) Renal Week 2009.

14 Oct 2009

IDGA summit examines health information systems for future initiatives

For over a decade, the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs have been pursuing initiatives to share data between their health information systems.

14 Oct 2009

Seniors and people with disabilities to choose new healthcare coverage

More than 600,000 seniors and people with disabilities will be required to choose new healthcare coverage during the upcoming Medicare annual enrollment because their current plan is being eliminated. However, millions more could benefit by changing to a plan that better fits their needs, according to Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security disability representation and Medicare services.

14 Oct 2009

National study shows people who work after retiring experience fewer major diseases

Retirees who transition from full-time work into a temporary or part-time job experience fewer major diseases and are able to function better day-to-day than people who stop working altogether, according to a national study. And the findings were significant even after controlling for people's physical and mental health before retirement.

14 Oct 2009

House, Senate Democrats to face off over health taxes

The 'Cadillac tax' on employer-sponsored insurance will likely be the focal point of a "fierce clash" between Democrats in the House and Senate if it clears the Senate Finance Committee's vote today, the New York Times reports.

14 Oct 2009

Laser Spine Institute opens medical consultation facilities in Beverly Hills and Fort Lauderdale

After helping thousands of patients get their lives back through minimally invasive endoscopic spine surgery at facilities in Tampa, Scottsdale, and soon in Philadelphia, the Laser Spine Institute (LSI) announces the opening of their newest medical consultation facilities -- in Beverly Hills, Ca., and Fort Lauderdale, Fla., in October -- which aim to meet the growing demand for LSI's spinal procedures and provide greater convenience for local patients.

14 Oct 2009

Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal treads reform line between Dems and Republicans

The New Orleans Times-Picayune reports that Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal is moving between sides in the health care reform debate as he considers a role in national politics and seeks to appeal to his party's base.

14 Oct 2009

K Streeters must choose sides as health debate nears showdown

Health industry lobbying groups are positioning themselves for the final battles over health reform, and that will mean formally choosing sides - for, or against - on Democrats' health-care overhaul, The Hill reports.

14 Oct 2009

American Recovery and Reinvestment Act funds to support research in numerous health areas

As part of the $5 billion in grants announced by President Obama, the National Institutes of Health has granted Kaiser Permanente more than $54 million over two years through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act to conduct health research on a multitude of critical public and clinical health areas.

14 Oct 2009

Portico Healthnet to launch Minnesota Coalition for Kids Health Coverage

Portico Healthnet, a non-profit agency working to reduce the number of people without coverage for health care services, has been awarded more than $988,000 by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to launch the Minnesota Coalition for Kids Health Coverage, a partnership of community agencies from around the state, to identify and enroll uninsured children into the Medical Assistance and MinnesotaCare state health coverage safety net programs.

14 Oct 2009

CAHI releases statement on Senate health care reform proposal

Critics are up in arms over America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) daring to speak the truth about the Senate health care reform proposal, and we applaud the organization's efforts. If anything AHIP's analysis of health premium increases is too low. Supporters of the health bills are simply ignoring years of states' evidence of many of these proposed Senate and House health reforms.

14 Oct 2009

Finance Democrats approve overhaul measure with boost from Snowe

The Senate Finance Committee approved its long-anticipated version of the health-care overhaul legislation in a 14-9 vote Tuesday, the Wall Street Journal reports. Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, joined the panels 13 Democrats to support the bill.

14 Oct 2009

Senate Finance Committee to vote today on health care reform overhaul

After months of negotiation, haggling, posturing and talking, the Senate Finance Committee votes today on a health care reform bill.

14 Oct 2009

Patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52% lower chance of dying: Study

The largest annual study of patient outcomes at each of the nation’s 5,000 nonfederal hospitals found a wide gap in quality between the nation’s best hospitals and all others. According to the study, issued today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52 percent lower chance of dying compared with the U.S. hospital average, a quality chasm that has persisted for the last decade even as mortality rates, in general, have declined.

14 Oct 2009

Mayo's decision to limit patients makes it a poor model, critics say

The Mayo Clinic has started limiting the number of Medicare and Medicaid patients it admits and critics argue that such restrictions have made Mayo too selective to serve as a model for health-care reform.

14 Oct 2009