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Senate Democratic leaders prepare for floor action on health bills; public plan still the flashpoint

Democrats are preparing for floor action, with much of the attention centered on the Senate Finance Committee's final vote and merging two Senate reform bills.

6 Oct 2009

Asian Healthcare industry to network with international delegates to understand latest trends in medical tourism

Asian Healthcare industry sets to network with almost 2000 international delegates from around the globe to understand latest trends of rapidly growing medical tourism industry as they participate at large in world's largest medical tourism and global health congress in Los Angeles on Oct 26th-28th.

6 Oct 2009

New York health workers protest H1N1 vaccine mandate

The first doses of H1N1 vaccines are expected to be released this week and a controversy brews as health workers protest a flu vaccine mandate. CBS News reports that health care workers in New York's capital "vowed to fight an unprecedented order from state health officials: a requirement for every health care worker to get seasonal and H1N1 flu shots or face the possibility of being fired."

6 Oct 2009

Forsyth receives research grants from National Institutes of Health stimulus funding

Four Forsyth scientists have received grants from the latest round of National Institutes of Health stimulus funding through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009. To date, Forsyth has received 13 ARRA grants totally nearly $6.4 million. The recent round of funding includes three highly competitive 'Challenge Grants'. The NIH received 22,000 submissions in the Challenge Grant competition ― only about 500 were funded.

6 Oct 2009

More than 1 million babies worldwide born prematurely die in first month, Study says

Each year more than 1 million babies born prematurely - before 37 weeks of development in the womb or within the first month of life - the "March of Dimes said Sunday in the first comprehensive global report on premature births," CNN reports. Nearly 10 percent of total births worldwide, or 12.9 million infants, are preterm, the study found.

6 Oct 2009

Healthagen partners with HCA to provide ER wait times through smartphones

The American College of Emergency Physicians says emergency departments treat over 120 million people each year in America. Along with emergency visit increases comes longer wait times.

6 Oct 2009

House leaders 'tantalizingly close' to finalizing bill - but work still remains

As House leaders prepare to advance their version of health reforms to the the floor, negotiations continue behind the scenes.

6 Oct 2009

Health information updates from FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today released a listing of consumer health information updates about cooperative programs and food safety. All updates can be accessed from the agency's Web page for consumers at http://www.fda.gov/ForConsumers/default.htm You can sign-up for e-mail notices of new consumer updates on an immediate, weekly, or monthly basis at https://service.govdelivery.com/service/subscribe.html?code=USFDA_9.

6 Oct 2009

President Obama speaks to doctors to promote health overhaul

President Obama told dozens of doctors gathered in the White House Rose Garden this morning that all arguments have been heard in the completed committees' work on health care reform and reiterated that reform will get done this year.

6 Oct 2009

Ending insurance discrimination, closing coverage gaps proving difficult in reform efforts

Current health reform efforts seek to prevent insurers from rejecting individuals or charging people higher rates based on their medical history. However, a simple ban would not take away the economic pressure that encourages such practices, The Washington Post reports: "Cognizant of the threat, lawmakers are trying to neutralize it.

6 Oct 2009

Mutual of Omaha offers new dental product for workplace needs

Mutual of Omaha, a leading provider of group benefits, has announced a new group dental product designed to meet the evolving needs of the workplace.

6 Oct 2009

Obama discretely lobbying for public option in Senate health bill

"Despite months of outward ambivalence about creating a government health insurance plan, the Obama White House has launched a behind-the-scenes campaign to get divided Senate Democrats to take up some version of the idea for a final vote in the coming weeks," The Los Angeles Times reports.

6 Oct 2009

Features of Ingenix's CareTracker EMR e-prescribing solution expanded

Ingenix today announced that it has expanded the electronic prescribing (e-prescribing) capabilities of its CareTracker™ EMR solution. The new e-prescribing features are Surescripts® certified and allow physicians to access their patients’ prescription histories and drug benefit information as part of an electronic health record.

6 Oct 2009

NCQA awards Excellent Accreditation status to AvMed Health for its commercial and Medicare products

For two consecutive years, AvMed Health Plans has received an Excellent Accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for both its commercial and Medicare products. The Excellent rating is the NCQA's highest accreditation status for service and clinical quality that meet or exceed NCQA's rigorous requirements for consumer protection and quality improvement.

6 Oct 2009

Ankota releases Healthcare Delivery Management software

Ankota, Inc. a Baltimore, MD-based software company, announced today the release of the Ankota Healthcare Delivery Management (HDM) software suite for Home Medical Equipment (HME), Durable Medical Equipment (DME) and Respiratory Therapy (RT).

6 Oct 2009

Incentives move doctors to e-prescribe; hospitals slow to join HIT exchanges

"The number of U.S. physicians and other medical professionals prescribing electronically is expected to more than double this year, enticed by higher Medicare payments tied to the technology's use," Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports.

6 Oct 2009

MSF calls on drug companies to pool HIV patents

Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) recently launched an e-mail campaign calling on nine of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to "release their patents on specific HIV drugs into a collective pool that will increase access and affordability to treatment in developing countries," Inter Press Service reports (Borde, 10/1).

5 Oct 2009

Eleventh-hour lobbying campaigns hope to lower costs to industry

As the Senate Finance Committee finalizes its health reform proposal, medical-device makers are hoping to convince lawmakers to make one last change, The Wall Street Journal reports. "The Advanced Medical Technology Association, or AdvaMed, the trade group for the larger device manufacturers, wants [Committee Chair Max Baucus of Montana] to reduce $40 billion in fees over the next decade to $15 billion, according to people close to the negotiations. But industry was told that offer is too low.

5 Oct 2009

Health reform a chance for mental health care changes

The Baltimore Sun reports that congressional efforts to reform the health care system could lead to improvements in care for the nation's mentally ill.

5 Oct 2009

Costs of health bills, health care under scrutiny

"A bill to overhaul the nation's ailing health care system must avoid additional spending now, and also lower costs down the road, former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan said Sunday," CNN reports. "Greenspan told the ABC program 'This Week' that the federal debt was already getting too big, so reforming health care must do more than achieve what politicians call revenue neutrality — bringing in as much money as it costs."

5 Oct 2009