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GOP lawmakers opposed to reform reflect on their own experiences

Two Republican lawmakers with extensive personal interactions with the health care system warn of the dangers in health overhaul.

21 Sep 2009

U.N. report calls for $1.48B to help developing nations cope with H1N1

The U.N. this week will request that wealthy nations and development banks donate $1.48 billion to help developing countries fight H1N1 (swine flu), Bloomberg reports. "Most of the money is needed for vaccines and drugs … to help the least-developed nations cope with the influenza pandemic, according to a U.N. report obtained" Monday by the news service.

21 Sep 2009

Full Senate Finance Committee to take up health reform

The full Senate Finance Committee takes up health care legislation this week and there are already a slew of amendments that would significantly alter the proposal from the chairman, Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont.

21 Sep 2009

Confusing insurance jargon prompts call for reform

Kaiser Health News, in collaboration with the Los Angeles Times, reports on the challenges consumers confront in trying to understand insurance industry jargon. "Insurance industry critics say some insurers intentionally make their policies and procedures confusing, and some policy experts believe Congress should require standardized plan information as part of any overhaul of the health system" (Meyer, 9/21).

21 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health news: HIV/aids in Zambia; Ugandan medical workers; Obama administration officials' Q&A, speech; South African health care reform efforts; texting to combat drug shortages in Africa

The Post of Zambia examines the findings of a recent report revealing "the devastating effects" the HIV/AIDS epidemic in Zambia is having on the country's ability to meet the U.N. Millennium Development Goals. The article also looks at the relationship between HIV/AIDS and nutrition, maternal health and education (Chackwe, 9/21).

21 Sep 2009

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

Obama's Nontax Tax Wall Street Journal It turns out the President thinks a health-care tax is not a tax if he thinks the tax is for your own good (9/21).

21 Sep 2009

Medicare round up: News coverage of cost issues and leadership gap

"The national average for Medicare spending on such patients was $46,412, including outpatient care," the Times reports. "But in Los Angeles County, the average cost was nearly double that, $84,179, according to a Los Angeles Times review of Dartmouth data. In seeking to explain why, some researchers have concluded that doctors in areas such as Los Angeles, with more hospitals and other resources, are more likely to have patients admitted, order tests and schedule visits, largely because they can."

21 Sep 2009

Mayo Clinic may prove to be a difficult model to replicate

The Mayo Clinic looms out of the prairie here like the mecca it has become, a world-renowned medical complex that is often cited by President Obama. ... Few dispute the prowess of Mayo, which brings in $9 billion in revenue a year and hosts 250 surgeries a day. But a battle is underway among health-care experts and lawmakers over whether its success can be so easily replicated.

21 Sep 2009

Inhalable H1N1 vaccine to arrive in U.S. first week of October, CDC says

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Friday announced it anticipates 3.4 million doses of inhalable H1N1 vaccines will be available by the first week of October - the initial influx of 195 million doses purchased by the U.S. government, CNN reports. The vaccine is approved for healthy people between the ages of two and 49, but not for pregnant women (9/18).

21 Sep 2009

Malpractice reform in spotlight, earns mixed reviews

"Republican lawmakers have long touted federal tort reform as way to bring down health-care costs. Democrats are coming around to the same position in response to what they've heard from constituents. ... President Barack Obama recently raised the issue as an olive branch to Republicans, directing the Department of Health and Human Services to spend $25 million to help states and health-care systems try alternative methods of resolving malpractice allegations."

21 Sep 2009

In Dallas, doctor-owned hospitals are common and lucrative, but do they add to costs?

Doctor-owned hospitals prove to be lucrative, as seen at a Dallas hospital system, while opinions vary about their benefits.

21 Sep 2009

Obama lobbies the public, fellow Dems and one GOP senator

In his Sunday talk show appearance, President Obama conceded that he has not been "breaking through" on the health care debate, the Chicago Tribune reports. "I think there have been times where I have said, 'I've got to step up my game in terms of talking to the American people about issues like health care,'" he said, after reporters asked whether he'd lost control of the debate.

21 Sep 2009

Dems divided over how to pay for reform

Democrats are divided over where the funds to pay for a health care overhaul will come from.

21 Sep 2009

Blessing Hospital integrates AtStaff’s ClairVia Patient Acuity system with its EMR

By integrating AtStaff’s ClairVia® Patient Acuity system with its electronic medical record (EMR), Blessing Hospital of Quincy, Ill., is driving patient acuity and staffing workload directly and automatically from its existing clinical documentation -- a significant advancement in evidenced-based, outcomes-driven care.

21 Sep 2009

First Edition: September 21, 2009

Today's headlines indicate that President Obama's weekend media blitz will set the stage for this week's health policy action.

21 Sep 2009

Study reveals that Europe must change perspectives towards food security

A new report by leading food and sustainability scientists calls for Europe to take a new approach on food security, prioritizing health and sustainability in research and using a holistic view when making policy. The report has been jointly chaired by Peter Raspor, professor of food science and technology at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia and Rudy Rabbinge, professor of sustainable development and systems innovation at Wageningen University, the Netherlands.

21 Sep 2009

Programs marking Deaf Awareness Week

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21 Sep 2009

Failures in Canadian health policy

As America grapples with reforming health care with an eye to introducing a public option, a new book published by the Fraser Institute, one of Canada’s leading economic think tanks, details the failures of Canada’s government-run health care system and serves as a warning to U.S. policy-makers.

21 Sep 2009

Community events conducted by the Hospital at Craig Ranch

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21 Sep 2009

Ontarians support research involving biotechnology

Ontarians overwhelmingly value biotechnology’s contribution to their lives and the economy, BIOTECanada told Minister Milloy and an audience of over 150 business leaders at the launch of the sixth annual National Biotechnology Week.

21 Sep 2009