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Making ACOs a permanent part of health reform will help control costs: CAPG

Leaders from California’s physicians groups are in Washington DC this week meeting with key members of Congress to offer their experience at the forefront of a key health care reform element – Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs).

23 Sep 2009

CPS expands business, adds a remote order entry services division

Comprehensive Pharmacy Services (CPS) announced today a significant expansion of its business, adding a remote order entry services division. CPS’ new division will offer remote prescription approval and order entry to the healthcare industry and will be branded as RemoteSolutions, a CPS company.

23 Sep 2009

Some abortion-rights advocates find health debate disheartening

"For some abortion-rights activists, the debate over health care reform has been frustrating, even disheartening, as they see their political allies on the defensive and their anti-abortion rivals on the attack," The Associated Press reports.

23 Sep 2009

Proposed cuts can impact Ohio's health care services

The health reform bill currently pending in the House of Representatives, combined with the impact of the cuts being waved in front of Medicare-funded nursing homes -- an estimated $12 billion over 10 years -- will find Ohio's seniors in need of nursing and rehabilitative care on shaky ground.

23 Sep 2009

ADRS to improve consumer care by using Starbak's enterprise video platform

Starbak (http://www.starbak.com/), the leading provider of enterprise video portals and integrated networks for the Education, Corporate, Healthcare and Government markets, today announced that Alabama Department of Rehabilitation Services (ADRS) is using its award-winning enterprise video platform (http://www.starbak.com/solutions/Starbak_V3_Video_Portal_and_Integrated_Network/solutions.aspx) to improve consumer care by providing its geographically dispersed rehabilitation professionals with access to targeted and timely on-demand skills training videos.

23 Sep 2009

Community Hospital South implements GE Healthcare's Centricity Enterprise solution

GE Healthcare, a leading provider of healthcare information technology, announced Community Hospital South (Indianapolis) is now live with GE Centricity™ Enterprise 6.1 and Monitored Care, an integrated clinical, financial and administrative solution that helps streamline workflow and improve productivity across the continuum of care.

23 Sep 2009

Rwandan President outlines 'improved' U.S.-Africa relationship in opinion piece

To begin an "improved" U.S.-Africa relationship "of shared ideas, vision and investments that increase ... mutual prosperities" both the U.S. and Africa "must accept urgent and substantial changes in the nature of our bond," Paul Kagame, president of Rwanda, writes in a Washington Post opinion piece.

23 Sep 2009

New finding reveals that majority of Americans feel that recession is not over

An overwhelming majority of Americans appear to disagree with Fed Chairman Bernanke's statement that the recession is 'likely over' as 78% say it isn't, according to the latest American Pulse Survey of 6,976 Americans. 76% of Democrats, 84% of Republicans and 75.6% of Independents concur, making this one subject that all parties can agree upon.

23 Sep 2009

For some families, 'Cadillac' health insurance is priceless

Also part of the special series, "Are You Covered?" Kaiser Health News and NPR report that "for two families, 'gold-plated' health insurance has made a huge difference in the health care they receive. But it's not always the rich who get these benefits, and they worry about what a possible tax on plans would do to their health coverage (Gold, 9/22).

23 Sep 2009

Pelosi says House health bill will have public option

'No bill can pass the House of Representatives without a public option in it,' Pelosi, D-Calif., said at a press conference after a private tour of Thomas Jefferson University Hospital with a group of physicians and local Congressional Democrats.

23 Sep 2009

Women lag behind men in protecting their wages: Study

Women have made gains in the job market, now holding half of our nation’s 132 million jobs, according to recent data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. However, a gap remains in their understanding and use of benefits that protect their income, according to research by The Hartford Financial Services Group, Inc. (NYSE: HIG).

23 Sep 2009

CIGNA announces initial results of its multi-year strategy to improve customer's experience

CIGNA (NYSE:CI) today announced the initial results of its multi-year strategy that places an entirely new focus on improving customers’ experience. The effort has led to an improvement in customer understanding of their benefits in excess of 100 percent, a 50 percent reduction in the number of printed materials customers receive, and the use of simpler language that doesn’t rely on insurance jargon. It also led CIGNA to become the first in its industry to offer 24 hour-a-day, seven day-a-week customer service.

23 Sep 2009

Distress and fatigue among medical residents can lead to significant risk of medical error: Study

Mayo Clinic researchers report that distress and fatigue among medical residents are independent contributors to self-perceived medical errors. The findings appear today in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA).

23 Sep 2009

UNAIDS, NGOs partner to eliminate mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa

UNAIDS Executive Director Michel Sidibe in New York on Monday signed a partnership agreement with several non-governmental organizations (NGOs) pledging to work towards eliminating mother-to-child transmission of HIV in Africa, Agence France-Presse reports. Presidents Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda attended the signing ceremony.

23 Sep 2009

Snowe: Baucus Bill is 'solid starting point' but process should slow down

"Republican Senator Olympia Snowe says the Finance Committee's health care bill is a 'solid starting point' but needs to be improved," The Associated Press reports. "The Maine senator is seen as the only Republican on the panel who could end up voting for the bill, so her comments are closely watched." In her opening statement at the Finance Committee mark-up today, "Snowe praised the bill for holding down costs and taking a stab at medical malpractice reform.

23 Sep 2009

Casa Herbalife program launched in Croatia

The Herbalife Family Foundation has established a Casa Herbalife program at the Dom Tuskanac charity (Children and Youth Home) in Zagreb, Croatia, to help support the center to provide good nutrition to children.

23 Sep 2009

Many amendments already introduced to Senate Finance bill

The Salt Lake Tribune: "Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah, has 51 ways he wants to change the latest health reform proposal including one amendment that would ease a tax on high-end insurance plans for 'any state with a name that begins with the letter 'U.'

23 Sep 2009

Amnesty International report highlights maternal mortality 'emergency' in Sierra Leone

"One in eight women in Sierra Leone risks dying of pregnancy and childbirth complications exacerbated by a combination of poverty, discrimination, inequality and government mismanagement," according to an Amnesty International report, released Tuesday, Reuters AlertNet reports (Fominyen, 9/22).

23 Sep 2009

Clinton Global Initiative meeting begins, will address investment in women, girls

The Clinton Global Initiative's (CGI) 2009 meeting, which begins Tuesday in New York, has added a new theme to its agenda - "investing in women and girls to narrow the gender gap," Bloomberg reports in an article examining the conference.

23 Sep 2009

British Prime Minister to unveil $1b effort to improve health systems in developing countries

During the U.N. General Assembly meeting in New York, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown on Wednesday is scheduled to announce that Britain is teaming up with Norway, the Netherlands and Australia to invest $1 billion to strengthen the health systems in developing countries, the Financial Times/NineMSN reports (Jack, 9/21).

23 Sep 2009