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Can pen and paper help make electronic medical records better?

The results of a new study of the pen and paper workarounds employed by healthcare providers who use an electronic medical record system may help make electronic medical records even more useful to health-care providers and the patients they serve.

20 Jul 2009

e-Health revolution will give Australian patients access to their health records

The Australian Medical Association (AMA) which represents than 27,000 doctors across Australia has criticised the government's plans for 'e-health' medical records reform.

20 Jul 2009

European agreement on injuries to health workers caused by 'sharps'

Unions and hospital employers have signed a Europe-wide agreement to set minimum standards for preventing injuries to health workers caused by 'sharps', including needles.

17 Jul 2009

Software improves patient satisfaction at discharge from hospital

When hospitalists use discharge communication software, patients and the outpatient doctors who carry out the care have better perceptions of the quality of the discharge process, according to new research published in the August issue of the Journal of Hospital Medicine.

17 Jul 2009

With pressure building, Baucus, Reid weigh in on timeline

Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus, D-Mont., said Thursday that it is possible his committee could have a bipartisan deal by the end of the day, Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal reports (Yoest, 7/16).

16 Jul 2009

Senate panel advances health-care overhaul, but battle lines sharpen

"President Obama's ambitious drive to overhaul the nation's $2.3 trillion health-care system cleared a key Senate committee yesterday. But the administration was promptly buffeted by criticism from some of the industry players and moderate Democrats it has courted for months, calling into question the prospects for a bipartisan landmark bill," The Washington Post reports.

16 Jul 2009

House Committees prepare for votes on health reform bill

Votes are planned Thursday in the House Education and Labor and Ways and Means committees on a $1.5 trillion plan to overhaul the nation's health care system, The Associated Press reports.

16 Jul 2009

Obama presses lawmakers on health reform

In President Obama's push for health reform, "new fault lines are opening up everywhere you look. Liberals are worried that Obama is going squishy on including a strong, government-run 'public option' among the health-care choices available to Americans.

16 Jul 2009

Massachusetts hospital sues state over cost of universal care

"A hospital that serves thousands of indigent Massachusetts residents sued the state on Wednesday, charging that its costly universal health care law is forcing the hospital to cover too much of the expense of caring for the poor," according to the New York Times.

16 Jul 2009

Cost of health care reform emerges as ‘lightning rod’ issue

The cost of health care reform has emerged as a key battle in overhaul efforts. Attention is being paid to how costs will affect specific groups including the middle class and businesses.

16 Jul 2009

Senators seek $100 billion for health reform from insurers

"Key senators say they want to force the health insurance industry to pay as much as $100 billion toward the 10-year cost of the health care overhaul sought by President Obama," CQ Politics reports.

16 Jul 2009

Proposals may limit health insurance choices and squeeze some middle earners

"President Obama and leading Democrats have stressed that people who like their employer-sponsored insurance would be able to keep it, under a health care overhaul. But they haven't emphasized the flip side: That people who don't like their coverage might have to keep it," Kaiser Health News reports.

16 Jul 2009

Lawsuits allege some medical device companies gave kickbacks to surgeons

Whistleblowers allege in lawsuits unsealed Wednesday that some medical device companies gave kickbacks to heart surgeons to get the doctors to use their products to treat a heart condition, The Wall Street Journal reports.

16 Jul 2009

Lobbyists elbow for attention as health reform votes loom

The conservative message on health care is that President Obama's revamp of the health care system in America will produce a costly government-run program that limits patient choice, The Associated Press reports.

16 Jul 2009

Obama administration proposes big changes in Medicare payment oversight

Determined to cut Medicare costs, the White House unveiled a plan that would shift much of the power over Medicare payment rates from Congress to the executive branch.

16 Jul 2009

Insurer, tech vendor plan major 'telehealth' network

A major health insurer, UnitedHealth, and a computer networking company, Cisco Systems, are teaming up to create "a network of virtual clinics to make medical care available in offices, stores and rural areas around the country," Bloomberg reports.

16 Jul 2009

Families struggle in low-, middle-income countries to pay for health care, study shows

IRIN examines a Health Affairs report that found "one in four families living in the world's poorest countries borrows money or sells assets in order to afford health care" (7/15).

16 Jul 2009

American Nurses Association stands with Obama in calling for healthcare reform now

American Nurses Association (ANA) members joined President Obama today at a White House press conference, sending a strong message to Congress that the country no longer can wait to reform health care as rising costs threaten the financial stability of families and their ability to access health care services.

15 Jul 2009

Obama on health reform: transcript

President Barack Obama spoke today in the Rose Garden on health care reform. The White House released his remarks.

15 Jul 2009

Obama continues to press the importance of health reform

"Praising and prodding Congress at once, President Barack Obama on Wednesday said a vast reform of the nation's health insurance system is required to head off instability to families, industry and the government itself." He gave his remarks from the White House Rose Garden, where he was surrounded by nurses "to make his point," the Associated Press reports.

15 Jul 2009