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NIH grant to establish East African Center of Excellence in Health Informatics

A $1.3 million grant to Indiana University from the National Institutes of Health's Fogarty International Center will establish the East African Center of Excellence in Health Informatics.

16 Nov 2009

Los Angeles Times examines health care in Sierra Leone

The Los Angeles Times writes: "Sierra Leone is one of those nations where decades of foreign aid have failed to appreciably lift the fortunes of the people. The country is a charity case: 60% of its public spending comes from foreign governments and nonprofit organizations.

16 Nov 2009

H1N1 continues to spread, despite leveling off in some regions, WHO reports

Despite reports that the numbers of new H1N1 (swine flu) are leveling off in some parts of the Northern Hemisphere, the virus continues to spread, the WHO said Friday, Reuters reports. "In an update on the H1N1 swine flu virus, the WHO said parts of the southern and southeastern United States, as well as Iceland and Ireland, seemed to have weakening levels of disease after an unusually early start of the winter flu season," the news service writes.

16 Nov 2009

CMS report: House bill will raise health care costs, affect seniors' benefits

A new report from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finds that the health overhaul bill passed by the House will raise health costs by approximately $289 billion in the next ten years. The report was requested by House Republicans and compiled by CMS' chief actuary, Richard Foster.

16 Nov 2009

SynerMed and L.A. Care team up to launch e-consult program

SynerMed, Inc., the largest Medicaid managed service organization (MSO) in the country, in collaboration with L.A. Care Health Plan, the nation’s largest public health plan, announced today the launch of an e-consult pilot program.

16 Nov 2009

Federal health overhaul could force state changes

The House bill includes, for instance, $23.5 billion to "allow Congress to continue pumping billions in new short-term aid to states to cover Medicaid costs that have increased with rising unemployment in the past year," The Washington Post reports.

16 Nov 2009

States experience Medicaid changes and offer new models for reform

News outlets report on a variety of health issues at the state level including the upcoming launch of a huge Medicaid data project in Florida, health care changes that could reduce spending in Georgia and a model for reform in Vermont.

16 Nov 2009

Abortion-Rights groups mobilizing against House health bill restrictions

Abortions-Rights advocates are pressing lawmakers through new ad campaigns to keep a provision restricting abortion coverage in the House-passed health bill -- the so-called Stupak amendment -- out of the Senate health care bill, CBS News reports.

16 Nov 2009

Amid health bill delays and snags, lawmakers target issues

The wait for the Congressional Budget Office score on the Senate health care reform bill has left Senators with time to carefully consider all the angles on reform, The New York Times reports. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid "has already received some substantial analysis of his measure, and if the numbers had been what he wanted, he would have released a bill by now.

16 Nov 2009

Carefx Fusionfx and Imprivata to provide integrated clinical access solution to Johns Hopkins Health System

Carefx Corporation, a leading provider of interoperable workflow solutions, and Imprivata®, Inc., the employee access management company, today announced that Johns Hopkins Health System, an internationally recognized group of healthcare institutions, has selected Carefx Fusionfx and Imprivata OneSign to deliver an integrated clinical access solution that streamlines access to workstations, applications and patient data. The complete, integrated system will launch in early 2010.

16 Nov 2009

Sentillion reaches milestone: More than 500,000 “live” caregivers use their solutions daily

Sentillion, whose identity and access management (IAM) solutions are the most widely implemented in healthcare, today announced that over 500,000 users are live and productively using its single sign-on and context management solutions. Leading healthcare organizations, ranging from single facilities to large, complex, multi-state health systems are part of a 160+ customer community that has deployed Sentillion’s IAM solutions enterprise-wide in over 1,000 hospitals.

16 Nov 2009

American Dental Partners to acquire certain non-clinical assets of Christie Dental

American Dental Partners, Inc. announced today that it has entered into an agreement to acquire certain non-clinical assets of Christie Dental Practice Group, P.L. and Christie Dental Partners, Inc. and enter into a 40-year service agreement with Christie Dental Practice Group, P.L.

16 Nov 2009

Talend bags orders from several global healthcare customers

Talend, the recognized market leader in open source data integration software, today announced several global healthcare customer wins including Children’s Hospital & Medical Center of Omaha, Hosta, The Clermont-Ferrand Hospital and The University for Health Sciences, Medical Informatics and Technology (UMIT). The traction gained in this space further validates Talend’s ability to provide scalable and flexible solutions at an affordable cost to healthcare organizations of all sizes, while satisfying the need for the real-time data the industry demands.

16 Nov 2009

Bravo Health to open its first Advanced Care Center in Philadelphia

Bravo Health today announced that the first Bravo Health Advanced Care Center (the Center) will open in Philadelphia in January 2010. The Center, an innovative, state-of-the-art outpatient physician practice designed to meet the health care needs of Bravo Health members, will be located in a new building being constructed at 1010 W. Lehigh Avenue in North Philadelphia.

16 Nov 2009

Benenden selects Databarracks for online backup service

Benenden Hospital was founded in 1907 and became the centre for hospital treatment for members of Trade Unions and Friendly Societies and subsequently large numbers of public sector employees who joined what is now the Benenden Healthcare Society. The Society has over 900,000 member and nominee subscribers.

16 Nov 2009

Eyes turn to Lieberman, Reid, Snowe as most crucial health reform players

Bloomberg reports that Sen. Joe Lieberman's "independence (is hindering) Democrats' health-care end game."

16 Nov 2009

Electronic health records not yet making impact, patients turn to web for advice

As the United States launches "an ambitious program, backed by $19 billion in government incentives, to accelerate the adoption of computerized patient records in doctors' offices and hospitals," a new study of 3,000 hospitals "has found little difference in the cost and quality of care," The New York Times reports.

16 Nov 2009

Health lobbying ranges from below the radar to high profile

A Charlotte, N.C., law firm is operating a secretive group called Americans for Quality and Affordable Healthcare to attempt to shape lawmakers' and the public's opinions on health reform, the Associated Press reports.

16 Nov 2009

Drug makers hike prices, lobby hard as reform efforts progress

Drug makers are bracing for reform by raising their prices - by 9 percent in the last year, perhaps the fastest rate since 1992, The New York Times reports. This happened "even as drug makers promise to support Washington's health care overhaul by shaving $8 billion a year off the nation's drug costs after the legislation takes effect." The increases "will add more than $10 billion to the nation's drug bill, which is on track to exceed $300 billion this year."

16 Nov 2009

Coming this week: New law to prevent discrimination based on genes

"The most important new antidiscrimination law in two decades — the Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act — will take effect in the nation's workplaces next weekend, prohibiting employers from requesting genetic testing or considering someone's genetic background in hiring, firing or promotions," The New York Times reports.

16 Nov 2009