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Texas Senate Committee approves bill to protect needle-exchange programs

The Texas Senate's Health and Human Services Committee on Tuesday voted 5-1 to approve a bill (S.B. 188) that would protect needle-exchange programs run by local health departments, the AP/Houston Chronicle reports.

4 Mar 2009

Sen. Baucus hopes to introduce comprehensive health reform legislation this summer

Senate Finance Committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) on Tuesday said enacting comprehensive health reform this year is his "top priority," the Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

4 Mar 2009

Obama administration officials defend health care, other provisions in FY 2010 budget proposal

White House Office of Management and Budget Director Peter Orszag and Department of the Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday during a House Budget Committee hearing defended health care and other provisions included in the $3.6 trillion fiscal year 2010 budget proposed by President Obama last week, the Washington Post reports (Montgomery, Washington Post, 3/4).

4 Mar 2009

Rhode Island Governor drops Medicaid consultant plans

Rhode Island Gov. Don Carcieri (R) has canceled plans to hire a private consulting firm to lead the state's massive Medicaid overhaul under the so-called "global Medicaid waiver," and instead will use a team of state employees to provide oversight, the Providence Journal reports (Peoples, Providence Journal, 3/3).

4 Mar 2009

Federal health officials, prosecutors switch focus to physicians in illegal kickback cases

Federal health officials and prosecutors have begun to investigate physicians who receive money from drug and medical device makers for using their products, in an attempt to halt the illegal kickbacks, the New York Times reports.

4 Mar 2009

UB and AHRM, Inc. help Buffalo join the electronic medical revolution

The Obama administration's push to move health care from handwritten charts and prescriptions into the electronic age is getting a boost in Western New York with new funding to establish a Medication Management Research Network in the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences.

3 Mar 2009

Impact of recession on hospitals

The median profit margin of U.S. hospitals has fallen to zero percent, according to a Thomson Reuters analysis of hospital finances published today.

2 Mar 2009

UT Southwestern teaching hospital halves its rate of premature births

UT Southwestern Medical Center's primary adult teaching hospital has cut its rate of preterm births by more than half in the past 15 years, even as national rates are rising, researchers have found.

2 Mar 2009

Doors open soon at new $360 million hospital with all-private rooms

When the doors to the new Henry Ford West Bloomfield Hospital open March 15, patients, their families and the community will find a health care experience unlike any other, offering the latest in medicine, technology and patient safety, integrated with wellness and prevention programs all under one roof.

25 Feb 2009

Unattached patients will have access to primary health care

The Nurse Practitioners' Association of Ontario (NPAO) applauds the McGuinty government for their announcement today to fund three new Nurse Practitioner (NP) Led Clinics in Belle River, Sault Ste. Marie and Thunder Bay.

25 Feb 2009

Living wills have an impact on pre-hospital lifesaving care

A new study conducted at the Hamot Medical Center in Erie, Pennsylvania, and published by Elsevier in the February 2009 issue of The Journal of Emergency Medicine shows that there is a lack of education and understanding in what sets a living will in motion in a pre-hospital setting. Education and implementation of code status designations can clarify this confusion.

24 Feb 2009

Having health insurance essential for people's health and well-being

The evidence shows more clearly than ever that having health insurance is essential for people's health and well-being, and safety-net services are not enough to prevent avoidable illness, worse health outcomes, and premature death, says a new report from the Institute of Medicine.

24 Feb 2009

Canada urgently needs a prescription for heart health

"The Canadian Heart Health Strategy and Action Plan is the prescription that Canada urgently needs to ensure that Canadians get timely and efficient patient-centred services and access to care when they need it," says Dr. Charles R. Kerr, President of the Canadian Cardiovascular Society.

24 Feb 2009

Get personal to improve heart health

Scare tactics may not be necessary when trying to get patients at risk of heart disease to change their diet or behaviour, a new study has found.

23 Feb 2009

Investing in personalized medicine will benefit Canada

Canada has the opportunity to be an international leader in personalized medicine and needs to invest in this area for the health of Canadians and to reap the benefits of job creation, writes Dr. Thomas Hudson in a commentary http://www.cmaj.ca/cgi/rapidpdf/cmaj.1090199 released online today in CMAJ ( Canadian Medical Association Journal ).

20 Feb 2009

Cancer Research UK launches first super cancer centre in Birmingham

Birmingham will become the first link in a unique chain of Cancer Research UK Centres to be launched round the country.

20 Feb 2009

Opportunities for the health system in a sick economy

With the interim report of the National Health and Hospitals Reform Commission published yesterday the time for implementing reform could hardly be better.

18 Feb 2009

Hertfordshire to train new mental health workforce

The University's School of Social Community & Health Studies has won a three year contract worth one million pounds a year with the East of England Strategic Health Authority to implement training for a major government policy in mental health entitled Improving Access to Psychological Therapies (IAPT).

17 Feb 2009

Caregivers not receiving the help they need, study shows

Caregivers of children with special health care needs often do not get the respite care they need, according to the findings of a recent study by researchers at Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center.

16 Feb 2009

Most coordinated care programs for Medicare beneficiaries do not show benefit

Only 2 of 15 Medicare programs designed to improve care and costs for patients with chronic illnesses resulted in reduced hospital admissions, and none of the programs generated net savings, according to a study in the February 11 issue of JAMA.

10 Feb 2009