Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

More hospital patients visited by 'hospitalists' rather than family physicians

An increasing number of private-practice physicians nationwide are relying on "hospitalists" to provide care to their hospitalized patients, the Daytona Beach News-Journal reports.

26 Oct 2006

Doctors warned that commonly used painkillers linked to increased risk of heart attacks

Doctors in the UK are being warned that commonly used painkillers such as ibuprofen can increase the risk of heart attacks if taken over long periods.

25 Oct 2006

Health officials announce physician quiz campaign to help reduce medical errors

HHS and other health officials on Monday announced a new campaign designed to limit surgical complications by encouraging patients to quiz their doctors about medical procedures, CQ HealthBeat reports.

24 Oct 2006

Use of subcutaneous injections of Epogen for dialysis patients could save Medicare $537 million annually

Administering the anti-anemia drug Epogen to kidney dialysis patients by subcutaneous injections rather than intravenously could save the federal government hundreds of millions of dollars annually, the Boston Globe reports.

24 Oct 2006

New study emphasizes the importance of metabolomics to the advent of personalized medicine

International experts have collaborated on a comprehensive collection of reviews focusing on the emerging interface between metabolomics and pharmacogenomics.

24 Oct 2006

Compliance with medications lowers health care costs

Patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) who take medications as directed have decreased medical costs, researchers from the University of Chicago researchers report at the American College of Gastroenterology annual scientific meeting in Las Vegas. A second study from the same group, however, suggests that there is no simple way to improve compliance.

23 Oct 2006

Lower employer health insurance coverage fuels rising number of uninsured

The decline in the number of employers offering health insurance has led to a rise in the percentage of U.S. residents who are uninsured, according to two issue papers released Thursday by the Kaiser Family Foundation's Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, CQ HealthBeat reports.

22 Oct 2006

Antiretroviral drug discounts should be extended for countries classified as 'middle-income'

Pricing antiretroviral drugs and other "lifesaving" medications based on a country's gross national income per capita "seems particularly arbitrary -- and even cruel" -- given that HIV-positive people often have incomes "well below what might be considered a country's 'average' income," Jorge Saavedra Lopez.

19 Oct 2006

Racial disparities in preventive health care persist

The racial gap in preventive health care -- such as Pap tests, mammograms, and prostate and colorectal cancer screenings -- persists and might be larger than previously thought, a study published online in BMC Heath Services Research finds, the Washington Post reports.

17 Oct 2006

Hospitals lack clearly defined guidelines for medical interpretation services

As the U.S. immigrant population increases, many hospitals are seeking ways to improve their interpreter services, but there is "no clearly identified game plan for hospitals to decide what mix of language services to provide, by whom and how," United Press International reports.

17 Oct 2006

Incidence of kidney damage associated with coronary artery bypass surgery has increased significantly

The incidence of kidney damage associated with coronary artery bypass surgery has increased significantly over the past 16 years in the United States, but the rate of death from such damage has decreased significantly during the period, according to a new analysis.

16 Oct 2006

Group Health will reduce premiums for Washington State-subsidized health plan for low-income residents

Group Health Cooperative recently announced it would lower its monthly premiums for Washington's state-subsidized health plan for low-income working residents by as much as 80% beginning Jan. 1, 2007, the Seattle Times reports.

16 Oct 2006

Many health care organizations have employee retention issues

Sixty-nine percent of health care organizations report having moderate to great trouble retaining employees with critical skills, compared with 43% of organizations across all industries, according to a report released last Wednesday by Watson Wyatt Worldwide and the American Society for Healthcare Human Resources Administration, the AP/Arizona Republic reports.

16 Oct 2006

Los Angeles group launches HIV/AIDS prevention campaign targeting homosexual men

The L.A. Gay and Lesbian Center has launched an advertisement campaign that describes HIV as a "gay disease" in an effort to target men who have sex with men who have become complacent about HIV/AIDS, the Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Oct 2006

More 'eco-friendly' hospitals being built

Hospitals are beginning to build "more efficient, eco-friendly facilities with 'sustainable' design features" as the industry "embarks on a $200 billion construction program over the next decade to replace or rebuild decaying facilities and meet growing demand from aging baby boomers," the Wall Street Journal reports.

5 Oct 2006

Schwarzenegger's veto of prison condom distribution bill politically motivated

California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger's (R) veto last week of a bill (AB 1677) that would have allowed not-for-profit organizations to distribute condoms in prisons is "another cynical political maneuver" and a "fundamentally irresponsible choice to make the world more dangerous for inmates and civilians alike," a Los Angeles Times editorial says (Los Angeles Times, 10/5).

5 Oct 2006