New drugs in three multi-billion dollar categories will help pharmaceutical companies offset patent expirations and will ease pressure on credit rating outlooks, says a new report from Moody's Investors Service. In its report, “R&D Breakthroughs Create Opportunities to Lift Flagging Revenues,” Moody’s paints an optimistic picture for pharma sales in 2012. read more
Healthcare
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Most Topular Stories
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New drugs may lift pharma revenues in 2012
Industry News from healthcarefinancenews.com27 Jan 2012 | 7:24 am -
Health Care Social Media – How to Engage Online Without Getting into Trouble (Part I)
HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog3 Jan 2012 | 7:55 amI have been asked recently to write up some of the core takeaways from the health care social media presentations I have been giving recently, so I am sharing a version of this narrative on HealthBlawg, in two parts. Check back later this week for Part II. Introduction “Why do you rob banks?” “That’s where the money is.” The legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked, gave this straightforward response explaining his motivation. A similar motivation may be ascribed to the early adopters among health care providers who have established beachheads on various social media… -
GAO: CMS should change how it calculates Medicare private plan payments
Healthcare News Feed27 Jan 2012 | 9:57 amInsurers offering Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by as much as $3.1 billion in 2010 because the government miscalculated how sick beneficiaries were, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office that was made public by congressional Democrats. -
Recession softens demand for nurses
Health Care News27 Jan 2012 | 11:14 amThe demand for nurses in the United States is currently weak and is exacerbated by the slow economy, reported the Dayton Daily News and the Merced (Calif.) Sun-Star. In Dayton, Good Samaritan Hospital has routinely notified nurses not to report to work just before their shifts were scheduled to begin. According to the Ohio Hospital Association, the statewide vacancy rate for nursing positions was 4 percent in 2010, compared to 6.2 percent in 2009. In years prior to that, vacancy rates were routinely in the double digits. In California--one of the few states that mandates a nurse-to-patient… -
Hooking Up With Gen Y - Challenge for Business
Forbes - Pharma & Healthcare27 Jan 2012 | 7:20 pm
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Healthcare News Feed
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GAO: CMS should change how it calculates Medicare private plan payments
27 Jan 2012 | 9:57 amInsurers offering Medicare Advantage plans were overpaid by as much as $3.1 billion in 2010 because the government miscalculated how sick beneficiaries were, according to a review by the Government Accountability Office that was made public by congressional Democrats. -
Managing distance and aging parents' care
27 Jan 2012 | 9:44 amThe Associated Press explores the difficulties involved in being a long-distance caregiver for aging parents and how demographic trends fuel these challenges. -
Doctors press Boehner to stop mandated insurance code switch
27 Jan 2012 | 9:35 amThe American Medical Association opposes implementation of the coding system known as ICD-10, saying it would require physician offices to deal with an estimated 68,000 insurance codes -- five times more than the current 13,000. -
House GOP renews demand for Obama's health reform-related memos
27 Jan 2012 | 9:26 amThe New Yorker on Monday published an in-depth look at previously unreleased White House documents, including some related to negotiations surrounding the development and passage of the health law. -
Prevalence of oral HPV infection more common among men: Study
27 Jan 2012 | 9:25 amOral HPV infection is more common among men than women, explaining why men are more prone than women to develop an HPV related head and neck cancer, according to a study presented at the Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium, sponsored by AHNS, ASCO, ASTRO and SNM.
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Health Care News
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Recession softens demand for nurses
27 Jan 2012 | 11:14 amThe demand for nurses in the United States is currently weak and is exacerbated by the slow economy, reported the Dayton Daily News and the Merced (Calif.) Sun-Star. In Dayton, Good Samaritan Hospital has routinely notified nurses not to report to work just before their shifts were scheduled to begin. According to the Ohio Hospital Association, the statewide vacancy rate for nursing positions was 4 percent in 2010, compared to 6.2 percent in 2009. In years prior to that, vacancy rates were routinely in the double digits. In California--one of the few states that mandates a nurse-to-patient… -
Hospital to pay $3M over improper billing charges
27 Jan 2012 | 11:07 amCayuga Medical Center in Ithaca, N.Y., will pay more than $3 million to settle claims that it improperly billed Medicare and Medicaid, the U.S. Department of Justice announced Wednesday. The medical center allegedly submitted false claims relating to physician recruitment agreements with various medical practices that violated federal law. Under the settlement, that state of New York will receive $426,305 while federal healthcare programs will recoup $3,149,751.00, according to the DOJ. The settlement stems from a whistleblower complaint filed by plastic surgeon Daniel Jorgenson, in which he… -
Heart docs leave practices for hospital employment, transform care
27 Jan 2012 | 10:17 amShrinking insurance payments and rising costs of running a business have pushed an increasing number of cardiologists to leave private practice and work at hospitals, according to an analysis by the Philadelphia Inquirer. For instance, Lourdes Health System in New Jersey last year hired 47 cardiologists, while Main Line Health in Pennsylvania bumped its employed cardiologists from six in 2008 to 28 this year. Philadelphia's Temple University Health System plans to hire eight cardiologists from a nearby cardiology group. Such hospital employment ventures offer physicians financial perks, given… -
Health system sues OIG over alleged Medicaid overpayments
27 Jan 2012 | 9:51 amThree Utah hospitals have filed suit against the Medicaid Office of the Inspector General over a demand to repay overpaid emergency room claims, reported the Salt Lake City Tribune. The hospitals, Davis Hospital & Medical Center, Salt Lake Regional Medical Center and Jordan Valley Medical Center, are part of the Iasis Healthcare system. They claim in their federal lawsuit that the Medicaid OIG has no authority to demand repayments, which stem from payments made for care delivered in 2008 and 2009 and total $2.7 million. The OIG rejected some of the claims because the ER visit did not lead… -
Researcher: Socioeconomics not to blame for readmission rates
27 Jan 2012 | 8:01 amSocioeconomic factors may not contribute to readmissions after all, according to a Yale researcher. Harlan Krumholz, professor of medicine at the Yale School of Medicine, disputed Kaiser Health News' report last month that hospitals with poor patients are nearly three times as likely to face readmissions. Krumholz said that while his research supported the idea that hospitals with poorer patients have slightly higher readmission rates, it differed from Kaiser Health's analysis on the cause of the disparity, the Yale Daily News reported this week. Krumholz's study…
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Forbes - Pharma & Healthcare
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Hooking Up With Gen Y - Challenge for Business
27 Jan 2012 | 7:20 pm -
And They're Off: Amylin And Novo Nordisk Begin Their Battle
27 Jan 2012 | 4:37 pmNearly two years after the FDA issued what became the first of two rejections, the agency has finally approved the Bydureon diabetes treatment, setting up what is going to be heated battle between Amylin Pharmaceuticals and Novo Nordisk, which sells a rival medicine called Victoza. Both drugs are part of the GLP-1 class of diabetes medications (here is the approval letter). -
Could the PPACA's Medicaid Expansion be Unconstitutional?
27 Jan 2012 | 2:54 pmWhile most of the public debate on the constitutionality of the health reform law has centered on the “individual mandate” – the requirement to obtain government-approved health insurance or pay a penalty – the Supreme Court has also agreed to consider another, far less discussed issue: whether the law's expansion of Medicaid eligibility might be an unconstitutional federal infringement on state legislative authority. -
What Happens After CLASS?
27 Jan 2012 | 2:05 pmMy best guess is that Congress will formally repeal the CLASS Act in 2012. Already abandoned by the Obama Administration, CLASS has no champion on Capitol Hill and is likely to fall victim to implacable Republican opposition and a lack of Democratic support. Thanks to technical budget rules, Congress can now kill the national, voluntary long-term care insurance program without adding to the deficit. -
Spending Other People's Money: What Professors And Doctors Have In Common
27 Jan 2012 | 1:10 pmConsider these two common scenarios: SCENARIO A You go to the doctor's office and get a prescription. Late the pharmacist runs it through her computer and against your insurance--and hands you the bill. If it's a brand-name med get ready for the sticker shock. I've had to pay $10 per pill, out of pocket, when I've been under my deductible. I know another patient who had a $300 course of eye drops prescribed when a $25 alternative existed--and his doctor had no idea. SCENARIO B You go to class and pick up your syllabus for the…
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Health Care
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Romney's Unlikely And Persuasive Defense Of The 'Individual Mandate'
27 Jan 2012 | 4:22 pmMitt Romney offered a vigorous defense Thursday night of Massachusetts' decision to mandate that nearly every resident either have health insurance or pay a tax penalty. In fact, some say it was the best defense of the individual mandate made by any candidate — including the president — so far this election cycle.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Stem Cell Eye Therapy Shows Promise
27 Jan 2012 | 12:00 pmReporting inThe Lancet, researchers write that a preliminary study shows embryonic stem cell therapy in two patients with macular degeneration was safe. Results suggest the patients' vision improved slightly. Dr. Robert Lanza, Chief Scientific Officer of Advanced Cell Technology and co-author of the study, discusses the trial.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Military Drops 'Birth Control Glasses' For Fresher Pair
27 Jan 2012 | 10:38 amOver 22 years, the military's thick-framed, large-lensed, standard-issue glasses have developed a reputation for seriously hurting their wearer's chances of getting a date. Now, the military is finally offering a new design.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
How Health Care Dropped Out Of The Presidential Conversation
26 Jan 2012 | 2:39 pmThe public remains deeply divided over the law overhauling the health system. And a new poll finds a majority of Americans believe the law's insurance mandate will be found unconstitutional by the Supreme Court.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us -
Home Births Grow More Popular In U.S.
26 Jan 2012 | 11:36 amAdvocates of home births applaud the trend, but some doctors caution there are risks when deliveries come with complications. The federal data suggest the trend appears to be driven primarily by the choices of older, white women.» E-Mail This » Add to Del.icio.us
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Healthcare Purchasing News Daily Update
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Nestle Health Science launches next generation enteral safety technology
25 Jan 2012 | 7:22 amNestlé Health Science will unveil its pediatric closed system formulas... -
Patients' tremors stopped after new non-invasive, pain-free brain surgery
25 Jan 2012 | 7:21 amPatients diagnosed with essential tremors, a neurological disorder that causes patients to lose control of their hands... -
Drug seen to curtail cancer left in prostate
25 Jan 2012 | 7:21 amFewer than 10 percent of the 100,000 men each year who get a diagnosis of early-stage prostate cancer and have the option... -
AAMI invites comments on CMS maintenance announcement
25 Jan 2012 | 7:21 amThe Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) is inviting comments and recommendations... -
Hospitals offer patients free parking, discount shopping, seminars and screenings
25 Jan 2012 | 7:20 amCredit card companies, airlines and hotels all have customer loyalty programs...
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ScienceDaily: Today's Healthcare News
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Mind over matter: Patients' perceptions of illness make a difference
27 Jan 2012 | 3:27 pmWhenever we fall ill, there are many different factors that come together to influence the course of our illness. Additional medical conditions, stress levels, and social support all have an impact on our health and well-being, especially when we are ill. But a new report suggests that what you think about your illness matters just as much, if not more, in determining your health outcomes. -
New drug release mechanism utilizes 3-D superhydrophobic materials
27 Jan 2012 | 1:09 pmThere is a new mechanism of drug release using 3-D superhydrophobic materials that utilizes air as a removable barrier to control the rate at which drug is released. -
Genetic variation that raises risk of serious complication linked to osteoporosis drugs identified
27 Jan 2012 | 12:58 pmResearchers have identified a genetic variation that raises the risk of developing serious necrotic jaw bone lesions in patients who take bisphosphonates, a common class of osteoclastic inhibitors. -
Bedwetting can be due to undiagnosed constipation
27 Jan 2012 | 12:57 pmBedwetting isn’t always due to problems with the bladder. Constipation is often the culprit; and if it isn’t diagnosed, children and their parents must endure an unnecessarily long, costly and difficult quest to cure nighttime wetting. -
Diagnostic brain tumor test could revolutionize care of patients with low-grade gliomas
26 Jan 2012 | 9:36 pmResearchers have developed what they believe to be the first clinical application of a new imaging technique to diagnose brain tumors.
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Healthcare Intelligence Network
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Baptist, Geisinger and Banner Among Top Performing Health Systems: Thomson Reuters
24 Jan 2012 | 9:51 amOur congratulations to three frequent contributors to HIN for taking top honors in Thomson Reuters’ annual Best Hospitals list: Banner Health, a leader in ER efficiency, Geisinger Health System, on the forefront of comprehensive primary care, and Baptist Health, a model for bundled payments. These three esteemed health organizations, and 12 others, were singled out from more than 300 organizations for having achieved superior clinical outcomes based on eight metrics that gauge clinical quality and efficiency: mortality, medical complications, patient safety, average length of stay, 30-day… -
Snowboarder Video As Much About Miracles as Helmet Safety
24 Jan 2012 | 9:22 amSpoiler: This video has a happy ending. But not all athletes participating in extreme sports are so lucky. Last week’s tragic death of Canadian freestyle skier Sarah Burke underscores the physical risks these athletes face each time they “strap in.” The fact remains that in 2009, hospital emergency rooms, doctors’ offices, and clinics treated 353,346 injuries related to these winter sports activities, according to a position paper by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons (AAOS). The medical, legal, work loss and pain and suffering costs were more than $9.28 billion. -
Q&A: HRHC Diabetes Collaborative Relies on Tiered Care Management, Registries
23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amPatient care partners, innovative weight management tactics, patient registries and even telepsychiatry are part of the team approach to diabetes management at Hudson River HealthCare (HRHC) Diabetes Collaborative. The New York-based network of FQHCs finds that tiered care management generates the best outcomes for its patients with diabetes, explains Kathy Brieger, RD, CDE, HRHC’s chief operations officer, prior to her presentation on Diabetes Management in the Medical Home. HIN: The Hudson River HealthCare (HRHC) Diabetes Coalition uses a patient-centered team approach to manage diabetes… -
Gastric Bypass Surgery – Extreme Makeovers for Obese Teens
20 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pmIt seems that gastric bypass surgery is way more popular than Justin Bieber. At a time when most teens should be contemplating their friends’ latest Facebook post, there’s instead a large segment weighing the pros and cons of lap banding versus stomach stapling versus sleeve gastrectomy, the current crop of bariatric surgeries now targeted toward teenagers. According to a recent New York Times article, 1 to 2 percent of all weight-loss or bariatric operations are on patients under 21, and studies are underway to gauge the outcomes of such surgery on children as young as 12. As… -
Timeline to ICD-10: BCBS Michigan Approach is Business-Driven
19 Jan 2012 | 9:30 amIn its third year of ICD-10 work, BCBS of Michigan sees the project as business-driven, not solely an IT initiative. Early on, the Blues plan realized the ICD-10 transition affected nearly all aspects of its business, explained Dennis Winkler, BCBSM’s ICD-10 technical program director, in this week’s webinar on Mapping the Way to ICD-10 Readiness. One of the first steps in the project was determining how and where it was using codes, Winkler continued. The challenge was then determining how to associate or map ICD-10 diagnosis codes to the proper diagnostic category, and then…
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Health IT News
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Diabetes, HIV the focus of new innovation challenge efforts
27 Jan 2012 | 1:26 pmIn addition to the follow-up care innovation challenge issued by the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services, two more health IT challenges were announced at yesterday's Care Innovation Summit in Washington, D.C. The 2012 Data Design Diabetes Innovation Challenge, is seeking "the next breakthrough in diabetes," while the Kaiser Permanente HIV Challenge wants providers to increase the number of HIV-positive people who are treated using Kaiser's toolkit of clinical best practices, according to UPI. Article -
Mostashari: HIE, consumer engagement in healthcare will 'take off' in 2012
27 Jan 2012 | 12:48 pmHealth information exchange will take off in 2012, as will consumer and patient use of health information technology, according to National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari in his latest HealthIT Buzz blog post. Mostashari also predicted that at least 100,000 providers will receive electronic health record incentive payments by the end of the year, but says that number is contingent on several parties--including technology vendors, hospital leaders and Regional Extension Centers--collaborating to increase provider efforts. "As the businesses value for exchange increases, our… -
Bipartisan center calls for increased HIE efforts, alignment of healthcare incentives
27 Jan 2012 | 12:07 pmAligning financial incentives with high-quality care and accelerating health information exchange efforts (HIE) were among several key recommendations made in a new report released this morning by the Bipartisan Policy Center (BPC) that focuses on health IT's role in transforming healthcare. According to former Senate Majority Leader Bill Frist, who co-chaired a BPC task force on delivery system reform and health IT, health innovation service delivery is severely lacking today despite significant advances in healthcare technology. "Today's challenges aren't that much different than they were… -
AMA lobbies for ICD-10 delay
27 Jan 2012 | 11:13 amThe American Medical Association has sent a letter to Speaker of the House John Boehner asking his help in halting the implementation of the ICD-10 coding system, reported The Hill's Healthwatch and iHealthBeat. The Jan. 17 letter, sent by AMA President James L. Madara, said that the timing of ICD-10 implementation on October 1, 2013 "could not be worse." He added that "many physicians are currently spending significant time and resources implementing electronic health records (EHRs) into their practices. Physicians are also facing present and future financial penalties if they do not… -
Isabel, BMJ tool offers enhanced diagnosis decision support
26 Jan 2012 | 4:41 pmIsabel Healthcare and BMJ Group have joined forces to create a new decision support tool for physicians. The application, known as Isabel with Best Practice, integrates Isabel's diagnosis decision aid--which emphasizes rare conditions that physicians often overlook--with BMJ Best Practice's evidence-based disease monographs. When clinicians enter a patient's signs and symptoms, Isabel with Best Practice generates a checklist of potential diagnoses. After doctors select a diagnosis, they go into the Best Practice monographs. Those monographs provide information on other important symptoms, as…
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The Health Care Blog
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Medical Records Supporting San Francisco’s Universal Care Add Millions to Official Cost
27 Jan 2012 | 11:46 amBy Angela Hart The San Francisco Department of Public Health says it is ahead of the curve in rolling out databases that keep tabs on tens of thousands of patients across a citywide network of clinics and hospitals. The rollout is needed not just to make a local form of “universal health care” work, but also to meet a 2014 deadline under national health reform. And the city says it spent just $3.4 million on new patient-tracking technology. Not bad for an unprecedented charity care initiative whose total budget has grown to $177 million just this past year. But while clinics and hospitals… -
Now you have healthcare data. So where does it go?
27 Jan 2012 | 11:34 amBy Paul Grundy, MD In the next 10 years, data and the ability to analyze the data will do for the doctor’s mind what x-ray and medical imaging have done for their vision. How? By turning data into actionable information. For instance, take Watson, IBM’s intelligent supercomputer. Watson can analyze the meaning and context of human language, and quickly process vast amounts of information. With this information, it can suggest options targeted to a patient’s circumstances. This is an example of technology that can help physicians and nurses identify the most effective courses of… -
Demonizing The Demonization Of Physician-Industry Relationships
27 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amBy DAVID SHAYWITZ Monday’s WSJ (online now) features an exceptionally important and courageous op-ed by Harvard professor (and frequent co-author of mine, although not in this case) Tom Stossel, discussing a rule within recently enacted healthcare legislation with the Orwellian title, “The Physician Payment Sunshine Act,” focused on physician/industry relationships. Taking its name from the assertion that “sunshine is the best disinfectant,” the Act apparently aims to help disinfect physicians who might be contaminated by industry contact, an interaction the Act seems to assume is… -
What I Learned from Listening to a Patient
26 Jan 2012 | 3:00 pmBy Peter Pronovost, MD I was reminded again recently of how important it is to sometimes just sit back and listen to what our patients have to say. Every month, as part of our hospital-wide patient safety efforts, I meet with staff and interview patients, seeking to learn how we can improve the care we provide to them. A young patient shared two stories with me, one telling me how we get it right and one reminding me how we sometimes get it wrong, even without realizing it. She was nervously awaiting a procedure in Interventional Radiology when a nurse sensed her anxiety and called in a child… -
How Doctors Are Trapped, Part II
26 Jan 2012 | 2:00 pmBy JOHN GOODMAN Of all the people in the health care system, none is more central than the physician. Fundamental reform that lowers costs, raises quality and improves access to care is almost inconceivable without physicians leading and directing the changes. Yet of all the actors in modern health care, none are more trapped than our nation’s doctors. Let’s consider just a few of the ways your doctor is constrained, unlike any other professional you deal with. No Telephone Sometime in the early part of the last century, all the other professionals in our society — lawyers, accountants,…
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Healthcare Informatics Magazine | Health IT | Information Technology
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Hawaiian Hospital Awarded Stage 7 by HIMSS Analytics
27 Jan 2012 | 1:50 pmTeaser: The research arm of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), HIMSS Analytics, has announced Moanalua Medical Center, a Kaiser Permanente hospital in Honolulu, Hawaii, has received its Stage 7 Award. The award represents attainment of the highest level on the Electronic Medical Records Adoption Model (EMRAM), which is used to track EMR progress at hospitals and health systems. The research arm of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS), HIMSS Analytics, has announced Moanalua Medical Center, a Kaiser Permanente hospital in… -
Innovation and the Emerging World
27 Jan 2012 | 1:42 pmByline: Mark Hagland Teaser: I honestly can see connections between that early era in filmmaking and our current age, not only in terms of the kind of work that artists like Scott Snibbe are doing, but also the intensely creative work being done right now in leveraging healthcare IT to improve patient safety, care quality, clinician effectiveness, operational efficiency, and cost-effectiveness. It’s tremendously hard work, but the potential rewards are enormous. When it comes to the four top-place finishing teams in this year’s Healthcare Informatics Innovator Awards… -
Half-Full or Half-Empty?
27 Jan 2012 | 1:39 pmByline: Tim Tolan Teaser: I’ve debated countless times on how much a candidate’s attitude affects a potential employer’s hiring decision. When it comes to the hiring game, there are many intangibles, and the one I hear about most often is attitude. Let’s face it, if you want your team to perform at peak levels, adding a new team member is a very big deal, so let’s take a closer look to see if seeing the glass half-full or half-empty really matters. Deck: There's no substitute for a positive attitude I’ve debated countless times on how much a… -
Schooler Named CHIME, HIMSS CIO of the Year
27 Jan 2012 | 1:35 pmTeaser: Rick Schooler, CIO and vice president of Orlando Health, an integrated delivery system based in central Florida, has been elected as the recipient of the 2011 John E. Gall Jr. CIO of the Year Award. Schooler was given the award by the Chicago-based Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS) and the Ann Arbor, Mich.-based College of Healthcare Information Management Executives (CHIME). Schooler will receive the award at the 2012 Annual HIMSS Conference and Exhibition in Las Vegas on Feb. 23, 2012. Rick Schooler, CIO and vice president of Orlando Health, an… -
UCSF Streamlines Pre-Operative and Transplant Evaluations
27 Jan 2012 | 12:56 pmByline: John DeGaspari Teaser: The University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Center has significantly improved the number of potential kidney donors to its program after streamlining and automating its donor evaluation process. John Roberts, M.D., chief of the UCSF Transplant Service, says the hospital’s kidney transplant center has seen about a 40-percent increase in the number of applications from potential donors. Deck: Clinical Decision Support Simplifies Pre-Op Evaluations and Attracts More Potential Kidney Donors The University of California San Francisco…
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Новости здравоохранения
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Советы диетолога
25 Jan 2012 | 11:59 amИзмените свои привычки в еде. Постепенно перейдите на здоровое питание и придерживайтесь его всю жизнь. Никогда не «садитесь» на диету, это бессмысленно. Если Вы хотите худеть быстро, добавьте физическую нагрузку. Это эффективнее, чем морить себя голодом. Ведите пищевой дневник. Только тогда Вы поймете, сколько и какой пищи… -
ЗА ЗДОРОВЫЙ ОБРАЗ ЖИЗНИ - Самолетное питание или лекции по здоровому образу жизни?
25 Jan 2012 | 7:57 amпо традиции спровоцировала очередной скандал. Едва утихли страсти по ЕГЭ и обязательным предметам, как власть имущие принялись за активное внедрение очередного нововведения. На сей раз, чиновники решили покуситься на святая святых - школьную систему питания. Вместо привычных свежеприготовленных супов, котлет, каш и… -
Ровные зубы – просто-напросто красивая улыбка! | Путь к вершине
25 Jan 2012 | 7:57 amИсточник: http://perficete.org -
Баранина с капустой Суп
25 Jan 2012 | 7:57 am1. 600г баранины (нарезать на небольшие кусочки) Берем сковороду и в оливковом масле обжариваем кусочки баранины, затем добавляем лук, лук-порей и сельдерей и продолжаем жарить, пока лук не станет прозрачным. После чего добавляем помидоры, и специи, соль, перец, перемешиваем и тушим 1-2 минуты. Затем берем небольшую кастрюлю,… -
ПИЩА ЛЮДЕЙ-Здоровый образ жизни и здоровое питание Тест для начинающих хозяек
25 Jan 2012 | 3:55 amДумаете, Вы знаете, как приготовить омлет? Думайте снова. Достижение баланса между воздушностью и влажностью – дело техники и практики. Хотя, действительно, есть одна тайна: не пережаривать его! Желательно готовить очень быстро Источник: http://foodpeople.ru
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Health Business Blog
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Nursing shortage. Is it a case of crying “wolf?”
27 Jan 2012 | 2:21 pmHow many times have you read about the staggering shortage of nurses? It’s routine to see numbers in the hundreds of thousands tossed around –representing the seemingly insatiable demand for nurses from an aging population. I’ve always been suspicious of these estimates. First, it’s not how the economy works. We’re not really going to have 260,000 unfilled nursing positions in 2025. Either supply will rise, demand will fall or there will be a substitution of other kinds of labor or capital. Second, these numbers often come from interested parties, usually… -
Reducing pre-term births; where public health campaigns can make a difference
26 Jan 2012 | 5:07 pmHealth plans have realized for quite some time that the widespread practice of scheduled C-sections and induced labor before the end of 39 weeks of pregnancy is an expensive proposition. Even babies born a week or two early have a significantly higher chance of being admitted to neonatal intensive care units, having difficult breathing and experiencing bloodstream infections. Such births are surprisingly common. In 2010 about 17 percent of babies were delivered at 37-39 weeks without a medical reason. The Leapfrog Group. March of Dimes and American College of Obstetricians and… -
Hospitals asking for payment upfront: generally ok with me
25 Jan 2012 | 8:14 pmHospitals in Northern New Jersey (and no doubt elsewhere) are a lot more likely these days to collect patient payments upfront rather than waiting to bill and collect later. Although it sounds a bit cold-hearted, it’s not a bad idea if done properly. In particular if a hospital can determine upfront what a patient’s co-pay or deductible is, it’s reasonable to try to collect it when the patient is there. That avoids the substantial costs of collection and dramatically boosts the percentage of patients who pay. In theory it may also lower the rates a hospital can accept from… -
Newt Gingrich and “conservative” hypocrisy on Medicare Part D
24 Jan 2012 | 5:58 pmNewt Gingrich has positioned himself as the “true conservative” in the Republican Presidential primary. And last night he trumpeted his support for the Medicare Part D drug benefit program, which was spearheaded by Republican majorities in Congress and signed by Republican President George W. Bush. Sorry, but supporting Part D and being a conservative don’t go together. Gingrich said he supported the measure because it didn’t make sense to pay for kidney dialysis and open heart surgery but refuse to pay for insulin or heart medicine. That’s logical enough. But… -
Doctor/patient email: Are we really still having this debate?
23 Jan 2012 | 9:37 pmThe Wall Street Journal devotes its Journal Report section today to pro/con debates on six health care issues. Five are reasonable and either timely or timeless: Should everyone be required to have health insurance? Should healthy people take cholesterol drugs to prevent heart disease? Should every patient have a unique ID number for all medical records? Can accountable-care organizations raise quality while reducing costs? Should patents on pharmaceuticals be extended to encourage innovation? But one –Should physicians use email to communicate with patients?– should have been…
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Health Blog
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FDA (Finally) Gives Amylin’s Bydureon a Thumbs-Up
27 Jan 2012 | 4:19 pmBydureon, the once-weekly injection for treating patients with type 2 diabetes, has finally won the FDA’s okay. As Dow Jones Newswires reports, it’s been a long, bumpy road to approval for the drug’s developer, Amylin Pharmaceuticals. (Alkermes is behind the extended-release technology used to deliver the drug, a longer-acting version of Amylin’s twice-daily Byetta.) Amylin started working on the drug in 1999 and first applied for FDA approval — with its then-partner Lilly — a decade later. But the agency in 2010 said it needed more information “about… -
What Are the Obstacles to Digital Health Records?
27 Jan 2012 | 3:35 pmWhat’s standing in the way of the wider spread of health IT? Plenty of things, according to a new report from the Bipartisan Policy Center. The report says boosting use of electronic medical records and other health IT “enjoys bipartisan support.” It’s also being pushed by billions of dollars in government incentives. The assumption is that health IT can help improve health outcomes, improve the experience of care and save money. But there are gaps and barriers to its effective use, the report says. Among them: a lack of health information exchange. In other words,… -
A.M. Vitals: WellPoint to Increase Primary-Care Reimbursement
27 Jan 2012 | 7:55 amPaying More for Primary Care: Beginning in the summer, WellPoint will increase reimbursement for primary-care services — offering those physicians a fee increase of around 10% with the chance of additional payments that could bolster what they receive for covered patients by as much as 50% — in an attempt to lower acute-care costs, the WSJ reports. Additional payment and support for primary care could add as much as one to two percentage points to WellPoint’s primary-care spending — now about 6% to 8% of some $100 billion in annual claims, the paper says. Oral HPV… -
CDC: Cancer-Screening Rates Fall Short of Goals
26 Jan 2012 | 3:46 pmU.S. cancer-screening rates are falling short of the government’s targets. According to new stats out today from the CDC, not enough people are following the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force’s recommendations for getting regular breast, cervical and colorectal cancer screening tests. And the picture looks even worse when you look at specific racial and ethnic groups, namely Asians and Hispanics. Keep in mind that the USPSTF’s recommendations are generally more conservative than those from other organizations. So, for example, these stats look at how many women aged 50 to… -
Hematologists Disagree With Sickle-Cell Testing as Prerequisite for Playing Sports
26 Jan 2012 | 2:26 pmRyan Clark of the NFL’s Pittsburgh Steelers, shown here in a file photo, had to sit out a playoff game in Denver because his sickle-cell trait can be exacerbated at high altitude. The American Society of Hematology says it doesn’t think student athletes should have to be screened for sickle-cell trait in order to play their sport. Instead, the group says in a policy statement, schools should take steps to protect all athletes from exertion-related illness and death. The physicians’ position contrasts with that of the National Collegiate Athletic Association, which in 2010…
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Health Care Policy and Marketplace Review
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Important Research From Medicare Demonstration Projects: Almost Nothing Works
19 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pmI will suggest that most of us believe the way to control health care costs, and at the same time maintain or improve quality, is to both use the managed care tools we have developed over the years, and perhaps more importantly, change the payment incentives so that both cost control and quality are upper most in the minds of providers and payers.The Congressional Budget Office (CBO) has just -
Will the Feds Be Ready With the Fallback Insurance Exchanges by October 2013?
18 Jan 2012 | 3:34 pmInsurance exchanges have to be up and running in all of the states by October 2013 in order to be able to cover people by January 1, 2014.If the states don't do it, the feds have to be ready with a fallback exchange. States have to tell HHS if they intend to be ready by January 1, 2013.The White House just released a report saying that good progress is being made in 28 states. That begs the -
I Hope Trustmark Tells HHS to Go Pound Sand
12 Jan 2012 | 1:38 pmToday, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that, "Trustmark Life Insurance Company has proposed unreasonable health insurance premium increases in five states—Alabama, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Wyoming. The excessive rate hikes would affect nearly 10,000 residents across these five states."The HHS statement continued, "In these five states, Trustmark has raised -
2012: A Year of Huge Uncertainty in Health Care Policy
10 Jan 2012 | 2:46 pm2013 may be the most significant year in health care policy ever.But we have to get through 2012 first.Once the 2012 election results are in there will be the very real opportunity to address a long list of health care issues.If Republicans win, the top of the list will include “repealing and replacing” the Affordable Care Act. If Obama is reelected, but Republicans capture both houses of -
A Litmus Test for Elected Officials
22 Dec 2011 | 8:24 amby Brian Klepper and David C. KibbeSix months ago, who could have imagined that a large percentage of rank-and-file Americans would support the Occupy Wall Street (OWS) against special interests’ rigging of the American dream? So why not go to the next step? Why not pointedly ask political candidates, “Will you take money from lobbyists?” and “If elected, what will you do to stop special interest
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Healthcare Economist
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Friday Links
27 Jan 2012 | 9:13 amHere are a few of this week’s most interesting articles to take you into the weekend: Would you pay for a test that tells you if you have a disease with no cure? Have we “broken the back of the health care inflation monster” Foreclosures literally drive us crazy? New cancer treatment: $10,000/month. “I can’t teach at Stanford again.” How healthcare is gobbling up your income. Why you should trust your anesthesiologist, not your radiologist. -
Add to Your Skills Toolkit: The Oaxaca Decomposition
26 Jan 2012 | 10:15 amSuppose you look at health care spending in two different regions and observe a significant difference. You may want to know what the cause of this difference is. Is it because one region has a mix of people who are sicker; or is because the reason treat patients with a given disease more intensively? One way to answer this question is to use the Oaxaca decomposition. This approach was originally formulated by Ronald Oaxaca. This document provides a nice overview of how to use the Oaxaca Decomposition and I apply that framework to the health spending case. Differences in Health Spending… -
Cavalcade of Risk is up
25 Jan 2012 | 10:02 amThe latest edition of the Cavalcade of Risk is up at The Notwithstanding Blog. The creative format will test your intelligence. -
2012 State of the Union: Healthcare Edition
24 Jan 2012 | 10:05 pmThe full text of the State of the Union is here. Lots of blogs are analyzing at the State of the Union address, but the Healthcare Economist will examine the President’s health-related remarks. Healthcare-Related Comments Medical R&D:“We’ll invest in biomedical research, information technology, and especially clean energy technology -– (applause) — an investment that will strengthen our security, protect our planet, and create countless new jobs for our people.” Health Reform: “And it’s why we passed reform that finally prevents the health insurance… -
How to Ask for Help via Email
24 Jan 2012 | 5:11 pm“A problem clearly stated is a problem half solved.” Dorothea Brande For more tips on getting answers to the questions you need, see this Lifehacker article.
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Who Moved My Dentures? Essential Information for Boomers on Healthcare, Aging and Caregiving
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Nursing Home Patients Face Higher Surgical Risk
27 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amBeware the surgical knife! @TS Photography, Getty Images Nursing home residents' frailty puts them at a higher risk for dying after surgery a new study reports. Well no kidding. did they need a study for that? About a year ago we were about to go through surgery - neurosurgery no less - for my 90-year-old mother. Essentially for two weeks they prepared us for her dying on the table. She didn't. Separate story but that says more about her attitude and desire to live plus some really great genes than anything else. I digress. Elderly nursing home residents experience more surgical complications… -
Guides to Care Choices Available
26 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am -
Guides to Care Choices
25 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amAssisted Living Today, a Web publishing company that specializes in information about senior living, has published a series of guides about choosing the best care setting for a loved one. They are worth a look. Assisted Living Care Guide Memory Care Guide Nursing Home Guide Care Home Guide Independent Living Guide -
Sitting Causes Cancer!
24 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am -
Long Term Care Costs Continue to Rise
23 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am
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Health Affairs Blog
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Health Policy Brief: Medicaid Reform
27 Jan 2012 | 7:50 amMedicaid, the nation’s largest public health insurance program, provides health coverage for low-income people, or about one in five Americans. The program will also play a central role in expanding insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act. However, recent concerns about federal budget deficits and the fiscal pressures on states have generated new proposals to [...] -
Massachusetts Health Reform: How It Fared In 2010
26 Jan 2012 | 6:28 amMassachusetts’s health reform bill, which provided the template for the federal Affordable Care Act, went into effect in 2006. In a statewide survey taken in 2010, 94.2 percent of the state’s nonelderly (19–64) residents reported being covered, a significant increase over the 86.6 percent estimate of 2006. The survey is reported in a Health Affairs [...] -
View Health Affairs Diabetes Briefing
26 Jan 2012 | 6:25 amVideo of the release event for the January issue of Health Affairs, “Confronting The Growing Diabetes Crisis,” is now available on the Health Affairs Web site. -
Care Innovations Summit: Live Webcast Available
25 Jan 2012 | 10:09 pmWHAT: More than 1,000 health care leaders, entrepreneurs, innovators, government officials and others will join the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), Health Affairs, the West Wireless Health Institute and keynote speaker Dr. Atul Gawande, at the Care Innovations Summit. WHO: Marilyn Tavenner, Acting Administrator, [...] -
Patient-Centered Care: What It Means And How To Get There
24 Jan 2012 | 3:44 pmAt a recent symposium concerning both saving money and improving patient care, Health Affairs Editor-in Chief Susan Dentzer stated, “It is well established now that one can in fact improve the quality of health care and reduce the costs at the same time.” This is exactly the principle behind the growing movement toward patient-centered care. [...]
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Medicare News Blog
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Medicare seen as battleground issue in congressional races
27 Jan 2012 | 8:34 pmDemocrats to use Ryan plan against GOP in elections Related NewsMedicare seen as battleground issue in congressional racesMedicare Looms Over Congressional RacesMedicare Is on Voters’ Minds in Congressional Election -
Medicare seen as battleground issue in congressional races
27 Jan 2012 | 8:32 pmWashington — A Republican plan to remake Medicare, set forth in a budget blueprint devised by Rep. Paul Ryan, has largely faded from public view. But it is about to come back in a big way as Democrats try to win control of the House by battering Republicans over Medicare in Congressional races Related NewsMedicare seen as battleground issue in congressional racesMedicare Looms Over Congressional RacesMedicare Is on Voters’ Minds in Congressional Election -
Romney Attacked Over Medicare Fraud Settlement
27 Jan 2012 | 6:10 pmMitt Romney’s enemies have unleashed a torrent of attacks in Florida over Medicare fraud conspiracy committed by a company Romney helped run in the 1990s. The pro-Newt-Gingrich superPAC Winning Our Future has released a one-minute trailer and a “dramatic new film presentation” called “Blood… Related NewsMedicare scrum: Romney hits Gingrich, Dems hit RomneyRomney praises Medicare overhaul proposalRomney: Overhaul Medicare and Social Security to reduce debt -
How to get Medicare-covered health services at home
27 Jan 2012 | 1:46 pmMedicare covers a variety of heath care services that you can receive in the comfort and privacy of your home…. Related NewsABOUT MEDICARE: Getting Medicare-covered health services at homeRex Home Services Named Top 25 Percent Of Home Health ProvidersFraud, Abuse Contributed To 44% Increase In Medicare Spending On Home Health Services Over Five Years, According To GAO -
Democrats’ strategy on Medicare: Let Ryan, Republicans step in it again
27 Jan 2012 | 9:29 am"The strategy is to get out of their way and let them do it again," Rep. Rob Andrews told reporters. Read more… Related NewsRepublicans want to take Advantage in Medicare debateHouse Republicans consider pushing to privatize MedicareWyden takes heat from own party over Medicare proposal
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db's Medical Rants
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The puzzling overdose
26 Jan 2012 | 8:17 pmSeveral readers nailed this one – valproic acid (Depakote). Valproic acid does cause hyperammonemia This syndrome can occur with overdoses, but can also occur on apparently stable dosing. -
Saving money in health care – ACP’s HVCCC
26 Jan 2012 | 4:15 amHigh Value Cost Conscious Care does not just represent a slogan. HVCCC represents an attitude. We at ACP believe that physicians can help decrease health care costs. We see waste in the system and will do our best to decrease the waste. Yesterday I tweeted - Appropriate Use of Screening and Diagnostic Tests to Foster High-Value, Cost-Conscious Care bit.ly/yIjyP4 via @addthis – must read! Please read this article. This represents a real attempt to provide practical guidelines (with a small g) on ways to avoid unnecessary testing. This article is just… -
A puzzling overdose
25 Jan 2012 | 5:14 pmPatient admitted after apparent overdose. Patient does not respond to verbal stimuli or tactile stimulation. Patient has known schizophrenia. Exam comatose, VS T 99, P 80, R 18, BP 130/80 Otherwise exam is unremarkable Labs 143 103 22 82 3.9 23 1.0 9.6 WBC 7.9 Hgb 12.9/ Hct 37.1 Plt 194 NH3 28 4 hours later Labs 147 107 16 135 4.0 22 0.8 10.3 ABG on room air pH 7.45 pCO2 29 pO2 126 HCO3 20 NH3 98 Can you guess what the overdose included? -
Thoughts on rapid strep testing
21 Jan 2012 | 8:19 amFirst, a disclaimer – I am biased. I have spent 30 years thinking, researching and writing about adult pharyngitis. My success in that field has stunned me. Of course I will overemphasize all arguments in favor of my opinion and poo-poo those in opposition. The advocates of the rapid strep test make these assumptions: We should treat group A strep pharyngitis with antibiotics (preferably a penicillin or a cephalosporin). No other cause of pharyngitis deserves antibiotics. We should avoid antibiotics in all other pharyngitis as that increases the probability of… -
The best laid plans of mice, men and CMS
20 Jan 2012 | 7:09 amLessons from Medicare’s Demonstration Projects on Disease Management, Care Coordination, and Value-Based Payment Here are the lessons: For disease management programs - On average, the 34 programs had little or no effect on hospital admissions. There was considerable variation in the estimated effects among programs, however (see figure below). In nearly every program, spending was either unchanged or increased relative to the spending that would have occurred in the absence of the program, when the fees paid to the participating organizations were considered. Programs in which…
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retired doc's thoughts
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More of the weird social justice that Obamacare has given us
24 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amSee this article from Cato. By reclassifying the status of one hospital in Massachusetts, a number of hospitals in that state by some bizarre bureaucratic mechanism receive more Medicare payment from the Federal Government while that amount is made up for by cuts to the rest of hospitals in the country.This is a big blob of social justice right in your face.Redistribution of funds based on arbitrary government bureaucratic decisions seems to be a recurrent feature of Obamacare,one poster child for which was the early on exceptions of certain companies from some of the provisions of the law. -
CBO give results (largely negative) on several buzz word medicare demonstration projects
22 Jan 2012 | 7:10 amBuzz words abound in the wonky sector of health care, a domain in which many commentators comment more than they actually do health care.Here is a CMO report on 10 demonstrations projects which sought to test the operational resultsof several buzz word projects.Dr. Robert Centor gives a brief summary of some of the finding on his blog.See here.In the Disease Management programs,the costs seemed to exceed the benefits.In three out of four "Value based payment" program there was little or no savings.This is similar to comments I made almost 5 years ago regarding a radomized trial that show no… -
Is the American College of Physician's new Ethical Manual an ethical game changer
17 Jan 2012 | 7:13 amDr. Michael Kirsch, author of the blog, MD Whistleblower, thinks so; see here for his view.Here is a money quote from his commentary: He begins with a quotation from the ACP Ethics Manual;Physicians have a responsibility to practice effective and efficient health care and to use health care resources responsibly. This is an ethical game changer. According to the updated ethics manual, physicians should consider preserving health care resources for the population at large, which may conflict with our patient’s interest. Now, we are told that we are ethically obligated not only to advocate… -
Price controls have worked so well in medical care, let's do some more
16 Jan 2012 | 6:13 amDoing some more is exactly what the Administration is doing here with its case by case decision regarding how medical insurers do their business. Of course, this level of central plannng on a mico level is part of the disaster unfolding as we see Obamacare play out. See here for the newspaper account of the Secretary of HHS ordering an insurance company to rescind its rate increase.Arnold Kling,a MIT trained economist,is fond of saying that economists do not hold back the good stuff when they teach economics. Rather they reveal the important stuff in econ 101. In econ 101 the effects of price… -
Fans of crony capitalism should love Obamacare
13 Jan 2012 | 6:33 amWriting in Forbes, Warren Meyers offered this eye catching title, " Crony Capitalism?Blame the Progressives."Here is how it works as explained by Meyers in his posting in Forbes. See here for article.Capitalism is simply the free exchange of individuals based on their self interest. There is no room for government subsides,bailouts or any of the other myriad forms of government interventions into the economy that favors one entity or groups over others. Whenever government has the power to dole out favors folks will seek those favors. They will seek out those privileges. The bigger the…
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Health Care Renewal
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Elephants We Can Notice But Cannot Name
27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pmWe have often discussed the anechoic effect, how cases involving or discussions of the topics we address on Health Care Renewal, the concentration and abuse of power in health care, fail to produce any responses, or echoes. Last month, an article with the provocative title, "Elephants in Academic Medicine," by Souba et al addressed the anechoic effect, but was unable to discuss what people in academic medicine cannot discuss.(1)"Organizational Silence" In summary, the authors surveyed chairs of departments of medicine and surgery at all accredited US medical schools to… -
Wikipedia page on EHR's: ==Disadvantages== material seems to keep disappearing
27 Jan 2012 | 11:42 amIt's interesting how most of the information below seems to have a hard time "staying put" on the Wikipedia page for "Electronic Health Record" at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electronic_health_recordThe information is presented in a neutral fashion from impeccable sources. Yet several Wikipedia "editors" take issue with it and, rather then editing it or refuting it (and stating their rationale and sources!), they keep deleting it. (The most recent edit history comments follow this "disappearing" information, at the bottom of this post):==Disadvantages== ===Software quality and usability… -
Unequal Justice Under Law - Comparing Cases of Alleged Misbehavior by Large Health Care Organizations and Individuals
25 Jan 2012 | 2:05 pmHow the wealthy and powerful have become able to play by a different set of rules than those affecting ordinary people may be the defining issue of our time. Yesterday, President Obama's State of the Union message asked for an economy in which "everyone plays by the same set of rule." We posted about how this issue, which got national attention due to the Occupy movement, affects health care here.We have previously posted again and again about how the penalties for misbehavior by large US health care organizations seem to be so minimal as to be incapable of deterring… -
London Ambulance Service: Would You Like Some Death And Mayhem With Your American Healthcare IT?
25 Jan 2012 | 9:56 amIt seems American companies are good at producing really noisome commercial healthcare IT and foisting it on other countries, such as outlined at "Is clinical IT mayhem good for [the IT] business? UK CfH leader Richard Granger speaks out" and at "Cerner's Blitzkrieg on London: Where's the RAF?".Yet another example: Software for the London Ambulance Service (LAS). From Wikipedia:The London Ambulance Service NHS Trust (LAS) is the largest "free at the point of contact" emergency ambulance service in the world. It responds to medical emergencies in Greater London, England, with its ambulances… -
"Conspiracy Theory" Proven - Taking UCSF Private
22 Jan 2012 | 10:49 pmStudents and faculty at the University of California have come up with a vivid, and prescient example of how the hired executives and bureaucrats have taken over higher and health care education. "Run in the Interests of the Administration"Two weeks ago, the Orange County Register reported:Over the past few months, the University of California has raised undergraduate tuition by 18 percent, awarded raises of as much as 23 percent to a dozen high-ranking administrators and announced a possible 81 percent tuition increase over the next three years.Students haven't taken the news well.At…
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Bioethics Discussion Blog
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A Doctor's Decision: Whether or Not to "Call the Cops"
19 Jan 2012 | 11:47 pmA most interesting scenario was posted on Medpedia by Scott M. Dyck which I am, in part, reproducing here but you might want to go there to review the responses there but also feel free to make your comments here. If you were the doctor in this case, what would you do? ..Maurice.You are a general practitioner and a mother comes into your office with her child who is complaining of flu-like symptoms. Upon entering the room, you ask the boy to remove his shirt and you notice a pattern of very distinct bruises on the boy's torso. You ask the mother where the bruises came from, and she tells you… -
Doctor vs Computer: Can a Computer Make a Better Diagnosis?
14 Jan 2012 | 1:36 pmI found this visitor question on a discussion forum:" i was debating this with some doctors who say that it would be impossible to program a computer to make diagnoses as well as they can. i find this pretty ridiculous. whatever thought process/string of questions they would use to analyze the situation are the same that the computer would be programmed to use. the compute:r would then analyze all available information, ask questions, analyze the answers and assign probabilities. in fact, it seems like this would be way simpler than some of the things computers have already been… -
Patient Modesty: Volume 47
11 Jan 2012 | 7:46 pmWe continue here the discussion regarding how the concerns about healthcare provider gender selection by patients and ways for the patient to be more comfortable with those who attend them can be brought to the attention of all those who provide service and maintain the status quo in the healthcare system. ..Maurice.ADDENDUM (1-16-2012) On this date, PT, a long-time writer to this thread on Patient Modesty, wrote the following comment which includes a potentially valuable suggestion for a method for those who want to change the current medical system regarding patient modesty and… -
Do Oaths and Rules Make a "Good" Doctor?
31 Dec 2011 | 5:04 pmDo oaths and rules make an ethical and caring physician? In the realistic and present day world of medical practice, the way medicine is practiced both in terms of emphasis or de-emphasis of oaths, medical school teachings and established legal and professional requirements are going to be different between one physician and another. There are going to be shortcuts and at times excesses depending on the situation and even the mood of the physician. Doctors are going to take chances or they will strictly follow what they believe are standard operating procedures ("standards of… -
Should Doctors be Allowed to Strike?
25 Dec 2011 | 11:46 pmCurrently, there is a strike by 10,000 physicians at public hospitals in a state of India in an attempt to get better salaries and work opportunities similar to those in other federal hospitals in India. The government has suspended 40 doctors, and 390 others have been arrested for failing to perform their duties.Over the years there have been physician strikes elsewhere in the world and in the United States for various reasons including the high cost of malpractice insurance. A 2004 article in the American Journal of Bioethics by Autumn Fiester argues the ethics against walkouts by…
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Health Care Organizational Ethics
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Bereavement is Sad, but it's not a Depressive Illness
26 Jan 2012 | 6:31 amThe status of bereavement in the next edition of the American Psychiatric Association's Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders ("DSM") is in the news again. DSM IV, first published in 1994, defines "major depression" by a constellation of symptoms. Depressed mood and/or loss of pleasure capacity must be present, along with symptoms like sleep disturbance, fatigue, restless agitation or a feeling of being slowed down, loss of appetite and diminished ability to concentrate. The symptoms must represent a change from prior status and be present for at least two weeks. All of these… -
Health Care as a Source of Ill Health
22 Jan 2012 | 8:31 amZeke Emanuel, who is becoming the national educator-in-chief about health care in his new role at the University of Pennsylvania, preaches an excellent sermon in today's New York Times - "What We Give Up for Health Care." Zeke's point is obvious, but, amazingly, it's one our political process has been oblivious to: what we spend on health care we can't spend for other purposes. That creates an ethical imperative to consider opportunity costs for health care expenditures. The proper question is - "does this health care expenditure create more human benefit than other possible expenditures?"… -
Should 14 Year Olds be Sentenced to Life in Prison?
16 Jan 2012 | 9:46 amRachel Aviv, who wrote a superb New Yorker article about a woman in New Hampshire who - guided by psychotic delusions - starved to death, has written another gem, this one in the January 2 New Yorker: "No Remorse: Should a teen-ager be given a life sentence?" On March 6, 2010, Dakotah Eliason shot and killed his grandfather Jesse Miles while Jesse was asleep. For several hours he contemplated the choice between suicide and murder. Dakotah was unhappy about the breakup with a girlfriend, but had not otherwise seemed depressed. He loved Jesse and had had no conflict… -
Medical Ethics and Blaming the Victim
15 Jan 2012 | 9:18 amA article on female genital pain got me thinking about one of my pet peeves in medicine – blaming the victim. The condition – vulvodynia - was often blamed on the woman, as in saying “it’s a fear of sex,” “it’s in your head,” or “it’s classical hysteria.” Now it turns out that identifiable, but subtle, anatomical factors appear to cause it. Treatment has improved. Blame is diminishing. I first heard clinical teachers say things like “the patient failed chemotherapy so we decided to try…” when I was in medical school. The people saying this were typically devoted… -
Raising the Age for Medicare Eligibility - First Prize Dumb Idea
12 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amThis week the Congressional Budget Office released a report on proposals to raise the age of eligibility for Medicare and Social Security. The CBO concludes that raising Medicare eligibility to 67 would reduce federal spending by $148 billion between 2012 through 2021. By 2030, Medicare's net spending would be reduced by 5% - 4.7% of GDP rather than 5%. Those numbers sound good. But reducing federal expenditures doesn't reduce the need for medical care. Some lucky folks (I'm in that category) (a) have employment that provides health insurance and (b) are happy to continue working.
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Global bioethics blog
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Failing to treat TB, until TB treatment fails
12 Jan 2012 | 11:43 pmThere are reports coming out of India of patients who have tuberculosis that responds to none of the existing drug regimes. When you have MDR (multidrug resistant) TB, the first-line drugs will not work on it, and your physician has to resort to second-line drugs that tend to be more expensive, less effective, have more side effects, and take longer to cure you from TB. When you have XDR (extensively drug resistant) TB, there is no point in you taking the first-line drugs as well as several of those in the second-line. Your clinical options and prognosis dwindle. Now there is the concept of… -
Playing good cop/bad cop with Guatemala
10 Jan 2012 | 10:33 pmLast year, the discovery that abusive sexually transmitted disease (STD) research was funded and conducted by the US government in Guatemala in the 1940's was headline news. This week, we are hearing two quite different responses to those events in the press. The US Department of Health and Human Services announced that it will commit roughly 1.8 million to strengthen public health activities on HIV and STDs in Guatemala as well as help bolster ethical protections for research participants in that country. It is hard to see this newfound interest in Guatemala, STDs and ethics as a… -
Bioethics of food in the DR Congo
3 Jan 2012 | 10:27 pmAn article in the New York Times about the Democratic Republic of Congo had me thinking about bioethics on a very basic level. As organisms, humans need food to survive. This is clear. So if a society has become incapable of providing conditions where its citizens -- even formally employed ones -- can reasonably gain access to food for themselves and their families, something has gone really terribly wrong. This situation is not something that gains much attention in bioethics, despite the known impacts of undernutrition on health. For sure, nutrition makes an appearance once in awhile, say… -
Top 10 HIV and ethics stories for 2011
31 Dec 2011 | 3:01 pmI was looking on the web today hoping to find a top-10 list of bioethics stories for 2011. It is time of the year for such lists, and you would think that someone would be busy compiling bioethics stories of global significance, like whether extremely obese kids should be removed from their parents, the identity issues raised by face transplants or those pesky animal-human hybrids. Alas, I can't seem to find anything. There is always the Top 10 Evil Human Experiments, but beside the question of how these are determined (is there an Academy of Evil?), this is not specific to 2011. Of all… -
Ethically dubious business practices at Boingo
19 Dec 2011 | 10:19 pmThis is a post about ethics, but not bioethics.On my recent trip to Madagascar, I needed to get online at airports in order to do email and surf the web, in preparation for the planned bioethics and public health ethics workshop at the Institut National de Sante Publique and Communautaire in Antananarivo. So I signed on for a 'pay as you go' plan with Boingo, a company that enables you to gain access to internet hotspots at a price. You can find Boingo hotspots in airports from Malawi to Moscow to Jakarta. But the company, as I later found out, charges you outrageous prices for every access;…
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Health Care Law Blog
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HIPAA Privacy Action Filed Against University Health Associates
23 Jan 2012 | 1:40 pmThe West Virginia Record reports the filing of a medical record breach action against West Virginia University Medical Corporation dba University Health Associates (UHA) under the Privacy Rule of the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (HIPAA). The action filed in Monongalia Circuit Court was filed by Jennifer M. McGinley on behalf of Randy Friend (11-C-774). The complaint asserts that Mr. Friend received a letter from UHA indicating that an employee had accessed his medical record without authorization. Mr. Friend claims that his medical record was accessed multiple… -
WVHCA: 2012 CON Capital Expenditure Minimum
3 Jan 2012 | 9:31 amThe West Virginia Health Care Authority has announced the 2012 certificate of need capital expenditure minimum threshold of $2,916,104. The new threshold is effective beginning January 1, 2012. The threshold is used as a part of the analysis by health care providers who must determine whether or not a certificate of need is required for a proposed project or health care acquisition. Pursuant to W.Va. Code 16-2D-2(h) and (s), the Authority is required to adjust the expenditure minimum annually and publish an update of the amount on or before December 31 of each year. The expenditure… -
Health Care Law Blog: Have a Wonderful Holiday Season!
23 Dec 2011 | 7:40 amHappy Holidays to my clients, health care and lawyer colleagues, and other readers of the Health Care Law Blog I appreciate your continued support and hope that 2012 will be as exciting and wonderful as this past year. See you in 2012! In years past I have sent out our standard Flaherty Sensabaugh Bonasso PLLC holiday card to thank my clients for trusting our firm with their business and my colleagues for all they do for me throughout the year. Instead, this year I decided to go GREEN and red by sending out an e-greeting and do a holiday blog post with our firm's… -
Thanksgiving 2011: Occupy The Dinner Table and Engage With Grace
24 Nov 2011 | 8:41 amThe Engage with Grace Project is an effort to raise awareness of the importance of end of life care planning and discussing your wishes with your family and friends. Dr. Bryan Vartabedian captures the simplicity of the project in his post, "It began with a simple idea: Create a tool to get people talking. Their tool is a slide with five questions designed to initiate dialog about our end-of-life preferences." Take time during the Thanksgiving weekend to "occupy the dinner table" with your family and friends. Discuss the 5 questions below and share your thoughts and feelings. This… -
HIPAA/HITECH Audits: OCR Program to Audit 150 Covered Entities
9 Nov 2011 | 5:39 amToday the Office for Civil Right (OCR) announced details of a pilot program to perform up to 150 audits of covered entities to assess privacy and security compliance under HIPAA. OCR will be conducting the audits between November 2011 and December 2012. The days of waiting for HIPAA privacy and security enforcement activities are over. The announcement of these planned audits will get the attention of health care providers who have failed to focus on HIPAA privacy and security compliance efforts. The announcement will remind all health care providers to maintain an active, current HIPAA…
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HealthBlawg :: David Harlow's Health Care Law Blog
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Me too! It's not fair! The tragedy of the commons in the health care marketplace
4 Jan 2012 | 11:44 amThere are at least two conversations going on in the health care marketplace today, each focused on one of two key questions. One is: How can we achieve the Triple Aim? The other is: Why do they get to do that? (It's not fair! I want more!) Until we stop asking the second question, we can't answer the first question. Why? Because all too often the answer to the second question is the equivalent of: It's OK, Timmy, I'll buy you TWO lollipops; pick whichever ones you want. It's the tragedy of the commons, transposed to the health care marketplace. Recent cases in point: Avastin Tufts… -
Health Care Social Media – How to Engage Online Without Getting into Trouble (Part II)
4 Jan 2012 | 8:57 amI have been asked to write up some of the core takeaways from the health care social media presentations I have been giving recently, so I am sharing a version of this narrative on HealthBlawg, in two parts. You may wish to begin with Part I. Professional responsibility and malpractice liability The American Medical Association has promulgated a social media policy; so has the Veterans Administration. The two represent very different approaches. The AMA essentially advocates proceeding with caution, and being cognizant of the damage that one’s own social media activities –… -
Health Care Social Media – How to Engage Online Without Getting into Trouble (Part I)
3 Jan 2012 | 7:55 amI have been asked recently to write up some of the core takeaways from the health care social media presentations I have been giving recently, so I am sharing a version of this narrative on HealthBlawg, in two parts. Check back later this week for Part II. Introduction “Why do you rob banks?” “That’s where the money is.” The legendary bank robber Willie Sutton, when asked, gave this straightforward response explaining his motivation. A similar motivation may be ascribed to the early adopters among health care providers who have established beachheads on various social media… -
Microsoft GE Healthcare joint venture - A sign of weakness or strength?
9 Dec 2011 | 5:35 pmMicrosoft and GE Healthcare announced a joint venture yesterday (as-yet unnamed), trumpeted as bringing together the best of both companies' offerings in the health care provider market. (More from the NY Times.) Late in the day, I spoke with Brandon Savage, Chief Medical Officer at GE Healthcare, and Nate McLemore, General Manager of Microsoft Health Solutions Group. They had a great deal to say about the companies' shared vision of the use of platform technology to enable care teams to deliver the right decision at the right time, noting that their core products complement each other… -
Deja Vu All Over Again: David Harlow speaks with Gene Lindsey, MD, President and CEO of Atrius Health and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates
5 Dec 2011 | 6:17 amRecently, I had the opportunity to speak with Gene Lindsey, President and CEO of Atrius Health and Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates. Atrius is a 1000-physician allliance of six medical groups in eastern and central Massachusetts; Harvard Vanguard is the largest of those groups. We discussed some current developments in the health care regulatory landscape and marketplace, and Atrius' approach to positioning itself for success -- as well as its definition of success -- in the current environment, in domains ranging from improvinmg medical education to achieving the Triple Aim. Gene is…
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HealthLawProf Blog
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Worth Reading This Week
27 Jan 2012 | 8:26 amAmy Monahan, Fairness Versus Welfare in Health Insurance Content Regulation, SSRN/Ill. L.Rev. Alex Stein, Toward a Theory of Medical Malpractice, SSRN/Iowa L.Rev. Pieter Cohen, Assessing Supplement Safety — The FDA's Controversial Proposal, NJEM Sharon Long et al, Massachusetts Health Reforms:... -
Health Law Headlines of the Week (1/15-1/21)
22 Jan 2012 | 9:22 amSam Baker, Court Angst for Left Over Healthcare, The Hill, Jan. 18, 2012 (here). Supporters of President Obama’s healthcare reform have lost the high level of confidence they once displayed that the Supreme Court would throw out constitutional challenges to... -
Lombardo on Legal Archaeology
21 Jan 2012 | 12:48 pmPaul A. Lombardo published an essay "Legal Archaeology: Recovering the Stories behind the Cases" in the Fall 2008 issue of the Journal of Law, Medicine, and Ethics. It reminded me of the wonderful chapters in this volume of "health law... -
Worth Reading This Week
20 Jan 2012 | 8:22 amAshutosh Avinash Bhagwat, Sorrell v. IMS Health: Details, Detailing, and the Death of Privacy, SSRN/Vermont L.Rev. James Bennett, Pandering for Profit: The Transformation of Health Charities to Lobbyists, SSRN Andrew Koppelman, Bad News for Everybody: Lawson and Kopel on Health... -
Is the Cost Curve Bending?
19 Jan 2012 | 2:56 pmPerceptive analysis by Karen Davis over on the Commonwealth Fund Blog, here. While the recession has played an important role in the reduced utilization of health care services, the efforts made over the last decade to transform health care delivery...
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Most Popular Items from healthcarefinancenews.com
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HHS to allow some organizations extra year to comply with contraceptive benefits
23 Jan 2012 | 9:50 amDespite efforts by some religious organizations to be exempt from its provisions, the Obama Administration announced Friday that employers must offer health benefits that provide coverage for contraceptive services without charging a co-pay, co-insurance or a deductible. read more -
6 ways hospital CEOs can succeed in marketing their brand
18 Jan 2012 | 3:28 pmAs healthcare business models evolve more quickly than ever to keep pace with sweeping reforms and emerging competitors, CEOs who support their hospitals' marketing goals are in the best position to gain a competitive edge, says brand strategy firm Smith & Jones. read more -
Stem cell technologies market to hit $700M in 2012
18 Jan 2012 | 9:01 amThe market for stem cell technologies will rise to over $700 million this year, and given some positive trends, could reach over $1 billion, according to healthcare market research publisher Kalorama Information. In its new report, “Stem Cells: Worldwide Markets for Transplantation, Cord Blood Banking and Drug Development,” Kalorama cites newly permitted U.S. usage and accompanying research funding in its positive forecasts. Kalorama included a range for its market forecast because some factors are variable. read more -
Thomson Reuters names top 15 health systems
17 Jan 2012 | 9:21 amThe top healthcare systems in the United States have lower 30-day mortality rates finds Thomson Reuters’ fourth annual study naming the top 15 health systems in the country. read more -
Maine Governor at odds with providers of care for children, elderly
13 Jan 2012 | 8:46 amSeventy five thousand beneficiaries may be cut by Maine's Medicaid system this year. MaineCare supports Maine's elderly, children and indigent, and while Governor Paul LePage stands by his cuts, beneficiaries and healthcare providers deem them "unacceptable." The cuts come in an effort to save $200 million in Medicaid costs over one or two years. Throwing those Mainers into the deep end or cutting payments to healthcare providers is the only way to save that much money in a timely manner, according to LePage. No sticky read more
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News from healthcarefinancenews.com
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'Triple aim' is priority for Tavenner and CMS
27 Jan 2012 | 10:19 amMarilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual health care, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law and translated into initiatives by her predecessor. In 2014, most of the reform provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) kick in and “24 months is not a lot of time” to get all the work done and fit the pieces together, she said. read more -
Florida remains behind the pack on healthcare reform
27 Jan 2012 | 9:55 amIn addition to being the sole state named on the moniker Florida et al vs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services case that the Supreme Court will hear in late March, Florida is one of four states trailing the most on health reform. That’s according to a survey published this week by the self-described non-partisan Urban Institute, which listed those states as Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. read more -
ACP releases national healthcare report and argues for SGR repeal
27 Jan 2012 | 8:56 amThe healthcare industry is making progress but is being held back by a broken political structure, said American College of Physicians leadership Thursday in a live web broadcast reviewing its State of the Nation’s Health Care report. read more -
New drugs may lift pharma revenues in 2012
27 Jan 2012 | 7:24 amNew drugs in three multi-billion dollar categories will help pharmaceutical companies offset patent expirations and will ease pressure on credit rating outlooks, says a new report from Moody's Investors Service. In its report, “R&D Breakthroughs Create Opportunities to Lift Flagging Revenues,” Moody’s paints an optimistic picture for pharma sales in 2012. read more -
4 industry issues plaguing healthcare CEOs in 2012
26 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pmRecently, the Huron Consulting Group released its report, “Leading Through Transformation: Top Healthcare CEO’s Perspectives on the Future of Healthcare.” The report included insights from the Huron Healthcare CEO Forum and took a hard look at some of the top industry issues that will be plaguing CEOs in the year to come. read more
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Industry News from healthcarefinancenews.com
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'Triple aim' is priority for Tavenner and CMS
27 Jan 2012 | 10:19 amMarilyn Tavenner, acting administrator for the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, expressed urgency in pressing forward with the “triple aim” goals of better individual health care, better population health and lower costs called for in the health reform law and translated into initiatives by her predecessor. In 2014, most of the reform provisions of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) kick in and “24 months is not a lot of time” to get all the work done and fit the pieces together, she said. read more -
Florida remains behind the pack on healthcare reform
27 Jan 2012 | 9:55 amIn addition to being the sole state named on the moniker Florida et al vs. U.S. Department of Health and Human Services case that the Supreme Court will hear in late March, Florida is one of four states trailing the most on health reform. That’s according to a survey published this week by the self-described non-partisan Urban Institute, which listed those states as Texas, Florida, Georgia, and Ohio. read more -
ACP releases national healthcare report and argues for SGR repeal
27 Jan 2012 | 8:56 amThe healthcare industry is making progress but is being held back by a broken political structure, said American College of Physicians leadership Thursday in a live web broadcast reviewing its State of the Nation’s Health Care report. read more -
New drugs may lift pharma revenues in 2012
27 Jan 2012 | 7:24 amNew drugs in three multi-billion dollar categories will help pharmaceutical companies offset patent expirations and will ease pressure on credit rating outlooks, says a new report from Moody's Investors Service. In its report, “R&D Breakthroughs Create Opportunities to Lift Flagging Revenues,” Moody’s paints an optimistic picture for pharma sales in 2012. read more -
4 industry issues plaguing healthcare CEOs in 2012
26 Jan 2012 | 12:37 pmRecently, the Huron Consulting Group released its report, “Leading Through Transformation: Top Healthcare CEO’s Perspectives on the Future of Healthcare.” The report included insights from the Huron Healthcare CEO Forum and took a hard look at some of the top industry issues that will be plaguing CEOs in the year to come. read more
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MDBR - News
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BioReference introduces solid tumor genotype test
27 Jan 2012 | 5:49 amBioReference Laboratories, a provider of laboratory offering testing and information services, has launched its solid tumor genotype test, OnkoMatch. -
DHL wins healthcare manufacturing license in Japan
27 Jan 2012 | 5:44 amDHL Supply Chain has obtained a medical device manufacturing license from the Tokyo Metropolitan Government for its Tokyo Logistics Centre in Yashio, Shinagawa, Japan. -
Leesburg Regional performs TAVI procedures in Central Florida
27 Jan 2012 | 5:27 amLeesburg Regional Medical Center has sucessfully performed two transcatheter aortic valve implantation (TAVI) procedures in Central Florida. -
Charter cell freeze cryogenic storage containers win CE mark
27 Jan 2012 | 5:25 amCharter Medical, a Lydall subsidiary, has received CE Mark approval for its next generation cell freeze cryogenic storage containers used for hematopoietic progenitor cells (HPC's). -
ABS grants ISO certification to MMI imaging core lab services
27 Jan 2012 | 5:23 amABS Quality Evaluations has granted ISO 9001:2008 certification to Medical Metrics' (MMI) imaging core lab services.
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Emergency Medicine Blog
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Heuristics and Cognitive Biases in Decision Making During Clinical Emergencies
17 Jan 2012 | 10:43 amWhen faced with a potential clinical emergency situation, physicians are often expected to make diagnostic decisions within a limited time frame. A delayed decision, albeit an accurate one, is a futile decision if the patient deteriorates. Therefore, as almost always, such urgent decisions have to be made with some degree of uncertainty. This is especially so in an environment like the emergency -
Severe Sepsis Talk by Emmanuel Rivers (Originally posted in EMCrit Blog)
4 Sep 2011 | 1:06 amEarly goal directed therapy (EGDT) is a series of targeted treatment measures directed aggressively and as early as possible for the first 6 hours for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock. The EGDT was first conceptualized by Emmanuel Rivers. The EGDT was well known through a landmark paper published in NEJM (looking back, this paper is already 10 years old!): Rivers E., Nguyen B., -
Prehospital Care in Malaysia and Kendrick Extrication Device
14 Aug 2011 | 9:05 amPrehospital care in Malaysia - Issues and Challenges View more presentations from Chew Keng Sheng This talk was the first lecturer that I gave during the Prehospital Care course that I conducted for the Red Crescent volunteers of Penang Branch Malaysia. This slide was prepared based on a commentary journal article that I wrote together with Dr. Hiang Chuan Chan from Kuching Sarawak. Red -
Some Lessons Learned From ACEM 2011 Bangkok - Emerging Drugs of Abuse in Asia and Riot Control Agents
13 Jul 2011 | 11:39 amIn every conference that I attended, I tried to learn at least one or two things, if not, more. In ACEM 2011, I find that the toxicology track was particularly interesting. Two specific topics are of particular interest to me (since they are relatively new stuffs to me):Emerging Drugs of Abuse in AsiaRiot Control Agents In this blog post, I will share some of the things I learned from -
Hypopyon
24 Jun 2011 | 11:02 pmA hypopyon is a pus collection within the anterior chamber of the eye.Patients will present with pain, irritation, itchiness of affected eye. Some may have decreased visual acuity or photophobia. This patient did not have decreased visual acuity or photophobia other than the limited visual field besides the pain and irritation.It is not a disease per se, but a presentation of diseases. It can
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caring-for-mom-and-dad.info
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Disabled mother 66 and husband 57 financially dysfunctional
27 Jan 2012 | 8:45 pmMy mother retired early due to a stroke, cashed out her pension ($500,000) and spent it all in two years. Now she only has disability income. Her husband is younger, still works at a medium-wage job, constantly takes out new lines of credit. My sister has taken on managing all their finances, has been doing... [Continue Reading] -
Is there any hope for me due to I need a transfer bench for my bathroom but I can’t buy one due to my financies
27 Jan 2012 | 8:41 amMy mother constantly is calling me fat. What can I do?Answered 14 mins ago by madge1 -
would an elder whom din’t like touch before their dementia like or desire it now?
26 Jan 2012 | 8:39 pmwould an elder whom din’t like touch before their dementia like or desire it now?Answered 10 mins ago by JessieBelle Read more from: http://www.agingcare.com/Questions/would-an-elder-whom-dint-like-touch-before-their-dementia-like-or-desire-it-now-149334.htm -
Last night my mother decided to sleep on the floor. We try talking to her but it never works How do I best approach this with her?
26 Jan 2012 | 8:37 amIf we hire a private caregiver as an employee, what are we responsible for besides taxes?Answered 15 mins ago by chritz Read more from: http://www.agingcare.com/Questions/talk-to-elder-sleeping-on-floor-149327.htm -
p
25 Jan 2012 | 8:36 pmsAsked 18 mins ago by ZOEY1ZULU2 The Caregiver….How are YOU doing today?Comment 25 mins ago by allshesgot Read more from: http://www.agingcare.com/Questions/p-149322.htm
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News from Scott & White Healthcare
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Scott & White Healthcare opens new clinic in Leander
23 Jan 2012 | 3:04 pmScott & White Healthcare has opened a brand new, 12,000+-square-foot family medicine clinic at 1007 South U.S. Hwy 183 in Leander today January 23. Plans for the clinic, which includes primary care physicians, specialty physicians, and physical therapy services, were first announced in April 2011. A ribbon cutting ceremony will take place on Thursday, February 2 at 4:00pm. Specialty care services include cardiology, psychology, orthopedics, and podiatry. The clinic features 14 exam rooms, two treatment rooms, on-site X-ray, laboratory services, and a physical therapy… -
1/18/12 Update on school bus accident in Little River/Academy
18 Jan 2012 | 3:53 pmOne child and one adult remain hospitalized today in Temple hospitals following a major school bus accident in Little River/Academy on Tuesday. The condition of both patients is critical. Thirty-two patients were brought to Scott & White Hospital – Temple and Children’s Hospital Scott & White after the collision involving the bus and a building materials delivery truck around 7:30 a.m. yesterday (1/17). -
4:30 pm update on school bus accident in Little River/Academy
17 Jan 2012 | 4:35 pm4:30 pm update – Most of the children and adults involved in this morning’s school bus rollover in the Little River / Academy area have been released from Scott & White hospitals in Temple. Thirty-two patients were brought to Scott & White Hospital – Temple and Children’s Hospital Scott & White. Three children and one adult remain hospitalized at this time. Both Scott & White Hospital – Temple and Children’s Hospital Scott & White are open for normal operations. If that should change, we will make public announcements to the news media and… -
11:33 am update on school bus accident
17 Jan 2012 | 11:39 am11:33 am update – A school bus rollover occurred this morning in the Little River / Academy area on Highway 93. Thirty-two patients were brought to Scott & White Hospital – Temple and the Children’s Hospital Scott & White. As of this report, all patients are being treated, but none has been officially discharged as yet (this corrects earlier information provided in the previous advisory). Twenty-nine children are being treated; five of those children have been admitted, one in critical condition. Three adults are among those being treated, and one of those adults has… -
Update on school bus accident from Little River
17 Jan 2012 | 9:48 am9:35am update – Two children have been admitted to the Children’s Hospital, and another 14 are being evaluated and treated. 14 children have been treated and released at Scott & White Hospital – Temple, with one adult being admitted. Concerned families should call 254-724-0016 for information. The hospital remains open and operating while the Emergency Department staff evaluate and treat arriving victims. As the Level 1 trauma center for the region, Scott & White Hospital – Temple is communicating and coordinating with emergency responders to provide care for…
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THE SECOND CHANCE SHEEPDOG
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Politicians and NASCAR Drivers
26 Jan 2012 | 10:52 amA friend of mine shared the picture below on Facebook a few days ago, and I've noticed it's starting to make the rounds on the Internet. I decided it was so good that I just had to "borrow" it and share it. However, I may need to offer NASCAR drivers an apology for doing so. -
Music Monday with Building 429
23 Jan 2012 | 12:30 amThe Sheepdog's gonna mix it up again with this week's Music Monday. I started the year with hard rock and metal. Then, last week, I toned it down just a bit with The Rolling Stones. Now, I change it up again, and do so with another "newbie" - a Christian band that has not appeared on my Music Mondays before. Today's featured artist is Building 429. They've became one of Christian music's most popular bands in only about five short years. These guys began playing together in the late '90s, but their big shot came about around 2003 when they signed on with Word Records. The Word deal led to… -
"Fuhgeddaboudit"
19 Jan 2012 | 1:52 pmImage via Wikipedia I'm a big fan of mobster / gangster movies. A few of my favorites are Goodfellas, Casino, and The Untouchables. There's also the classics - Scarface and The Godfather I, II, and III. One reason is the action and the shooting, of course, but another is because these movies always have some great, memorable one liners and quotes. Many of us use some of them at one time or another. Recently, I've been thinking about some of those one liners. Most of the time it's after I hear a news report about the 2012 race for the White House, or if I see an image of Mitt Romney or hear… -
"Stoned" on Music Monday
16 Jan 2012 | 9:16 amFirst of all, let to apologize to my readers and e-mail recipients for the fact that today's Music Monday didn't post early this morning. The Sheepdog had some technical difficulties. I'll do better next Monday. That being said, let's get to today's music. After starting off 2012's Music Mondays with metal bands, I decided to mix it up a bit today with a different genre and by featuring a band that has not appeared on my Music Mondays before. At times, this band has been a little controversial, but they have continued to make good music since they formed back in 1962. Sometimes, they are… -
20 Million in 2012
13 Jan 2012 | 3:04 pmThere are a number of campaigns going on in 2012. However, none of them is as important as the newest one from Donate Life America. Their new "20 Million in 2012" Campaign has the potential to make a significant, lasting difference in the lives of Americans all over the country. The campaign's mission is simple - drastically increase the number of registered organ and tissue donors across the country. One way Donate Life America will accomplish this is through four (4) special nationwide events, including a Donate Life Flash Mob in March, the Donate Life Blue and Green Virtual Fashion show in…
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Supporting Safer Healthcare
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American Telemedicine Association Supports Medical Licensure Reform
27 Jan 2012 | 6:39 amOn Tuesday, January 31 the American Telemedicine Association will host an important Capitol Hill briefing entitled, “Physician Licensure Barriers to 21st Century Healthcare.” This public briefing is designed to inform Congressional offices, national organizations and other key stakeholders about how the current U.S. state-based systems to license and regulate physicians unduly restrict quality modern healthcare. Speakers will share constructive ideas for medical licensure reform. The briefing will be held in the Russell Senate Office Building Caucus Room (SR-325) on Tuesday,… -
Aging Physicians – A Valuable Asset
15 Jan 2012 | 1:54 pmAging physicians on your medical staff are a cause for concern. Not just concerns regarding their ability to continue to safely care for patients, but concerns for them as valued friends and colleagues, for their dignity and self-esteem. Medical staff leaders struggle with what, if anything, to do when faced with this dilemma. Should the clinical privileges of older staff members be limited? Should they be forced to retire? Many leaders choose to look the other way, especially when the practitioner is well-loved in the community and no patients have come forward to complain. That… -
New Hospital, New Hope for Joplin, MO
4 Jan 2012 | 3:43 pmSt. John’s Hospital in Joplin was destroyed by a tornado in May 2011. The damage was so severe that the remaining structure is about to be demolished. There is good news for Joplin and St. John’s however, ground will be broken at the end of this month on a new hospital. Best wishes Joplin, for a speedy recovery. -
Today Looks Back at 2011
30 Dec 2011 | 10:59 amNBC’s Today Show looks back at the past year. Visit msnbc.com for breaking news, world news, and news about the economy -
What Your Boss May Not Be Telling You
22 Dec 2011 | 6:18 pmIs your boss happy with your work? If you think he or she must be because “no news is good news” you may be so wrong. As Alison Green reveals in 10 Things Your Boss Isn’t Telling You, bosses are human and some of them avoid conflict, even when having a difficult conversation is called for. If you manage employees, you know that it is a challenging task. Even if your team is great, keeping them educated, motivated and focused requires energy and effort. If you have one or more problem employees, the effort required increases exponentially. Dr. Frank Benest reminds…
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All Kaiser Health News
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Controversial Amendments Injected Into Florida Vaccine Bill
27 Jan 2012 | 2:38 pm -
GOP Presidential Hopefuls: Where They Stand On Health Care
27 Jan 2012 | 11:05 am -
Health Policies In The Fray Of GOP Presidential Primary Debate
27 Jan 2012 | 9:27 am -
GAO: CMS Should Change How It Calculates Medicare Private Plan Payments
27 Jan 2012 | 9:26 am -
States Redesigning Mental Health Programs, Coverage And Care
27 Jan 2012 | 9:06 am
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Alter Inspire
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As States Create Health Insurance Exchanges, Insurers Are Benefiting from the ACA
25 Jan 2012 | 9:41 amThe same insurance companies that spent millions of dollars working to defeat the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) claiming it would raise costs and disrupt coverage, are seeing their profit margins soar to levels not seen since before the recession and are benefiting financially from the law, a Bloomberg Government study shows. Insurers recorded their highest combined quarterly net income of the past 10 years after the law was signed in 2010, said Peter Gosselin, the study author and senior healthcare analyst for Bloomberg Government. The Standard & Poor’s 500 Managed… -
Medicare, Medicaid Costs Rising More Slowly
24 Jan 2012 | 9:18 amHealthcare spending nationally grew slowly for the second successive year in 2010, bringing it in line with growth in the U.S. economy as a whole, according to the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). Spending rose by 3.9 percent in 2010, to $2.6 trillion, while the GDP rose 4.2 percent, according to HHS, which published its findings in the journal Health Affairs. In 2009, spending increased nearly the same by 3.8 percent, but in contrast it’s growth rate was twice that by 7.6 percent in 2007. Spending increases frequently hit double digits in the 1980s and 1990s. While… -
Mental Faculties Can Decline as Young as Age 45
23 Jan 2012 | 11:21 amAn intensive new study has found that memory, reasoning and comprehension can start to decline as early as age 45. This finding runs counter to conventional wisdom that mental decline typically begins after the age of 60, according to the researchers “Cognitive function in normal, healthy adults begins to decline earlier than previously thought,” said study author Archana Singh-Manoux. “It is widely believed that cognitive ability does not decline before the age of 60. We were able to show robust cognitive decline even in individuals aged 45 to 49 years,” added… -
Some of America’s Doctors Are Going Broke
18 Jan 2012 | 11:07 amMany of America’s physicians have an embarrassing secret — they are going broke. This quandary is claiming a wide range of casualties, including family physicians, cardiologists and oncologists. Industry insiders are concerned about the trend. Approximately 50 percent of all doctors operate a private practice. If a cash crunch forces the closure of an independent practice, it robs a community of a vital healthcare resource. “A lot of independent practices are starting to see serious financial issues,” said Marc Lion, CEO of Lion & Company CPAs, LLC, which advises… -
Craig Wortmann on Being an Entrepreneur
17 Jan 2012 | 10:30 amVirtually anyone can be an entrepreneur, although starting one’s own business is a giant leap. Many people look at becoming an entrepreneur as a cause and effect – the academic term being “causal logic”. That may not be the optimal way to view entrepreneurship, however. Rather, the world’s most successful entrepreneurs use effectual logic. According to Craig Wortmann, Clinical Associate Professor of Entrepreneurship at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, “It goes like this: I’m an entrepreneur, I’ve got this idea, I’ve got this limited set of…
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RDS Services - Subsidy Recovery Specialists
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How Plan Sponsors Can Avoid Forfeiting ERRP Monies
20 Jan 2012 | 10:56 amHas your organization collected ERRP reimbursement prior to October 3rd, 2011? If so, proceed with caution before spending the monies. There are many unsuspecting plan sponsors that have yet to complete the last and most important step of the ERRP program requirements. In fact, according to the latest HHS report dated December 2, 2011, over 1,000 plan sponsors who received money from ERRP before October 3rd, 2011 have yet to submit a supporting error-free claim list. This list is required by March 30th, 2012. Per the ERRP Common Question H1100-15, “if a Plan Sponsor fails to do so by… -
ERRP March 30th Claim List Deadline
12 Jan 2012 | 4:15 pmTo date many organizations have collected ERRP reimbursement(s) but, according to the last Health and Human Services (HHS) report, some have not submitted a supporting error-free claim list and reimbursement. HHS requires an error-free claim list by March 30th, 2012. Our company has a program to ensure that this last step is completed before the deadline. As posted on the ERRP.gov website; to substantiate any Early Retiree Reinsurance Program (ERRP) reimbursements received prior to the October 3rd, 2011 claim list automated review requirement, ERRP Plan Sponsors MUST submit an… -
With March 2012 Deadline Looming RDS Services LLC helping Plan Sponsors Avoid Losing ERRP Subsidy.
17 Nov 2011 | 7:56 amOn Monday, October 3, 2011, CMS began providing specific, claim line-level feedback to sponsors who submit claims lists through a new, fully automated review system. All claims lists submitted on or after October 3 must be error-free in order for the plan sponsor to submit a reimbursement request, and then be approved for payment. Each claims list submitted by a plan sponsor must pass through this review system, which includes five levels of audit. If an error occurs at any level, the claims list is rejected before reaching the next level. If a claims List is determined to be invalid and… -
RDS Services Client Satisfaction Survey
31 Oct 2011 | 1:43 pmRDS Services recently compiled the results from its bi-annual Client Satisfaction Surveys. We are proud to report a very positive response rate and very satisfied Early Retiree Reinsurance Program and Retiree Drug Subsidy Program clients. This Survey was sent to all RDS Services clients who are involved in either the Retiree Drug Subsidy Program or both the Retiree Drug Subsidy and Early Retiree Reinsurance Program. The purpose of this Survey was to gain an understanding of the satisfaction level of our clients who utilize our services, and to determine what we need to… -
October 6,2011 ERRP Update
6 Oct 2011 | 9:07 amRecently the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced changes to the ERRP reimbursement request process that will improve and streamline the process of submitting claims data. This announcement which came on September 12, 2011, implements a new, fully-automated review system. This new system will provide Plan Sponsors with more detailed and specific feedback about their Claim List submissions. Plan Sponsors will receive claim line level feedback on Claim Lists in the form of a Claim List Response File. Reason codes for errors found in the Claim List will be contained in Claim…
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The Health Shopper
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Newsbyte: Contraception now almost free!
20 Jan 2012 | 6:07 pmAs of today almost all employer-sponsored health plans will be required to cover contraceptives without deductibles, co-pays, etc. 28 states currently require health plans to cover contraceptives to some extent; the new ruling has made them completely cost-free. The only exception is religious organizations, nonprofits, and places of worship that employ individuals of the same faith. -
Joint venture: Microsoft + GE
13 Dec 2011 | 1:00 pmLast week Microsoft announced its new joint venture with GE, an open tech platform that would allow for “better population health management”. The as-yet-unnamed venture plans to develop clinical health care applications that would bring various healthcare IT products together. Microsoft will be providing technologies such as Amalga, expreSSO, and Vergence, while GE will be contributing Qualibria and its eHealth health information exchange. An interesting pairing: two multinational conglomerates, one joint health care venture. -
Major Consumer Protection Policy Kicks In Today
2 Dec 2011 | 10:17 pmToday, the provision known as the Medical Loss Ration will drop. This provision requires health insurance companies to spend 80% of their consumers’ premiums on medical care, as opposed to marketing or overhead costs. If they do not do this, the companies will be required to send back a rebate check detailing the amount they did not spend on medical care. The Department of Health and Human Services has detailed the parameters for qualification as a medical expenditure, though these rules are still being “fine-tuned”. -
Supreme Court To Take On Health Care Reform
15 Nov 2011 | 2:23 amYesterday the Supreme Court confirmed that, as expected for this year’s term term, it will rule on the constitutionality of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Court plans to hear 5.5 hours of arguments on the case by March of next year; a ruling is expected in June. The ruling aims to answer two essential questions: is the individual mandate, which requires individuals to purchase health insurance, is constitutional? And if not, should the entire piece of legislation be nullified? The federal government has pushed through various consumer protection and premium… -
Newsbyte: Higher Premiums for Obesity, Smoking
31 Oct 2011 | 1:50 amIn the past, employers have offered various weight loss, diet and nutrition, and smoking cessation classes, but the programs have done little to ameliorate poor health practices – and they’ve failed to pull in a crowd. Now, along with the free programs, many employers are tacking on much higher premiums for unhealthy employees. While the programs will remain voluntary, employees will likely find that utilizing them will be beneficial in the long run. From lowered premiums to employer bonuses to HSAs, the financial rewards for taking advantage of the programs are likely to be a big…
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Freelance MD
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Doctors Living On Loans
26 Jan 2012 | 10:35 amCNN Money has a story about the increasing number of doctors living on SBA loans. Read the entire story here Dr. Bryan Glick, a family physician, took out a $198,000 SBA loan to start his own practice in Anthem, Ariz., shortly after graduating from his residency in 2009. Doctors: Why we can't stay afloat That loan sustained his practice for more than a year, but he still was not making money. So he took over a concierge practice 30 miles away in Scottsdale. His concierge medical practice doesn't accept any insurance and charges an annual membership fee ranging from $3,000 to $5,000 for… -
The Pharma Rep Physician Hunting Guide
24 Jan 2012 | 5:36 pmAh the famous charts and smiles crowd. Hat tip to ZDoggMD. -
How Doctors Becomes Successful Writers
22 Jan 2012 | 7:53 pmSuzanne Koven, MD, is an internist who came to the publishing course that I direct at Harvard Medical School (www.HarvardWriters.com) a few years ago. At that time her goals were to hone her writing skills and to learn more about publishing opportunities. A year later, I invited her back to speak to the attendees--one of the few "Success Stories" we have featured at the course who has not actually published a book (though that's about to change with her first book coming out soon). What I remember most about Suzanne's talk was her football analogy about… -
Tebowing Your Message: Applying the Principles of Tebowmania to Your Endeavors
22 Jan 2012 | 2:28 pmWell, the Broncos' season is over, but not before Tim Tebowmania reached a fever pitch. I knew it was nearing insanity when both my wife and mother-- neither of whom had ever watched an NFL game on their own before-- each independently told me they were planning on spending their Saturday night watching the game. Needless to say, I was amazed. It seems like everyone has an opinion on Tim Tebow. Some people love him, others hate him. The one thing that's agreed upon, however, is that everyone is talking about him. What I find most remarkable is not that a young… -
Physicians + Money Management
22 Jan 2012 | 9:40 amIf you've been in medicine for even a little while, you know there are a number of taboo subjects that just aren't discussed. One of the most important discussions that medical students do not have while in training is the subject of money and overall financial management. At our most recent Medical Fusion Conference I was able to sit down with Dr. Setu Mazumdar, an Emergency Medicine physician turned financial manager. Setu gives his perspective of "financial independence" in this interview. Check it out...it's worth watching. Hopefully, by learning a bit about…
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Schwartz PRx
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Med Tech Marketers - Don't Be Left On the Social Media Sidelines!
24 Jan 2012 | 2:33 pmIf you are a med tech marketer trying to make sense of how and when to engage in social media as part of your overall marketing mix then you don’t want to miss our next healthcare social media event. Schwartz MSL and MassMEDIC are co-hosting a free social media best practices working group for MassMEDIC members at our new conference center on Friday, February 3 at 8:00 a.m. in Waltham.Representatives from Philips, Palomar, Smith & Nephew and Vention Medical will participate in a roundtable discussion on social media practices to discuss how marketing, legal, regulatory and HR can… -
Pay Attention to Mobile Health at HIMSS '12
13 Jan 2012 | 11:29 amBy Brenna Hagy HIMSS 2012 is right around the corner, and healthcare IT (HIT) companies are revving their engines to make the most of their time at the show. The Schwartz MSL Healthcare IT Practice Group spoke with Eric Wicklund, one of the industry’s top trade reporters. Eric is the editor at the newly launched mHIMSS website. He shared with us what he is looking forward to at the show and what topics and trends he’ll cover.1. What are you most looking forward to at HIMSS 2012?HIT X.0, a sub-conference that will showcase… -
What Journalists Want at HIMSS '12
10 Jan 2012 | 9:12 amby Shweta AgarwalJournalists attending HIMSS 2012 are filling out their calendars, planning their schedules and starting to look at which vendor meetings will be worth their time. If you are looking to get your company or product on the docket of the influencers who can elevate you above the noise, now is the time to put the wheels into motion. Instead of inundating the inbox of every single media attendee on the HIMSS media list, plan ahead and craft a meaningful public relations strategy that can help put your company in front of the right audience. Joe Goedert, a prominent and respected… -
Tech companies ask: "HIMSS - What's in it for us?"
4 Jan 2012 | 10:39 amSchwartz MSL’s tech clients often ask us if attending HIMSS is worth their time and investment. These technology vendors might have a significant play in the healthcare vertical, but aren’t delivering pure-play HCIT products like EMRs, clinical decision support tools or healthcare billing platforms. Although HIMSS is the largest and most well-attended show dedicated to HCIT, the answer for general tech companies isn’t so clear cut. When discussing with clients the decision to attend or plan a larger presence through exhibiting or sponsorship at HIMSS, we pose the… -
Road to HIMSS - ACOs are Gaining Ground
22 Dec 2011 | 10:28 amRecently, Health Data Management and other outlets reported that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has selected 32 delivery systems to participate in the Pioneer Accountable Care Organization program authorized under the Affordable Care Act. The Pioneer ACO is one of eight programs under the Affordable Care Act aimed at incenting providers to improve the coordination and quality of care while lowering costs by reducing unnecessary tests and focusing on preventive care vs. reactive care. Five of the 32 hospitals, including Partners HealthCare and Steward Health Care System, are in…
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About.com Assisted Living
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Leading Age Offers PEAK Leadership Summit
27 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amLeading Age has introduced a new conference for senior executives. The PEAK Leadership Summit, to be held April 23-25 in Washington, DC, will feature C-level education content, high-caliber speakers, and expert-led strategy sessions through specialized education formats....Read Full Post -
Transitional Care an Emerging Care Coordination Option
25 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amKeeping the beds empty is the goal!Under the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, in fiscal year 2013, hospitals will be penalized by 1 percent for high readmission rates, increasing to two percent in 2014, and three percent in 2015....Read Full Post -
ACO Final Rules Not Exactly Hailed But Welcomed by Providers
23 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amReform has certainly been controversial! The Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) released the final rule for accountable care organizations (ACO). According to Becker's, there are eight things you need to know. Quality measurements are reduced from 65 to 33. This was done to appeal to more providers. All ACOs must eventually transition into Track 2 models. Under Track 1, CMS and the ACO will reconcile savings and allow the ACO to share in those savings without the risk of the ACO sharing in any losses. ACOs can complete their initial agreement period on Track 1, but are then… -
Cardiac Rehab Can Prevent Re-hospitalization
20 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amResearch presented at the 2011 Canadian Cardiovascular Congress in Vancouver shows that cardiac rehabilitation boosts longevity, especially in patients with the lowest fitness levels. Researchers at the Cardiac Wellness Institute of Calgary conducted a study of 2,867 people with coronary artery disease who participated in a cardiac rehab program between 1996 and 2010. After being tested for their fitness levels on a treadmill, participants were categorized into three groups: low fitness, moderate fitness or high fitness based on standardized scores. They then attended 12 weeks of… -
Met Life Survey of Long-Term Care Costs - Things Keep Rising
18 Jan 2012 | 3:00 amThe Met Life Market Survey of Long-Term Care Costs published recently. Here are the highlights: This survey, conducted in conjunction with LifePlans, Inc., contains daily private-pay rates for private and semi-private rooms in licensed nursing homes, monthly base rates for assisted living communities, hourly rates for home health aides from licensed agencies and agency- provided homemaker companion services, and daily rates for adult day services across the United States....Read Full Post
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World of DTC Marketing.com
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This week in healthcare news
27 Jan 2012 | 7:22 amType 1 diabetes — the autoimmune disease that begins in childhood and used to be called juvenile-onset diabetes — is rising, around the globe, at 3 percent to 5 percent per year. And at this point,... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Another indication for antidepressants ?
26 Jan 2012 | 7:18 amPsychiatrists are debating whether or not to change the definition of depression in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders. With 1 in 10 Americans currently on some type of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Is there an opportunity for mobile health apps ?
25 Jan 2012 | 7:46 amI keep hearing about how mobile is “set to explode” for brands and marketers but is this true for health ? The answer to that it depends if pharma can really deliver on the promise of... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Want more new drugs ? Extend patent protection
24 Jan 2012 | 7:26 amGood medicine equals good profits but in today’s complex regulated environment for new drug approvals pharma companies cannot afford to innovate because it costs more to develop new drugs and... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]] -
Lap band surgery: An easy way for clinics to make money at patients expense ?
23 Jan 2012 | 8:02 amHere on the West Coast there is an interesting legal case unfolding around lap band surgery. It seems that a woman, who was not a good candidate for surgery, had the surgery after a clinic... [[ This is a content summary only. Visit my website for full links, other content, and more! ]]
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American Medical News
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States maintain or ease access to Medicaid and CHIP
27 Jan 2012 | 7:08 amTwenty-nine states lowered cost-sharing, increased eligibility or improved enrollment systems in 2011, according to a survey. -
American Lung Assn. gives mixed reception to tobacco control efforts
27 Jan 2012 | 7:08 amAn annual report lauds graphic warning labels for cigarettes but takes the federal government to task for squandering "a huge opportunity to help smokers quit." -
Blues plans form subsidiary to handle expected boost in individual, small-business claims
26 Jan 2012 | 7:07 amThe move anticipates more insured patients once health reform is in place in 2014. The plans say physicians should notice faster claims processing. -
Sebelius urges supporters to defend health reform law
26 Jan 2012 | 7:07 amCongressional Republicans have continued to urge repeal of the statute while attempting to invalidate pieces of it. -
FDA issues first social media rules for drug companies
25 Jan 2012 | 7:03 amProposed regulations address online interaction with consumers, but pharmaceutical manufacturers say they need more specific guidance.
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fiercehealthpayer.com
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Mass. reform increased insured, didn't cut costs
27 Jan 2012 | 11:06 amHealth reform in Massachusetts has increased the number of people with health insurance coverage significantly, but it hasn't helped stem rising healthcare costs. Because the Massachusetts reform served as the model for the federal health reform law, the Bay State's progress is relevant to the rest of the country. Essentially, "the findings for Massachusetts are a reminder that major gains in coverage and associated benefits are possible" under health reform, according to a survey report published in the journal Health Affairs. Roughly 94 percent of Massachusetts residents aged 19 to 64 are… -
Insurer fined $100,000 for using unapproved rates
27 Jan 2012 | 10:55 amWashington insurance officials have issued a $100,000 fine to Unicare Life and Health Insurance for selling policies with unapproved rates. The Indiana-based insurer allegedly charged unapproved premium rates to international students attending several Washington colleges, including University of Washington and Washington State University, used unlicensed insurance agents and wrongly excluded certain medical care, reported the Seattle Times. From 2004 to 2009, Unicare sold almost 8,700 medical certificates covering 34,000 people. But the Washington insurance department later determined… -
Senior care causes WellPoint profits to drop 39%
27 Jan 2012 | 10:51 amWellPoint's fourth quarter profits fell 39 percent to $335.3 million, down from $548.8 million a year earlier. Unexpectedly high Medicare claims took a toll on the insurer. Although most insurers have benefited from low healthcare utilization, the recent trend didn't provide an advantage for WellPoint after it picked up a northern California Medicare plan covering thousands of people with expensive health issues, reported the Wall Street Journal. WellPoint posted a $4.6 million fourth-quarter loss for its consumer business, including Medicare plans, compared to a $112 million profit a year… -
Humana could spend $1B for Medicare deals
27 Jan 2012 | 10:33 amHumana is willing to spend $1 billion on acquisitions or mergers, allowing it to expand into Medicare, reported Bloomberg. "We could do $1 billion-plus deals if we wanted to," Humana CEO Michael McCallister said in an interview at the World Economic Forum's conference in Davos, Switzerland. Humana, which McCallister said has capacity for something of that size, has acquired a number of small plans and now is looking to expand into Medicare. That could mean Humana is considering purchasing larger Medicare plans, such as Universal American, Coventry Health Care or Health Net, all of which have… -
Insurers serious about mobile apps
25 Jan 2012 | 10:24 amBig insurers are serious about becoming a major part of the mobile health movement as they increasingly introduce mobile apps to help members stay healthy, diagnose illnesses and better communicate with their doctors, reported American Medical News. "We're absolutely going beyond the basic," said Meg McCabe, vice president for consumer marketing and product for aetna. "The goal is to engage people in health and wellness." Anthony Nguyen, senior vice president of care management at WellPoint, said the insurer hopes mobile apps will maximize doctors' scarce time. The challenge, however, is…
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iTriage Health Blog
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EMP Brings iTriage to its Hospital Clients
27 Jan 2012 | 10:13 amEmergency Medicine Physicians (EMP), one of the country’s largest physician- owned and led emergency medicine groups, is bringing the mobile technology of iTriage® to its hospital clients. The partnership will enable consumers to conveniently access critical medical information and locate the closest EMP-staffed emergency departments and hospitals. EMP Chief Executive Officer Dominic J. Bagnoli [...]If you haven't done so already, please download iTriage and let us know what you think about the product and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Related StoriesMore Urgent Care Centers… -
Why Don’t Parents Trust Vaccines?
25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amLast year Health Affairs contributors analyzed data from a 2010 HealthStyles survey, and found that 26% of parents surveyed thought that “The ingredients in vaccines are unsafe.” While child immunization rates remain high, there is a growing concern among many health professionals that parents aren’t taking vaccinations seriously. A report issued by the University of [...]If you haven't done so already, please download iTriage and let us know what you think about the product and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Related Stories5 Essential Tips To Help Your Loved One Lose Weight8… -
5 Essential Tips To Help Your Loved One Lose Weight
23 Jan 2012 | 10:00 amWhile some people view the pursuit of health goals as an individual process, many people’s success depends on the support of their loved ones. In order to help a family member, friend or significant other lose weight, Ramani Durvasula, Ph.D., licensed clinical psychologist and Professor of Psychology at California State University in Los Angeles, offers [...]If you haven't done so already, please download iTriage and let us know what you think about the product and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Related StoriesWhy Don’t Parents Trust Vaccines?8 Signs You Might Have Celiac… -
8 Signs You Might Have Celiac Disease
20 Jan 2012 | 8:00 am97% of people living with celiac disease, an autoimmune disorder that damages the lining of the small intestine, don’t even know they have it according to the The National Foundation for Celiac Awareness (NFCA). Celiac disease affects an estimated 3 million Americans and, if left untreated, can have serious long-term consequences including anemia, infertility, osteoporosis, [...]If you haven't done so already, please download iTriage and let us know what you think about the product and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Related StoriesEnergy Drinks May Pose Danger to Teens and ChildrenWhy… -
Are Antidepressants Overprescribed?
18 Jan 2012 | 8:00 amIn October of 2011, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention released a report that stated that American antidepressant use had increased by 400% from 1988 to 2008. The report found that one in twelve Americans over the age of twelve is taking antidepressants to treat depression, anxiety and other mental illnesses. Many saw the [...]If you haven't done so already, please download iTriage and let us know what you think about the product and follow us on Facebook and Twitter. Related Stories8 Signs You Might Have Celiac DiseaseUrgent Care: The Best Thing You've Never Heard OfNeed A…
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Tourism Dental India
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Dental Tourism Tips
3 Jan 2012 | 8:43 amMore and more people nowadays are undertaking dental tourism as the next best option for getting the treatment that they need. They choose dental tourism because it is cheaper, and besides getting proper and high quality treatments at low prices, they also get to travel to beautiful tourism destinations around the world. In the US, dental care can be extremely expensive especially without enough health coverage. However, it is extremely important to be cautious when it comes to choosing a dental tourism destination. The following tips will help you avoid scams or traveling to… -
Diabetes: Dental Tips
13 Dec 2011 | 1:58 amDiabetes: Dental Tips Diabetes can cause serious problems in your mouth. You can do something about it. If you have diabetes, make sure you take care of your mouth. People with diabetes are at risk for mouth infections, especially periodontal (gum) disease. Periodontal disease can damage the gum and bone that hold your teeth in place and may lead to painful chewing problems. Some people with serious gum disease lose their teeth. Periodontal disease may also make it hard to control your blood glucose (blood sugar). Other problems diabetes can cause are dry mouth and a fungal infection called… -
Periodontal Disease
13 Dec 2011 | 1:51 amIntroduction If you have been told you have periodontal (gum) disease, you're not alone. Many adults in the U.S. currently have some form of the disease. Periodontal diseases range from simple gum inflammation to serious disease that results in major damage to the soft tissue and bone that support the teeth. In the worst cases, teeth are lost. Whether your gum disease is stopped, slowed, or gets worse depends a great deal on how well you care for your teeth and gums every day, from this point forward. Image via Wikipedia What causes gum disease? Our mouths are full of bacteria. -
A Healthy Mouth for Your Baby
13 Dec 2011 | 1:45 amA Healthy Mouth for Your Baby Healthy teeth are important—even baby teeth. Children need healthy teeth to help them chew and to speak clearly. And baby teeth hold space for adult teeth. This booklet can help you keep your baby's mouth healthy and give him a healthy start! Ann Talks With Maria Ann and her friend Maria were watching Maria's children play. "What are you doing?" asked Ann. "I'm cleaning my baby's teeth," said Maria. "But your baby hardly has any teeth!" said Ann. "Yes, but the dentist said there are things I can do to keep… -
Organ Transplantation and Your Mouth
13 Dec 2011 | 1:38 amIf you are an organ transplant patient, you are at risk for serious mouth problems. Your medical condition and side effects from your transplant medications can affect your oral health and complicate dental care. This fact sheet identifies problems you may encounter and explains how you can help keep your mouth healthy. Pre-Transplant Dental Check-Up A dental check-up is an important part of your pre-transplant evaluation. Because some medications you take after transplant can cause problems in your mouth, you want your mouth to be as healthy as possible before your transplant procedure.
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Next Level - Ideas and Inspiration Around Key Healthcare Challenges
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Who are the people in your neighborhood?
25 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amWho are the people in your neighborhood...the people that you meet each day? My first job within health care was as a nursing assistant in Obstetrics. During that time I interacted with the nurses, doctors, dietitians, social workers, schedulers, unit secretaries, materials management, and patients. However, there were some people in my world that I was not truly aware of. In theater the people you don't see are the costumers, the set designers, the stage managers, the props people, etc. These are all the people that make sure that everything is ready and in working order for the actor to… -
Avon Calling
20 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amAs I write, I'm at 38,000 feet on a Southwest Flight. As I mentioned last posts, I am Pavlovian as far as the tones of an airplane. Southwest has integrated the tones into their commercials and branding. It reminds me of the doorbell tones from Avon's TV marketing in the 1960's. You'd hear the "ding dong" and you knew "Avon's Calling." As I write, I'm a little brain dead. I have led the implementation of an Electronic Health Record system at a pilot site and anyone who has been through an inpatient deployment of an Electronic Health Record system can attest to its difficulty. There are all… -
Are You Spending Most of Your Time Managing Change? - Vlog
17 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amWhen I go out and talk to CEOs, what I'm hearing from them is they are really concerned about whether or not their organizations can manage the changes that are going to be coming down the pike from healthcare reform, reimbursement issues, all those other types of things that are going to be affecting them. - when we discuss managing change, that is their concern. Its whether or not I'm going to be able to have my organization flex the way - what it needs to do and the kind of time that it needs in order to be successful within that kind of marketplace. Leaders end up spending most of their… -
The elephant in the room - Vlog
9 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amSo, hospitals are paid more today than they'll ever be paid, and so, in the next 24 months, they need to really make conscious decisions about how are they going to do more with less? What types of tradeoffs are they going to make? There's really nothing wrong with choosing to do certain things, and making them more of a priority than other things. The shame of it is, when organizations don't acknowledge that they need to make a tradeoff, and they don't have that open discussion among different stakeholders, and do it in an aligned way. As we look at the changes that are happening, across… -
Incandescent Light Bulbs and the Innovation Piggy Bank
5 Jan 2012 | 6:00 amThe venerable 100-watt incandescent light bulb is going the way of the 45-rpm record or a phone with a cord on the end. We have relied on that light bulb for 100 years and it delivered on its promise to create light, however inefficiently. But time has finally caught up with it. Killed by regulation, new technology, and consumer demand, it's being replaced by the LED, which can produce the same amount of light for a fraction of the energy cost, and generating almost no heat in the process. The death of the simple light bulb made me think about how sluggish our healthcare delivery model has…
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Practice Manager Solutions
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Are Providers in Need of a Line of Credit to Face Upcoming Challenges?
26 Jan 2012 | 7:14 amCollecting deductibles and co-pays once a patient leaves your office is time-consuming, costly and makes practice cash flow inconsistent and unpredictable. If you’re like most practices, during the latter half of a calendar year, many of your patients have met their deductibles and insurance covers the majority of their office visits and medical needs. As we turn the calendar over on 2012, it’s a good time to remind your front desk team that a new benefit plan year has begun and reinforce your collection procedures. A well-trained medical biller on your team is your best weapon in… -
Secrets to Registering and Attesting for Meaningful Use
19 Jan 2012 | 6:34 amDid you know that you can register, start attesting and then save and continue later on the CMS attestation site? Well, you do now. It is always a good idea to take your time when filling out critical forms and in this case, it involves your provider’s incentive bonus. You can register here and fill out the information you have gathered so far, save and continue more later: https://ehrincentives.cms.gov/hitech/login.action. Keep in mind that you will need numerators and denominators in order to completely attest, so I recommend having those numbers handy or at least access to a… -
Your Policies and Procedures Are Incomplete If They Don’t Include a Security Risk Management Process
12 Jan 2012 | 12:53 pmPatient privacy and confidentiality of medical records is protected by the department of Health & Human Services through the HIPAA Security Rule. And, if your practice is using Electronic Health Record technology (EHR) and/or attesting to Meaningful Use, well-documented Policies and Procedures are at the heart of the HIPAA Security Rule Administrative Guidelines. The very first Administrative Standard refers to the prevention, detection, containment and correction of any security violations. As we’ve discussed over the last few weeks, if you are attesting to Meaningful Use, Measure 15… -
Know Your Medical Practice Risks – Meaningful Use 15
5 Jan 2012 | 7:00 amA security risk assessment is a requirement of Meaningful Use attestation (Measure 15), but what exactly does that mean? A security risk assessment is not a new concept. It is a requirement of the HIPAA Security Rule. But for attestation purposes, you must review your security procedures and ensure that they address current potential, as well as future, risk to your EHR system. A thorough security risk assessment should include the following components: A review of current security procedures related to your EHR. Be sure to include clinicians and management, as well as IT, in the review… -
Your Free Recording is Here – Here’s to a Great New Year!
29 Dec 2011 | 7:12 amDuring this frenetically busy holiday season, it’s easy to focus on others and forget to take some time to reflect on your own needs, wants and goals. Over the next week, give yourself a gift by taking a few minutes to listen to the following audio, and reflect on YOU. It will help you to focus on where you want to go in 2012, AND how to take the steps to get there. Click on my picture below to begin the audio recording. I’m wishing each and every one of you a very happy holiday season filled with the perfect mix of friends, family, relaxation, fun, self-reflection and time for…
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Beckers ASC Review
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WI Bill That Would Eliminate ASC Assessment Passes Key Committee
27 Jan 2012 | 12:12 pmA Wisconsin bill that would no longer subject ambulatory surgery centers in the state to an assessment in proportion to their gross patient revenue has passed a key committee, according to an ASCA Government Affairs report. -
Rep. John Barrow Visits GA's Midtown Surgical Center
27 Jan 2012 | 11:44 amU.S. Rep. John Barrow (D-GA) recently paid a visit to Midtown Surgical Center in Savannah, Ga., according to an ASCA Government Affairs report. -
Kentucky Senate Delays Bill Requiring Pain Management Clinics to be Owned, Operated by ...
27 Jan 2012 | 10:42 amA panel in the Kentucky Senate has delayed a vote on a bill that would require pain management clinics to be owned and operated by physicians licensed in Kentucky and be certified in pain management, according to a WLKY.com report. -
State Medicare Surveyors May Incorrectly Cite ASCs That Follow New Same-Day Surgery Regulations
27 Jan 2012 | 10:28 amThe Ambulatory Surgery Center Association is advising surgery centers cited by state Medicare surveyors for non-compliance when they do not notify patients of required information prior to the date of surgery to direct surveyors to the new CMS regulations that permit this practice, according to an ASCA Government Affairs report. -
6 Points on Building an ASC Joint Venture With an Academic Medical Center
27 Jan 2012 | 8:13 amRegent Surgical Health recently entered into a joint-venture agreement with an academic medical center — a departure from the traditional three-way joint-venture model of an acute-care hospital, management company and physician group. Under its agreement with Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital in New Brunswick, N.J., Regent will help move the hospital outpatient department to a freestanding surgery center, for which ownership will be divided between the management company, the hospital and private practice physicians in the community. Regent and the hospital will collectively own 51…
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Georgia Health News
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Provider pay cuts provoke fierce opposition
27 Jan 2012 | 5:50 pmPat Ellis held hands with her son John while waiting to get into an already packed state board room Thursday.The Ellises traveled from Commerce to Atlanta to attend a hearing that focused on proposed state cuts in payments for certain residential and day programs for the developmentally disabled.John Ellis, 39, who has Down syndrome, has been going to Jackson Creative, a service center for people with disabilities, for 18 years. Four to five days a week, John does activities ranging from community volunteer work, including folding church bulletins, to attending music therapy at the University… -
State discusses ideas on new Medicaid design
26 Jan 2012 | 6:59 pmThe head of Georgia’s Medicaid agency said Thursday that despite criticism of the program’s current model of care, doctors and other medical providers agree with the idea of ‘‘well-managed care’’ for patients.The state currently operates a managed care system for most Medicaid and all PeachCare members. A report from consulting firm Navigant, released last Friday, called for Georgia to consider adopting an enhanced managed care system that would cover new segments of Medicaid patients.David Cook, commissioner of the Department of Community Health, told reporters in a media… -
Commentary: Don’t forget trauma care
26 Jan 2012 | 10:25 amWhen voters rejected the constitutional amendment on funding Georgia’s trauma care system, the issue largely went off the political radar.Yet the weaknesses of the state’s trauma network continue to be a critical deficiency, writes Matt Caseman in a new GHN Commentary.Caseman, executive director of the Georgia Rural Health Association, says that the state still needs a dedicated revenue stream to upgrade trauma care, especially in rural areas, where more fatal accidents occur.“Expanding trauma care for all Georgians will save lives, and we should not wait any longer,’’ he… -
Remember trauma care? It’s time we did
26 Jan 2012 | 10:24 amMatt CasemanLack of trauma care remains the single most critical issue facing our state.The hard reality is that Georgia still needs a dedicated revenue stream to upgrade and expand its trauma center network. Thirty-three states have found ways to permanently fund trauma care, but our state lags behind.Here are some facts:• Georgia has 150 acute-care hospitals, but it has only 15 designated trauma care centers.• More than 1 million Georgians live at least 50 miles from a Level 1 trauma center, the kind that handles the most serious cases. That distance makes it virtually impossible to… -
More fruits, veggies for school lunches
26 Jan 2012 | 10:24 amUSA Today reports that the government is releasing new nutrition standards for school meals that spell out dramatic changes, including slashing sodium, limiting calories and offering students a wider variety and larger portions of fruits and vegetables.By USA Today for Georgia Health News, 2012. | Permalink | Comment |
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Medical Billing Company | Capture Billing
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Medical Billing Company Teaches CPC Exam Preparation Course at Local Community College
24 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amCapture Billing & Consulting, Inc. will be teaching CPC exam preparation course at the beginning of 2012 at local community college for medical billers and coders Loudoun County, VA – Capture Billing & Consulting, Inc., a national medical billing company located in South Riding, Virginia, will be teaching a Certified Professional Coder (CPC) exam preparation class at the beginning of 2012 at Northern Virginia Community College (NVCC), Loudoun Campus in Sterling, Virginia. Manny Oliverez, CEO and Co-Owner of Capture Billing and several of his experienced medical billers and… -
Medical Billing Company Produces Medical Billing Tips Videos for iTunes and YouTube
17 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amMedical billing videos for iTunes and YouTube help physicians and their practices with medical billing tips Loudoun County, VA – Capture Billing & Consulting, Inc., a medical billing company located in South Riding, Virginia, has produced several short educational videos to help medical office managers, medical coders and medical billers with coding and other similar topics. The short videos provide medical billing tips. Capture Billing’s short medical billing videos are produced with medical billing tips in mind. Some of the topics these videos cover are coding for Medicare… -
Medical Billing Company Website is a Big Success
12 Jan 2012 | 3:45 pmCapture Billing receives over 17,000 page views per month in the first month after launch of Medical Billing Company website Loudoun County, VA – Capture Billing & Consulting, Inc., a Medical Billing Company located in South Riding, Virginia, is pleased to announce the success of its new website located at http://www.CaptureBilling.com . In its first few months of going live the website which is focused on Medical Billing received over 17,000 page views per month, up from 200 only a year ago. Capture Billing provides outsourced Medical Billing Services to small and large medical… -
Medical Billing Company Forms New OBGYN Medical Billing Division
4 Jan 2012 | 7:30 amCapture Billing & Consulting, Inc. Announces the Formation of their new Obstetrician and Gynecologist OBGYN Medical Billing Department Loudoun County, VA – Capture Billing & Consulting, Inc., a nationwide medical billing company located in South Riding, Virginia, is pleased to announce the formation of its new OBGYN Medical Billing Department. Katie Jennings, an experienced teacher and seasoned employee at Capture Billing, has been chosen to head the new department. An OBGYN practice consists of obstetricians and gynecologists. Obstetricians are physicians who specialize in… -
5010 for Insurance Claim Submission is Here
30 Dec 2011 | 2:15 pm5010 is the Standard Now: Are Your Insurance Claims Going to Get Paid? Capture Billing has been working toward preparing for the transition to HIPAA Version 5010 for the past several months. The time has come and we are ready. As of January 1, 2012 all insurance claims must be submitted with the new 5010 format as mandated by the federal government. Just because we are ready does this mean that insurance companies are ready? Will there still be some problems with insurance claims submission? Yes, I believe so. The reason we estimate there will be problems is that as the insurance companies…
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Health and Fitness
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If you wish to buy ambien
27 Jan 2012 | 6:11 amIf you need to acquire ambien, you initially coming from all require proper finding a health professional prescribed. With the health professional prescribed, you can purchase this medication in any drugstore. Addititionally there is another, quite hassle-free method to acquire Ambien, which can be receiving this medication online. If you buy Ambien online, you can examine around the prices of providers along with select the 1 promoting the best circumstances. No take too much time to get Ambien on the internet and you should purchase it is definitely computer along with connection to the… -
How Heroin Detox Works For The Addicted
20 Jan 2012 | 12:32 amDrugs are a growing challenge all over the world, especially in the United States and across Europe. The major problems with drugs are usually the class A narcotics for example Heroin, Cocaine, and Meth amphetamine. These are the drugs that create folks probably the most damage and also the illegal drugs which are probably the most obsessive to a person. They’re so powerful and concentrated that they’ll change an individual’s behavior and personality entirely. Therefore it’s usually these drugs that get people in drug detox clinic. When individuals with serious drug… -
Treat Sleeping disorders Or Sleeping disorders While Using Proper Organic Treatment
18 Jan 2012 | 8:01 pmSleeplessness, otherwise alleviated in the beginning can result in a number of physical and psychological troubles in after existence. Reduced Ambien concentration power, regular tiredness and being easily annoyed are among the has effects on of insomnia on sufferers. These days there are sufficient and more drugs Ambien readily available in market place to get rid of insomnia or restlessness. Preferring herbal medicines to cure insomnia will perform well due to the deficit of unwanted effects. Consumption of some herbal medicines may well generate either bad and the good effects on… -
Quit smoking: the 10 best practices for Non smoking Future
16 Jan 2012 | 9:03 pmQuit Smoking: Who wants to start with the cessation, here is the 10 best ways to succeed with it. But beware: They will probably want to smoke like a first. “Smokers die younger – Smoking can be deadly – Smoking causes fatal lung cancer – smoking causes aging of their skin – Smoking can damage the sperm and decreases fertility a -. Smoking you and the people around you to add substantial damage” Since 2003, there are warnings on cigarette packs in Europe. Smoking not only they know, they know exactly the consequences of tobacco consumption. And yet many… -
Magnesium: Interesting facts about the mineral
16 Jan 2012 | 12:40 amMagnesium is one of 16 minerals needed by the human body needs in small amounts. In the following text you can read all about the impact the right dosage and the natural occurrence of magnesium. Magnesium deficiency often leads to convulsions, as not only among athletes is known. It is also important for the concentration, with stress and nervous anxiety and has even more on vital nutrients to the body. This mineral can be caused by food, or additionally absorbed by food supplements such as effervescent tablets. Caution is advised in the way of renal impairment, in which case it may…
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John Goodman's Health Policy Blog
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Missing Baby Girls
27 Jan 2012 | 2:30 pmThe human sex ratio is always slightly male-biased, but in the natural state it rarely goes above 105 male births per 100 female ones… In China’s last mini-census in 2005, the ration was nearly 120 to 100 and in some districts over 150. That this is caused by sex-selective abortion…is proved by a ratio of 107 to 100 among first-born children but nearer 150 among ones born later… By the early 21st century, all four Asian “tigers” — South Korea, Singapore, Hong Kong and Taiwan — had a “naturally impossible” ratio of 108 or higher. India has an increasing… -
It’s a Woman’s World
27 Jan 2012 | 12:30 pmTens of millions of men have marred life chances because schools are bad at educating boys, because they are not enmeshed in the long-term relationships that instill good habits and because insecure men do stupid and self-destructive things. Over the past 40 years, women’s wages have risen sharply but, as Michael Greenstone and Adam Looney of the Hamilton Project point out, median incomes of men have dropped 28 percent and male labor force participation rates are down 16 percent. Next time somebody talks to you about wage stagnation, have them break it down by sex. It’s not only… -
Teachers Get Free Botox in Buffalo
27 Jan 2012 | 10:30 amThe Buffalo public school system’s health insurance covers plastic surgery. There is no copay. According to BuffaloNews.com, the cost of the benefit rose from $1 million in 2004 to $9 million in 2009. That was 9 percent of the district’s total spending on health benefits for employees and retirees. According to Jordan Weissmann of The Atlanticthe union has said that it will be happy to drop the benefit in the next round of contract negotiations. However, Buffalo teachers haven’t bothered to negotiate a new contract since the last one expired in 2004. Thanks to New York… -
Should Healthy People Take Cholesterol Drugs to Prevent Heart Disease?
27 Jan 2012 | 9:30 amThe case against: Some statin supporters argue that even if the data don’t support the benefits of statins in healthy people, they might help and can’t hurt. But that’s untenable, because statins undeniably harm some people. Besides increasing the risk for developing diabetes, statins can cause memory loss, muscle weakness, stomach distress, and aches and pains. These aren’t merely anecdotal results, as some critics assert; they’re documented by recent studies. Until and unless further persuasive evidence is available that the benefits of statins outweigh the… -
Wealthier is Healthier
27 Jan 2012 | 8:35 amThis result, confirmed by every study that’s ever looked at the question, appears to be also confirmed for the top 1 percent (by wealth) in the United States: Money may not buy happiness, but the Fed survey suggests it buys good health. About 90 percent of the 1 percenters describe themselves as being in excellent or good health, compared with 75 percent of everybody else. About 85 percent expect to live into their 80s, compared with 68 percent of everybody else. Full post by Robert Gebeloff and Shaila Dewan at Economix.
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HEALTHeCAREERS Blog
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How to Find a Healthcare Job Using Social Media
26 Jan 2012 | 11:10 amIf the 13 million people that took a stand against SOPA and PIPA taught us one thing, it's that social media is not going anywhere. And this statement has never been more true for the healthcare industry. Take a look at the American Heart Association’s social media efforts. With a Twitter following of more than 18,000 and a growing population of 37,000 Facebook fans, the American Heart Association is a great example of how a healthcare brand can continually educate and recruit advocates for their brand through social media. You may be saying to yourself, "That's great,… -
Healthcare Hiring Trends Forecast for 2012
24 Jan 2012 | 10:02 amAlan Krueger, chairman of the White House Council of Economic Advisers, was recently quoted in the Washington Post as stating, “[The January 6] employment report provides further evidence that the economy is continuing to heal from the worst economic downturn since the Great Depression.” The employment report referenced revealed that the total number of unemployed professionals, as well as the unemployment rate, continued to trend down in December. Unemployment is currently at 8.5 percent, lower than many pundits had predicted likely by the end of 2011. The private sector added… -
What My Doctor’s Office Staff Could Do To Make My Visit More Pleasant
19 Jan 2012 | 4:30 pmI don't visit my doctor's office very often. When I do, it's usually for a routine exam. As we all know, those generally involve a few less than fabulous necessities. I'm talking needles, cold metal instruments, gowns that would only be suitable for unfashionable paper dolls, and that giant, intimidating and oh-so-accurate scale.From the moment I receive the "friendly reminder" card in the mail, I dread what I know is coming. It's not uncommon for me to put off scheduling the appointment until my doctor's staff gives up on direct mail and resorts to telephone… -
When the Business of Healthcare Becomes Personal
17 Jan 2012 | 10:45 amThose of us involved in some aspect of the Healthcare business sometimes see it as just that, a business.It sometimes takes a tragedy in one’s own life or the life of a loved one for us to step back and appreciate the reasons people choose healthcare as their profession.I’m specifically speaking of the physicians, nurses and other caregivers that take care of us or our loved ones when we need them the most. Those that laugh with us, cry with us or simply provide a shoulder to lean on. They are there. They become our heroes.A recent experience when my father was in ICU brought all… -
How Little League Baseball, LinkedIn and Persistence Helped Me Land My Dream Job
13 Jan 2012 | 10:00 amI love my job. Not many people can say that and mean it, but I can. As Social Media Manager for onTargetjobs, parent company of HEALTHeCAREERS, I get to guide the social media strategies for all of our career websites. I manage multiple Facebook pages, Twitter accounts, LinkedIn groups, YouTube channels, this blog and various other social media initiatives for the company. Because social media is constantly changing, I’m part of a dynamic field that’s exciting, interesting and a lot of fun. I couldn’t say that about any of my past jobs. However, this job almost slipped…
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International Man of Mystery's blog
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Turkish Healthcare System Causes Confusion
26 Jan 2012 | 10:08 amTurkey’s new compulsory health insurance scheme has triggered an angry reaction from expats living in the country as it had previously been announced that it was being cancelled. The majority of information distributed has not been available to expats, with the British Embassy admitting that the information they had been provided said that it would not be going ahead. The initial announcement was made in 2010 and required all foreign nationals who had been living in the country for more than a year to register. It was due to begin at the end of 2011, however there had been further… -
NHS Must Change Says NHS Confederation
5 Jan 2012 | 6:24 amThe NHS is seen by some as the jewel in the UK's crown and changes are urgently required in order to maintain this position. The NHS Confederation, who represent the health service trusts, have made recommendations for progressing in 2012 through 2015. The year ahead is seen as key to the £20bn efficiency savings required by the year 2015. There are cries for modernising the NHS which some believe will safeguard its future. There are groups who feel that hospitals are being far too heavily leaned upon for services that could be carried out elsewhere such as reducing… -
Global Health Funding "Holding On" Through Economic Storm
21 Dec 2011 | 4:47 amThe Institute of Health Metrics have release a report detailing the issues of global health and the challenges it faces amid the current global economic woe. It was thought that funding for development for global health would suffer as donor countries made cutbacks on spending due to the present financial climate. There was evidence from the World Health Organisation to suggest that spending on the fight against TB, Malaria and Aids was going to decrease for its next round of grant giving. However the report carries a more optimistic view. The Institute had been looking at… -
Alzheimers Could be Spotted 5 Years Sooner
14 Dec 2011 | 4:21 amIt has been revealed that a simple blood test could spot the Alzheimer's five years before the symptoms begin to show. The person who created the test hopes it can be used in common place within a three year period. Being able to detect the disease more quickly in correlation with the help of new, developing drugs will possibly allow those who have tested positive, to never fully develop the condition. Also in addition patients could be given invaluable advice regarding taking preventative lifestyle measures, such as dietary changes or taking more physical exercise. The number of… -
Nose Insured for £2m!
5 Dec 2011 | 10:53 amIt may come as a surprise to you and I but maybe not in the world of celebrity. J-Lo has her pert bottom insured for a cool $300m and songbird Mariah Carey has had her legs insured for a jaw dropping $1b. Now these astronomical figures may be something you see covering the pages of Heat magazine et al but an employee at coffee giant Nescafe has taken out medical insurance on his nose! Dave Roberts who holds the position of expert coffee taster has taken out a policy for £2m in order to safeguard his most important "tool". Mr Roberts is responsible for…
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Optometry CEO
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Associate Compensation
22 Jan 2012 | 10:54 pmAs an optometry CEO, I have found that making decisions regarding the compensation of associates can sometimes be difficult. There is a battle between an investment payoff and the desire to build a good strong team. I am a fan of the latter. I believe that building a team is more important than making the most off an associate. From experience I have found that paying an associate good results in a great team player. Think about the times that you were compensated very fair for something that you did and how you put 110% into that job. Now think of the time where you knew that you… -
Staff Productivity
12 Jan 2012 | 9:36 am“We need to hire another staff member” This is a phrase that is common in the optometric small business world. We ask our staff members to increase their workload and they push back to say that they don’t have time. As the CEO of a small business we must have a baseline to determine the need for more staff or the need to increase the efficiencies of current staff. Below is how to simply calculate the staff productivity. This number will then allow you to determine how efficient your staff are. Staff (non-OD) weekly scheduled hours: Taken from MBA Key Metrics 2011… -
The Fear of Finishing
4 Jan 2012 | 11:14 amWhen training for a marathon there is great satisfaction in building up the number of miles that you are able to effortlessly run. The day is soon approaching for you to run your first marathon and the excitement builds. Before the sun comes up you find yourself dressing for the big event in a hotel room that overlooks the bay area. As you walk towards where the race begins you reflect on all the hours you spent pounding the pavement in varying degrees of weather. Now it is a matter of minutes before the gun goes off and you’ve began the marathon. Twenty six miles go by and… -
Unspoken Understanding of ODs
21 Dec 2011 | 10:20 amAs a CEO and optometrist the schedule and demand for our time is at a premium. Fortunately Christmas brings with it a nice break from the day to day life of an OD. Many friends and family have the misperception that our job is 1 and 2 all day long. Little do they know that we are very understanding professionals that daily interact with individuals of all expectations and walks of life. This video has been known to bring ODs together with an unspoken understanding of a day in the life of an OD. Enjoy and have a Merry CHRISTmas! -
Student to OD
14 Dec 2011 | 10:45 amAs a previous president of the AOSA (2002), I find myself having an affinity for what is going on in the student world. It seems like not so long ago I was dreaming of what being an optometrist would be like. Now that I am living the dream I often wonder about those students who have the same dream I once did. Due to my history with AOSA and the great organization they are I am happy to announce that this blog is now featured at iBlog (the blog of the AOSA) http://theaosa.wordpress.com/ The content of OptometryCEO meets the students where they are. Students have two main…
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GeriPal - Geriatrics and Palliative Care Blog
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GOP Candidates on Advance Directives
26 Jan 2012 | 1:51 pmWe have learned a lot of lessons in Hospice and Palliative Care about how political discourse can impact our field and the care we give to individuals with serious illnesses. You only have to go back to January of 2011 to see how the hysteria around death panels led to the removal of legislation that would have reimbursed physicians for advance care planning discussions. As the GOP primaries continue to heat up, it will be important for us as a field to continue to pay attention to the rhetoric used on the campaign trail and discussed on nationally telavised debates. One… -
The MMSE Saga: An Assault of the Values of the Academic Profession
22 Jan 2012 | 6:10 amThe MMSE saga has attracted great attention here on GeriPal and elsewhere since the breakthrough NEJM article of Newman and Feldman. As readers Eric Widera's previous posts (here and here) know, the MMSE was one of the most widely used tests in medicine. It was a brief, easy to use screen to identify older persons with cognitive impairment. A generation of students learned to assess using cognitive function with the MMSE, and the MMSE was reproduced in textbooks worldwide. But after allowing widespread use of the MMSE for decades, the developers enforced their copyright. The MMSE disappeared. -
The Third Annual Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Award
20 Jan 2012 | 5:49 pmThe 2012 recipients of the third annual Hastings Center Cunniff-Dixon Physician Awards were just recently announced. I was honored to be one of the recipients of this award last year, but am humbled by this year’s awardees. Richard Payne said it best in the Hastings Center press release: "This year's winners emerged from an exceptionally strong field of nominees and serve as models of competent, caring, compassionate doctoring." The awardees for the 2012 year are: Senior Physician Award: Janet Bull, MD. Janet is the chief medical director and principal investigator of Four… -
Eprognosis gets Half a Million Hits in the First Week
19 Jan 2012 | 3:09 pmEprognosis is barely a week old, and we've already had over 500,000 pageviews (150,000 unique visitors). For perspective, GeriPal is about 3 years old, and in that time we've had 400,000 pageviews. We've had loads of press, including 6 stories in the New York Times about prognosis and eprognosis (Stories by Paula Span here, here, here, here, and here. Story by Pauline Chen in today's paper here. For a more complete list of media stories, see the eprognosis "About" page here. Unexpectedly, about a quarter of our hits have come from Turkey, due to this news story.)… -
Prognostic Indices In Patient Care: Useful or Waste of Time?
10 Jan 2012 | 3:01 pmMany clinical decisions in older persons are dependent on life expectancy. For example, as life expectancy declines, cancer screening is likely to do more harm than good. Also, persons who have limited life expectancy may want to plan, discuss their values, and consider palliative care approaches of care in addition to care focused on living as long as possible. But can one actually predict life expectancy accurately in an individual patient? In an oustanding review of prognostic indices to predict life expectancy in older persons just published in JAMA, Dr. Lindsey Yourman suggests the glass…
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My CPR
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Learn to save a life
9 Jan 2012 | 9:48 pmIt takes about 40 hours to learn to drive, but only 4 to learn to save a life. Yes, you can learn to save a life in under four hours. What else takes so little time but makes so much difference? When you learn to save a life, you get to be cool too. Let’s [...] -
Vinnie Jones meets the Bee Gees and the result is CPR
6 Jan 2012 | 2:14 pmThe new campaign from the British Heart Foundation Filed under: Uncategorized -
Why you Shouldn’t Defibrillate Bears
3 Jan 2012 | 11:20 pmThere are of course many things you probably shouldn’t be doing with your defibrillator (A.E.D.). It’s not that you actually can’t use them on bears, but they have to be shaved first. Now usually we’re recommending the proper use of A.E.D.s but someone recently asked what were the times when you couldn’t use one, so [...] -
My Kid Called 9-1-1 and I didn’t know it
19 Dec 2011 | 12:36 pmSometimes Kids Call 9-1-1 by Accident A student on one of our recent Child Care courses told me this story. She works at my son’s school too! She bought a new cell-phone, and switched her plan to the new phone. With the old one deactivated she gave it to her daughter to play with. The [...] -
Give the Gift of Life
16 Dec 2011 | 11:53 amWe hope it’s a gift you never use! But, you never know when someone will need CPR “When a person goes into cardiac arrest, the first few seconds and minutes are crucial to saving his or her life and to preventing irreversible damage,” said Dr. David Seaberg, president of the American College of Emergency Physicians. [...]
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Safety un-Limited
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Wet, White and Wild: Diabetic Emergency or a Good Night Out?
10 Jan 2012 | 8:18 amWhile we don’t want to go into what you do on a night out, these three symptoms together are the signs of diabetes and possibly a diabetic emergency. So how do you know when the good turns bad? How do you treat it? And why might it happen on a night out anyway? What is diabetes? Diabetes has so many names it can be confusing at first, so we’ll try to make it simple. Diabetes is an imbalance of blood sugar and insulin. Insulin is the hormone which normally controls blood sugar levels. From a first aid point of view, diabetes is simply low blood sugar. There are several other names… -
Too hot to handle? How your hands help you decide if a burn needs medical attention
1 Jan 2012 | 3:33 pmThe most common question around burns treatment in first aid training is “Does this need to go to hospital?” We’ve all burned ourselves at some time or other. We know how it happens and what it feels like. Most of us have a good idea of the correct treatment too (see below). So how do you decide who needs help and who can be treated at home? Your hands can help you decide, along with your common sense and something called the Rule of Nines. Friction Burns and Other Pains As far as first aid goes, we consider several different causes of burns. Each on has specific considerations, but… -
The ‘3Ps’ of Wound Care: Positioning and Pressure
28 Dec 2011 | 2:03 pmThree P’s of Wound Care? Yes, OK – so that’s only 2 ‘P’s’ but read on…. You’ll see why it’s also the 3P’s of Wound Care. Now before we get in to the body of this post, please note that the 3P’s of Wound Care are not the same as the 3P’s of First Aid – I guess ‘3P’s’ are just easy to remember. Make sure you’re reading the post you want (or read both!). Next, the following applies to wound care in the first aid setting, and is specifically relevant to the OFA1 (WCB, WEFA, Workplace, etc.) course as well as other courses. If you… -
Safety Information on the Correct Use of EpiPens
23 Dec 2011 | 11:25 amSubject: Important Safety Information on the Correct Use of EpiPen® and EpiPen® Jr Auto-Injector Pfizer Canada Inc. (distributor of EpiPen for Dey Pharma, L.P.) in collaboration with Health Canada would like to remind patients of the correct method to remove the blue safety cap and of the importance of following the instructions for use of EpiPen (0.3 mg epinephrine auto-injector) and EpiPen Jr (0.15 mg epinephrine auto-injector). It has recently come to our attention that removal of the blue safety cap the wrong way by pulling it sideways or bending and twisting it off may prevent the… -
Would you go out of your way to recommend our courses?
20 Dec 2011 | 10:40 amAs Christmas is a time for giving and receiving, we’d like you to give us some feedback, so that we can receive, reflect and improve. We’d like you to think about these two questions (and then answer them please!). We’ve left the name & eMail optional, but you need to fill in the blanks if you want to hit the ‘submit’ button. [contact-form] Giving – Customer Satisfaction We always try to make sure you have a good, effective and hopefully fun course. That your dealings with us are fair and that we respond to your needs. I had an interesting experience as…
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REVIEW HUB
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Neosporin vs. Polysporin
16 Jan 2012 | 7:48 pmNeosporin vs.PolysporinNormally I prefer usingNeosporin ointment over any there antibacterial agent but recently I suffered hypersensitivityto neomycin and my doctor advised me to use Polysporin ointment instead. Neosporinointment contains the active ingredient Bacitracin, Polymyxin B and Neomycinwhereas polysporin ointment just contains Polymyxin B and Bacitracin and iscompletely safe for patients allergic to Neomycin.Though, they have a differentcomposition both Neosporin andPolysporin performs a similar functions. Both are used for treating open soresand preventing them from getting… -
Alaxan Fr tablets
14 Jan 2012 | 8:55 pmAlaxan Fr tabletsHaving used Alaxan tablets before I knew it was one of thebetter analgesics available in the market and Alaxan Fr is a step ahead. FRimplies fast result thereby even better. Alaxan Fr tablets are formulated withparacetamol 325 mg and ibuprofen 200mg which allows using the same drug oftreating fever and body pain. I use it sometimes for treating my tendon pains, using it frequentlyis not recommended as it contains paracetamol and Ibuprofen which can initiate permanentdamage to the liver and kidney functions. It has a pretty quick action on killing the pain and… -
Eskinol Facial Cleanser
14 Jan 2012 | 12:48 amEskinolFacial CleanserI have an oily skin and because of it, I am prone to acne. Ihave tried many skin care products but none of them helped me control oilsecretion and therefore, every now and then I would develop those horribleacnes which just looked sick and was painful as well.Few months back my elder sister cameback home and she introduced me to EskinolFacial Cleanser. She told me to use it every day for about a week and see theresult for yourself. Being pretty cheap, I didn’t mind trying it, but deep downI felt, such a cheap product won’t do any good. I used it as instructed by… -
Biohairs solution reviews
13 Jan 2012 | 10:58 pmBiohairs solutionreviewsEver since my college days I have been suffering fromthinning hair and I have tried many products but not many of them has helped mecontrol hair fall, leave alone hair growth. I had plenty of positive reviews onBiohairs solution and thought of giving it a try. I knew it was a expensiveproduct but I just could spend any amount to get my hair back. I ordered theproduct online and it arrived in about a week’s time at my doorstep.I started to use the hair loss solution as instructed on theleaflet. I even referred online to check out suggestion and tips on the… -
Orofer XT (Ferrous Ascorbate Drop)
11 Jan 2012 | 11:04 pmOrofer XT (Ferrous Ascorbate Drop)Orofer XT is aFerrous Ascorbate Drop prescribedgenerally in children suffering from iron deficiency. Our 3 year old niece ifvery fussy about her diet, she just doesn’t like eating anything and day by dayshe was losing weight. WE were getting worried so we consulted a childspecialist who prescribed her Orofer XT to be used twice a day for twomonths. We bought the medication but it was very hard to get her take themedicine every day, don’t know the taste but she would run away or create lotsof scheme whenever we tried feeding her…
