Early day care may promote eczema development - Friday September 3, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Kids who spend their earliest years in day care may be at higher risk of eczema than kids cared for at home, according to a new study from Germany.
U.S. medical programs missing millions of kids: report - Friday September 3, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - An estimated five million uninsured children in the United States were eligible for Medicaid or the Childrens Health Insurance Program (CHIP) but were not enrolled in either plan, according to a new report.
Special Report: Outgunned FDA tries to get tough with drug ads - Friday September 3, 2010
SILVER SPRING, Maryland (Reuters) - It wasn't what you would call a casual get-together.
Vendor Notebook: Accenture, Stanford Hospital to undertake connected health technology project - Friday September 3, 2010
Accenture has announced that it will work with Stanford Hospital & Clinics on a seven-year, connected health technology initiative to improve patient care and operational efficiency. The effort will continue to advance Stanford’s patient care platform, which connects the hospital and outpatient clinics to create a near-paperless electronic medical record. Under the agreement, Accenture will work with Stanford to enhance clinical processes and deploy new capabilities, including business intelligence, health analytic tools and patient-centered technology.
E-mail, Intimacy, and Concierge Medicine - Friday September 3, 2010
E-mail is not for every physician. Legal concerns and HIPAA compliance are perceived barriers to using e-mail. They are excuses. There are, however, practical reasons that prevent most docs from considering e-mail.
Antidepressant patch doesn't help smokers quit - Friday September 3, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - An antidepressant drug delivered through a patch on the skin is no better than placebo for helping smokers kick the habit, new research shows.
Timer may help kids' bladder control problems - Friday September 3, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Wearing a programmable wristwatch could help children manage their daytime bladder control problems, a new study suggests.
Odds of getting new kidney uneven - Friday September 3, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - People with kidney disease are more likely to be added to the waiting list for a kidney transplant if they've had a previous heart, lung or liver transplant, a new study suggests.
Protein test ups diabetes diagnoses in some races - Friday September 3, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Efforts to adopt a more accurate test for diagnosing diabetes may have hit a snag. Comparing the age-old oral glucose tolerance test to the newer hemoglobin A1c test confirms earlier evidence that race may influence test results, Danish researchers report.
Biotech salmon safe for eating: FDA - Friday September 3, 2010
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - A biotechnology company's genetically engineered salmon are as safe to eat as other Atlantic salmon, U.S. regulators said as they weighed approval of the first DNA-altered animal for Americans' dinner plates.
Colonoscopy repeats greater with non-specialists - Friday September 3, 2010
NEW YORK (Reuters Health) - Older adults who have a colonoscopy performed by a family doctor, internist or general surgeon are somewhat more likely to need another one within a year compared with those who have the procedure done by a gastroenterologist, a new report finds.
AMIA goes global - Friday September 3, 2010
AMIA, the U.S.-based association for informatics professionals, has launched a nonprofit, wholly owned subsidiary called the Global Health Informatics Partnership (GHIP) to serve as an international center for collaborative initiatives on health informatics. Informatics is the science of how to use data, information, and knowledge to improve both human health and the delivery of healthcare services, usually supported by health IT systems.
Registry adds value to regional data exchange - Friday September 3, 2010
CareSpark, a nonprofit regional health information organization (RHIO) serving Northeast Tennessee and Southwest Virginia, is proving the value of health information exchanges through several projects that rely on its provider registry.
UTHealth automates medical research consent process with iMedConsent - Thursday September 2, 2010
There seems to be more and more money going into biomedical research, with not enough product coming out, according to researchers at the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston. This is where iMedConsent comes into play. Researchers at UTHealth have employed Dialog Medical’s automated consent solution to streamline their research processes. One of the drivers is decreasing administrative burden, in addition to decreasing regulatory burden.
Survey: More work needed to integrate care management, IT - Thursday September 2, 2010
New research concludes that the pace of automating and integrating care management workflows into health IT systems, remains slow. The findings come out of "The 2010 Health Information Technology Survey: How Technology Is Changing the Practice of Case Management" report, conducted by TCS Healthcare Technologies (TCS) in conjunction with the Case Management Society of America (CMSA) and the American Board of Quality Assurance and Utilization Review Physicians, Inc. (ABQAURP).
HIMSS launches new website to help with quality reporting - Thursday September 2, 2010
Meaningful use incentives make quality – and quality reporting – an integral component of electronic health records. To help providers and vendors better understand the details behind those imperatives, HIMSS has introduced Quality 101, a new online primer on quality measurement.
Detroit, Cincinnati land Beacon Community grants - Thursday September 2, 2010
Cincinnati and Detroit are the two final pilot communities selected under the new Beacon Community Program that is using health information technology to help tackle leading health problems in communities across the country. Between them they will receive $30 million in government money to help in their work. ONC chief David Blumenthal, delivered the news Thursday at the Henry Ford Health Center in Detroit , while HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius was in Cincinnati to make the announcement at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine.
Michael Douglas and Missed Diagnosis - Thursday September 2, 2010
The wife of actor Michael Douglas recently said she was “furious” that doctors did not locate and treat her husband’s throat cancer earlier, indicating it would have improved his chance of survival. The Oscar-winner’s diagnosis shocked many, both because of who he is and because what was initially thought to be a sore throat turned out to be something far worse.
Experimental Novartis drug shows malaria promise - Thursday September 2, 2010
LONDON (Reuters) - An experimental Novartis drug can clear malaria infection in mice with a single dose and scientists say it shows promise as a possible future treatment for one of the world's major killer diseases.
New partnership gives Angie's List access to 'Blue Book' healthcare prices - Thursday September 2, 2010
Angie's List announced on Wednesday a partnership that will allow its members to access Healthcare Blue Book, a free pricing tool that aids consumers and companies in determining and negotiating fair healthcare prices. Officials say the service is designed to help patients shop around for the best price before they even agree to treatment and incur those bills.
HHS awards $17 million for patient-centered outcomes research - Thursday September 2, 2010
The government will distribute nearly $17 million for patient-centered outcomes research that is supported by health information technology and data systems, Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced Wednesday.
The Ghost War - Wednesday September 1, 2010
As I looked out on my audience of uniformed physicians and nurses, the stories of destroyed lives and war ran through my mind and I thought, “Does anybody besides the military remember that we are fighting two wars?”
Thomson Reuters acquires Healthcare Data Management, Inc. - Wednesday September 1, 2010
Thomson Reuters announced Wednesday that it has acquired Healthcare Data Management, Inc., a King of Prussia, Pa.-based health plan benchmarking firm that will now become part of the Healthcare & Science business of Thomson Reuters.
Labeling Crayons - Tuesday August 31, 2010
Why do I do these things? Honestly, the reason why is that it is the path of least resistance. I don’t want my kids to be singled out in school for having (gasp!) unlabeled crayons and I don’t want to be singled out by the nursing staff as a difficult or unsafe doctor. So, I go with the flow.
Docs Dialing In to “Mobile Health” Movement - Tuesday August 31, 2010
The addition of a camera to cell phones years ago changed the devices completely and now they could change the way some doctors diagnose their patients’ maladies.
Using Social Networking as a Marketing Tool - Tuesday August 31, 2010
Today doctors are competing for patients in a radically changed marketplace. One of the most important emerging technologies in that space is Internet-based social networking.
Best States to Practice 2010 - Tuesday August 31, 2010
Trying to decide which state to practice in? Our guide to state-level conditions affecting physicians’ wallets will help you choose wisely.
‘What I Didn’t Learn in Residency’ - Monday August 30, 2010
Pediatrician Sandy L. Chung on getting schooled in the business of medicine during her first year of practice.
Coding: Reducing Duplicate Documentation; ‘Detailed Exam’ Debate; Pinpointing Profile Information - Monday August 30, 2010
Here are your latest coding questions, answered by coding expert Bill Dacey.
The Prescription Responsibility Debate - Monday August 30, 2010
When a doctor writes a prescription for pain medications or other narcotics, does his or her responsibility stop once their signature is complete? A California physician thinks so and is defending herself against a criminal investigation alleging her of improperly dispensing the drugs, which in some cases led to overdose deaths of some of her patients.
This Week's Peeves - Monday August 30, 2010
Wasn’t it about a month ago that I was carrying on about howI felt disrespected? Wasn’t it just a week or two ago that I said that life is good and that I shouldn’t complain? And now here I am with this week’s list of things that just plain irked me.
EMR Mythbusters - Friday August 27, 2010
Will "EMR" spell financial disaster for my practice? Will it destroy relationships with my patients? In this free podcast, two technology gurus and practicing physicians address these and other common EMR rumors to arm you with valuable information before you make the transition to a paperless (or, at least, less-papered) office. This podcast is brought to you by Nuesoft Technologies and NueMD, Internet-based practice management software and electronic health records. Nuesoft has an established U.S. customer base of more than 15,000 users in 49 states.
6 Not-So-Obvious Roles Docs Play - Friday August 27, 2010
Disaster relief worker, community health promoter, patient advocate? Being a doctor affords you the opportunity to make a difference in your patients’ lives in a number of other ways.
The Part-time Puzzle - Thursday August 26, 2010
Embracing part-time and work-at-home schedules to help fit the right employee pieces into place.
Tools to "Unteach" - Thursday August 26, 2010
I hate when I have to “unteach” a patient. It’s very difficult to get a patient to unlearn something that is wrong. Whether they heard it from a friend, family member, or on the Internet, if it doesn’t jibe with your message, your job as an educator just gets harder.
2010 Tech Survey: Selecting the Right Practice Management System - Thursday August 26, 2010
Just like a Swiss Army knife, your practice management system should do everything you need it to do in one central location to guarantee your office’s survival. However, much like the valued outdoor utility tool, there are so many different options in terms of tools, gadgets, and styles that choosing the right one can be difficult.
Refining EHR Usage - Wednesday August 25, 2010
EHR adoption doesn’t end when your system is installed; you have to continue to improve your use of the product.