Healthcare Headlines

Want to receive headlines like these in your inbox? Subscribe to one of our free e-Newsletters

Top Stories

• U.S. Health Reform 2009: Complete Coverage from HealthLeaders Media and HCPro, Inc.

  President Barack Obama has made healthcare reform his administration's top priority, and now Congress is working to meet that goal. The task is proving to be even more difficult than originally expected: Trying to protect the business side for providers and the insurance industry while providing coverage for all Americans are among the biggest obstacles. Follow HealthLeaders Media and HCPro, Inc. as we provide up-to-date coverage on the federal government's health reform efforts.

• Meaningful Use First Draft Could Guide Final Definition

  The Health Information Technology Policy Committee stressed on Tuesday that the meaningful use definitions recommended by a study committee this week are merely a non-binding "first step" in a complex winnowing process.

• Skepticism and some optimism surround new nurse dramas

  Two new fictional nurses, “Jackie Peyton” (portrayed in Showtime’s Nurse Jackie) and “Christina Hawthorne” (TNT’s HawthoRNe), will light up TV screens in the next two weeks. In the fall, NBC will introduce “Veronica Callahan” when it premieres the nursing drama Mercy. But how the shows will affect real world nurses has come into question.

• New legislation praised, but no guarantee for medical safety

  In 2008, the Southern Nevada Health District had 50,000 patients tested for HIV and hepatitis after an outbreak was believed to be caused by the reuse of syringes and vials, according to the Las Vegas Review Journal. To prevent future outbreaks like this from happening, Nevada legislators have recently passed Assembly Bill 123, which will require ambulatory surgical clinics to be the subject of yearly, unannounced inspections instead of inspections every three to six years.

• CDC says elderly not hit as hard by swine flu

  A recent study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) revealed some elderly people may have a pre-existing antibody that protects them from the H1N1 virus, also known as swine flu.

• OIG lists recommendations not fully implemented by HHS

  The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) failed to fully implement recommendations made by the Office of Inspector General (OIG), according to the OIG’s “Compendium of Unimplemented Office of Inspector General Recommendations”, released May 29.