CMA Press Clips
Daily reports on health care policy and medicine from newspapers and magazines throughout California and around the nation.
Diverse proposals aim to address doctor shortage, avert care crisis
Whittier Daily News - 8/7/10 - A health care "disaster" is brewing in the United States, according to El Monte doctor Ignacio de Artola. Twenty-five percent of Americans have health problems that dramatically increase their risk of developing heart disease and diabetes. Among Latinos, that incidence jumps to 50 percent. But disaster can be averted if these people get access to regular primary care, according to de Artola, who is director of the Cleaver Family Wellness Clinic in El Monte and a professor at the University of Southern California.
Renewed effort to lure doctors to rural areas faces obstacles
Washington Post - 8/9/10 - Sarah Carricaburu slipped her sleek new iPhone into her purse for the day. With no signal here deep in the woods, it's useless. She swiveled away from her desktop computer, which can't access the Internet, and glanced at the manila folders of patient records neatly stacked on a shelf by nurses.
Study: Foreign-trained doctors as good as those trained in USA
USA Today - 8/9/10 - Foreign-born doctors practicing in the United States who earned their medical degrees abroad performed as well or better than their U.S.-born counterparts, a new study finds.
Electronic records keep pulse of patients
San Bernardino Sun - 8/7/10 - The quest to put medical records on computers are a national priority set by President Barack Obama before he took office.
Doctors Get Dose of Technology From Insurers
Wall Street Journal - 8/ 9/10 - Health-insurance companies including Humana Inc. and Aetna Inc. are stepping into the race to equip doctors with high-tech patient records. The lure: the estimated 80% of U.S. physicians and 90% of hospitals whose records are still on paper, and the $27 billion in federal stimulus money available to help these holdouts switch. The Obama administration last month outlined how doctors can qualify for the funds starting next year. Come 2015, doctors will be penalized under Medicare if they haven't computerized their records.
Many Californians with pre-existing conditions will find help in September as a reform takes effect
Contra Costa Times - 8/9/10 - California will open a new high-risk health insurance plan in September for people who have medical conditions that make it difficult, if not impossible, to obtain coverage. The plan will be one of the first major results of the national health reform law. With $761 million in federal funding, it is expected to provide coverage for 20,000 to 25,000 Californians.
New health law may bring pricier premiums
San Francisco Chronicle - 8/9/10 - Employers and consumers sorting through their health insurance options may see a bump in their rates next year to account for the potential impact of some of the early elements of the federal health overhaul law, according to some health experts.
Beware stem cell 'cures,' doctors say
Sacramento Bee - 8/9/10 - Last September, Vanessa Alvarez had what she thought was a sinus headache she couldn't shake. Then her vision went blurry in one eye.
When Facebook goes to the hospital, patients may suffer
Los Angeles Times - 8/9/10 - William Wells arrived at the emergency room at St. Mary Medical Center in Long Beach on April 9 mortally wounded. The 60-year-old had been stabbed more than a dozen times by a fellow nursing home resident, his throat slashed so savagely he was almost decapitated. Instead of focusing on treating him, an employee said, St. Mary nurses and other hospital staff did the unthinkable: They snapped photos of the dying man and posted them on Facebook. Four staff members were fired and three disciplined, according to a St. Mary spokeswoman. At least two nurses were involved, but none was fired, a union spokesman said.
