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Medi-Cal Cuts Could Hit Care for Hospitalized Patients With Disabilities
California Healthline - 05-13-2008 - A 10% cut to Medi-Cal reimbursements to health care providers will harm hospitals' ability to provide care for patients with severe injuries or illnesses who need lifelong disability care.
FORUM: Loss of diversion program will hurt
North County Times - 05-13-2008 - Apparently, the California Medical Board has better things to do than protect patients from doctors with drug or alcohol addictions.
On June 30, the board will terminate its Physician Diversion Monitoring Program, a little-known program that quietly provides doctors with substance abuse treatment. The program is intended to allow doctors to continue practicing medicine in exchange for voluntarily receiving treatment for their addictions... Doctors themselves recognize the importance of diversion programs. The California Medical Association, the advocacy group for doctors statewide, is fighting to keep the program going.
Advocates for poor worry about health budget
San Francisco Chronicle - 05-14-2008 - Advocates for the poor say they are bracing for the worst today when Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger unveils his revised budget proposal that seeks to close a massive deficit. With the state's economy continuing to slow down, the biggest question in recent weeks has been the magnitude of the looming budget gap, which Schwarzenegger at one point pegged as large as $20 billion.
Drug marketing shifts the doctor-patient relationship
Los Angeles Times - 05-14-2008 - Like many doctors, Ron Ben-Ari thinks ads on TV for prescription drugs frequently go too far in touting a particular pill's benefits without adequately presenting the risks.
887.4 million bond for San Francisco General
San Francisco Chronicle - 05-14-2008 - A campaign to rebuild San Francisco General Hospital took a critical step Tuesday with a proposal for an $887.4 million bond measure submitted to the Board of Supervisors. The existing hospital, which annually treats about 100,000 patients, fails to meet state seismic requirements and must be replaced or closed as an acute-care facility.
Wireless patient devices at risk from proposed Internet use
(AP) - 05-14-2008 - The proposed use of unoccupied TV airwaves for high-speed Internet service across the country could affect the signal that monitors critically ill hospital patients. The medical community says that the move could result in possible interference from unlicensed portable gizmos operating in a nearby spectrum. Hospitals and medical device makers say using empty channels for unlicensed uses could disrupt the monitoring of patients' heart rates, blood oxygen levels and other vital signs at medical facilities.
Disclosing drug makers payments to docs gets boost
(AP) - 05-14-2008 - Eli Lilly and Co. have endorsed legislation that would require prescription drug makers to disclose payments to doctors. The legislation addresses concerns that payments, such as picking up paying travel expenses for a conference at an exotic locale, can influence a doctor's prescribing habits. The legislation would not ban the payments, but require that companies report them beginning March 31, 2011. It would also pre-empt laws in the few states that already require drug makers to disclose their payments to doctors.
Study: Quality lags at safety-net hospitals
Washington Post (AP) - 05-14-2008 - The quality of care at "safety-net" hospitals that treat poor and underserved patients is lagging well behind hospitals that do not serve these patients, according to a study. The safety net hospitals rely on state and federal funding from Medicaid and other sources, and do not have the money to improve the quality of care at the same rate that better-funded hospitals do. In the study, researchers examined data collected between 2004 and 2006 from 3,665 safety-net and non-safety-net hospitals. They found that hospitals that cater to a low percentage of Medicaid patients had significantly more improvement in quality compared with safety-net hospitals.
Prescription Drug Use
Grows in America
Wall Street Journal (AP) - 05-14-2008 - For the first time, it appears that more than half of all insured Americans are taking prescription medicines regularly for chronic health problems, a study shows.
Study Shows Exercise at Young Age
Helps Protect Against Breast Cancer
Wall Street Journal (AP) - 05-13-2008 - New research shows exercise during the teen years -- starting as young as age 12 -- can help protect girls from breast cancer when they're grown. Middle-aged women have long been advised to get active to lower their risk of breast cancer after menopause. What's new: That starting so young pays off, too.
