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- July 12, 2013
4 Essential Factors for Population Health, Accountable Care
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreMany hospitals and health systems across the country are beginning to take steps out of their old comfort zone — caring for patients within their own four walls — to start initiatives to provide accountable care and manage and improve the health of their populations. Carroll Hospital Center in...
00 - July 12, 2013
Competition is Rx to slow health costs
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreThree years into the Affordable Care Act, America’s employers are still looking for the affordable part. Despite a recent slowdown, health care inflation remains two to three times the rate of general inflation. Health insurance is expected to cost a family $16,000 this year, double what it cost a...
- July 12, 2013
“…To Care for HER Who Hath Borne the Battle… The Rural Woman Veteran”
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreOf the 22 million living Veterans in the United States today, just over 10% are women Veterans. 83% of women Veterans receive care outside of the VA, and only 170,000 enrolled women Veterans living in rural and highly rural areas of the country, it is easy for VA health...
- July 12, 2013
Hospital CEO Bonuses Reward Volume And Growth
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreLike hospital leaders everywhere, the people running Valley Medical Center in Renton, Wash., talk frequently about the need to control soaring medical costs. “We are working to reduce the overall cost of health care and to transform health care delivery,” Lisa Jensen, chairwoman of the hospital’s board of trustees,...
- July 12, 2013
Most Recent H7N9 Flu Deadlier Than H1N1
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreThe first estimates of the severity of the H7N9 influenza virus show that about one-third of people who were hospitalized with the infection died. And flu experts warn that the strain could reappear in the next flu season. In February, Chinese health authorities first reported infections with the H7N9...
- July 12, 2013
Should Physician Pay Be Tied to Performance?
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreWe need to rethink how we pay doctors. That’s one thing almost everyone can agree on. The question is, how? Currently, most doctors get paid for every service they perform. But one of the big ideas behind President Obama’s health-care overhaul is paying doctors based on how well they...
- July 12, 2013
AAMC Praises Bill to Create Primary Care Mentorship, Scholarship Programs
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreAAMC President and CEO Darrell G. Kirch, M.D., sent a June 12 letter praising Senators Jack Reed (D-R.I.) and Roy Blunt (R-Mo.) for introducing a bill that would authorize a series of programs to strengthen the health care workforce. The Building a Health Care Workforce for the Future Act (S....
- July 12, 2013
RWJF ‘Commission to Build a Healthier America’ Reconvenes to Focus on Early Childhood and Improving Community Health
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreWhat do the needs of children in early childhood and improving community health have to do with each other? Everything, according to a group of panelists who addressed the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) Commission to Build a Healthier America at a public meeting in Washington, D.C. yesterday. Early...
- July 12, 2013
Eliminating Racism Might Increase Life Expectancy
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreEliminating racism might help people live longer. Medical studies increasingly show that racial bias, whether overt or subtle and unintentional, can lead to chronic stress problems among victims — and stress can literally alter how our brains work and how we respond to germs, according to Paula Braveman, director...
- July 12, 2013
Increasing Mental Health Literacy in Rural America New Mental Health First Aid Rural Guide Released
By Bridgette Olson on July 12, 2013Read moreOne in five Americans has a mental illness yet only about 4 in 10 of these people receive treatment. In rural America — where 20 percent of the country’s population lives — the challenges of getting mental health treatment are exacerbated by the fear of being misunderstood, lack of...