www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZMJf4sh_WBk

Read the original:

President Obama Speaks at the National Peace Officers’ Memorial Service – Video

by Dr. Jon Hallberg, Minnesota Public Radio

May 16, 2012

Audio player code:

ST. PAUL, Minn. Palliative care is an approved medical subspecialty that’s present in 85 percent of larger hospitals. But a new survey in the Journal of Palliative Medicine shows that many patients and health care professionals are still confused about the concept. Many even confuse palliative care with euthanasia.

MPR’s medical analyst Dr. Jon Hallberg discussed the concept of palliative care with Tom Crann of All Things Considered on Wednesday. Hallberg is a physician in family medicine at the University of Minnesota and medical director of the Mill City Clinic.

An edited transcript of that discussion is below.

Crann: What is palliative care?

Hallberg: The World Health Organization puts it this way, it says that palliative care is an approach that improves the quality of life of patients and their families when they’re facing problems associated with life-threatening illnesses.

Crann: What sort of treatments are we talking about?

Hallberg: I think the thing we all think about immediately is pain control…But it also might include being very short of breath, being very aware of that, and so managing that as well.

Excerpt from:

Dr. Jon Hallberg: Clearing up confusion about palliative health care

South Dakota received $5.8 million on Wednesday from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to help cover the costs of implementing a state-run health insurance exchange program.

But as far as Gov. Dennis Daugaard is concerned, the money doesnt change anything in terms of his opposition to health-care reform.

Daugaard released a statement Wednesday saying that South Dakota has not decided whether to pursue a state-run health insurance exchange. The governor said the grant announcement has no effect on the states decision to wait until the U.S. Supreme Court makes a decision regarding the constitutionality of the Affordable Care Act.

South Dakota is one of 26 states challenging the act, a case pending before the Supreme Court. A decision is expected in June.

Under the Affordable Care Act, all states are required to have a blueprint for their individual state plan by Nov. 16. Exchanges are competitive marketplaces where individuals and businesses can access health insurance at affordable prices, according to the HHS. Under the act, all Americans eventually will be required to acquire health insurance.

Under the act, states can create a state plan or design a joint state/federal plan. If they do not create their own by Nov. 16, a federal plan can be implemented and operated for them.

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said Wednesday that 34 states already have begun creating the exchanges. Other states are making real progress, she said.

Sebelius said the federal government doesnt want to run the exchanges.

We start with the premise we want every state to operate their own, said Sebelius, adding that the $181 million in grant money for six states announced Wednesday is designed to help them do that.

Daugaard previously has said that he never wants to see a federal plan in South Dakota. Yet some experts believe that is exactly what could happen for states that do not begin planning soon.

See original here:

State receives health care grant; plans to wait

Obama signs the health care law in 2010.

If the Supreme Court doesnt scrap President Obamas landmark health care law, the effects for LGBT people are legion. On prevention alone, the HealthCare.gov website lists more than 80 types of free tests, immunizations, and other preventive measures.But all that complexity boils down into one simple piece of advice.

Go to the doctor, emphasizes Kellan Baker, a health policy analyst with the Center for American Progress, which teamed up with the National Coalition for LGBT Health to write a 31-page report titled What Health Care Reform Means for Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Americans. A lot of LGBT people often dont feel comfortable going to the doctor, says Baker, a coauthor of the report. The medical profession has a checkered history with LGBT patients, but staying home is like staying in the closet, and Baker warns, When you catch something later, its worse.

LGBT people suffer higher rates of some cancers, often because of their disproportionate rate of smoking. Discrimination and other stresses put gay people at increased risk for mental health problems, which the new law also targets with screenings.

The Affordable Care Act established a task force whose job it is to grade new preventive procedures on their effectiveness. Anything getting an A or B becomes mandatory for insurers to cover without co-pay.

The government is mandating that preventive care be essentially free because it saves so much money in the long run. Estimates are that investing $1 in prevention returns savings of $5.60 over time, and thats part of the purpose of the Affordable Care Act, Baker says, to turn the sick care system into a health care system.

More here:

How the Health Care Law Offers an Ounce of Prevention

The Missouri House approved legislation Wednesday that would allow health care workers, medical centers and others to refuse to provide contraception or carry out procedures that violate their religious or ethical beliefs.

Doctors, nurses and other medical workers could not be punished or discriminated against if they refuse to participate in abortions, embryonic stem-cell research or other procedures. Employers and health plan sponsors could not be forced to provide coverage for abortion, contraception or sterilization procedures, and pharmacies would not be required to stock particular medication or devices.

The House passed the measure 117-37, and it now returns to the state Senate where lawmakers either can accept the House’s proposal or request negotiations. To send the legislation to Gov. Jay Nixon, both chambers must approve the same version of the bill. Time is running short before the Legislature’s mandatory adjournment at 6 p.m. Friday.

House Majority Leader Tim Jones said religious and conscience rights are a “bedrock” principle that Missourians demand be protected.

“This is a comprehensive bill that goes far to protect religious freedoms and liberties and conscious rights of workers across this entire state,” said Jones, R-Eureka. “Why you would not want to support this is beyond me.”

Most of the opposition in the House came from Democratic lawmakers representing districts near St. Louis and Kansas City who argued the legislation would inhibit access to health care for some Missourians. Several opponents said it seemed the measure was aimed particularly at birth control.

Rep. Stacey Newman, D-St. Louis, said the medical procedures at issue in the legislation would affect women most directly. Speaking with a male opponent of the measure, Newman said “You will be putting your stamp on what you think I should be doing and also deciding if your religious beliefs will supersede my religious beliefs and my moral convictions.”

Rep. Sandy Crawford, who sponsored the legislation in the House, said she would be horrified if she had to participate in some of the medical procedures covered by the measure. Crawford, R-Buffalo, added nothing would stop Missouri women from purchasing birth control on their own if their insurance did not cover it.

House members folded several pieces into the health care legislation.

The conscious objections for medical workers would shield employees from termination, suspension, demotion and loss wages if they invoke it. Health care institutions such as hospitals, clinics and medical or nursing schools also could refuse to perform procedures to which it has moral objections.

Read more:

Missouri House endorses health care legislation

Originally posted here:

Clancy: Unhealthy obsession with big spending

2012 CSQI shows progress in Ontario’s cancer system but more needs to be done

TORONTO, May 16, 2012 /CNW/ – The Cancer Quality Council of Ontario’s eighth annual Cancer System Quality Index (CSQI), released today, shows that while Ontario’s cancer system has seen substantial improvement over nearly 10 years, there’s more that needs to be done.

A North American first, launched in 2005, the CSQI is a web-based public reporting tool that enables the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario (CQCO) to track the quality and consistency of key cancer services delivered across Ontario’s cancer system, from prevention through to end-of-life care. It is one of the most comprehensive reports of its kind in terms of its breadth of measurement, jurisdictional comparisons and international benchmarks.

“We’ve taken significant steps, with the help of our dedicated partners, to improve cancer care in Ontario and ensure better outcomes for patients. I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made to increase survival rates but I know we have more work to do to prevent cancer and to provide the highest quality of care for those living with cancer,” said Deb Matthews, Minister of Health and Long-Term Care.

“When it comes to cancer in Ontario, we are measuring more, we know more, and we are taking the quality of the cancer system seriously while ensuring accountability for improvement,” said Dr. Robert Bell, Chair of the CQCO and President and CEO, University Health Network. “While we have made gains, there are approximately 72,000 new cancer diagnoses anticipated in the province this year alone. There’s more that needs to be done to ensure that Ontarians continue to receive a high level of care and the best experience possible when going through the cancer system.”

The report also indicates that because the cancer survival rate in Ontario is favourably high and high compared to international jurisdictions, Ontarians are living longer with cancer as a chronic disease. Results from this year’s report show that the Ontario cancer system needs to focus on the quality of life of survivors, both during and after active treatment. This includes a need to continue to improve patient-centred care, especially in relation to measuring the patient experience. It also requires seamless integration of services across the health system to achieve greater efficiency without compromising quality of care.

“At Cancer Care Ontario our vision is to work with our partners to create the best health systems in the world. A great deal has been achieved in improving quality, performance and access to care within the cancer system for the people of Ontario,” said Michael Sherar, President and CEO, Cancer Care Ontario. “This year’s CSQI highlights an opportunity for us to increase our efforts in prevention of cancer, and to drive the delivery of more patient-centred, integrated care while getting greater value from every health dollar we spend to help ensure a sustainable health system for all Ontarians.”

The 2012 CSQI measures a total of 32 indicators. Visit www.csqi.on.ca to review all the indicators and this year’s interactive report.

About the Cancer Quality Council of Ontario The Cancer Quality Council of Ontario (CQCO) is an advisory group established in 2002 by the Ministry of Health and Long-Term Care (MOHLTC) and is quasi-independent to Cancer Care Ontario (CCO), set up to provide advice to CCO and the MOHLTC in their efforts to improve the quality of cancer care in the province. The Council is composed of healthcare providers, cancer survivors, and experts in the areas of oncology, policy, performance measurement and health services research. The CQCO has a mandate to monitor and report publicly on the performance of the Ontario cancer system and to motivate improvement through national and international benchmarking. For more information on the CQCO, visit www.cqco.ca.

Backgrounder – http://www.cqco.ca/common/pages/UserFile.aspx?fileId=133011

Visit link:

Health Care Improving For Ontario Cancer Patients

Canada Health Infoway announces recipients of ImagineNation Outcomes Challenge Trailblazer Awards

TORONTO, May 16, 2012 /CNW/ – Canada Health Infoway (Infoway) today announced the recipients of the Trailblazer Awards, as part of the ongoing ImagineNation Outcomes Challenge.

“Innovation is about translating great ideas into results,” said Richard Alvarez, President and CEO of Canada Health Infoway. “With the Trailblazer Awards, we are recognizing teams that not only have innovative e-solutions, but also have creative, practical plans to extend the use of their solutions for the benefit of the patients, clinicians and others.”

Participating teams submitted a video describing how they use an innovative e-solution to provide value to clinicians and patients, as well as a written plan outlining actions they will take to increase the volume of use and the number of users of their solution.

There are four categories in the Challenge:

Trailblazer Award Recipients

The top three teams in each of the four categories were selected by a panel of more than 30 judges from across Canada. The award recipients are:

e-Scheduling

1st place: University of British Columbia Student Health Service (Vancouver, BC) 2nd place: Uptown Family Health Team (Richmond Hill, ON) 3rd place: Westmount Square Medical Center (Montreal, QC)

Patient Access to Health Information

Continued here:

Innovative health care e-solutions recognized

ROCKFORD Rock Valley College is marrying GED preparatory classes with an introduction to health care careers in an effort to bridge the gap between receiving a high school equivalency degree and landing a job.

Bridge to Health Care started after the Illinois Community College Board directed learning institutions to develop bridge programming to help their students find work, said Amanda Smith, RVCs transitions coordinator.

Its become quite apparent that getting your GED is not enough to get gainful employment, Smith said. Were finding many in our community are not only lacking their GED but basic employment skills, so doing those two things at once seemed natural.

The program includes test prep sessions and visits to local health care providers to learn about careers and what postsecondary education is needed for those jobs. Smith said the students also work with her to identify what services are needed to help them transition from the classroom to the workplace.

The class meets four days a week for four hours a day; the first eight-week session is concluding Monday, Smith said. Another class will be offered in the fall, funding permitting.

Eleven students were enrolled in the class when it began. This week, the nine students who remain were busy preparing for their final exam. Some of them have already begun to take their six-part GED tests; others say they plan to do it this summer and enroll in college-level classes in the fall.

Raisa Curieo, 22, of Rockford has taken four of the six parts of the GED test and hopes to finish her exams soon. This fall, she plans to enroll at Rock Valley with the ultimate goal of becoming a registered nurse.

She said returning to a classroom was a challenge, but the experience has been worthwhile.

It was kind of hard to not be able to be at home or work, but its helping me out a lot, she said. This is stuff I wouldnt learn somewhere else.

Smith said RVC is partnering with two agencies on the program: the Northwest Illinois Healthcare Collaborative, an umbrella organization of Rockfords three health care systems, plus KSB Hospital in Dixon and FHN in Freeport; and the Workforce Investment Board of Boone and Winnebago counties, which administers federal job-training grants.

The rest is here:

GED classes, intro to health care careers together at RVC

BOSTON As the Senate opened debate yesterday on a major health care cost control bill, Republicans tried in vain to delay action until after the U.S. Supreme Court rules next month on the constitutionality of national health care reforms.

While the Senate rejected that proposal, Senate Minority Leader Bruce E. Tarr, R-Gloucester, argued that the pending court ruling, which could strike down the federal mandate to buy health insurance and cut federal Medicaid funds to the state, could have a major impact on the states health care system.

Sen. Richard T. Moore, D-Uxbridge, a chief proponent of the Senate bill, argued that no matter what the court decides, it would not have an impact on reforms being considered by the state to control health care cost increases or the existing state insurance mandate.

At the same time, Gov. Deval L. Patrick said limits called for in House and Senate proposals may not go far enough to curb annual health insurance premium increases in a state many consider to have the highest health care costs in the country.

The Senate was set to spend Tuesday and Thursday debating its version of sweeping cost containment legislation aimed at reducing family insurance premiums in the state by thousands of dollars each year.

Besides converting state subsidized and state employee insurance to global payment systems from the current fee-for-service system in the next two years, the Senate bill would also limit insurance premium increases to the percentage of annual increase in Massachusetts gross state product, a measurement of the economic output of the state and a counterpart to the gross domestic product.

Mr. Patrick made the case yesterday that the Senate plan and a similar House plan to limit increases to one-half percent less than the increase in the gross state product, could allow for excessive increases in health insurance rates.

I think the industry can do better than gross state product. I certainly could not imagine accepting GSP plus anything, Mr. Patrick said in a speech to the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. He said the industry has already shown it can reduce costs more than that, without jeopardizing the quality of care.

Mr. Moore argued on the Senate floor that the Senate plan would not set up a large new state agency and that if the plan to link increases to the gross state product proved inadequate in the future, the Legislature could revise it to further limit increases or allow larger increases.

Both a plan offered by the governor and the Senate plan would convert state-subsidized and state-employee insurance plans to global payment systems that allocate per capita budgets to providers for annual care, replacing the current system of charging insurers for each service or treatment provided.

More here:

State Senate conjures new health cost

NORTHBROOK, IL–(Marketwire -05/15/12)- Blue Chip Patient Recruitment, a division of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, today announced the launch of its mHealth (mobile health care technology) Survey. The study will examine the benefits of mobile technology in clinical trial recruitment through three separate surveys targeting patients, physicians and site coordinators. Complete survey results will be presented at this year’s Drug Information Association (DIA) Conference, June 26, 2012, during the forum “The Next Patient Recruitment Frontier: Leveraging Mobile Health Care Technology (mHealth) to Recruit Patients for Clinical Trials.” Neil Weisman, Executive Vice President and General Manager of Blue Chip Patient Recruitment, will moderate.

“According to the Center for Information & Study on Clinical Research Participation, delays in patient recruitment for clinical trials account for an average of 4.6 months lost per trial. It is our opinion that this delay can be avoided by better understanding where and when potential study participants are most receptive to receiving a message asking them to enroll in a specific study,” said Stanton Kawer, Chairman and CEO of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide. “Blue Chip Patient Recruitment recognizes the significant changes that the growth in mobile technology has delivered to all facets of society. We are specifically interested in identifying how such dynamic platforms can translate to accelerated enrollment for the clinical trial industry. That is our charge.”

Blue Chip Patient Recruitment is fielding the mHealth Survey in three parts over the course of three months (March – May 2012), directly targeting three core constituencies — patients, physicians and trial site coordinators. Selected patient participants have to currently own a smartphone and/or tablet. All participating physicians and site coordinators have to currently be involved in clinical trials.

“The mHealth Survey will help us to determine ways in which mobile devices can be used by each of our key audiences to make them more willing to participate in, engage with, or refer patients to clinical trials,” said Neil Weisman. “In our technologically savvy world where people are constantly connected in one way or another, the Survey will be vital in helping Blue Chip Patient Recruitment create tools that will connect patients, physicians and research sites to meaningful clinical trial opportunities.”

About Blue Chip Patient RecruitmentBlue Chip Patient Recruitment, a division of Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide, is a global, full-service patient recruitment and retention agency dedicated to accelerating clinical trial enrollment. They have proudly delivered success to the world’s top health care corporations for nearly 20 years, across more than 600 clinical studies. They are recognized for their scientific approach to clinical trial marketing, their insights and strategies, their innovative recruitment tactics and their best in class creative. Most importantly, they are known for the intelligence and passionate service that they bring to every study. For more information, visit www.bcpatientrecruitment.com.

About Blue Chip Marketing WorldwideFounded in 1982 in Northbrook, Illinois, Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide (www.bluechipmarketingworldwide.com) is an independent, full-service global marketing agency that unites brands to sales to deliver unparalleled results. Through 360 insights, proprietary models and detailed execution, BCMW delivers core marketing capabilities for the retail, healthcare and branding sectors. Clients include Procter & Gamble, Gorton’s, Wells Enterprises, Inc. (Blue Bunny Ice Cream), Fisher Nuts, On-Cor Frozen Foods, LLC, BioSante Pharmaceuticals, Inc., inVentiv Health and Alva-Amco, among others.

Read more here:

Blue Chip Marketing Worldwide Launches New Mobile Health Care Technology Survey

Select a Publication: N E W S P A P E R S ———————————————- —Alberta— Airdrie – Airdrie Echo Banff – Banff Crag and Canyon Beaumont – Beaumont News Calgary – The Calgary Sun Camrose – Camrose Canadian Canmore – Canmore Leader Central Alberta – County Market Cochrane – Cochrane Times Cold Lake – Cold Lake Sun Crowsnest Pass – Crowsnest Pass Promoter Devon – Dispatch News Drayton – Drayton Valley Western Review Edmonton – Edmonton Examiner Edmonton – The Edmonton Sun Edson – Edson Leader Fairview – Fairview Post Fort McMurray – Fort McMurray Today Fort Saskatchewan – Fort Saskatchewan Record Grande Prairie – Daily Herald Tribune Hanna – Hanna Herald High River – High River Times Hinton – Hinton Parklander Lacombe – Lacombe Globe Leduc – Leduc Representative Lloydminster – Meridian Booster Mayerthorpe – Mayerthorpe Freelancer Nanton – Nanton News Peace Country – Peace Country Sun Peace River – Peace River Record Gazette Pincher Creek – Pincher Creek Echo Sherwood Park – Sherwood Park News Spruce Grove – Spruce Grove Examiner Stony Plain – Stony Plain Reporter Strathmore – Strathmore Standard Vermilion – Vermilion Standard Vulcan – Vulcan Advocate Wetaskiwin – Wetaskiwin Times Whitecourt – Whitecourt Star —Manitoba— Altona – Alton Red River Valley Echo Beausejour – Beausejour Review Carman – Carman Valley Leader Gimli – Interlake Spectator Lac Du Bonnet – Lac Du Bonnet Leader Morden – Morden Times Portage la Prairie – Portage Daily Graphic Selkirk – Selkirk Journal Stonewall – Stonewall Argus and Teulon Times Winkler – Winkler Times Winnipeg – The Winnipeg Sun —Ontario— Amherstburg – Amherstburg Echo Bancroft – Bancroft this Week Barrie – Barrie Examiner Barry’s Bay – Barry’s Bay this Week Belleville – Intelligencer Bradford – Bradford Times Brantford – Expositor Brockville – The Recorder & Times Chatham – Chatham Daily News Chatham – Chatham This Week Chatham – Today’s Farmer Clinton – Clinton News-Record Cobourg – Northumberland Today Cochrane – Cochrane Times Post Collingwood – Enterprise Bulletin Cornwall – Standard Freeholder Delhi – Delhi News-Record Dresden – Leader Spirit Dunnville – Dunnville Chronicle Elliot Lake – Standard Espanola – Mid-North Monitor Fort Erie – Times Gananoque – Gananoque Reporter Goderich – Goderich Signal-Star Grand Bend – Lakeshore Advance Haliburton – Haliburton Echo Hanover – The Post Ingersoll – Ingersoll Times Innisfil – Innisfil Examiner Kapuskasing – Kapuskasing Northern Times Kenora – Kenora Daily Miner and News Kenora – Lake of the Woods Enterprise Kincardine – Kincardine News Kingston – Frontenac This Week Kingston – Kingston This Week Kingston – Kingston Whig Standard Kirkland Lake – Northern News Leamington – Leamington Post Lindsay – The Lindsay Post London – The London Free Press London – The Londoner Lucknow – Lucknow Sentinel Midland – Free Press Minden – Minden Times Mitchell – Mitchell Advocate Napanee – Napanee Guide Niagara-on-the-Lake – Niagara Advance Niagara Falls – Review Niagara Falls – Niagara Shopping News Niagara Falls – W. Niagara Community Newspapers North Bay – North Bay Nugget Northumberland – Northumberland Today Norwich – Norwich Gazette Orillia – Packet and Times Ottawa – The Ottawa Sun Owen Sound – Sun Times Oxford – Oxford Review Paris – Paris Star Online Pelham – Pelham News Pembroke – Daily Observer Peterborough – Peterborough Examiner Petrolia – Petrolia Topic Picton – County Weekly News Port Colborne – Inport News Port Hope – Northumberland Today Port Elgin – Shoreline Beacon Sarnia – Observer Sarnia – Sarnia This Week Sault Ste Marie – Sault Star Sault Ste Marie – Sault This Week Seaforth – Seaforth Huron Expositor Simcoe – Simcoe Reformer St. Catharines – St. Catharines Shopping News St. Catharines – Standard St. Thomas – St. Thomas Times-Journal Stirling – Community Press Stratford – The Beacon Herald Strathroy – Strathroy Age Dispatch Sudbury – Sudbury Star Thorold – Thorold News Tillsonburg – Tillsonburg News Timmins – Daily Press Timmins – Timmins Times Toronto – The Toronto Sun Trenton – Trentonian Wallaceburg – Wallaceburg Courier Press Welland – Tribune Welland – Welland News West Lorne – The Chronicle Wiarton – Wiarton Echo Woodstock – Sentinel Review —Saskatchewan— Meadow Lake – Meadow Lake Progress Melfort – Melfort Journal Nipawin – Nipawin Journal MAGAZINES & SPECIALTY PUBLICATIONS ——— Biz Magazine Business London Cottage Home and Property Showcase Food and Wine Show Hamilton Halton Weddings Hamilton Magazine InterVin International Wine Awards Kingston Life London Citylife Muskoka Magazine Muskoka Trails Niagara Food and Wine Expo Niagara Magazine Ontario Farmer Ontario Golf Sault Good Life Simcoe Life The Home Show Vines Magazine What’s Up Muskoka

See the rest here:

Health care provides poor value for tax dollars spent

TOLEDO, Ohio–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Health Care REIT, Inc. (NYSE:HCN – News) announced today that Paramount Senior Living at Peters Township, a premier assisted living facility in the South Western Pennsylvania region that is owned and developed by Health Care REIT, has been awarded LEED Silver certification (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design). LEED, established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), is the nations preeminent program for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings.

The strength of USGBC has always been the collective strength of our leaders in the building industry, said Rick Fedrizzi, President, CEO & Founding Chair, U.S. Green Building Council. Given the extraordinary importance of climate protection and the central role of the building industry in that effort, Health Care REIT demonstrates their leadership through the LEED certification of Peters Township.

Peters Township is owned by Health Care REIT and operated by Paramount Health Resources. The LEED certification of Peters Township was based on a number of green design and construction features that positively contribute to the project and the broader community. Key sustainability metrics of the project include:

An integral part of Health Care REITs strategy is to make sustainable investments, which is the right thing to do for the environment while also creating value for our shareholders, said George L. Chapman, Chairman, Chief Executive Officer and President of Health Care REIT. The pursuit and accomplishment of LEED certification for Peters Township demonstrates Health Care REITs industry-leading capabilities, as well as its commitment to be a full-service capital partner.

Peters Township is a state-of-the-art, premier assisted living community that is focused on providing the highest level of clinical service to our residents, said James J. Cox, President and Chief Executive Officer of Paramount Health Resources. There was an alignment of incentives when we were given the opportunity to maximize resident satisfaction while employing sustainable strategies to protect the environment.

Health Care REIT is also pursuing LEED certification for several additional projects currently underway. The companys corporate headquarters was also recently awarded LEED Platinum.

About Health Care REIT, Inc.

Health Care REIT, Inc., an S&P 500 company with headquarters in Toledo, Ohio, is a real estate investment trust that invests across the full spectrum of seniors housing and health care real estate. The company also provides an extensive array of property management and development services. As of March 31, 2012, the companys broadly diversified portfolio consisted of 956 facilities in 46 states. More information is available on the companys website at www.hcreit.com.

About U.S. Green Building Council

Link:

Health Care REIT Property Awarded Prestigious LEED® Environmental Certification

BOSTON (WWLP) – The State Senate began debate Tuesday on health care payment reform.

Senate leaders say their version of the health care cost containment bill will reign-in skyrocketing health care costs, while at the same time updating how we deliver health care.

The Senate bill seeks to contain health care spending equal to the growth of the state economy. The bill encourages providers to adopt electronic health records and to become certified as Accountable Care Organizations that focus on wellness and sickness-prevention efforts.

A new Health Care Quality and Finance Authority would be created to keep an eye on spending and set annual health care cost goals. Governor Deval Patrick criticized the bill’s creation of a new state agency, calling it a “bad Massachusetts habit.” Nevertheless, Patrick did say there’s a lot to like about the bill.

“This bill is 233 pages of ways to contain costs, said Sen. Gale Candaras (D-Wilbraham). It has wellness programs, it makes providers accountable for rates.”

The Senate will sift through about 260 amendments to the bill; most of which will be rejected or withdrawn.

Senate President Therese Murray (D-Plymouth) has said she expects the health care overhaul bill to pass by July 1.

Read the original:

Senate bill aims to reduce health costs

Read the original post:

Health-care Stocks: Cardinal Health settles Florida DEA charges

IRVING, TX–(Marketwire -05/15/12)- As health care leaders struggle to manage myriad new payment models and other demands associated with health care reform, the need for enterprise-wide visibility and the synthesis of clinical, operational and financial data has become a critical business requirement. To deliver this level of insight, VHA Inc., the national health care network, has developed VHA IMPERATIV, an enterprise-wide performance management solution to be unveiled and demonstrated at VHA’s annual Leadership Conference in Denver, Colo., May 20-23.

Powered by analytics, expert advisory services and industry-leading best practices, the concept for VHA IMPERATIV was originally conceived through a collaboration of member hospitals in the VHA network. The VHA IMPERATIV roadmap includes sophisticated data analysis across the entire continuum of care that is considered integral to managing population health on a broad scale.

“Our 1,500 hospital members find that they must balance the complexities of emerging payment models and other health care reform changes with the need for continued superior clinical care and patient experience within a cost effective and patient-centric model. To support this, we’ve built a comprehensive, multi-dimensional solution designed to help each hospital achieve its performance improvement objectives. This solution meets each member where they are today in their transformation journey and guides them where they need to go moving forward,” said Steve Miff PhD, senior vice president for VHA IMPERATIV. “Given today’s pressures, this holistic, data-driven and collaborative approach allows health care leaders to quickly make well-informed decisions that will significantly improve their overall performance.”

IMPERATIV componentsMiff explains that the sum is greater than the whole of its parts, with VHA IMPERATIV components, including: Advisory servicesVHA IMPERATIV is differentiated from other hospital performance improvement tools by a critical element to success: the human touch. VHA’s expert advisors work with subscribers to synthesize opportunities and recommend performance improvement strategies based on factual information from multiple data sources throughout the enterprise. AnalyticsVHA IMPERATIV employs integrated data from clinical, financial and operational domains, combined with proven strategies, to deliver the insight to support current and emerging population-based payment models. VHA IMPERATIV building blocksVHA partners with Thomson Reuters and UHC to provide hospitals with industry-leading clinical and operational benchmarking data in an additional subscription-based service called VHA IMPERATIV Advantage. VHA IMPERATIV Advantage provides all the service of the foundational offering plus more detailed analytics, robust data and advanced advisory services. VHA partnered with Thomson Reuters and UHC to include their powerful clinical and operational database systems into VHA IMPERATIV Advantage. VHA IMPERATIV Advantage incorporates clinical data tools CareDiscovery and CareDiscovery Quality Measures from Thomson Reuters and UHC’s Clinical Data Base and Resource Manager, along with the operational data system from Thomson Reuters, ActionOI.

Thomson Reuters and UHC are recognized leaders at managing complex healthcare data and combing it with powerful analytics to uncover every opportunity to improve the efficiency and outcomes of healthcare services. Building upon existing relationships, these new collaborations unite information assets with the power of analytics, expert advisory services and industry knowledge to help hospitals improve their operational, clinical and financial performance.

KnowledgeMoving beyond data, VHA IMPERATIV leverages the VHA Leading Practice Blueprint library of more than 150 leading clinical and patient-centered practices including clostridium difficile, hand hygiene and urinary tract infections to help hospitals achieve CMS’ Partnership for Patients improvement objectives as well as emerging national quality and cost improvement requirements on metrics such as 30-day readmission, care coordination, value analysis, reprocessing, inventory management and the patient centered medical home (PCMH).

Peer-to-Peer collaborationIn addition to data capture and analysis, VHA IMPERATIV encourages peer-to-peer networking and collaboration by expanding existing regional and national knowledge-sharing opportunities, which help to facilitate members’ adoption of best practices. VHA advisors are available every step of the way to aid members in evaluating, prioritizing and identifying performance improvement opportunities.

To schedule a VHA IMPERATIV demonstration at the VHA Leadership Conference in Denver, contact Maxine Levy, 972.830.7845, mlevy@vha.com. For additional information on VHA IMPERATIV, visit www.vha.com/VHAIMPERATIV or call 800.842.5146 or 972.830.0626.

About VHA Inc. Based in Irving, TX, VHA Inc. is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance, and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Since 1977, VHA has leveraged its expertise in analytics, contracting, consulting and networks to help members achieve their operational, clinical and financial objectives. In 2011, VHA delivered record savings and value of $1.8 billion to members. VHA serves more than 1,350 hospitals and more than 30,000 non-acute care providers nationwide, coordinating delivery of its programs and services through its 15 regional offices. VHA has been ranked as one of the best places to work in healthcare by Modern Healthcare since the publication introduced this list in 2008.

Original post:

VHA IMPERATIV(TM) Gives Hospital Leaders Holistic Performance Improvement Advantage

CHICAGO–(BUSINESS WIRE)–

Accretive Health, Inc. (NYSE: AH – News) announced today that prominent health care and policy leaders have agreed to convene to develop a process for implementing national standards for how hospitals and other providers interact with patients regarding their financial obligations.

This process will create first-of-kind national standards for understanding expected charges, available resources, counseling, billing and payment procedures regardless of the ability to pay. An independent accreditation process will accompany the new standards, providing patients with assurance that they will be treated compassionately and fairly.

The group will identify and select an independent non-profit Standard Development Organization (SDO) to conduct a collaborative process among practitioners, patient advocates, and other interested parties. Once concluded, the group will advance the identified standards to a national accrediting organization.

Accretive Health initiated this process in order to provide clarity and consistency among providers and, as a result, help ensure a more uniform and transparent experience for patients as hospitals work to become more financially stable and bring down the cost of care.

The following noted health care and policy leaders have agreed to serve as independent conveners of the process:

CHAIRMAN

Michael O. Leavitt Former Secretary of U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, three-term governor of Utah and former administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency. He is currently the founder of Leavitt Partners, which specializes in the health care field, and has led numerous large public and private collaborations.

ADVISORS

Tom Daschle Former U.S. Senator from South Dakota, former U.S. Senate Majority Leader, served three terms in the U.S. House of Representatives and is a respected health care thought leader. He is currently a Distinguished Senior Fellow at the Center for American Progress and a member of the Health Policy and Management Executive Council at the Harvard School of Public Health.

More:

Accretive Health Initiates Panel of Health Care Policy Experts to Establish National Standards for Health Care …

In the 1940s, almost half of all adults smoked in this country. By 2010, that percentage had been more than cut in half, thanks to public health campaigns, the reduction of smoking advertising and the banning of smoking in restaurants and many public buildings.

Today, almost two-thirds of adults in Lancaster County are overweight or obese. A third of children also are overweight or obese. Together, they total more than a quarter of a million people here.

Local health care leaders are hoping that what happened to tobacco will happen to obesity and weight issues in the coming decades.

“I have hope because there are a lot of parallels with what happened with tobacco 40, 50 years ago,” said Alice Yoder, a Lancaster General Health official who is coordinator of the Lighten Up Lancaster County Coalition. “The surgeon general put out a report. Things that were needed went in place. A lot of public awareness had to go on.”

“I think obesity should be everybody’s concern,” said Steve Batchelor, director of wellness services for Ephrata Community Hospital.

Next week, more than 300 business, health care and community leaders will gather for a summit on the state of health in Lancaster County.

Berwood Yost of Franklin & Marshall College will present the results of a 2012 community health assessment, highlighting statistics on local residents’ access to health care; their health behaviors; maternal and infant health; sexually transmitted diseases; substance abuse; and rates for diseases such as cancer, heart disease and stroke.

Lancaster General and Ephrata Community Hospital helped fund the study, as did a grant from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

The group also will hear Gretchen Van Wye of the New York City Department of Health discuss how that city has tried to reduce obesity.

And it will hear a panel, including representatives from a health care provider, an employer, an insurer and a public agency, talk about the best practices for improving a community’s health.

Read the rest here:

Local health care leaders plan obesity summit

Gov. Deval L. Patrick told Boston business leaders this morning that by the time he returns to speak to them again next year, Massachusetts will have the best health-care cost-containment system in the country to match what he said it has already, the highest access rates to medical care in the nation.

Lawmakers will pass some combination of bills put forward by the chief executive, the House and the Senate, he said. And he is confident the result will be an improvement, whatever the mixture of ideas turns out to be, despite jabs the states health-care system may have received in the presidential race.

The question for me is not whether there is a role for government. The question is, what is the role for government, Patrick said to a packed Seaport Hotel audience of members of the Greater Boston Chamber of Commerce. Just as the public and private sectors came together to solve health-care access, we are going to find a solution together to containing health-care costs. We have already shown we can, the problem is how we can sustain it for the next decade and beyond.

The governor was greeted warmly by chamber President and CEO Paul Guzzi, who put continuing health-care cost reform front and center as the top issue for his members and the business community in general.

He praised Patrick for his willingness to hear the concerns of businesses and to work with them on health care and other issues.

We have enjoyed a working relationship which we think has been very, very productive, said Guzzi.

Patrick said many of the solutions to the states health-care improvements and cost containment will come from the hospitals, doctors and others working in that industry itself, all of whom have the closest knowledge of their own industry.

I am proud of the strong partnership we have built and am certain we will reach a good legislative conclusion together in the next few weeks. And I have no doubt that the future of health care as a business in Massachusetts is bright, he told his audience. We have challenged each other to make a big change. Thats what we do in Massachusetts. I know we can accomplish this. My confidence comes from the undeniable fact that, working together with many of you in this room, we have addressed problem after tough problem that had been talked about and yet left unsolved for decades.

And while the governor was received well by the business crowd, there were voices who expressed concern over problems yet to be resolved in the legislation.

Lynn Nicholas of the Massachusetts Hospital Association rose to challenge Patricks assertion that health-care costs might even be able to drop below the level of growth for the state economy in general.

See the article here:

Gov. Patrick promises health-care cost containment

More here:

Health-care costs for retirees up 4 percent from 2011