Examination in a doctors office. (Joe Raedle/Getty Images)

SACRAMENTO (CBS / AP) Californias top health care official told lawmakers Tuesday she is confident the state can eliminate a health insurance program serving more than 860,000 children from low-income families without disrupting the quality of their care.

Lawmakers held a hearing in the state Senate wanting to know if the administration is prepared to make the transition without disrupting childrens medical care. California is eliminating its Healthy Families program and moving those children into the states Medicaid program in an effort to save a projected $73 million a year.

We do not want to throwno pun intendedthe babies out with the bathwater, said Assemblyman Tom Ammiano, D-San Francisco.

California Health and Human Services Secretary Diana Dooley said in an interview Monday that the shift will help streamline childrens health care and reduce government complexities. But state lawmakers and childrens advocates are concerned about the possibility of having childrens medical services disrupted.

Assemblyman Richard Pan, D-Sacramento, said he is concerned about the number of doctors willing to accept more Medi-Cal clients. State officials estimate that health providers will receive about 15 percent less under Medi-Cal, which is Californias version of the federal Medicaid program for the poor.

My main concern is that those children continue to have access to the care they need, Pan, a pediatrician, said in an interview Monday. Ultimately its about the quality of care.

The Department of Health Care Services has issued a strategic plan that proposes to move all 863,000 children enrolled in Healthy Families into Medi-Cal by Sept. 1, 2013. Families are expected to be moved in four phases, depending on whether their doctors and health plans already accept Medi-Cal. The state plans to start notifying parents next month.

According to the state, eliminating Healthy Families is projected to save the state $13 million this fiscal year and $73 million annually once the transition is completed.

We recognize these are austere times. The state employees who took a 5 percent pay cut took the pay cut as loyal dedicated public servants, Dooley said. I believe (health providers) will continue to serve even though there will be a reduction. It does require some sacrifice, not from the children, but will require sacrifice from the people who provide care.

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Health Care Shift To Affect 860,000 California Children

HAMILTON, N.J., Oct.17, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --The Health Care Association of New Jersey (HCANJ) has signed a Preferred Partner Agreement with COMS Interactive, LLC (COMS). With a key goal of helping the Association's membership to improve resident clinical outcomes, the partnership with COMS is a natural extension of HCANJ's offerings to its members. The focus of the three-year agreement is improving clinical and financial outcomes for each member facility.

The COMS flagship Disease Management software, Daylight IQ, is used in leading nursing homes, assisted living facilities and home care organizations nationwide. The Software as a Service (SaaS) product features a series of integrated, disease-based library of clinical protocols that significantly empower the entire care team including physicians, therapists, nurses, and nurse aides, and facilitates enhanced communication between all parties. The initial Daylight IQ training can be completed in less than two hours, immediately improving clinical results and providing positive tangible financial outcomes.

"With over 50 years representing long-term care providers, HCANJ is committed to providing products and services that afford our member facilities the opportunity to continually improve outcomes," noted Paul Langevin, President of HCANJ. "The implementation of Daylight IQ offers the triple benefit of allowing our member facilities to reduce unnecessary hospital readmission rates, enhance the overall quality of care provided by member clinicians, and improve financial outcomes."

Daylight IQ empowers clinical teams with information and technology at the point of care. This results in caregivers providing better care for residents. A key component of Daylight IQ is the reduction in unnecessary hospital readmissions by as much as 50%, a related decrease in premature mortality rates, and an increase in successful discharges.

"Clearly, HCANJ is a thought leader in the long-term care marketplace," noted Edward J. Tromczynski, Chief Executive Officer, COMS Interactive. "As a strong advocate for implementing progressive solutions for the health care market, HCANJ is leading the charge to improve the quality of life for those individuals served by their member organizations."

Data indicates that the average nursing home, home care or assisted living resident has a complicated disease profile, with one primary disease and up to eight secondary diseases or afflictions. Over 70% of re-hospitalizations are due to the worsening of secondary or new diseases. By providing early detection of changes in condition, Daylight IQ highlights potential problems and offers caregivers the opportunity to respond, preventing further progression of the illness.

About the Health Care Association of New JerseyHeadquartered in Hamilton and founded over fifty years ago, the Health Care Association of New Jersey is a non-profit trade association representing long-term care providers who believe that the individuals they serve are entitled to a supportive environment in which professional and compassionate care is delivered. This belief compels HCANJ and its members to advocate for individuals who, because of social needs, disability, trauma, or illness, require services provided in a long-term care setting, while also advocating for the long-term care provider community. For additional information on HCANJ, visit http://www.hcanj.org or contact the association directly at #609.890.8700.

About COMS Interactive, LLC COMS Interactive, LLC deploys processes and systems that stabilize and improve resident health while improving financial outcomes for skilled nursing facilities. The Daylight IQ Software as a Service (SaaS) product combines business administration, disease management and long-term healthcare knowledge to empower the nursing team, reduce medical errors, more efficiently address resident healthcare needs and increase facility revenues. This combination of clinical and technical processes can save millions of dollars a year in preventable hospital readmissions. Additional information regarding COMS Interactive and Daylight IQ is available at http://www.comsllc.com or by contacting COMS at #330.650.9900.

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HCANJ Signs Preferred Partnership Agreement with COMS Interactive

PHOENIX--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Cigna (CI) and Banner Health Network are launching a collaborative accountable care initiative to expand patient access to health care, improve care coordination, and achieve the triple aim of improved health outcomes (quality), lower total medical costs and increased patient satisfaction.

Collaborative accountable care is Cigna's approach to accomplishing the same population health goals as accountable care organizations, or ACOs. The program will benefit over 20,000 individuals covered by a Cigna health plan who receive care from among approximately 2,600 doctors affiliated with Banner Health Network in Arizona.

This collaboration between Cigna and Banner Health is an example of how we are fundamentally changing the way we deliver health care, by putting greater emphasis on outcomes, said Chuck Lehn, chief executive officer for Banner Health Network. What matters most to our physicians is ensuring that our patients receive well-coordinated care that helps them live healthier, more productive lives. This model allows us to attain that level of care, while keeping the cost of medicine affordable.

Under the program, Banner Health Network doctors monitor and coordinate all aspects of an individuals medical care. Patients continue to go to their current physician and automatically receive the benefits of the program. Individuals who are enrolled in a Cigna health plan and later choose to seek care from a doctor in the medical group will also have access to the benefits of the program. There are no changes in any plan requirements regarding referrals to specialists. Patients most likely to see the immediate benefits of the program are those who need help managing chronic conditions, such as diabetes or heart disease.

We are pleased to expand our collaborative accountable care program in Arizona through this initiative with Banner Health Network, said Stephanie Gorman, president and general manager for Cigna in Arizona. We share a commitment to prevention, improving health care quality and changing the health care delivery system from one that focuses on volume to one that focuses on quality of care and value.

Critical to the programs benefits are registered nurses, employed by Banner Health Network, who serve as clinical care coordinators and help patients with chronic conditions or other health challenges navigate the health care system. The care coordinators are aligned to a team of Cigna case managers to ensure a high degree of collaboration between Banner Health Network and Cigna that ultimately results in a better experience for the individual.

The care coordinators will enhance care by using patient-specific data from Cigna to help identify patients being discharged from the hospital who might be at risk for readmission, as well as patients who may be overdue for important health screenings or who may have skipped a prescription refill. The care coordinators are part of the physician-led care team that helps patients get the follow-up care or screenings they need, identify any issues related to medications and help prevent chronic conditions from worsening.

Care coordinators can also help patients schedule appointments, provide health education and refer patients to Cigna's clinical programs, such as disease management programs for diabetes, heart disease and other conditions; and lifestyle management programs, such as programs for tobacco cessation, weight management and stress management.

This newest initiative, which takes effect November 1, 2012, builds on Cigna's collaborative accountable care efforts locally, including those of Cigna Medical Group, the Phoenix-based multi-specialty practice division of Cigna HealthCare of Arizona. Cigna Medical Groups strong focus on the patient and improved care coordination resulted in 24 percent lower avoidable emergency room visits, 14 percenthigher adult preventive care and 8 to 10 percent lower total medical costs in 2011 compared to the Phoenix market. Cigna Medical Group doctors consistently receive patient satisfactions scores of 93% or higher.

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Cigna and Banner Health Network Join in Collaborative Accountable Care Effort in Arizona

SAN FRANCISCO--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

Castlight Health, the leading provider of health care transparency solutions for employers and payers, today announced that global hospitality and travel company Carlson has selected Castlight to help 10,000 of the companys employees make better-informed decisions about their health care.

Carlson, a global leader in the hospitality and travel industry, launched Ambition 2015, an internal initiative focused on making Carlson the top hospitality and travel company to work for and invest in. One element was to improve the health and wellness of its workforce, which Carlson planned to achieve by upgrading its health care plan and benefits program. In addition to improving employee health, this health care transformation is expected to reduce costs, allowing Carlson to reinvest resources and capital to fuel company growth.

With the cost of health care continuing to increase, we needed to get creative with our benefits program to lessen the financial burden and remain a top company to work for, said Shawn Leavitt, vice president of global compensation and benefits, Carlson. By using Castlight to turn our employees into more engaged health care consumers, we found we could reduce this expenditure and in turn, invest the savings into growing our business."

Carlson is offering Castlight as part of an enhanced benefits package for 2013, which includes a broad consumer-driven health plan. After a competitive evaluation of health plan and third-party options, Carlson determined that Castlights health care management suite was the best on the market, due to its accurate pricing information and clinical quality data. This insight into cost and quality of services and procedures will help Carlsons workforce become more engaged and informed health care consumers, enabling them to derive better quality care for their money. Additionally, Carlson was drawn to Castlights commitment to technology innovation, which the company plans to capitalize on as it continues to evolve its employee benefits offerings.

Carlson is a forward-looking company that has developed one of the most innovative benefits programs in the U.S., said John Driscoll, president, Castlight Health. Directly linking health care transparency with company growth will aid in Carlsons goal of becoming the leading hospitality and travel company, as they will be able to leverage health care cost savings from Castlight into new initiatives.

About Carlson

Carlson is a global hospitality and travel company headquartered in Minneapolis, Minn. Carlson Rezidor Hotel Group includes more than 1,300 hotels in operation and development, including, Radisson Blu, Radisson, Park Plaza; Park Inn by Radisson, Country Inns & Suites By CarlsonSM and Hotel Missoni; more than 900 T.G.I. Fridays restaurants; and a majority stake in Carlson Wagonlit Travel, the global leader in business travel management. Carlson operates in more than 150 countries and territories and its brands employ more than 170,000 people. For more information, please visit Carlsons website: http://www.carlson.com.

About Castlight Health

Castlight Health enables employers, their employees, and health plans to take control of healthcare costs and improve care. Named #1 on The Wall Street Journals list of The Top 50 Venture-Backed Companies for 2011 and one of Dow Jones 50 Most Investment-Worthy Technology Start-Ups, Castlight Health helps the countrys self-insured employers and health plans empower consumers to shop for health care. Castlight Health is headquartered in San Francisco andbacked by prominent investors including Allen & Company, Cleveland Clinic, Maverick Capital, Morgan Stanley Investment Management, Oak Investment Partners, Redmile Group, T. Rowe Price, U.S. Venture Partners, Venrock, Wellcome Trust and two unnamed mutual funds. For more information, please visit our web site at http://www.castlighthealth.com or call (415) 829-1400.

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Carlson Selects Castlight Health to Help Employees Reduce Costs and Improve the Quality of Care

14-10-2012 06:04 Americans are going broke paying for healthcare but their money is being wasted, especially by Tim's chrome creation. But will Tim be able to teach him remorse? Find out now! Tim Kirby's channel: Why You Should Care on our website: Why You Should Care on YouTube: Subscribe to RT! Like us on Facebook Follow us on Twitter Follow us on Google+ RT (Russia Today) is a global news network broadcasting from Moscow and Washington studios. RT is the first news channel to break the 500 million YouTube views benchmark.

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Why You Should Care: US wastes $750 bln on health care (E23) - Video

This is part of a series of stories on issues in the local congressional races, leading up to the election next month. This story focuses on health care. Future stories will look at Social Security, Medicare, federal spending and defense cuts.

U.S. Sen. Bob Casey is the Democrat running for re-election, Tom Smith is the Republican who wants his job and President Barack Obama's national health care reform law highlights their divide perfectly.

Casey proudly voted for the law; Smith wants to repeal it at all costs.

"It was the right vote," Casey said.

"I think it's the most intrusive invasion of personal rights that I've seen in my lifetime," Smith said.

As the two crisscross the state campaigning, the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, also known as Obamacare, looms as a major issue.

Then, there's Rayburn Smith, the Libertarian Party candidate, who says he would have opposed the law, and has his own idea of what to do about ensure health care coverage for all Americans.

Signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010, the Affordable Care Act aimed to expand health care coverage to an estimated 32 million uninsured Americans, but it comes with plenty of other provisions, some likable, some quite controversial.

Topping the list of the controversial: a requirement that everyone have health insurance and penalties for those who don't, a mandate upheld by the Supreme Court in June.

Among the favorites: elimination of three-quarters of the gap in senior citizen prescription drug coverage by 2020, a prohibition on insurance companies denying anyone coverage for pre-existing conditions and letting children stay on their parent's health insurance plans until age 26.

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Senate candidates debate health care overhaul

For the past few months, I've been working on a big project with a team of some of the smartest people at Forbes ? our first-ever health care conference, hosted by Steve Forbes himself. It will be held here in New York City on the evening of December 4 and all day on December 5. Click here for the conference website.

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First-Ever Forbes Health Care Conference To Focus On Transparency And Transformation

ATLANTA, Oct. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ --Philips Respironics, a unit of Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG, AEX: PHI), today at Medtrade 2012 showcases advancements that allow patients to sleep and breathe easier, demonstrating its commitment to improving the quality of life of those who suffer from chronic sleep and respiratory conditions. Medtrade, taking place this week at the Georgia World Congress Center, is the nation's largest conference and exposition focused exclusively on the home medical equipment (HME) industry.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20110726/NY41282LOGO )

At Medtrade 2012, Philips Respironics will offer homecare providers a first-hand look at solutions that treat and manage conditions that affect millions of Americans each year such as obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and asthma. Designed with the patient in mind, these new solutions bring quality care into the home, enabling those with sleep and respiratory conditions to maintain their freedom and independence. Philips Respironics will offer an interactive experience with multimedia displays, hands-on demonstrations and docent tours of its new products and programs.

"The role of the homecare provider has never been more critical," says John Frank, senior vice president, general manager, Sleep and Respiratory Care, Philips Home Healthcare Solutions. "We are committed to helping homecare providers enhance patients' lives by delivering cost-effective solutions that drive better treatment, monitoring and management of their conditions. We are working together with all stakeholders to navigate through the changes in the new era of health care."

Some of the new offerings that Philips Respironics will be highlighting include:

- Fit for Life specialized resupply mask solution

Fit for Life, a comprehensive mask and service program, gives providers a way to offer their patients easy and reliable access to important replacement masks, supplies and resources they need to benefit from their OSA therapy. It also offers simple ways for homecare providers to monitor and document compliance with major commercial and public insurance providers' eligibility requirements and the recently released Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) resupply policy clarification.

"We now have a comprehensive program to help providers meet the needs of their OSA patients through a lifetime of care, while effectively coordinating payer and industry requirements," said Mr. Frank. "Fit for Life acknowledges the operational and economic forces that are shaping the industry and is another example of our commitment to the industry. The program is a natural complement to our growing portfolio of masks."

- Wisp minimal contact hybrid nasal mask (coming soon)

The Wisp minimal contact nasal mask, a hybrid nasal/pillow mask that offers the emotional appeal and benefits of a low profile mask with best in class performance, delivers in four key areas: comfort, ease of use, visual appeal and the ability to fit a wide range of patients. The modular frame comes in two styles that patients can switch between: a reversible fabric and clear silicon. This allows patients to watch television or read a book before going to bed, making it easy to live with.

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Philips Respironics improves health care delivery and quality of life for sleep and respiratory patients

http://www.conferenceboard.ca

OTTAWA, Oct. 16, 2012 /CNW/ - Compared to Canadians in other provinces, Quebecers put more emphasis on the health care system and less on daily activities as the factors having the biggest impact on a person's health, according to an EKOS Research Associates survey released by The Conference Board of Canada today.

"The differences between Quebecers and the national results are slight on most of the individual questions, but, when the survey results are taken as a whole, there is a noticeable difference in perspectives," said Louis Thriault, Director, Health Economics.

When asked to identify the factor that has the biggest impact on the health of the average Canadian, 39 per cent of Quebecers selected daily activities, more than any other factor. Nationally, 48 per cent of survey respondents said daily activities had the biggest impact on a person's health. This figure rose to 60 per cent of respondents in Alberta.

Quebecers were most likely to say that the health care system had the biggest impact on the health of Canadians (21 percent versus 17 per cent nationally). Quebecers were also the most likely respondents in the country to say that food, water and environmental factors had the biggest impact on personal health.

Quebecers considered environmental factors marginally more important than respondents elsewhere in Canada (87 per cent versus 85 per cent nationally) and they were somewhat more likely to see income as an important factor (69 per cent versus 63 per cent nationally).

When asked how important lifestyle factors are to their health: Physical activity: 76 per cent of the national population said being physically active was very important to their health, compared to 71 per cent of Quebecers; Diet and nutrition: 74 per cent of respondents nationally said it was very important to eat a well-balanced diet, compared to 52 per cent of Quebecers; Smoking: Nationally, 82 per cent of respondents said not smoking is very important to their health, a sentiment shared by 79 per cent of Quebecers; Alcohol consumption: 44 per cent for respondents nationally said it was very important not to drink too much alcohol; 37 per cent of Quebecers agreed.

EKOS Research Associates conducted this study to update and refine the understanding of Canadian views on health and the health care system. The methodology involved a nationally representative survey of 2,047 Canadians 18 years of age and older - 519 were surveyed by telephone and 1,528 completed the survey online. The sample source for this study was members of the EKOS panel, which was specifically designed for online/telephone surveys, Results include a margin of errors of plus or minus 2.2 per cent 19 times out of 20. The survey took place in May 2012, and the findings will be released throughout October and November 2012.

The study was supported by the Canadian Medical Association, Accreditation Canada and the Conference Board's Canadian Alliance for Sustainable Health Care (CASHC). Launched in 2011, CASHC is a five-year Conference Board program of research and dialogue. It will delve deeply into facets of Canada's health care challenge, including the financial, workplace, and institutional dimensions, in an effort to develop forward-looking qualitative and quantitative analysis and solutions to make the system more sustainable.

As part of the CASHC initiative, the Conference Board is hosting the Summit on Sustainable Health and Health Care in Toronto on October 30 and 31. The Summit will bring together Canada's health system leaders to discuss the latest research, learn from top Canadian experts, and explore solutions for Canada's greatest health challenges and opportunities.

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Noticeable difference between Quebecers' and other Canadians' perspectives on factors affecting health

WORCESTER, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

UMass Memorial Healthcare (UMMHC), the largest health care system in Central New England, is implementing innovative technology to reduce the frequency of preventable readmissions as per the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Readmissions Reduction Program. The new UMMHC Readmissions Reduction Initiative will cover the entire inpatient and ambulatory environments of UMMHC, including all its affiliated physicians, their outpatient offices and their patients.

The ability to accurately monitor patients clinical status and identify, in real-time, any administrative or clinical deficiencies in patients care that might increase the risk of avoidable readmission, is critical for our success in fighting the readmissions challenge, said George Brenckle, PhD, senior vice president and chief information officer at UMass Memorial Healthcare. Theres so much information about the patient, spread over multiple systems and multiple formats, that only with advanced technology that can consolidate it all into an accurate discrete snapshot of the patients clinical picture, we can provide significant assistance to our clinicians and case managers in maximizing our efforts for better patient care.

UMass Memorial teamed with two technology companies, Informatica and MedCPU, to create a complete Readmissions Reduction initiative. The solution provides full administrative and clinical support, in one application, to providers, care managers and patients in managing and reducing avoidable readmissions. The solution:

With the Readmissions Reduction legislation recently coming into effect, it is imperative that UMass Memorial Healthcare have access to the most accurate and trustworthy data to ensure the best patient care possible, said Richard Cramer, chief healthcare strategist, Informatica. By partnering with MedCPU to address the readmission challenge, weve been able to offer a comprehensive solution that identifies high-risk patients and focuses on intervention and proactive medicine.

Our collaboration with Informatica enables us to deliver a highly accurate and efficient prompting system that overcomes one of the most difficult hurdles in healthcare significant loss of information due to narrative documentation by clinicians, said Eyal Ephrat, M.D., MedCPU CEO and co-founder. UMass Memorial Health Care led us to a highly significant goal of creating a reliable solution that gains the clinicians respect for its accuracy and proficiency in promoting better patient care. We have strong confidence that our partnership shall deliver these expectations, and beyond.

About UMass Memorial Health Care

UMass Memorial Health Care is Central Massachusetts' largest not-for-profit health care delivery system, covering the complete health care continuum with UMass Memorial Medical Center, its academic medical center, member and affiliated community hospitals, freestanding primary care practices, ambulatory outpatient clinics, a rehabilitation group and mental health services. UMass Memorial is the clinical partner of the University of Massachusetts Medical School. To learn more about UMass Memorial, please visit http://www.umassmemorial.org, Facebook, Twitter and YouTube.

About MedCPU:

MedCPU delivers accurate real-time clinical care advice through its revolutionary Advisor Button technology. It uniquely captures the complete clinical picture from clinicians free-text notes, dictations and structured documentation entered into any EMR, and analyzes it against a growing library of best-practice content, generating real-time precise prompts for best care consideration. MedCPUs founding multi-disciplinary team has been leading the field of real-time clinical decision support for over 17 years, delivering intelligent error reduction software systems to many hospitals in the US. MedCPU applications include clinical and compliance support solutions. For more information, visit http://www.MedCPU.com

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UMass Memorial Health Care Teams Up with Informatica and MedCPU on Innovative Solution for Reducing Preventable ...

By Russ Britt, MarketWatch

LOS ANGELES (MarketWatch) Two health-care giants, Johnson & Johnson and UnitedHealth Group Inc., moved higher Tuesday after the companies reported third-quarter earnings that beat analyst estimates.

Shares of Johnson & Johnson /quotes/zigman/230812/quotes/nls/jnj JNJ +1.28% got the boost that many investors were looking for, climbing more than a buck at one point as the health-care conglomerate said adjusted third-quarter earnings were $1.25 a share. That was ahead of the FactSet consensus of analyst estimates, which came in at $1.19 a share.

Citigroup Chief Executive Vikram Pandit is stepping down, effective immediately, and will be succeeded by Michael Corbat.

J&J said net income for the quarter was $2.63 billion, or $1.05 per share including one-time charges, compared with $3.2 billion, or $1.15 a share, for the same period a year ago. Sales were $17.1 billion against last years $16 billion. The FactSet consensus called for sales of $17.5 billion, though analysts said the Street consensus was closer to $17 billion, meaning the company came in ahead of forecasts.

J&J also increased its own forecast for full-year results, saying that 2012 earnings should come in at $5.05 to $5.10 a share, up from its earlier prediction of $5.00 to $5.07 a share.

J&J shares should trade higher today in reaction to what we view as a strong, basically clean quarterly beat, Leerink Swann analyst Danielle Antalffy said in a note to clients.

J&J shares were up 78 cents, or 1.1%, to $69.38 in recent action.

UnitedHealth /quotes/zigman/258846/quotes/nls/unh UNH -1.11% , meanwhile, had a similar earnings report but it wasnt as surprising to investors, and so the share boost wasnt as great. UnitedHealth previewed its earnings recently. Shares were up marginally to $57.67 in recent action.

The company said net income was $1.56 billion, or $1.50 a share, compared with $1.27 billion, or $1.17 a share. Revenue for the health-insurance behemoth was $27.3 billion against last years $25.3 billion. Analysts said they had expected the company would earn $1.34 a share.

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Health-care Stocks: J&J, UnitedHealth get a lift from earnings reports

CHICAGO, Oct. 16, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- Health Care Service Corporation (HCSC), the nation's largest customer-owned health insurer, and Loveisrespect, the ultimate source of support for young people to prevent and end dating abuse, announce an initiative to educate one million teens on teen dating abuse and prevention.

HCSC, operator of Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas, and Loveisrespect's new collaboration will reduce the growing epidemic of teen dating violence with tailored, on-the-ground outreach and awareness programs that will better equip our schools, families and communities with the information and resources needed to respond to this issue. According to multiple studies, one in three adolescents in the U.S. is a victim of physical, sexual, emotional or verbal abuse from a dating partner a figure that far exceeds rates of other types of youth violence and nearly 1.5 million high school students experience physical abuse from a dating partner in a single year.

Through this alliance, communities in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas will learn to identify the warning signs and better respond to teen dating violence through the creation of school-based initiatives such as "Loveisrespect Institutes." As many as 1,000 free toolkits, the largest single distribution of its kind, will be sent out and will include a curriculum which leverages technology to provide teachers with web-based activities and methods for creating a supportive community.

"As a result of HCSC's support, our innovative service-learning programs will help young people develop healthy definitions of positive relationships. We're creating, conducting, evaluating and distributing a comprehensive dating abuse prevention program that will lead to measurable successes," said Cristina Escobar, director of Loveisrespect.

"We are honored to have an opportunity to team with other organizations who share our commitment to creating pathways for teenagers, their families and friends to build relationships of warmth, mutual respect and love," said Conway McDanald, chief medical officer, behavioral health, HCSC. "In our initative with Loveisrespect, we have tailored the program to our states to spread awareness and provide support to prevent teen dating violence and abuse. The collective impact creates a safe space for teens to talk about things that may be difficult and helps them decide when and where they want to do it, at any time, using any mode of communication they choose."

This program is in conjunction with Healthy Kids, Healthy Families (HKHF), a three-year initiative with a goal of improving the health and wellness of at least one million children in four states, Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas.

The HKHF initiative invests in and partners with nonprofit organizations that offer sustainable, measurable programs to reach children and their families in four pillar categories including supporting safe environments, nutrition education, physical activity, and disease prevention and management. Overall, the Healthy Kids, Healthy Families initiative reflects HCSC's commitment to make a meaningful difference across all of the areas we serve. Within the first year, the HKHF initiative granted more than $6 million to more than 90 community partners across the four states it serves. Currently in the second year of the initiative, funding decisions and new partnerships are being identified across our four states. Additional "Healthy Kids, Healthy Families" pillar partners include:

About Health Care Service Corporation Health Care Service Corporation is the country's largest customer-owned health insurer and fourth largest health insurer overall, with more than 13 million members in its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. A Mutual Legal Reserve Company, HCSC is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association. For more information, please visit http://www.HCSC.com, visit our Facebook page or follow us at http://www.twitter.com/HCSC.

About Healthy Kids, Healthy Families Healthy Kids, Healthy Families is a three-year initiative designed to improve the health and wellness of at least one million children through community investments by Health Care Service Corporation and its Blue Cross and Blue Shield plans in Illinois, New Mexico, Oklahoma and Texas. The initiative will invest in and partner with nonprofit organizations that offer sustainable, measurable programs to reach children and their families in areas of nutrition education, physical activity, disease prevention and management, and supporting safe environments. To learn more about Health Kids, Healthy Families, please visit http://www.healthykidshealthyfamiles.org.

About Loveisrespect Loveisrespect helps teens and young adults, ages 13-24 navigate the spectrum of healthy relationship behaviors. From the program, young people learn there are options, answers and support available to them every hour of every day. Forming the national partnership to end dating abuse, Break the Cycle and the National Dating Abuse Helpline designed the new loveisrespect specifically for young people, emphasizing confidentiality and trust to ensure teens and 20-somethings nationwide feel safe and supported online and off. Find out more at http://www.loveisrespect.org.

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Health Care Service Corporation And Loveisrespect Announce Initiative To Educate One Million Teens On Teen Dating ...

12-10-2012 07:22 A study by the American Cancer Society concludes that one out of two women diagnosed with breast cancer contacts the Society for help and support. In 2011, the Society provided information and services to 115270 of the estimated 230480 women diagnosed with breast cancer in the US The organization is currently funding more than 240 breast cancer grants totaling $88 million. The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson and Johnson have released a report that examines the growing demand for sustainability in health care. Results from Janssen's report, The Growing Important of Sustainable Productions in the Global Health Care Industry, were presented recently at the CleanMed Europe conference, the world's leading conference focused on sustainable health care and the environmental impact of the health care sector on local, regional, and global levels. Cabot Creamery has teamed up with the Green Education Foundation for a Holiday Cheese Party raffle to promote health behaviors in elementary and middle schools. Classrooms around the country are eligible to win a nutritious party with $100 from GEF and Cabot's cheeses by completing a lesson on health and sustainability. For more information on these and other stories, go to http://www.csrminute.com. The Health Minute is produced for 3BL Media by Video4Good

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Janssen Sustainability Report; Cabot School Program; ACS Helps 50% of Breast Ca- Health Min 10/12/12 - Video

Michigan taxpayers could save nearly $1 billion over a 10-year period if the state expands its Medicaid program under federal health care reform, according to a newly released report.

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Report: Medicaid expansion could save Michigan $1 billion

By Jack Torry

The Columbus Dispatch Sunday October 14, 2012 7:15 AM

Thomas West gets a checkup at the University of Chicago Medicine Primary Care Clinic. The number of Medicare beneficiaries is projected to grow to more than 64 million by 2020.

WASHINGTON The signature achievement of President Barack Obamas term could be out the door if Republican challenger Mitt Romney wins in November, but the debate over the future of health care in America will continue and possibly dominate the next term no matter who gets elected.

The candidates competing visions could scarcely be more dissimilar, even though Obamas Affordable Care Act was closely modeled after the health-care plan that Romney signed into law while governor of Massachusetts.If Obama wins re-election, he can be expected to fully phase in the health-care law, which is designed to extend coverage to millions of Americans without insurance.

And he likely will retain the basic structures of Medicare and Medicaid, the Great Society programs that provide health coverage to the elderly and the poor, respectively.

Should Romney win the presidency, count on him to try to repeal the 2010 law which has earned the nickname Obamacare while launching a sweeping transformation of Medicare and Medicaid.

The competing ways to deal with the millions of Americans without health insurance while simultaneously trying to restrain the growth of federal health programs that eventually will devour much of the annual federal budget has been a dominant dispute in the testy presidential race.

During the first presidential debate in Denver, Obama complained that Romney wants to replace the health law but he hasnt described what exactly wed replace it with other than saying were going to leave it to the states.

By contrast, Romney says that the law has discouraged small companies from hiring. During the same debate, he assailed Obama for spending his energy and passion during his first two years in office fighting for Obamacare instead of fighting for jobs for the American people. It has killed jobs.

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Health care: Will Americans go ahead with Obama or change direction with Romney?

Its hard to tell what Mitt Romney would do to solve the problem of sick uninsured Americans. Right now, these people often cant find insurers willing to sell them policies or, if they can, the costs are prohibitive. Under Obamas Affordable Care Act, insurance companies will be required, beginning in 2014, to sell policies to anyone who wants one and to ignore customers health status when setting prices. This is possible because the ACA also requires nearly everyone to buy health insurance, flooding the market with millions of new customers, including healthy people, whose premiums will subsidize the cost of covering the sick.

Covering people with pre-existing conditions is one of the most popular pieces of Obamacare, and Mitt Romney is doing his best to imply that his health care plan would accomplish this lofty goal as well. But there are a few problems. Romney wants to repeal Obamacare and he doesnt really have a comprehensive plan to replace it, at least not one that hes made publicly available. In the absence of this, voters can look at his runningmate Paul Ryans budget proposals that include health care policy or they can look at Massachusetts, which essentially has a state version of Obamacare championed by Romney when he was governor.

Hes at the top of the ticket, so its not fair to judge him by Ryans past proposals, he says. And the Massachusetts health care reform was right for Massachusetts, but not the nation, he says, so its not fair to judge his presidential plans based on that. Thats fine. But surely it must be fair to judge what Romney said about the problem of the uninsured last time he was running for president, right?

Heres what Romney said in January 2008, explaining why, prior to reform in Massachusetts, uninsured people who could afford insurance nonetheless didnt buy it:

They said why should we buy it? If we get sick, we can go to the hospital and get care for freeThey shouldnt be allowed just to show up at the hospital and say somebody else should pay for me, so we said no more free ridersWe said if you can afford insurance, then either have the insurance or get a health savings account, pay your own way, but no more free rideI think its the conservative approach to make sure that people who can afford insurance are getting it at their expense, not at the expense of the taxpayers or the government. That I consider a step towards socialism.

Four years later, Romney talks about emergency room hospital care for the uninusured as a safety net, not as proof of irresponsibility. Heres how the Columbus Post Dispatch reported what Romney told its editorial board on Wednesday:

We dont have a setting across this country where if you dont have insurance, we just say to you, Tough luck, youre going to die when you have your heart attack, he said as he offered more hints as to what he would put in place of Obamacare, which he has pledged to repeal.

No, you go to the hospital, you get treated, you get care, and its paid for, either by charity, the government or by the hospital. We dont have people that become ill, who die in their apartment because they dont have insurance.

He pointed out that federal law requires hospitals to treat those without health insurance although hospital officials frequently say that drives up health-care costs.

Romney made similar comments to 60 Minutes back in September, explaining that people without insurance have an option to get carein the hospital.

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What We Still Don't Know About Romney and Health Care

The Barbara Ann Karmanos Cancer Institute stands to be a big loser under health care reform -- $40 million over 10 years -- and it's for a non-intuitive reason: It doesn't provide uncompensated care.

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Karmanos braces for reform's cut

The candidates for New Mexicos open U.S. Senate seat would approach the countrys Affordable Care Act in different ways if elected in November.

Democrat U.S. Rep. Martin Heinrich says he supports and would stick with the plan, while Wilson said she would repeal it.

Heinrich called the law a step in the right direction to help make health care more affordable and keep insurance companies from taking advantage of consumers including denying coverage to people with pre-existing conditions and canceling coverage when someone gets sick.

Wilson, a Republican and former House member, called the Supreme Courts vote on health care a mistake and said it should be undone.

But its not just enough to simply repeal the health care act, she said in a statement. The health care status quo is not acceptable either. We need to allow doctors and patients to make decisions about care, make health care more affordable, pass medical liability reform and continue to lead the world in health care research.

While the Affordable Care Act affects nearly every American, the candidates, who responded to questions from The New Mexican, havent focused much on the topic, said Gabriel Sanchez, a University of New Mexico political science professor. The health care law didnt come up in the candidates first televised debate earlier this week, and it hasnt been the most popular TV ad topic either, although one anti-Heinrich ad blasts him for supporting it.

I see it kind of couched more in the presidential discussion of the issue. But I think its important that the voters have a clear idea of where the candidates stand on this, said Sanchez, who also teaches a summer class in racial and ethnic health disparities at The University of Michigan.

With the Supreme Courts approval of the law, health care has moved up on voters radars, Sanchez said, but the issue still is behind the economy and immigration, at least for Latino voters.

One specific part of the Affordable Care Act that Wilson and Heinrich have addressed somewhat is whether New Mexico should expand its Medicaid program under the federal law.

Gov. Susana Martinez has yet to announce a decision on what the state will do.

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U.S. Senate candidates disagree on health care law

A message to all physicians from Steven J. Stack, MD, chair of the AMA Board of Trustees.

Health information technology, sustainable health care financing and quality health care delivery all rely on complex systems involving a variety of processes and people. All of them require a systems-based, not individual-focused approach to achieve success. Yet what makes obvious sense at a system level may be untenable at the individual level, and often physicians at the bedside feel alone in their recognition of this reality.

To demonstrate the point, lets consider a few clinical examples:

Notwithstanding the above, physicians use ankle x-rays, CT scans and antibiotics at times in a manner contrary to established treatment guidelines.

Sometimes this may be a knowledge deficiency or even a professional shortfall. For these instances, educational efforts such as those undertaken by the American Medical Association and the AMA-convened Physician Consortium for Performance Improvement play a useful role. More commonly, though, the true culprit is our fragmented and inequitable health system.

Sixteen percent of all Americans and 34% of the patients in my suburban emergency department are uninsured. For these patients, there is no ready access to appropriate outpatient follow-up care. Watchful waiting may mean more time off the job or a costly repeat visit to an ED. See your primary care doctor or Follow up with the orthopedist can be a cruel joke, not useful advice. For the uninsured and patients on Medicaid, problems with transportation, employer inflexibility, no or low insurance coverage, and educational limitations add additional challenges.

Against this backdrop, many physicians have ordered an ankle x-ray or prescribed an antibiotic to a patient whose personal circumstances make outpatient follow-up particularly burdensome or unlikely. For a patient with unrelenting abdominal pain, even if nonemergent, a CT scan may be the only available option to exclude a whole host of worrisome diagnoses within the short time of an ED visit. Technology and/or pills, even with their own costs and undesirable consequences, become surrogates for unattainable access to affordable and reliable outpatient medical care.

Please note that I am not relying on the fear of trial lawyers or the pressures faced by busy clinicians to justify suboptimal care. Defensive medicine and work force shortages (real or artificial) are challenges in their own right, but those arent the topic of this column. Nor am I proposing that we physicians dont have an obligation to optimize the care we provide to be cost-effective and consistent with scientific evidence.

Instead, I assert that medical treatment for 50 million uninsured and 60 million Medicaid patients, fully a third of our population, adheres to rules of pragmatism not captured by evidence-based medicine. Rather than being a failure of physician professionalism, quite a few seemingly inappropriate tests and treatments are the result of a physicians imperfect but sincere attempt to help a patient in a nation replete with First-World technology but financed and administered in a Third World manner. Until our nation moves past the delusion that individual professionals are at fault for societal choices and systems-based problems, we will not succeed as we could and should.

The solution to this problem of allegedly unnecessary tests and antibiotic use goes well beyond physician education and professionalism. If, as a nation, we want to seriously and successfully address these challenges, we must reform our current fragmented, costly and inequitable health system to support access to quality care that facilitates adherence to scientific evidence. Until then, it is misplaced and unfair for policymakers and standard-setters to impugn the physicians professionalism for treating the patient immediately before him in a manner considerate to the patients personal circumstances.

Excerpt from:

Health care’s big picture: Fix the systems to support individuals

A 10-minute wait to see a health care professional at the St. Joseph Medical Center Emergency Room Hold on Now theres only a three-minute wait.

Thats the news updated every 15 minutes on the medical centers website and available as an application on your phone.

With routine five- and six-hour waits in some ERs around the state, this is amazing.

Vivienne Stearns Elliott, media relations officer for St. Josephs, says, Weve seen greater patient satisfaction. We also hear, I drove here from Bel Air or the I-83 corridor because of the wait time.

People do seem to respond to the lure of a minimal wait time when they have just broken an arm or had some other affliction that needs immediate attention but does not require an ambulance response.

Across the country from San Jose, Calif., to Fort Lauderdale, Fla., to right here at St. Josephs in Towson hospitals are working to reduce the time a patient has to wait to be seen in the emergency room.

They are also hyping their success through electronic billboards, TV, radio and newspaper advertisements and phone apps.

Whats going on? Is it something beyond wait times?

The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services issued a report Monday showing that growth in health care spending in the United States experienced historically low rates in 2009 and 2010. The reports summary highlights the effects of health care reform in reducing costs and, therefore, the need to spend. It also notes that hospital spending by private health insurance companies is greatly reduced.

The CMS recognizes that something else is happening, too. As reported in the January issue of the journal Health Affairs, CMS economist Anne Martin says, Medical goods and services are generally viewed as necessities, but the recession led consumers to be a lot more cautious about using them. High unemployment, loss of private health insurance, lower household income and increased costs to the consumer are cited.

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Gazette.Net: Gail Ewing: Winning over patients