http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. (HealthDay)—In order to ensure the provision of higher quality care and cost control in a post-Affordable Care Act health care system, data on price, utilization, and quality should be made publicly available unless there is a compelling publicly-acceptable justification for keeping it confidential, according to a study published online May 28 in the Annals of Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-transparency-key-patients.html Health Wed, 29 May 2013 19:10:01 EST news289069718 Health care facilities play a vital role in the UK's terrorism contingency plans, but a new study by researchers at the Adam Smith Business School, Glasgow University, provides a timely warning to managers, regulatory bodies and government that crucial services such as hospitals are also potential targets for malevolent actions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-hospitals-terrorist-threats.html Health Fri, 03 May 2013 07:49:44 EST news286786178 Older adults who are subject to elder abuse, neglect and exploitation face a greater risk of being hospitalized than other seniors, according to the results of a study published in the April 8 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-hospitalization-linked-elder-abuse.html Health Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:35:13 EST news284657706 (HealthDay)—A geographically based value index to set Medicare reimbursements may not take into account differences in health care decision-making by individual practitioners or organizations, according to an interim report released March 22 by the Institute of Medicine (IOM). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-geographic-index-efficient.html Health Thu, 04 Apr 2013 14:40:01 EST news284302548 Everyday, news reports detail the impact of the deficiencies in the nation's mental health care services. Even more startling, a survey from the University of Michigan reveals that many adults across the U.S. believe children and teens have extremely limited or no access to appropriate mental health care services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-access-mental-health-lacking-children.html Health Tue, 02 Apr 2013 16:15:05 EST news284138062 Only about one in five central Pennsylvania women who have experienced intimate partner violence is asked or counseled by a health care provider about abuse, according to Penn State medicine and public health science researchers. Overall, approximately only one in nine women has received preventive counseling about violence and safety. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-partner-abuse-women-insufficient.html Health Fri, 08 Mar 2013 13:40:01 EST news281971549 (Medical Xpress)—Health care at the end of life is a difficult issue but a new study highlights the importance of making a plan for end-of-life decisions. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-end-of-life-benefit-patients-families.html Health Thu, 07 Mar 2013 07:10:01 EST news281861907 International nurse migration is a multibillion-dollar global phenomenon. Historically, Mexicans and Central Americans have not played a significant part in the migration of nurses to the United States. A new report, Strengthening health systems in North and Central America: What role for migration?, sponsored by the Migration Policy Institute (MPI), seeks to draw attention to the cross-border migration in the Americas and suggests ways the migration could be managed to meet the demand for health care services in the region. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-nurse-migration-north-central-america.html Health Tue, 05 Mar 2013 11:17:33 EST news281704646 (HealthDay)—Depressed patients are less likely to complete exercise-based, cardiac rehabilitation programs, regardless of whether they are taking antidepressants, according to a study published in the Feb. 1 issue of The American Journal of Cardiology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-depressed-patients-cardiac-rehab.html Cardiology Fri, 15 Feb 2013 08:07:38 EST news280138030 Health care transition (HCT) services help young people with special health care needs such as asthma or diabetes move from pediatric to adult health care. However, youths with autism spectrum disorder (ASD) have less access to these services, which are designed to prevent gaps in care and insurance coverage. A University of Missouri researcher recommends that the medical community develop HCT services for individuals with ASD as a way to ensure consistent and coordinated care and increase their independence and quality of life. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-youths-autism-spectrum-disorder-transitioning.html Autism spectrum disorders Tue, 12 Feb 2013 13:50:26 EST news279899406 The deadly US shooting rampage last week has revived debate about access to mental health care—a tough issue as state funds dry up and laws make it difficult to treat people against their will. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-revives-debate-mental-health.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 20 Dec 2012 03:58:08 EST news275198074 (HealthDay)—The current growth in health care's share of the gross domestic product (GDP) and need to implement learning health systems is forcing physicians to make important choices, according to a perspective piece published online Dec. 12 in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-current-health-docs-urgent-choices.html Health Thu, 13 Dec 2012 11:20:01 EST news274618653 (AP)—Native American military veterans will be able to access health care closer to home thanks to an agreement between the U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs and the Indian Health Service. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-agreement-boosts-access-american-indian.html Psychology & Psychiatry Thu, 06 Dec 2012 16:19:08 EST news274033114 Medicare Advantage (MA), with more than 10 million enrollees, is the largest alternative to traditional Medicare. MA's managed care approach was designed to provide coordinated, integrated care for patients and savings for taxpayers, but since the program launched as Medicare Part C in 1985, critics have said that the system limited enrollee freedom of choice without significant benefit or savings to the Medicare program. They also pointed to the tendency of some private payers to design benefit plans and marketing campaigns that attracted healthier patients, leaving sicker, moreexpensive patients in traditional Medicare— a process known as favorable selection. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-competition-efficiencies-medicare-advantage.html Health Mon, 03 Dec 2012 16:39:24 EST news273775156 Patients with online access to their medical records and secure e-mail communication with clinicians had increased use of clinical services, including office visits and telephone encounters, compared to patients who did not have online access, according to a study appearing in the November 21 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-patients-online-access-clinicians-medical.html Health Tue, 20 Nov 2012 16:00:02 EST news272647525 (AP)—Sudan has launched a massive vaccination campaign to immunize 2.4 million people against an outbreak of yellow fever in the restive region of Darfur, the U.N. said Monday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-sudan-vaccinate-yellow-fever-outbreak.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 19 Nov 2012 08:24:48 EST news272535873 (AP)—A yellow fever outbreak in Sudan's Darfur region has killed 107 people in the last six weeks, the World Health Organization reported Tuesday, warning that the disease could spread all over the country. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-dead-yellow-fever-darfur-sudan.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Tue, 13 Nov 2012 17:10:01 EST news272048140 (AP)—China's legislature on Friday passed a long-awaited mental health law that aims to prevent people from being involuntarily held and unnecessarily treated in psychiatric facilities—abuses that have been used against government critics and triggered public outrage. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-china-law-curb-abuse-mental.html Psychology & Psychiatry Fri, 26 Oct 2012 03:16:55 EST news270440201 Even with access to health care, male military veterans are in poorer health than men in active military duty, men in the National Guard and Reserves, and civilian men, finds a new study in the American Journal of Preventive Medicine. The study concluded that organizations that serve veterans should increase efforts at preventing poor health behaviors and linking them to health care services. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-access-male-veterans-poorer-health.html Health Tue, 09 Oct 2012 09:05:42 EST news268992336 Despite a shared Latino heritage, there are significant differences in the overall health and the use of health-care services among Cuban-Americans, Mexican-Americans and Puerto Rican-Americans—even between men and women in the same subgroup—according to two recently published studies by Florida State University researchers. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-reveals-differences-health-latino-american-subgroups.html Health Tue, 02 Oct 2012 17:01:22 EST news268416060 Previous studies that have associated the use of proton pump inhibitors (PPI) – which include popular anti-heartburn medications like Prilosec and Nexium – with an increased incidence of pneumonia may not have found a true cause-and-effect relationship. A study that has been released online by the Journal of General Internal Medicine outlines a strategy for determining when the results of such observational studies may have been distorted by unmeasured factors and then finds that may be the case with the association between PPIs and pneumonia risk. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-association-common-heartburn-drugs-pneumonia.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 01 Oct 2012 11:50:38 EST news268311026 (HealthDay)—Americans spend as much as $635 billion each year on the direct and indirect costs associated with chronic pain, according to a new study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-chronic-pain-billion-year.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Fri, 14 Sep 2012 15:20:01 EST news266853006 Health is an important part of development, with links to how children do cognitively and academically, and it's a strong predictor of adult health and productivity. A new study of low-income families in the United States has found that children's health and access to health care services differ according to the immigrant status of their parents. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-children-health-access-differ-parents.html Health Tue, 11 Sep 2012 00:00:01 EST news266516240 A community-based nursing program delivered in collaboration with existing health care services is more effective in reducing the number of older people dying from chronic illnesses, such as cardiovascular disease and diabetes, than usual care according to a study by US researchers published in this week's PLoS Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-nursing-deaths-chronic-illnesses.html Health Tue, 17 Jul 2012 17:00:07 EST news261757558 Spending on health care for children grew faster than spending for adults between 2007 and 2010 due to increasing prices for all categories of goods and services, finds a new report from the Health Care Cost Institute (HCCI). This rise in spending occurred despite a decline in number of commercially insured children and a drop in the use of costly health care services, such as hospital stays and brand-name drugs, says the Children's Health Care Spending Report: 2007-2010. This is the first such analysis to track changes in spending, prices, and use of health care services by children covered by private employer-sponsored health insurance. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-children-health-faster-adults-years.html Health Sun, 01 Jul 2012 06:10:54 EST news260341847 Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders (ASD) require an array of specialized health care services. With these services come higher costs for parents and insurance providers. University of Missouri researchers compared costs and types of services for children with ASD to costs and services for children with other conditions like asthma or diabetes. The researchers found children with ASD paid more for health care than children with other conditions. In addition, children with ASD used more services yet had less access to specialized care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-06-health-care-disparities-children-autism-spectrum.html Autism spectrum disorders Mon, 11 Jun 2012 16:56:51 EST news258652596 "Treatment of mental disorders within the health care system needs to be accompanied by a community-based approach that focuses on psychosocial problems," say the authors of a case study from Afghanistan published in this week's PLoS Medicine as part of the newly launched series on global mental health practice. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-health-approaches-mental-afghanistan.html Psychology & Psychiatry Tue, 29 May 2012 17:00:03 EST news257522271 Millions of teenagers suffer from acne, and they deal with the embarrassing skin blemishes by taking popular prescription medications such as Accutane or Roaccutane. Now, however, research from Tel Aviv University shows that these pills can also cause eye infections such as conjunctivitis (pink eye) or sties. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-common-acne-medication-eye-infection.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Wed, 23 May 2012 12:04:16 EST news256993413 Delayed childbearing for an increasing number of women is putting them at higher risk of serious illness and complications, a new study has found. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-older-mums-health.html Obstetrics & gynaecology Thu, 17 May 2012 09:00:02 EST news256463451 If consumer-directed health plans grow to account for half of all employer-sponsored insurance in the United States, health costs could drop by $57 billion annually -- about 4 percent of all health care spending among the nonelderly, according to a new RAND Corporation study. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-05-consumer-directed-health.html Health Mon, 07 May 2012 16:00:15 EST news255615368