http://medicalxpress.com/ en-us Medical Xpress internet news portal provides the latest news on Health and Medicine. Today the BMJ calls for doctors and patients to join together as partners to improve healthcare. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-05-bmj-stronger-partnerships-healthcare.html Health Tue, 14 May 2013 18:30:07 EST news287773575 Health systems worldwide are increasingly negotiating secret price rebates from pharmaceutical companies and Canadians risk losing out on the deal. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-04-canada-drug-pricing.html Health Mon, 08 Apr 2013 16:00:05 EST news284644853 Methadone treatment for opioid dependence remains widely unavailable behind bars in the United States, and many inmates are forced to discontinue this evidence-based therapy, which lessens painful withdrawal symptoms. Now a new study by researchers from the Center for Prisoner Health and Human Rights, a collaboration of The Miriam Hospital and Brown University, offers some insight on the consequences of these mandatory withdrawal policies. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-methadone-barrier-treatment.html Addiction Wed, 27 Mar 2013 11:49:51 EST news283603784 Life expectancy in Russia has marked time since the collapse of the Soviet Union but risen in its former eastern-bloc allies, The Lancet reported on Wednesday. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-health-gap-europe-wider.html Health Tue, 26 Mar 2013 21:00:01 EST news283549296 In a nationwide study of patients undergoing surgery for cancer, Henry Ford Hospital researchers have found that while infections during hospital stays increased during a 10-year period, the death rate from those infections dropped. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-hospital-infections-cancer-patients-climbed.html Cancer Tue, 26 Mar 2013 10:58:45 EST news283514319 Physician experts in health system issues propose a timely alternative process for harnessing and supporting physician-led innovations to rapidly address front-line health care delivery problems and improve health. Published as a Viewpoint article in the March 20th issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the authors propose health systems adopt a strategy widely accepted in U.S. industries of "user-led" innovation. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-health-effective-physicians-clinician-led.html Health Tue, 19 Mar 2013 16:00:10 EST news282927173 Antibiotic resistance "has the potential to undermine modern health systems," argue health economists Richard Smith and Joanna Coast on bmj.com today. They believe that an increase in resistant organisms coupled with a big fall in the number of new antimicrobial drugs "suggests an apocalyptic scenario may be looming." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-antibiotic-resistance-potential-undermine-modern.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Mon, 11 Mar 2013 12:59:09 EST news282225543 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 Budgets are becoming tighter and health systems are under pressure to address the increasing burden of chronic diseases. Tackling chronic diseases requires up to date information on disease prevalence and risk factors but Europe currently lacks data on cardiovascular disease (CVD) that is standardized and can be compared. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-03-cvd-standardized-europe.html Cardiology Mon, 04 Mar 2013 11:48:13 EST news281620086 Many nations battling malaria face an economic dilemma: spend money indefinitely to control malaria transmission or commit additional resources to eliminate transmission completely. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-malaria-longlasting-benefits-countries.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 21 Feb 2013 14:00:20 EST news280676304 (HealthDay)—The outcome of the Oregon experiment, an ambitious program centered on a model of an accountable care organization (ACO), will offer important lessons for the wider implementation of ACOs as cost-saving mechanisms, according to a perspective piece published online Feb. 13 in the New England Journal of Medicine. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-oregon-insight-aco-based-reform.html Health Thu, 14 Feb 2013 11:52:46 EST news280065157 Hospital beds tend to get used simply because they're available – not necessarily because they're needed, according to a first-of-its-kind study that supports continued regulation of new hospitals. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-hospitals.html Other Wed, 13 Feb 2013 17:20:02 EST news279996788 (HealthDay)—Health plan-initiated, employer-based wellness programs are being implemented to test new approaches to help reduce diabetes risk and, more broadly, to prevent chronic illness, according to research published online Jan. 31 in Preventing Chronic Disease. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-health-plan-employer-based-diabetes.html Diabetes Tue, 05 Feb 2013 13:20:01 EST news279292167 A pioneering study in Tayside working with community nurses and terminally ill patients has produced a standardised care package which researchers say could be a valuable aid for the NHS and other health systems. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-02-pathway-dignity-patients.html Health Fri, 01 Feb 2013 08:27:53 EST news278929668 In a national sample of 72 children's hospitals, 6.5 percent of hospitalized children experienced an unplanned readmission within 30 days, with significant variability in readmission rates across conditions and hospitals, according to a study appearing in the January 23/30 issue of JAMA. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-substantial-variation-readmission-children-hospitals.html Health Tue, 22 Jan 2013 16:00:08 EST news278091278 (Medical Xpress)—A new report by the University of Exeter Medical School researchers sheds light on how health and social care arrangements can avoid hospital admissions or enable people to leave hospital earlier. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-intermediate-health-social-enable-closer.html Health Tue, 22 Jan 2013 07:28:58 EST news278062131 Despite wide investments nationally in electronic medical records and related tools, the cost-saving promise of health information technology has not been reached because the systems deployed are neither interconnected nor easy to use, according to a new RAND Corporation analysis. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-health-fulfill-technology.html Health Mon, 07 Jan 2013 16:00:12 EST news276771601 (AP)—Most people know the usual vital signs, like blood pressure, temperature and pulse. But what about exercise? http://medicalxpress.com/news/2013-01-medical-minutes.html Health Sun, 06 Jan 2013 11:48:42 EST news276695317 (HealthDay)—Responding to the Dec. 14 tragic shooting in Newtown, Conn., the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) has expressed a willingness to work together with the government to ensure the health and safety of children, according to a letter written from the AAP to President Obama. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-12-aap-obama-safety-children-national.html Health Fri, 21 Dec 2012 06:40:02 EST news275289315 The sheer number of efforts aimed at improving the quality and efficiency of the U.S. health care system – ranging from portions of the national Affordable Care Act to local programs at individual hospitals and practices – reflects the urgency and importance of the task. One aspect that has received inadequate attention, according to three physicians writing in the January 2013 issue of Academic Medicine, is training the next generation of experts needed to help lead these efforts. In their Perspective article, which has been released online, the authors propose a framework for career development in what they call "health systems improvement," a term that encompasses a broad range of activities – including management, research and public policy – to improve the quality and efficiency of our systems of care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-career-paths-health.html Health Thu, 29 Nov 2012 16:22:36 EST news273428537 One of the first studies to compare patients who see their doctors in person to those who receive care through the Internet, known as an e-visit, underscores both the promise and the pitfalls of this technology. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-electronic-accurate-overprescribing-antibiotics.html Health Mon, 19 Nov 2012 16:00:36 EST news272541394 A large population- and health systems-based prospective study reports earlier discussions about end of life (EOL) care preferences are strongly associated with less aggressive care in the last days of life and increased use of hospice care for patients with advanced cancer. The study, published November 13 in the Journal of Clinical Oncology, provides the first-of-its –kind scientific evidence that timing of EOL care discussions affects decisions about EOL care. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-earlier-life-discussions-linked-aggressive.html Cancer Tue, 13 Nov 2012 13:58:33 EST news272037501 With the help of data collected from intracranial electrodes implanted on epilepsy patients, researchers in Drexel's School of Biomedical Engineering, Science and Health Systems are getting a rare look inside the brain in hopes of discovering the exact pattern of activity that produces a memory. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-11-memories-explore-anatomy-recollection.html Neuroscience Thu, 08 Nov 2012 13:14:40 EST news271602863 Documenting adverse events improves perceptions of safety and may decrease incidents in multi-site clinical practices, according to a new study from researchers at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. The results of the year-long study, which focused on the Radiation Oncology department's workflow, show a strong correlation between the implementation of a Conditions Reporting System and increasingly positive responses to staff surveys focusing on the culture of safety within the department. The findings of the study will be presented on Tuesday, Oct. 30 at the American Society for Radiation Oncology's (ASTRO) 2012 annual meeting. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-error-perceptions-safety-incidents.html Other Wed, 31 Oct 2012 19:05:42 EST news270929137 Mental illnesses and addictions take more of a toll on the health of Ontarians than cancer or infectious diseases, according to a new report by the Institute for Clinical Evaluative Sciences and Public Health Ontario – yet this burden could be reduced with treatment, say scientists from Canada's Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH). http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-10-high-toll-mental-illness-addictions.html Psychology & Psychiatry Wed, 10 Oct 2012 13:12:53 EST news269093563 (Medical Xpress)—A systematic review by UNSW Medicine researchers has found up to 62 per cent of laboratory tests and up to 36 per cent of radiology reports were not being followed up by doctors, for patients attending GPs, clinics or hospital outpatient departments. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-doctors-results.html Health Thu, 27 Sep 2012 09:58:31 EST news267958705 In this month's editorial, the PLOS Medicine Editors comment on the World Health Organization's (WHO) latest World Health Report, originally planned for publication in 2012, and the outcomes of the journal's collaboration with WHO on the intended theme of "no health without research." http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-plos-medicine-editors-comment-world.html Health Tue, 25 Sep 2012 17:00:03 EST news267808432 Hospitals and health systems faced with ongoing shortages of key drugs for cancer and other diseases should develop firm rationing policies based on transparency and fairness, researchers at Duke University Medical Center report. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-09-duke-policy-ethical-foundation-drug.html Medications Mon, 24 Sep 2012 16:00:06 EST news267704859 Sierra Leone's government on Thursday declared a cholera outbreak a national emergency after 176 deaths and 10,800 reported cases since January, health ministry sources said. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-08-sierra-leone-declares-cholera-emergency.html Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes Thu, 16 Aug 2012 13:54:14 EST news264344046 Expediting primary health care for chronically ill inmates soon after release from prison results in fewer visits to hospital emergency departments, a Yale study has found. The study is published in the American Journal of Public Health. http://medicalxpress.com/news/2012-07-health-prisoners-high-emergency-department.html Health Fri, 20 Jul 2012 09:28:02 EST news261995271