Latest California Healthline Stories
HHS Announces Pilot Nursing Home Evaluation Project
HHS Secretary Tommy Thompson yesterday announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services will begin to publish information on the quality of care in nursing homes next year to “spur improvements” and help patients with long term care decisions, the Washington Post reports.
Ratio of Hispanic Physicians to Hispanic Residents in California Widening
The disparity between the number of Hispanic physicians and the “rapidly growing” Hispanic population in California has reached a “critical” point, the Orange County Register reports.
Patient Privacy Provisions of HIPAA Do Not Apply to Many Web Sites
A new report conducted by researchers at the Health Privacy Project at Georgetown University found that federal patient privacy regulations that took effect this year may not protect information shared online, Scripps Howard News Service/Nando Times reports.
Stop AIDS Project to Remove ‘Obscene’ Material from HIV Prevention Programs
Officials with the San Francisco Stop AIDS Project have said they will bring their programs into compliance with CDC regulations regarding sexually explicit material, following a report by HHS Inspector General Janet Rehnquist that showed the group had used federal funds for workshops that were “too sexy,” the AP/Contra Costa Times reports.
Unresolved Contract Negotiations Leave Sonoma County HMO Members Uncertain of Options
About 32,000 HMO members in Sonoma County are in “limbo” and do not know yet whether their health plan will sign contracts with physician groups before the agreements expire on Dec. 31, the Santa Rosa Press-Democrat reports.
Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Plan to Help Mentally Ill Worth the Money, Los Angeles Times Says
To help break the “jail-to-streets cycle that continues to ensnare thousands” of people with mental illnesses, California should provide the $8 million Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca has requested to build a center that will offer a variety of services for people with mental illnesses just released from jail, a Los Angeles Times editorial says.
FDA Approves Generic Version of Prilosec
The FDA Friday approved Andrx Corp.’s generic version of Prilosec, the popular heartburn drug manufactured by AstraZeneca PLC, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Barstow Veterans Home Continues to Have Patient Care Problems, Experts Say
After losing its certification sixteen months ago due to “poor patient care and sloppy management,” the Barstow veterans home is “still plagued” with similar problems, according to a group of private nursing home experts, the Los Angeles Times reports.
States to Consider Model Bioterrorism Legislation
State lawmakers nationwide will likely consider model legislation released last month by the CDC, which would replace existing public health statutes with a “sweeping, detailed enumeration of state emergency powers” in the event of a bioterrorist attack, the Washington Post reports.
Alvord School District Votes to Exclude ‘Explicit’ Sexual Material from HIV/AIDS Course
The Riverside-based Alvord school board has unanimously voted to drop some “explicit” sexual material from the school district’s new HIV/AIDS curriculum, the Riverside Press-Enterprise reports.