Latest California Healthline Stories
AstraZeneca, ePhysician Team Up to Promote Electronic Prescription Writing Systems
The U.S. division of the British drug maker AstraZeneca PLC and ePhysician Inc. are expected to announce today a three-year deal to promote to doctors ePhysician’s electronic prescription-writing systems, the Wall Street Journal reports.
Financial Problems Create ‘Crisis’ at California Hospitals
Reduced funding and increasing costs are “shaping into a crisis for California’s hospitals,” the Contra Costa Times reports.
IOM Study Finds No Link Between Vaccination and Autism
There is no evidence linking the measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine to the “dramatic rise” in autism among children, according to a new report released Monday by the Institute of Medicine.
HMOs Receive ‘Excessive’ Reimbursements in Medicare+Choice Program
HMOs have “long touted” their “ability to save Medicare money” and provide seniors with additional benefits, but “numerous” studies suggest that the Medicare+Choice program has cost taxpayers “billions of dollars more” for basic benefits because payments were not appropriately adjusted to reflect patient risk, the Sacramento Bee reports.
Survey Finds Tobacco Advertisements are Easily Seen by Children
Several markets, convenience stores and gas stations in Ventura, Santa Barbara and San Luis Obispo counties display tobacco advertisements that can readily be seen by children, according to a new study conducted by a regional anti-tobacco education group.
Low Staffing Level of Nurses Linked to ‘Adverse Outcomes’
Low staffing levels of nurses may contribute to thousands of deaths each year, while higher levels of staffing may reduce “adverse outcomes” by 3% to 12%, a study commissioned by the Health Resources and Services Administration found.
Mammogram Benefit Greater than Originally Thought
New data released by the American Cancer Society indicates that women who have mammograms regularly can reduce their risk of dying from breast cancer by more than 60%, suggesting that mammograms “do substantially more good than most experts had assumed up to now,” the AP/Owensboro Messenger-Inquirer reports.
UCSF Researchers ‘Stand By’ Study Finding No Physician Shortage
Despite “sharp criticism” from physicians, University of California-San Francisco researchers continue to “stand by” their study released last month that found “no evidence” of a doctor shortage and indicated that more doctors are moving into California now than in the past six years, the Silicon Valley/San Jose Business Journal reports.
CIGA Losing Money Covering Workers’ Comp Claims
The California Insurance Guarantee Association, which pays workers’ compensation claims when private insurance companies “go broke,” is running out of money, the Orange County Register reports.
Surgeon General’s Report on Sex Education Delayed
A delay in the publication of the “Surgeon General’s Call to Action on Promoting Responsible Sexual Behavior,” a “far-reaching report on sexual attitudes and education,” originally to be released last year by Surgeon General David Satcher, has many wondering “what form, if any, the report will take,” the New York Times reports.