CQ Politics | Innovations - Health: July 2008 Archives

HHS Secretary Leavitt: Blogging Has Growing Influence on Health Policy

July 30, 2008 10:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Danielle Parnass, CQ Staff

The ever-evolving blogosphere is now helping to shape the health policy debate by allowing more interaction between the public and policy makers, said Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Michael O. Leavitt, a blogger himself.

Leavitt, who launched his blog on the HHS Web site in August 2007, said his entries follow a range of topics, from day-to-day experiences, to his thoughts and decisions surrounding health care issues and policies.

Continue reading HHS Secretary Leavitt: Blogging Has Growing Influence on Health Policy.

Cabinet Secretary Blogs His Way Around the Press

July 30, 2008 1:25 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

US Department of Health and Human Services head Michael Leavitt spoke at a panel in Washington DC about being the first cabinet secretary to have his own blog. He says he finds it a useful way to communicate about policy without the formality of a press conference, where reporters choose the topic. Ars Technica says a follow-up panel discussed blogging, and agreed that a lack of editors can cause some bloggers to "go off half-cocked." (Not a problem here---Ed.)

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Report: Private Sector Can Control High-Tech Medical Imaging Costs

July 29, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By John Reichard, CQ HealthBeat Editor

Democrats in the health overhaul debate have been hammering private health plans for charging high administrative costs compared with government-run health insurance programs, but that argument overlooks pioneering work done by private insurers in controlling certain costs such as that of high-tech imaging, an industry briefing suggested Monday.

The briefing by America's Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), the nation's largest health insurance lobby, focused on the successes of certain private sector insurance plans in restraining growth in the costs of imaging procedures such as MRI and CT scans, a fast-growing area of health spending that critics often identify as a place to go to reduce unnecessary health care spending.

Continue reading Report: Private Sector Can Control High-Tech Medical Imaging Costs .

Hospitals Turn to Architects to Fight Disease

July 28, 2008 1:38 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Using evidence-based design, in which architectural decisions are based on scientific studies, hospitals are beginning to build new facilities with an eye toward preventing hospital-acquired infections. The Los Angeles Times reports that hospitals across the country are looking to better ventilation systems with air filters, non-porous surfaces that won't hold germs, and plenty of sinks to encourage handwashing as elements of safer facilities.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Changes Await Health Technology Bill

July 25, 2008 6:15 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Alex Wayne, CQ Staff

A bill to encourage health providers to adopt electronic medical records could see substantial changes in the Ways and Means Committee before it goes to the House floor, panel members indicated Thursday.

The bill was approved Wednesday by the Energy and Commerce Committee. It would authorize $560 million in grants and loans over five years to encourage hospitals and doctors to buy and install electronic systems for collecting and transmitting health records.

Continue reading Changes Await Health Technology Bill.

Former Surgeon Generals Press to Bolster Cancer Resources

July 24, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Reed Cooley, CQ Staff

Four former surgeon generals joined with cancer patients and physicians Wednesday to call for congressional support of any and all legislation that would boost funding levels and quality of care for cancer patients.

One such bill could be the high-profile Kennedy-Hutchison measure, sponsored by Sens. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., and Kay Bailey Hutchison, R-Texas, that's currently in the works and aimed at increasing funding and resources for cancer research and care.

Continue reading Former Surgeon Generals Press to Bolster Cancer Resources .

New Medicare Law May Spark System Improvements

July 23, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By John Reichard, CQ Staff

Health policy analysts see many opportunities for eliminating wasteful spending on health care and improving quality at the same time, but lament a lack of funding for organizing these efforts.

Now under a little-noticed provision of the new Medicare law blocking physician payment cuts, efforts to set national priorities for quality and efficiency gains will accelerate, those analysts say.

Continue reading New Medicare Law May Spark System Improvements .

Little Known Program Takes Big Chunk of U.S. Budget

July 21, 2008 5:03 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The Comprehensive National Security Initiative is President Bush's single largest funding request in the fiscal 2009 intelligence budget. The program is designed to develop a plan to protect government computers against both foreign and domestic threats. But the Washington Post reports that the highly classified, multi-year, multimillion dollar program is described only vaguely, leaving questions as to what it will actually entail.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Medical Company Wins Special Exemption

July 19, 2008 9:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Alex Wayne, CQ Staff

The new Medicare law provides a welcome reprieve for the nation's medical equipment manufacturers: an 18-month delay in a competitive-bidding program.

But at least one firm, Kinetic Concepts Inc. (KCI) of San Antonio, got a bigger present in the legislation: language that gives it an even longer break from competitive bidding and a potential advantage over its chief competitor.

Backers say the company deserves special treatment because its product is simply more effective.

Continue reading Medical Company Wins Special Exemption.

Budget Chief Orszag: Threats Will Hasten Health IT Adoption

July 17, 2008 6:40 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Reed Cooley, CQ Staff

The threat of financial penalties rather than the promise of incentives -- or more simply, the stick, not the carrot -- will spur providers to adopt health information technologies on the widest scale, Congressional Budget Office Director Peter R. Orszag told Congress on Thursday.

"If you want to get to near universal health IT in the near future, meaning the next five years, it's got to be the stick," Orszag said at a Senate Finance Committee hearing to examine possible improvements to quality in the U.S. health care system.

Continue reading Budget Chief Orszag: Threats Will Hasten Health IT Adoption .

Senate Votes To Boost Childhood Cancer Research

July 16, 2008 6:49 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By CQ Staff

The Senate cleared Wednesday a bill that would increase research into childhood cancers after a key GOP senator decided not to object.

The bill (HR 1553) was cleared by voice vote and will head to the president for his signature. The House passed its bill on June 12.

The bill would authorize $30 million per year from fiscal 2009 to 2013 to support pediatric cancer research institutes, establish a childhood cancer database and provide information about the diseases to affected families.

Continue reading Senate Votes To Boost Childhood Cancer Research .

Clinical Trial of Cancer Drug is a First

July 16, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Meghan McCarthy, CQ Staff

Despite the lack of an established Food and Drug Administration approval pathway for follow-on biologics, biotech company Insmed says it intends to begin a clinical trial of its new follow-on biologic that is similar to Neupogen, a cancer drug produced by Amgen.

(Follow-on biologics are generic versions of complex biotech medicines. The biotech industry says that truly identical, generic versions of its drugs are impossible; generic manufacturers can only hope to produce similar products.)

Continue reading Clinical Trial of Cancer Drug is a First.

Testing Genes to Find New Treatments

July 15, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Five Questions for Kathy Hudson, Director, Genetics and Public Policy Center

Kathy Hudson is the former Assistant Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, the 13-year effort coordinated by the federal government to map human DNA. In 2002, she founded the center, which is funded by The Pew Charitable Trusts and located at Johns Hopkins University, to focus on public policy issues raised by genetic research.

Q: What's your hope when the new law against genetic-based discrimination takes effect (1- 1 ½ years from now)?

A. My hope is that patients and prospective research participants will be able to make informed decisions about whether to participate in research or whether to have a genetic test unencumbered by concerns that their genetic test results or their participation in research could come back and bite them.

Continue reading Testing Genes to Find New Treatments.

New Technologies Raise Medical Costs

July 14, 2008 1:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

High-tech health care devices, such as the da Vinci robot that allows surgeons to operate in tight spaces with minimal incisions, can add a lot to hospital costs. But, as Business Week reports, healthcare experts are beginning to question whether the benefits of such devices are worth the added costs.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

High-Tech Home Health Help

July 13, 2008 4:39 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Microprocessor-maker Intel is getting into the high-tech health business: its Health Guide has won approval from the Food and Drug Administration. The device records vital signs and allows for videoconferencing with doctors or nurses in remote locations. Daily Tech says Intel is marketing the device to nursing homes and care centers, and also expects that chronically ill people who live in their own homes might purchase the Guide.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Big Pharma Collaborates on New Research Technology

July 10, 2008 2:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

by Luke Timmerman, Xconomy.com

Three of the world's biggest drugmakers can agree on this--the research and development model for creating new drugs needs a serious kick in the rear. Pfizer, Merck, and Eli Lilly, through a collaboration hatched by Boston-based PureTech Ventures, have agreed to put $39 million into a new Boston company called Enlight Biosciences, whose job will be to create technologies that can enable researchers to make breakthrough drugs.

The venture has attracted very big names.

Continue reading Big Pharma Collaborates on New Research Technology.

How to Lower Obesity Rates

July 9, 2008 6:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By Whitney Blair Wyckoff, CQ Staff

Taxing snack foods or providing a subsidy for fruits and vegetables could be some of the best means of hedging off growing obesity rates in the United States, according to a new report from the American Heart Association.

"People haven't just made the decision to eat more and move less," said Shiriki Kumanyika, chairwoman of the American Heart Association working group that wrote the report, in a release. "The social structure has played into people's tendencies to go for convenience foods and labor-saving devices."

Continue reading How to Lower Obesity Rates.

Cancer Nanotech a "Good Example" of Government Spending

July 9, 2008 6:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The development of nanotechnology as a tool to fight cancer is leading to promising treatments, showing that government spending in a focused area of research can be good for business and for the public, argues a writer at Wired. Looking at the field of nanotechnology developed to treat cancer, the author says funding from the National Cancer Institute has led to promising developments in the field. So far, there are at least 48 clinical trials going on, many of them in Phase II, the intermediate phase in testing new medicines.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com

Measuring Air Quality, Block by Block

July 8, 2008 12:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Intel's Berkeley Labs team is working with the City of San Francisco to attach mobile phone prototype sensors to a fleet of street sweepers zooming around the city in the early morning hours. (Intel photo)

by Zack Beauchamp, CQ staff

For the roughly 75 million Americans afflicted with asthma or allergies , air quality can be a deadly serious issue. Air pollution can set off sometimes-fatal asthma attacks, and can cause otherwise healthy people to get the disease. To help the most vulnerable people limit exposure, the federal government issues a daily air quality report, which includes cities with "action alert" days. http://www.airnow.gov/. But there's not much detail there.

Enter San Francisco and the Intel Corporation. They're piloting a new technique of measuring hyper-local air quality with sensors on the city's street sweepers.

Continue reading Measuring Air Quality, Block by Block.

Scientists Promote Six Degrees of Vaccination

July 8, 2008 7:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

A popular cocktail party game may be the key to stopping flu pandemics, according to Science News. The magazine reports that targeting vaccinations to the right people could be a quick and inexpensive way of stopping a disease's spread in its tracks.

The idea is based on the notion of social networks - popularly known as six degrees of separation, the phenomenon that allows you to connect any actor to Kevin Bacon in only a few steps - and relies on vaccinating people who act as "nodes," who connect one circle of people to another.

Web pick posted by Neil Savage, Xconomy.com