A survey of Calgary Health Region employees and physicians indicates the Region continues to make progress in improving patient safety, but further action is required to address specific areas of concern such as the reporting of hazards."The Re
Commenting on an editorial in Friday's British Medical Journal warning that shift systems for junior doctors may affect patient safety, Mr Simon Eccles, chairman of the
The European working time directive may put doctors' and patients' lives at risk, warn experts in this week's BMJ.Introduced in August 2004, it aims to reduce working hours in order to improve wor
The G8 nations must address the exodus of healthcare workers from the developing world if they are to tackle global poverty, the British Medical Association and the
As a result of last week's extreme humidity and high temperatures, blood donations fell by 25% leaving the community blood supply at risk and in a critical state far below what is required to adequately serve local patients. Therefore,
In an effort to reduce infections among patients, independent investigators are to carry out random spot checks on hospital hygiene.The UK Healthcare Commission has already ord
Medical experts say the development of super-surgeries within hospital grounds, or practices being taken over by the elite NHS trusts is a very real possibility.Apparently several foundation trusts are already contemplating the move in the beli
A new report by the British Medical Association (BMA) says that gay and lesbian patients are often reluctant to reveal their sexuality to their doctors because they fear their treatment will suffer.
Health service staff have been told to 'own up' to widespread feelings of anger and disgust when faced with people who need medical treatment because they cut or harm themselves.Dr Leonard Fagin, consultant psychiatrist at South Forest Centre i
The South Australian Health Department is leading a community-based intervention program to successfully reduce antibiotics use for colds and flu.The results of the program are published
Date: Wednesday, 7-Feb-2007
Alissa Fox, vice president of legislative and regulatory policy for the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association, on Friday said that additional reductions in reimbursements to private Medicare Advantage plans "would be a disaster" for the program, CQ HealthBeat reports.At a press briefing, Fox said that CMS has reduced reimbursements to MA plans by $13 billion over the past two years (Crowley, CQ HealthBeat, 2/2).
House Ways and Means Health Subcommittee Chair Pete Stark (D-Calif.) has said that he will seek to reduce reimbursements to private Medicare Advantage plans to help cover the cost of other health care proposals.
In response, BCBSA "stressed the program's value to low-income and minority beneficiaries, as well as residents of rural areas," CongressDaily reports.
In addition to reimbursements to MA plans, BCBSA identified SCHIP reauthorization and implementation of health care information technology as top legislative priorities for 2007.
BCBSA also raised some concerns about the health insurance proposal announced by President Bush during his State of the Union address.
Fox said, "We want to make sure there are incentives to build upon the employer-based system" (Lee, CongressDaily, 2/2).
This article is republished with kind permission from our friends at the The Kaiser Family Foundation. You can view the entire Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report, search the archives, or sign up for email delivery of in-depth coverage of health policy developments, debates and discussions. The Kaiser Daily Health Policy Report is published for Kaisernetwork.org, a free service of The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation. Copyright 2007 Advisory Board Company and Kaiser Family Foundation. All rights reserved.