News

The Department of Health and Human Services has granted $650 million to an initiative that is working toward “creating ways for healthful lifestyle habits to be the natural first choice for Americans.”

A report by healthcare group purchasing organization Novation says healthcare prices will likely rise in late 2009 or early 2010 as the global economy recovers from the recession.

With or without healthcare reform, hospitals can still find ways to increase quality and hold down costs, according to Michigan health system which is used healthcare IT to establish evidence-based care.

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, along with Vermont Gov. Jim Douglas and White House Office of Health Reform Director Nancy-Ann DeParle, have announced an initiative that will allow Medicare to join Medicaid and private insurers in state-based efforts to improve healthcare delivery.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved four vaccines against the 2009 H1N1 influenza virus. The vaccines will be distributed nationally after the initial lots become available sometime within the next four weeks.

Nearly 45,000 annual deaths are associated with a lack of health insurance, according to the American Journal of Public Health.

Inflation rates for healthcare supplies should remain unchanged through 2010, according to the Premier healthcare alliance.

Shared Health is slated to begin rolling out in December a solution that would give Mississippi Medicaid providers a Web-based electronic health record system and e-prescribing capability.

Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-Mont.) says his $865 billion plan would lower healthcare costs, provide quality and reduce the federal deficit over 10 years.

The medical care Consumer Price Index rose 0.3 percent in August after a 0.2 percent increase in July, according to the federal Bureau of Labor Statistics.