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Hospitals lure doctors away from private practice NPR Share     Dr. Alden Parsons, a thoracic surgeon, had just finished 15 years of medical training. But instead of entering the world of private practice, she went to work for the Rex Healthcare hospital system in February. While some of her medical school classmates continued their training or joined university faculties, the rest went to work for groups affiliated with hospitals. "I don't know anyone who went out into their own practice," says Parsons, 38. "Trying to be a mother and a wife and a thoracic surgeon, I needed a job that would help me streamline things." Last year, half of new doctors were hired by hospitals, according to the Medical Group Management Association, a professional organization for physician practices. More
Insurers denied coverage to 1 in 7 The Wall Street Journal Share
The four largest U.S. for-profit health insurers on average denied policies to one out of every seven applicants based on their prior medical history, according to a congressional investigation released recently. Two top House Democrats said the findings covered 2007 to 2009 for Aetna Inc., Humana Inc., UnitedHealth Group Inc. and WellPoint Inc. In total, the carriers denied coverage to more than 651,000 people due to pre-existing medical conditions over the three-year period. More Women's health groups launch campaign for copay-free birth control NPR Share
There's something many women of child-bearing age can rally behind in the new health overhaul law: free contraceptives. At least that's the idea behind a campaign being launched today by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Called Birth Control Matters, the initiative aims to make sure all prescription methods of contraception are covered without copays as part of the preventive services package that will be determined sometime in the next year by the Institute of Medicine and the Department of Health and Human Services. More
More patients balk at cost of prescriptions The Wall Street Journal Share
Growing numbers of Americans with health insurance are walking away from their prescriptions at the pharmacy counter, the latest indication that efforts to contain costs may be curbing health care consumption. A review of insurance claims data shows that so-called abandonment—when a patient refuses to purchase or pick up a prescription that was filled and packaged by a pharmacist—was up 55 percent in the second quarter of this year, compared with four years earlier. More FDA to spend $25 million to improve its science USA TODAY Share
The Food and Drug Administration must update its scientific tools for reviewing prescription drugs, medical devices and tracking food safety, according to a research plan laid out Wednesday by agency leadership. FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg said the agency will spend $25 million in the coming year on collaborations with outside scientists from academia, government and industry. In a speech at the National Press Club, Hamburg said that improved scientific standards will help speed up the approval of important new products and spot safety problems sooner. More
Government helps to insure children, even above the poverty line The New York Times Share
The last few years have not been easy for Dean McCrea. In 2007, Mr. McCrea, 55, lost his wife of nearly 30 years. Then last November the company he worked for folded, and he could not afford to pay the steep Cobra premiums required to keep health insurance for him and his son, Henry, 16. Mr. McCrea, a media producer in Portland, Ore., receives $380 a week in unemployment benefits, which barely covers his mortgage; Henry receives a small stipend from Social Security each month. “The last years have been a constant navigation of what feels like Class 5 rapids,” he said. In June, Mr. McCrea’s luck turned, a little. He learned about Healthy Kids, the state’s health insurance program for middle-class families, and promptly enrolled his son. The program provides Henry with full health coverage, including vision and dental. The cost: $38 a month. More Judge rules health law is constitutional The New York Times Share
A federal judge in Michigan recently dismissed one of more than 15 legal challenges to the new health care law, becoming the first to rule that the law is constitutional. Two other cases with higher profiles, one in Florida and one in Virginia, are headed toward hearings on the issues that were decided in Michigan. The central question, which may ultimately fall to the Supreme Court, is whether the Commerce Clause of the Constitution gives Congress the authority to require citizens to obtain a commercial product, namely health insurance. More
FDA chief focuses on antibiotic resistance The Wall Street Journal Share
The Food and Drug Administration is intensifying its focus on problems caused by antibiotic resistance among humans and feed animals through the widespread use of those drugs over the past several decades, said FDA Commissioner Margaret Hamburg. Appearing at the National Press Club Wednesday, Dr. Hamburg said the FDA is seeing antibiotic resistance in virtually all antibiotics. "We no longer have effective ways to treat serious infectious disease. Clearly we must encourage more judicious use of these important drugs," she said. More Urgent care clinics carve out a key health care niche USA TODAY Share
In a growing trend, consumers increasingly turning to walk-in clinics and urgent care centers for treatment of minor ailments and injuries instead of trying to squeeze in an appointment with a primary care provider or waiting at a crowded emergency room. These shifting habits and the rising prominence of clinics and centers are reshaping the health care model that for decades sent patients to their primary care doctors, and if necessary, the emergency room. In fact, urgent care clinics are getting so popular that a handful of physicians groups and entrepreneurs are starting to franchise them a la McDonald's or Jiffy Lube. More
Actors help medical school students become better doctors Pittsburgh Post-Gazette Share
The patient slouched in a chair, her gaze fixed at a spot on the floor. When she chose to respond to the medical student's questions, she delivered one-word answers in a sullen monotone. This medical interview was getting nowhere, fast, but that was precisely the point of the exercise. The patient, "Charissa Peters," was just a character played by local actor Jamie Fair, and the interviewer was played by a series of third-year medical students at the University of Pittsburgh. More The smoking divide The Washington Post Share
Fifteen years ago, adult cigarette smokers made up a little over a fifth of the population of both Maryland and Virginia. Since then, adult smoking rates and cigarette sales have plummeted in Maryland, as a direct result of laws adopted in Annapolis. In Virginia, where the tobacco lobby retains more sway, the declines have been much more modest. Let's be blunt: Maryland lawmakers opted for policies that preserved health and lives. Virginia lawmakers chose lethal ones that enabled smokers to keep on killing themselves. More
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