Rehabilitation Blogs This is an OPML file. It can be used to export all the MedWorm RSS feeds on this topic into your personal RSS reader (usually you have to save this file to your own computer before clicking on an Import OPML command in your own feed reader to upload the file which will then import all the feeds) or it can be used by webmasters to integrate MedWorm feeds with their own website. This is an RSS file. You can use it to subscribe to this data in your favourite RSS reader, such as GoogleReader, or to display this data on your own website or blog. Subscribe to this data using MyMedWorm.Subscribe to this data using GoogleReader.Subscribe to this data using Bloglines.Subscribe to this data using MyYahoo.

This page shows you the most recent publications within this specialty of the MedWorm directory. This is page number 2.

The Rehabilitator: My October Cancer Peep
“Formula-6” Following my 2001 surgery I received at-home physical therapy. I progressed from not knowing how to signal my hip muscles to move, to feeling twitches, to seeing twitches, to creating visible movement, millimeters at a time. After ten weeks I could begin weight-bearing and intense PT at the hospital clinic. On a warm, beautiful March afternoon my dad pulled me away from my Field of Dreams and Triple Play Baseball spring training excitement to drive me to my first appointment with Formula-6, who was the PT clinic’s specialist: young, built, and formerly a competitive gymnast, cyclist, and tennis player. ...
Source: I've Still Got Both My Nuts: A True Cancer Blog - October 31, 2012 Category: Cancer Tags: cancer calendar Source Type: blogs

Maintain Current Function Rehab Therapy Rule Change For SNF and HHC For Expanded Medicare Coverage Have Grave Unintended Consequences
A landmark settlement was agreed to last week defining how The Medicare National Bank (CMS) would pay for skilled nursing facility (SNF) therapies and home health care therapies in the chronically debilitated but not medically improving class of CMS beneficiaries. Every article I've read applauds this ruling as a victory for Medicare patients. Nobody is paying attention to the grave consequences on the flip side of this settelment. This case is huge and I foresee grave unintended consequences with equally and potentially more devastating results for beneficiaries, for hospitals and for the viab...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - October 31, 2012 Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Tamer Mahrous Source Type: blogs

Long-term changes in graft height after maxillary sinus augmentation, onlay bone grafting, and combination of both techniques: a long-term retrospective cohort study
ConclusionThe treatment method does not seem to impact vertical bone loss following augmentation using autologous grafts. This approach results in long-term stability of dental implants. A sufficient width of keratinized peri-implant mucosa is important to prevent peri-implant bone loss and inflammation.
Source: Dental Technology Blog - October 30, 2012 Category: Dentists Source Type: blogs

Whistleblower of the Year is PharmaGossip's Person of the Year 2012
Taxpayers Against Fraud Education Fund is pleased to announce Allen Jones as our Whistleblower of the Year award winner for 2012. A graduate of Penn State University, with a Bachelor’s Degree in health physical education and therapy, Mr. Jones worked for the Pennsylvania Office of the Inspector General on two separate occasions. His first stint at the Office of the Inspector General lasted five years. He liked the work and was promoted several times, but the travel was too much with two adolescent teenage daughters to raise. Reluctantly, Mr. Jones left the OIG to work rehabilitating and selling houses – a job he did fo...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 28, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Medicare Reportedly Settles on Coverage for Rehabilitative Services
For many years, Medicare has refused to pay for physical or occupational therapy unless patients could show "improvement." Although this policy is a cost-saver, it has devastating effects on patients for whom these therapies are critical to maintaining current levels...
Source: HealthLawProf Blog - October 24, 2012 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Authors: HealthLawProf Hodnicki Source Type: blogs

Rehabilitation and Health Care Provider’s Guide to Cultures of the Foreign-Born
From the Center for International Rehabilitation Research Information and Exchange, this guide provides specific information on cultural perspectives of foreign-born persons in the United States, especially recent immigrants. The monographs contain specific information about culture that rehabilitation service providers can use to more effectively meet the needs of foreign-born recipients of rehabilitation and health care services. Access the free downloadable guides here: http://bit.ly/T71iC1
Source: BHIC - October 22, 2012 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Gail Kouame Tags: General Minority Health Concerns Websites Source Type: blogs

The LITFL Review 080
Welcome to the lavish 80th edition! The LITFL Review is your regular and reliable source for the highest highlights, sneakiest sneak peaks and loudest shout-outs from the webbed world of emergency medicine and critical care. Each week the LITFL team casts the spotlight on the best and brightest from the blogosphere, the podcast video/audiosphere and the rest of the Web 2.0 social media jungle to find the most fantastic EM/CC FOAM (Free Open Access Meducation) around. The Most Fair Dinkum Ripper Beaut of the Week Leon Gussow of The Poison Review fame takes out top spot this week with four great toxicology posts. Check th...
Source: Life in the Fast Lane - October 22, 2012 Category: Emergency Medicine Doctors Authors: Kane Guthrie Tags: Education eLearning Emergency Medicine Featured Intensive Care LITFL review Blogs critical care FOAM FOAMed LITFL R/V Source Type: blogs

Immediate loading of four (all-on-4) post-extractive implants supporting mandibular cross-arch fixed prostheses: 18-month follow-up from a multicentre prospective cohort study.
Conclusions: Within the limits of this study, it can be suggested that immediately loaded mandibular cross-arch fixed dental prostheses can be supported by four post-extractive implants, however larger and longer follow-ups are needed.
Source: Dental Technology Blog - October 18, 2012 Category: Dentists Source Type: blogs

Depression? There’s an App for That
Jane McGonigal is a world-renowned game developer. She’s dedicated her career to the creation of intricate imaginary worlds and fiercely promotes the power of play. McGonigal encourages daily gaming. She believes that a quick dose of Angry Birds or hours spent plowing the virtual fields of FarmVille is not only relaxing but is actually beneficial to your health. So beneficial, in fact, that gaming may add up to 10 years to your life. In her groundbreaking TED Talk, McGonigal presents the research behind her theory. Live Longer, Be Happier Perhaps more interesting than her proposition to live longer is McGonigal’s em...
Source: World of Psychology - October 11, 2012 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Kara Ayers, PhD Tags: Brain and Behavior Depression Disorders General Health-related Mental Health and Wellness Psychology PTSD Research Self-Help Technology Treatment 10 Years Birds Concussion Creativity Empathic Facets Game Developer Gro Source Type: blogs

Why Meaningful Use Stage 2 is So Important
Last week my mother fell and broke her hip.She was taken to a very good local hospital and received excellent orthopedic care.The hospital used certified EHR technology and did their best to reconcile her medications.They used data sources such as historical prescribing records, previous hospitalization records, and calls to a few of her physicians who are not affiliated with the hospital (her primary caregiver is in downtown Los Angeles where she worked, not near the South Bay where she lives).Although are her physicians use electronic health records, the state of California does not yet have a widely deployed healthcare ...
Source: Life as a Healthcare CIO - October 10, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Source Type: blogs

Sleep apnea plays dual role in stroke
This article is not intended to provide medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. Views expressed here do not necessarily reflect those of ScienceDaily or its staff. Sent from my iPhone
Source: Dr Portnay - October 8, 2012 Category: Cardiology Authors: Dr Portnay Source Type: blogs

11 Ways to Reduce Healthcare Spending
Conclusion Though we are still early in the implementation of the Affordable Care Act, we are seeing signs that the fee for service culture is leaving us behind and the rate of costs increases have slowed down. Ultimately, the authors maintained that these 11 proposes are “the types of large-scale solutions that are necessary to contain health costs.”
Source: Policy and Medicine - October 4, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

New Computer program
To help deaf listen to music.. A computer-based music rehabilitation programme has been launched to help deaf people hear music more clearly. Developed at the University of Southampton it allows deaf people to pick out the individual sounds...
Source: Deaf Village - October 1, 2012 Category: Other Conditions Authors: At The Rim Tags: Deaf Music vm Source Type: blogs

A Place For Nurses
A PLACE FOR NURSES The charge of the nurse is to keep patients comfortable, healthy and safe and many will tell you that it is an exciting albeit exhausting occupation to get into. Nurses are the right hands of the doctors who save and change lives every day with medical expertise but they also impart their own medical knowledge and supplement the instructions that doctors give to patients. To be a nurse not only requires a level of technical acumen and accreditation but your personality has to be conducive to healing, teaching, explaining and care. Long after your doctor moves onto the next patient, your nurse is the o...
Source: The Nurse Practitioner's Place - October 1, 2012 Category: Nurses Authors: Nurse Practitioners Save Lives Source Type: blogs

Big Pharma’s newest invention: Adult ADHD - BY EVELYN PRINGLE AND MARTHA ROSENBERG,
This article originally appeared on AlterNet. There is good news and bad news about attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) — that is, if you’re a drug company. The bad news is the kid market has peaked out with 4.5 million U.S. children now carrying the label. The good news is adult ADHD is an emerging market. In fact, adult ADHD, with symptoms similar to pediatric ADHD such as impulsivity, distractibility and difficulty paying attention, following instructions and meeting deadlines, is the next big thing.“Immature adult market continues to offer greatest commercial potential,” read...
Source: PharmaGossip - October 1, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Why I quit internal medicine for physiatry
Some of you may know that I started out in an internal medicine residency and quit for physical medicine and rehabilitation (PM&R). Switching residencies? Not recommended. But entirely doable.I spent most of my first half of internship being really, really miserable. I remember sitting in the call room during my ICU month, talking to my mother about how badly I wanted to quit and what my options would be if I quit. Every time my resident would say, “This patient is really sick,” my stomach would churn. In the very beginning of the year, I’d only dread call on the morning of a call. Then I started to dread it the ...
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - September 29, 2012 Category: Family Physicians Authors: Kevin Tags: Physician Residency Source Type: blogs

Update: Connecting technology, healthy living, healthcare, concussions, and the Brain
Time for SharpBrains’ September 2012 eNewsletter, featuring leading-edge research and insights to help connect the dots among technology, healthy living, healthare, concussions, and–our protagonist–the brain. — Technology & the Brain: Is the Internet making us dumber? (Nope, just different) Increasing cognitive loads on miners’ brains: good example of where society is heading Brain fitness meets HRV and EEG biometrics Employee Assistance Programs enhance corporate wellness with brain training The NIH Toolbox:First Comprehensive & Standardized Tests of Brain Function MMSE®/MMSE®-2™ Cognitiv...
Source: SharpBrains - September 28, 2012 Category: Neurologists Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Education & Lifelong Learning Health & Wellness biometrics brain Brain-Fitness Brain-Training cognitive-health cognitive-therapy EEG HRV Memory-Training MMSE neurocognitive NIH-toolbox Source Type: blogs

Chronic care decision-making from the caregiver’s perspective
Coordinating ongoing care for people with chronic diseases or conditions has been a topic of interest among health care policy makers for some time. A large chunk of the health care budget goes to hospital, medical care and therapy or rehabilitation services for chronic conditions. Case management, nurse-hotlines and medical homes are some of the tools used by payers to try to manage the costs. In the end, a lot of care and service decisions are made by the patient’s family caregivers, who also provide a significant amount of care to the patient. My husband, Paul, suffered a stroke many years ago that left him with c...
Source: Disruptive Women in Health Care - September 27, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: dw at disruptivewomen.net Tags: Caregiving Chronic Conditions Caregiver chronic disease Stroke Source Type: blogs

Microsoft’s Kinect Sensor Assists in Rehabilitation Thanks to Reflexion Rehabilitative Measurement Tool (video)
Over in sunny San Diego, California, our favorite video game controller turned medical device, the Kinect, is being used again as the basis for a rehabilitative therapy program designed to allow physical therapists to customize plans and monitor patients. Developed by the West Health Institute, the Reflexion Rehabilitative Measurement Tool uses the Kinect technology to not only monitor adherence to a rehab program, but to also track the motions of rehabilitative exercises to ensure that they are done correctly and to measure progress.Patients undergoing rehab typically receive individual sessions from physical therapists, ...
Source: Medgadget - September 26, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Scott Jung Tags: Rehab Sports Medicine Source Type: blogs

Retooling cognitive rehabilitation for patients with traumatic brain injury
Our colleague Kate Sullivan, who led a superb SharpBrains Virtual Summit workshop on How to Set Up a Brain Fitness Center to Enhance Cognitive Retraining and Rehabilitation, based on her experience at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, just alerted us of a new study prepared by her team: Outcomes from a Pilot Study using Computer-Based Rehabilitative Tools in a Military Population (Studies in Health Technology and Informatics). Abstract: Novel therapeutic approaches and outcome data are needed for cognitive rehabilitation for patients with a traumatic brain injury; computer-ba...
Source: SharpBrains - September 24, 2012 Category: Neurologists Authors: Alvaro Fernandez Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness Technology Brain-Fitness Brain-Fitness-Center brain-fitness-programs Brain-Training cognitive retraining cognitive therapies cognitive-rehabilitation neuroplasticity Traumatic-Brain-Inju Source Type: blogs

The promise of the medical home
by Anthony Cirillo Through a variety of circumstances, I was recently honored to present at Perspectives on Nutrition and Aging: A National Summit. I had seven minutes to articulate a possible solution to senior hunger and nutrition. It's the 40th anniversary of the inclusion of Senior Nutrition Programs in the Older Americans Act. Since 1972, 8 billion meals have been served to seniors. But this is about more than meals. With 60 million people over age 60, the number of older adults facing hunger, obesity and chronic medical conditions will increase. This is a societal issue. I presented a perspective that proposes to ...
Source: hospital impact - September 19, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs

Training Attention and Memory after Bypass Surgery
This study demonstrated that patients suffering from cognitive deficits after coronary bypass surgery could greatly benefit from cognitive training that targets both attention and memory—the cognitive functions most affected after this type of operation…What’s more, benefits from the training are maintained over time…the development of cognitive rehabilitation tools would be highly beneficial for patients who undergo coronary bypass surgery as a way to speed up their recovery and improve their quality of life.” To Learn More: Cardiac Surgery Can Impact Long-term Cognitive Functioning Does cognitive trainin...
Source: SharpBrains - September 18, 2012 Category: Neurologists Authors: SharpBrains Tags: Cognitive Neuroscience Health & Wellness attention Brain-Training cognitive-deficits Cognitive-impairment cognitive-rehabilitation Cognitive-Training coronary bypass surgery memory Source Type: blogs

Why Psychiatric Patients Die Younger
If you're reading this for the answer, you can stop now. I don't know why psychiatric patients die younger than people who do not have psychiatric disorders. I think that fact only applies to those with chronic psychiatric illnesses, not to someone who has had a single episode of depression or anxiety. What qualifies as a chronic mental illness? I'm not sure -- but certainly if you get on-going disability (SSDI) benefits because of your psychiatric disorder, or if you live with a careprovider and attend a long-term psychosocial rehabilitation program for years, or have resided in a state hospital fo...
Source: Shrink Rap - September 18, 2012 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: Dinah Source Type: blogs

September is 'Pain Awareness Month' - The Hill's Congress Blog
For most Americans, a sudden feeling of pain indicates that something could be wrong. If it persists, we typically visit a doctor or nurse for a diagnosis and treatment. But what if the pain never goes away? And what do you do if your medical professional can't diagnose the cause, or even worse, what if there is no simple solution to make it go away? This is not a nightmare, but a reality that too many Americans – including me – face as they are forced to suffer and cope with chronic pain.An estimated 100 million Americans suffer from chronic pain, but few realize its true impact and many doubt its legitimacy...
Source: Psychology of Pain - September 17, 2012 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs

National Forum Preview on WIHI
September 13, 2012: Special Preview of IHI's National Forum 2:00 - 3:00 PM Eastern Time Featuring: Gilbert Salinas, BS, MPA, Director of Patient-Centered Care, Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center (Los Angeles); 2012 National Forum Co-Chair Laura Adams, President and CEO, Rhode Island Quality Institute (RIQI)Leonard Berry, PhD,Distinguished Professor of Marketing, Texas A&M UniversityKatharine Luther, RN, MPM,Vice President, Hospital Portfolio Planning and Administration, Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI)Karen Baldoza, Director of Operations, Continuum Portfolio, IHIOne of the most...
Source: Running a hospital - September 12, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs

Marty Makary suggests transparency
I haven't read the book yet, but this review of Unaccountable: What Hospitals Won’t Tell You and How Transparency Can Revolutionize Health Care by Dr. Marty Makary makes it look like something worth reading.Here's are some excerpts from the review: Though concepts such as “accountability” and “transparency” have been trotted out from time to time, Makary believes that medicine is still a closed shop. In Unaccountable, he specifically targets hospitals, arguing that they need to gather, analyze, and publish information vital to prospective patients. They should keep precise tabs on patients’ surgical outcomes, t...
Source: Running a hospital - September 11, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs

Nancy Gertner on The Situation of Dispositionist Criminal Sentencing
From Cognoscenti: There is a canned, formulaic newspaper story about any criminal case. It can be repeated in every prosecution, no matter what the crime, no matter who the defendant. Here’s how it goes: Judge X sentenced defendant Y to five years (or whatever the number). The prosecutor argued for 10 (or higher than the number the judge gave). The victim’s family is appalled. When interviewed, they stridently proclaim their outrage at the judge. The press then echoes that sentiment. All concerned assume that the right sentence is the one the prosecutor wanted or the victim demanded. So when the judge sentences the def...
Source: The Situationist - September 8, 2012 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Authors: The Situationist Staff Tags: Law Video Source Type: blogs

Always A Fire: A Story of New York Giant Chad Jones
A new movie from our new favorite producers has just been released, Always A Fire. Besides being a story of hope, it’s almost a shocking look at how modern medicine and sheer will can combine to rehabilitate a star athlete from what seems like a no-going-back injury. We won’t say more because it speaks for itself:Read More
Source: Medgadget - September 7, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gene Ostrovsky Tags: Art Source Type: blogs

The Joint Commission Provides Hospitals Guidance for Better Opioid Use Management
Over the past few years, there has been a growing focus on the abuse, misuse, and overuse of opioids or painkillers. Public health experts estimate that more than 35 million Americans age 12 and older have reported non-medical use of opioid analgesics during 2010 – up from 29 million in 200. In 2009, nearly 342,000 emergency department visits were associated with nonmedical use of opioid analgesics. In 2007, nearly 28,000 Americans died from unintended consequences of drug use, and of these, nearly 12,000 involved prescription drug pain relievers. To address these issues, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) r...
Source: Policy and Medicine - September 6, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

Argo ReWalk Exoskeleton Now Ready to Take Home, Around Neighborhood (video)
Claire Lomas, a paraplegic woman from Leicestershire in the UK, is making medical history as the world’s first person to use an exoskeleton for daily living around her home. She proved the capability of the ReWalk system from ARGO Medical (Yokneam Ilit, Israel) by using it to walk a complete marathon and then lighting the Paralympic cauldron in Trafalgar Square.Until now, the ReWalk was exclusively used in rehabilitation clinics with a therapist spotting the patient and providing constant step-by-step guidance. Now Claire is able to use the device independently, even walking up and down stairs and around the neigh...
Source: Medgadget - September 5, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Gene Ostrovsky Tags: Rehab Source Type: blogs

“Psychology Works” Facts Sheet: Chronic Pain - Canadian Psychological Association
What is chronic pain?Chronic pain is pain that does not go away. When pain lasts longer than 3 or 6 months, or beyond the usual time for recovery, it is said to be chronic. There are different types of chronic pain, many of which are not clearly understood. Chronic pain may be associated with an illness or disability, such as cancer, arthritis, or a phantom limb. Some types of pain start after an injury or accident and become chronic over time.Others may begin gradually, as is sometimes the case with low back pain. In some types of chronic pain, like migraine headaches, the pain is recurrent, rather than constant. There ar...
Source: Psychology of Pain - September 1, 2012 Category: Psychiatrists and Psychologists Source Type: blogs

Petition the Nursing and Midwifery Board of Australia to support their nurses.
In Australia, we have seen our Nursing and Midwifery registration fees increase by $113 dollars (thats 340%) over the last 9 years. I calculated that last year, they collected somewhere in the ballpark of fifty three million, one hundred and forty-nine thousand, six hundred dollars in fees. The question that must continue to be asked of course, is are we getting value for our money? Well lets take a look. In Victoria, for the last 6 years, nurses have had access to a confidential health program to help with alcohol and drug health issues and mental illness. This unique program was was totally self-funded through annual Vi...
Source: impactEDnurse - August 30, 2012 Category: Nurses Authors: impactEDnurse Tags: piss and vinegar Source Type: blogs

Brainwave-Controlled Exoskeleton for Stroke Patient Rehabilitation
Researchers at Rice University and the University of Houston are currently developing a new way to help stroke survivors to recover. They’re using a brain-machine interface coupled with a robotic system to improve upper-limb rehabilitation. The robot device, called MAHI-EXO II, consists of an exoskeleton which is controlled by means of an EEG. In earlier research, the team was already successful in reconstructing 3D hand and walking motions from EEG signals. An earlier version of the robot, which is being validated in trials as we speak, was aimed at spinal-cord-injury patients.In stroke rehabilitation it is import...
Source: Medgadget - August 29, 2012 Category: Technology Consultants Authors: Stanley Darma Tags: Neurology Rehab Source Type: blogs

I'm Back...
Miss me? In case you didn't notice, I haven't been around for a couple of months. The good news at least for me is that I think I am back, and the reason I was gone wasn't so terrible. Difficult, yes. Terrible, no. And although not completely recovered, I am making a valiant attempt to get back into the flow of things, since looking at the four walls of my house is driving me stir crazy. Starting 9 weeks ago today, I began an odyssey that has faced or will face many of us folks as we age. My joints just wore out. No one can say exactly say why it happened, but it did. The pain was intense, my activities were li...
Source: Dr. Len's Cancer Blog - August 27, 2012 Category: Cancer Authors: Dr. Len Source Type: blogs

Funding Roundup part 1
Small Research Grant to Improve Healthcare Quality through Health Information Technology (R03) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality – Funding to support a wide variety of research designs in order to improve the quality, safety, effectiveness, and efficiency of health care through the implementation and use of health information technology. Geographic coverage: Nationwide Deadline: November 16, 2013 For more information: http://bit.ly/NnWNS6 Assistive Technology Alternative Financing Program Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services – Grants to support alternative financing programs ...
Source: BHIC - August 23, 2012 Category: Databases & Libraries Authors: Monica Rogers Tags: Health Information Literacy Minority Health Concerns Public Health Rural Scholarships and Grants Source Type: blogs

Did Joint Commission Accredit a Hospital Whose Understanding of Medication Reconciliation is Recklessly Superficial?
I submitted this complaint to the Joint Commission today.I've been challenging them in recent years (especially since my JAMA letter "Health Care Information Technology, Hospital Responsibilities, and Joint Commission Standards" on hospital executive's violation of JC Safety Standards of July 2009) over the issue of their accreditation of hospitals using bad health IT.Eventually, I hope, they will take a leadership role on health IT risk, lest they become a target for litigation. (I think they're already there for their inaction on EHR problems despite admitted knowledge of the problems, in print, e.g., in their 2009...
Source: Health Care Renewal - August 20, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Tags: healthcare IT risk Joint Commission medication reconciliation Joint Commission Sentinel Events Alert on Health IT Source Type: blogs

NIH Pain Consortium Centers of Excellence
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) Pain Consortium recently selected 11 health professional schools as designated Centers of Excellence in Pain Education (CoEPEs). The CoEPEs will act as hubs for the development, evaluation, and distribution of pain management curriculum resources for medical, dental, nursing and pharmacy schools to enhance and improve how health care professionals are taught about pain and its treatment. Twenty institutes, centers and offices at NIH are involved in the consortium. “Virtually all health professionals are called upon to help patients suffering from pain,” said NIH Director Francis...
Source: Policy and Medicine - August 20, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

Well, duh! A wish and a hope is not a policy.
Folks who are urging the adoption of risk-based provider contracts seem to forget the basics: To take on risk, you have understand the degree of risk you are taking on and how to manage it, and you need to have a balance sheet strong enough to take on that risk. Kaiser Health News reports:Few hospitals interested in becoming accountable care organizations are ready to take on financial risk, according to a survey released Friday from The Commonwealth Fund.“We’re really still at the very beginning of the adoption curve of the ACO model,” says lead author Anne-Marie Audet, who researches health system quali...
Source: Running a hospital - August 18, 2012 Category: Health Managers Source Type: blogs

Obamacare Premium Increases
Remember "If you like the plan you have you can keep it."? How about premiums will drop 3000%? Somehow things didn't quite work out that way. The folks at AHIP (America's Health Insurance Plans) offer this bit of enlightenment. Currently insurance companies offer lower premiums to younger Americans, since they generally have lower health costs. But starting in 2014, the law implements an age band so that the amount an older individual pays will be no more than three times what a younger individual pays. So if a state currently allows an age band of 5:1, older Americans might see a premium decrease — b...
Source: InsureBlog - August 10, 2012 Category: Medical Lawyers and Insurers Source Type: blogs

Why hospitals need patient advocates
by Jacqueline O'Doherty Discharge planning has been making headlines recently because of Medicare's hospital readmission and reduction program. Hospital readmission rates are coming under scrutiny not only by Medicare but also commercial payers and consumers alike, in an effort to manage the high cost of readmission after patient discharge. Successful discharge planning keeps the rate of readmission low. For patient advocates, successful discharge has always been part of our mission. Patient advocates strive to coordinate care and ensure a smooth transition from hospital to home. There are many variables that contr...
Source: hospital impact - August 9, 2012 Category: Health Managers Authors: Wendy Johnson Source Type: blogs

Hospitality is big down under
Oz Pharmaceutical companies spends $30m wining, dining doctors DRUG companies are spending $30 million a year wining and dining doctors and healthcare workers, and are subsidising nurse wages in some GP clinics. Australia's $22 billion pharmaceutical industry is sponsoring nurses to work free in doctors' surgeries as "diabetes educators", and to show asthmatics how to use their inhalers. Medicines Australia chief executive Brendan Shaw said yesterday the industry's code of conduct allowed "support for medical practice activities". He said companies often recruited and trained the nurses, who then worked for free or for...
Source: PharmaGossip - August 9, 2012 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs

Special interests drive language changes to OT Assistant laws in NY State
As I blogged about earlier this year, there were some problems with the changes to the NY State occupational therapy law that placed significant barriers to non traditional fieldwork settings. OTA fieldwork educators in New York State and NYSOTA saw these problems and there was a last minute rush to file a technical amendment to the law so that they would not have to operate under such restrictive conditions.It is true that the way the law was written could have contributed to a decreased pool of practitioners able to accept fieldwork students; OTA students would have had to compete with OT students for licensed occu...
Source: ABC Therapeutics Occupational Therapy Weblog - August 6, 2012 Category: Occupational Therapists Tags: OT Education competency OT practice Source Type: blogs

20 Years and Counting: America’s Vicious Cycle of Intervention in Somalia
By Malou InnocentYesterday, the L.A. Times revealed that the United States is equipping and training thousands of African soldiers to fight al-Shabab, the militant wing of the Islamist Somali government. For now, outsourcing the combat to African countries may appear to bring America minimal risk, but Washington’s renewal of its multi-decade attachment to Somalia continues a cycle of deciding its winners and losers. Among an assortment of tribes, clans, and African states fighting for self-serving ends, Washington has handcuffed itself to a hornet’s nest. The hubris of policymakers who believe they can remedy Somalia�...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - July 30, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Malou Innocent Tags: Foreign Policy and National Security General Africa Al Qaeda al shabab humanitarian intervention military contractors peacekeeping private contractors proxy war Somalia UN Source Type: blogs

Brain Aging Research with Dr. Pamela Greenwood (BSP 87)
Discussion Forum (on Goodreads).
Source: the Brain Science Podcast and Blog with Dr. Ginger Campbell - July 30, 2012 Category: Neurologists Authors: Ginger Campbell, MD Tags: Aging and the Brain Books Brain Plasticity Brain Research Interviews Neuroscience Nurturing the Older Brain and Mind Pamela Greenwood Podcast Show Notes brain aging cognitive aging Source Type: blogs

CMS Proposed Rule on Hospital Outpatients and Ambulatory Surgical Centers
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) recently proposed a rule that would update payment policies and rates for both hospital outpatient departments (HOPDs) and ambulatory surgical centers (ASCs) for calendar year (CY) 2013. The proposed rule seeks to promote higher quality and more efficient services for Medicare beneficiaries. CMS projects that total payments for services furnished to Medicare beneficiaries in HOPDs during CY 2013 under the Hospital Outpatient Prospective Payment System (OPPS) will be approximately $48.1 billion, while total CY 2013 payments under the ASC payment system will be appr...
Source: Policy and Medicine - July 30, 2012 Category: Health Medicine and Bioethics Commentators Authors: Thomas Sullivan Source Type: blogs

Why I would never go to a non-board certified physician
Full disclosure. I have 4 board certifications and dutifully do all of the required reading, continuing medical education (CME) and recertification exams to maintain my status (I am board certified in OB/GYN in both the US and Canada as well as board certified in pain medicine by both the American Board of Pain Medicine, ABPM, and the American Board of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation).Continue reading ... Follow KevinMD.com on Facebook, Twitter, Google+, and LinkedIn.
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 25, 2012 Category: Family Physicians Authors: Kevin Tags: Physician OB/GYN Source Type: blogs

Broken Treatment: How the Addiction Industry is Failing its Clients
It’s not medical. It's not psychiatric. What is it? 1. Most clinicians who treat addicted patients are counselors, not physicians; thus they cannot prescribe medication and they generally don’t “believe” in the use of medication for addictive disorders. 2. Most patients have medical insurance that excludes or severely limits treatment of addictive disorders, so payment for service is not good. This situation may change in the near future with the advent of healthcare reform in the United States. So writes Dr. Charles O’Brien of the University of Pennyslvania Perelman School of Medicine, in a recent article for ...
Source: Addiction Inbox - July 25, 2012 Category: Addiction Authors: Dirk Hanson Source Type: blogs

Three Midnight Rule For Medicare SNF Explained: How To Get CMS To Pay for a Nursing Home Stay.
As a practicing hospitalist, I don't claim to know all the specific details necessary to qualify for a skilled nursing facility (SNF), but I do know the big picture that is important for patients to understand. Pronounced sniff, the SNF is a highly regulated status, often within nursing homes, in which Medicare will pay these facilities to provide defined therapies such as physical therapy, occupational therapy, speech therapy, wound care, intravenous medications and others among the skilled nursing that defines the name. The purpose of this benefit is to provide an arena for Medicare beneficiaries...
Source: The Happy Hospitalist - July 23, 2012 Category: Internists and Doctors of Medicine Authors: Tamer Mahrous Source Type: blogs