http://www.medicadepot.com/en-gbHypertension ranks among the nation's leading causes of death, spurred largely by economic barriers to blood pressure medication, excessive sodium intake and inadequate consumption of potassium, a new study says. The Institute of Medicine report, released Feb. 22, also found that physicians don't...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=247http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2472010-03-08About half the time, the doctors and nurses on popular fictional TV medical shows give improper seizure first aid that, in reality, could lead to broken teeth, bruises or dislocations, according to a study to be presented in April at the American Academy of Neurology's annual meeting. Epileptolog...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=246http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2462010-03-05A new federal rule has expanded the scope of the National Practitioner Data Bank to include disciplinary information not just on physicians but on all licensed health care professionals. In an effort to promote patient safety, the confidential reporting system was established under the federal He...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=245http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2452010-03-04Annual health spending on noncitizen immigrants is about half the spending on native U.S. citizens, largely because many noncitizens lack jobs with health insurance and are ineligible for most public coverage, according to "Trends in Health Care Spending for Immigrants in the United States," publish...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=244http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2442010-03-03Physician practices are making some strides in reducing the cultural and linguistic barriers facing patients whose English proficiency is limited, but those efforts are "modest and uneven," according to a report released in February. Of practices that have non-English speaking patients, 55.8% pro...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=243http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2432010-03-02The Senate adjourned for the weekend on Feb. 26 without approving a measure that would have stopped a 21% Medicare physician pay cut from taking effect March 1. The House on Feb. 25 had passed legislation that would have extended a number of expiring unemployment benefits and delayed the Medicare...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=242http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2422010-03-01A St. Louis-area health system achieved 98% influenza immunization among its 26,000-plus employees after making the vaccine mandatory in 2008. The results at BJC HealthCare were documented in a Feb. 15 study in the journal Clinical Infectious Diseases. The system already had seen its vaccinati...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=241http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2412010-02-26Billy Tauzin, president and CEO of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, announced on Feb. 12 that he would step down at the end of June, about five years after he took the job. "I now believe it is time I move on and hand the mantle of leadership of this great organization to...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=240http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2402010-02-25Neurosurgeons say they are very concerned about the current Medicare payment system and fear that beneficiary access will be affected unless the rate formula is fixed. A national survey of about 680 neurosurgeons revealed that while most participate in Medicare, many have been or are considering ...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=239http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2392010-02-24Postmenopausal women who took combination hormone therapy did not have a lower risk of coronary heart disease during the first two years of treatment, according to an article in the Feb. 16 Annals of Internal Medicine. When considering whether to prescribe estrogen plus progestin hormone therapy,...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=238http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2382010-02-23If you smoke and are looking for job at Memorial Health Care System, you might want to hold off on filling out an application. As of Feb. 1, the Chattanooga, Tenn.-based organization -- composed of two acute-care hospitals, home health services, an imaging center, satellite facilities and a physi...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=237http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2372010-02-22The nation's pregnancy rate for teens ages 15 to 19 increased in 2006, after more than a decade-long decline, according to a January report by the Guttmacher Institute, a nonprofit that conducts research on reproductive health. The report found that after falling 41% between 1990 and 2005, the pr...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=236http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2362010-02-19A shrinking economy combined with greater public health spending in 2009 produced a 1.1 percentage point increase in national health spending as a share of gross domestic product -- the largest single-year jump since records began in 1960. National health spending as a share of gross domestic pro...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=235http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2352010-02-18Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the investigator whose research sparked fears of a link between autism and the measles, mumps and rubella vaccine, was rebuked on ethical grounds in a British medical regulator's report released in late January. The General Medical Council said Dr. Wakefield acted "with call...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=234http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2342010-02-17A voluntary accreditation program for public health departments across the country is being tested by 30 departments before its national launch in 2011. The goal of the new program is to improve the quality of care delivered by public health agencies that are responsible for such services as immu...http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=233http://www.medicadepot.com/news-podr.html?id=2332010-02-16