About

Health Reform Watch is a Web log of the Seton Hall University School of Law, Health Law & Policy Program. It seeks to provide an open forum for academics, medical professionals, policy makers, journalists, lawyers, students and concerned citizens as we, as a country, attempt to navigate the imperative of health care reform. We hope you’ll join us.

Seton Hall University School of Law, New Jersey’s only private law school and a leading law school in the New York metropolitan area, is dedicated to preparing students for the practice of law through excellence in scholarship and teaching, with a strong focus on clinical education. Founded in 1951, Seton Hall Law School is located in Newark and offers both day and evening degree programs. For more information visit law.shu.edu.

Kaiser
The Commowealth Fund
- New Report on National Health Expenditures Underscores Need for Comprehensive Health Care Reform
  Today researchers from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services reported that U.S. health spending reached $2.5 trillion in 2009, and that health care's share of the economy grew 1.1 percentage points to 17. 3 percent—the largest one-year increase since the federal government began keeping track in 1960. These findings underscore the need for co […]
- Development of a New Patient-Based Measure of Pediatric Ambulatory Care
  The National Quality Forum has noted that questions about developmental and preventive care would improve the CAHPS pediatric survey. To fill this gap, Commonwealth Fund–supported researchers developed and tested new questions and survey protocols to assess the preventive and developmental care provided by pediatricians.
- CARE Vital Signs Supports Patient-Centered, Collaborative Care
  In this Commonwealth Fund–supported study, John Wasson, M.D., of Dartmouth Medical School, promotes the adoption of the CARE Vital Signs tool to improve patient care while streamlining office processes and staff deployment.
- Improving Pediatric Preventive Care
  In this commentary in Academic Pediatrics, Commonwealth Fund vice president Edward L. Schor, M.D., contends that pediatricians rarely have sufficient time or enough specific information about children’s development and families’ circumstances to offer highly targeted, individualized care during preventive visits.
- Improving Chronic Illness Care: A Longitudinal Cohort Analysis of Large Physician Organizations
  Results from this Commonwealth Fund–supported survey published in Medical Care show that use of chronic disease management processes—mainly the use of patient registries and support for patient self-management—increased 23 percent between 2000 and 2006.
RWJF Health Reform News
- Obama Asks GOP to Join Health Talks
  President Barack Obama, seeking to give new momentum to his languishing health-care legislation, said he would sit down with Republican and Democratic lawmakers to exchange ideas on an issue that has deeply divided the parties.
- Five Ideas for Getting Health Care Reform Back on Track
  None of the problems that made an overhaul of the health care system necessary has gone away.
- Analysts: Stripping Health insurers' Antitrust Protection Won't Affect Consumers Much
  The House of Representatives plans this week to vote on - and probably approve - a measure to strip health insurers' antitrust protections, which will be Congress' first step this year to try to overhaul the nation's health care system.
- Obama Calls the Next Play for Health-Care Reform
  By setting this summit, he's bought them a few weeks to figure out how to hold a vote themselves.
- G.O.P. Senator Is Sworn In, and Democrats Regroup
  President Obama and Congressional Democratic leaders sought to reset their agenda as they lost their 60th vote in the Senate on Thursday, trying to push ahead with measures to spur more job creation even as they grasped for ideas to keep alive their health care legislation.
NY Times Health Policy
- On Health Bill, G.O.P.’s Road Is a New Map
  Republicans this month will bring President Obama a set of ideas and a more modest health care plan.
- Bills Stalled, Hospitals Fear Rising Unpaid Care
  While the debate continues in Washington, health care systems nationwide struggle to offset money spent to treat patients who cannot afford to pay their bills.
- Obama Plans Bipartisan Summit on Health Care
  The meeting would mark the first time in the long health care debate that leaders from both sides would be allowed to air their ideas publicly.
- A Federal Effort to Push Junk Food Out of Schools
  To fight obesity, legislation would ban candy and sugary beverages, and many schools would be required to offer more nutritious fare.
- One Bowl = 2 Servings. F.D.A. May Fix That.
  The F.D.A. may update serving sizes for foods like chips, cookies and ice cream to reflect how Americans really eat.
WaPo Health
- Memory lapses are common and increase with age; when do they signal Alzheimer's?
  Where did I park my car? What is that lady's name? Where are my glasses? Some call these "senior moments" or "tip-of-the-tongue" experiences. They're mundane for many elderly (and not-so-elderly) adults, but when do they become something more serious? How does one know when it's time to get scree...
- 'Village' groups help seniors remain in their homes as they grow older
  Nearly three years ago, Harry Rosenberg and his wife, Barbara Filner, met with nine of their neighbors about starting an aging-in-place "village" in the Burning Tree community of Bethesda. The idea: If neighbors could help one another with basic services such as transportation and simple home...
- Super-size equipment helps D.C. area EMTs move the obese
  Local paramedics and firefighters don't need to follow television shows about a half-ton teen or biggest losers to track the obesity trend.
- Pentagon to stock health facilities with morning-after pill
  The Department of Defense will begin making the morning-after pill Plan B available at all of its hospitals and health clinics around the world, officials announced Thursday.
- Obama invites Republicans to summit on health care
  President Obama moved to jump-start the stalled health-care debate Sunday, inviting Republicans in Congress to participate in a bipartisan, half-day televised summit on the subject this month.
Boston Globe Health Blog
- Harvard launches innovation contest for type 1 diabetes
  Banking on emerging evidence that says innovation happens where academic disciplines intersect, Harvard is inviting ideas from across the university that might help conquer type 1 diabetes.In an e-mail message to the Harvard community last week, President Drew Faust introduced...
- In case you missed it
  In the Sunday Globe: Charles D. Baker, the Republican candidate for governor and former CEO of Harvard Pilgrim Health Care, has raised more than $122,000 in contributions tied directly to Harvard Pilgrim. Dr. Joseph F. "Skip" Zabilski, an orthopedic...
- Today's health and science
  In G Health:Researchers worry that high rates of lifetime drug use among boomers, that massive, society-altering generation born between 1946 and 1964, is likely to create health complications for millions of aging Americans and swamp the country's drug-treatment programs.What causes...
- Today's Globe
  Priscilla Schaffer, 9/11 illnesses, Haiti trauma, health care costs
- In Haiti hospital, nonstop need for care
  Day 2: It's my first patient of the day and I know that this kid is dying. I take a deep breath and think to myself, I can't let this kid die.
LA Times Health Blog
- Sodas may be linked to higher risk of pancreatic cancer, but about that risk...
  Sugar-sweetened sodas -- with their high-glycemic load eliciting natural suspicion -- have been linked with varying degrees of success to an increased risk of pancreatic cancer. So scientists have been trying to clarify the precise nature and size of that...
- Experimental drug shows some benefit for Huntington's disease
  An experimental drug call latrepirdine has produced a small improvement in the mental abilities of some patients with Huntington's disease, a finding that sets the stage for a larger clinical trial. Although the improvement was modest, the study marks the...
- Drink that beer ladies, it's good for your bones?
  Everyone knows the role that calcium plays in healthy bones, but many may be surprised to learn that silicon also is crucial. Studies by the National Institutes of Health have suggested that dietary silicon may be important for the growth...
Health Affairs Blog
- Investments In Community Health Centers Have Paid Off
  Public and private investments in community health centers – institutions that provide care to approximately 15 million of the nation’s poor and medically underserved – have led to greatly expanded services and care for people who are uninsured, says a study published in the February 2010 edition of Health Affairs. Based on their study, the authors [. […]
- CHCF’s Mark Smith on Converging Market and Public Health Interests
  In an interview in the February issue of Health Affairs, California HealthCare Foundation (CHCF) President and CEO Mark Smith reflects on successes and failures in areas where market interest and public interest converge in health care. Smith told Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Susan Dentzer: The policy world has built enrollment barriers for people in an in […]
- HA Blog Top 10 for January: Reform and Beyond
  Here in DC we’re bracing for the storm of the century — snow storm, that is. What better time to catch up on some health policy reading? We list here the top 10 most-read posts from January on Health Affairs Blog. Topics cover health reform, health care costs, the mammography guidelines controversy, and more. And [...]
- Health Wonk Review: What Now for Reform?
  So what now for health reform? That’s the focus of today’s edition of the Health Wonk Review, a biweekly roundup of the best of health policy blogging. Joe Paduda, one of the founders of the Health Wonk Review, hosts this edition on his Managed Care Matters blog. He cites the post-State of the Union blogs by Joe Antos [...]
- 2009 U.S. Health Spending Estimated At $2.5 Trillion
  According to annual government projections published today in Health Affairs, U.S. health care spending is expected to have reached $2.5 trillion in 2009—up an estimated 5.7 percent since 2008 despite a projected decline in the gross domestic product (GDP) in the same period. As a result, health care’s share of the economy grew 1.1 percentage points […]
Tags
CEO Compensation Chronic Conditions CMS Conflicts of Interest Cost Control Drug & Device Drug and Device Elderly Electronic Medical Records EMR FDA Fraud and Abuse Government Agencies Governmental Reports Health Care Health Care Reform Health IT Health Policy Community Health Reform HHS Hospital Finances Industry Sources Lobbyist Max Baucus Medicaid Medical Device Medical Journals Medicare National Newspapers & Media Obama Obama Administration Pharma Physician Compensation Prescription Drugs preventive care Private Insurance Proposed Legislation Public Option Public Plan Quality Improvement Seton Hall Law State Initiatives Think Tanks Tim Greaney Uninsured
Meta

HEALTH REFORM WATCH

About

Recent Posts

Best of Blogosphere

Best of Journals

Best of Magazines

Best of Newspapers

Blogs of Note

Health Reform Plans

News Sources

Resources

Scholarship

Wordpress

Categories

Kaiser

The Commowealth Fund

RWJF Health Reform News

NY Times Health Policy

WaPo Health

Boston Globe Health Blog

LA Times Health Blog

Health Affairs Blog

Meta

About

Recent Posts

Best of Blogosphere

Best of Journals

Best of Magazines

Best of Newspapers

Blogs of Note

Health Reform Plans

News Sources

Resources

Scholarship

Wordpress

Categories

Tags

Meta