"Health & Medical News"

Washington — The jumble of terms in health information technology soon could be simplified. The National Alliance for Health Information Technology announced March 24 that it finished proposed definitions for five key HIT terms and will seek public comment on them until April 9.

The alliance, a nonprofit organization serving as a forum for companies and officials to debate emerging HIT issues, started its work in November 2007 for the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology. The terms are electronic medical record, electronic health record, personal health record, health information exchange and regional health information organization.

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From:
Treatment Research Institute
600 Public Ledger Building, 150 S. Independence Mall West
Philadelphia, PA 19106
Tel: (215) 399-0980
http://www.tresearch.org

Paying substance abuse treatment providers for results, not services, may lead to improved quality of care, according to the first published study of a novel performance-based contracting system implemented by the State of Delaware in 2002.

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A $2-million state appropriation to pay for a controversial addiction treatment regimen is now being reexamined by Texas officials, the Dallas Morning News reported Jan. 20.

Texas Rep. Jerry Madden, chairman of the House Corrections Committee, requested the funding for Prometa, a cocktail of drugs touted as a treatment for methamphetamine and other drug addiction but not backed by much research or Food and Drug Administration approval.

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An Ohio man whose house was robbed had more than $400,000 confiscated by the FBI as a result of an investigation of the crime, the Lima News reported Dec. 18.

Luther Ricks Sr. said the money, which had been stored in a safe and eluded the thieves’ grasp during a summer 2007 break-in, was his life savings. But officers from the Lima Police Department who were investigating the robbery seized the money and turned it over to the FBI. Now, the agency is telling Ricks he must prove he earned the money legally if he wants it back.

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Washington — Trained in family practice medicine, Caroline Fife, MD, didn’t know what she was getting into when she decided to begin treating people with lymphedema.

She was operating a wound clinic at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center in Houston and was receiving calls from people seeking relief for their swollen limbs. They seemed to have nowhere else to go. So she thought, “How hard can it be? I know a lot about leg swelling.”

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An anti-psychotic drug already approved in the U.S. to treat adults and adolescents with schizophrenia may soon be available for youngsters age 10 to 17 years of age suffering from bipolar disorder.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given priority review status to the drug Abilify which is manufactured by Bristol-Myers Squibb and Otsuka Pharmaceutical.

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By Dr Dave Robinson

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Expensive and exclusive addiction treatment programs in Malibu, Calif., like Promises and Passages have more to worry about than wildfires: some critics and former patients say that the programs are more concerned with making money than treating patients, the Los Angeles Times reported Oct. 9.

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Washington — The latest national survey on drug abuse shows that illicit substance use has declined among young teens over the past four years, but alarming numbers of 18- to 25-year-olds are continuing to misuse prescription drugs. Increased use of illegal drugs is also reported among adults ages 50 to 54.

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