"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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A proposed new nutrition information panel for alcoholic beverages should include alcohol-content information instead of relegating such disclosures to a smaller and less-visible part of drink packaging, and producers also should be required to provide a list of ingredients in their products, the Center for Science in the Public Interest (CSPI) says.

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Addiction recovery is “a voluntarily maintained lifestyle characterized by sobriety, personal health, and citizenship,” according to a draft definition composed by an expert panel convened by the Betty Ford Institute.

Published in the October 2007 issue of the Journal of Substance Abuse Treatment, the draft definition was included in a special section on Defining and Measuring Recovery. Experts noted that while the term “recovery” enjoys widespread use, no clear definition exists.

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Statement by Mike Russo, Health Care Advocate and Staff Attorney for CALPIRG:  

 “We welcome Gov. Schwarzenegger’s announcement today that he has released the details of his health care reform proposal. Now all sides have put their cards on the table, and lawmakers can continue shaping the comprehensive health care reform California needs.  

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The Scottish government is considering banning “two-fer” specials and other cut-price alcohol promotions at liquor shops as part of a plan to curb binge drinking, the Financial Times reported Sept. 5.

? ”This is immediate action to kick-start a long-term drive to change Scotland’s culture — to help make sure drinking to get drunk is simply no longer seen as acceptable, to end the days of ‘buy two, get one free’ type promotions reducing the cost of beer to as little as 43p (about 87 cents) a pint,” said Kenny MacAskill, justice secretary of Scotland’s new National Party government.

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