Federal News

A new series, "Talking Health: Covering the Uninsured", of health-related webcasts for journalists debuts July 9 with a spotlight on the growing problem of the underinsured—those who have insurance but are still at risk for substantial out-of-pocket expenses. [Read article]

AARP, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and the U.S. Department of Labor (DOL) met to identify solutions to the nurse faculty shortage that is forcing nursing schools to turn away thousands of qualified nursing candidates each year.  [Read article]

Is your medicine cabinet filled with expired drugs or medications you no longer use? How should you dispose of them? [Read article 1; Read article 2]

This report considers in particular the growth of electronic health records—a common example of HIT—and how it might affect the cost and quality of health care. The executive summary for this report was released in mid-June. [Read article]

Enhances understanding of how public health infrastructure may dictate rural health departments approaches to seeking accreditation.  [Read article]

Studies the barriers and opportunities to public health agency accreditation among state and local health departments serving rural jurisdictions.  [Read article]

Describes how federal funds for disease prevention and health promotion activities are distributed to local health departments (LHDs) and non-governmental organizations (NGOs) at the rural local level.  [Read article]

Discusses whether the flow of federal resources, from federal agencies, through states, and to communities, is influenced by state and local level public health infrastructure.  [Read article]

Soaring gas prices are a double-whammy for many rural residents: They often pay more than people who live in cities and suburbs because of the expense of hauling fuel to their communities, and they must drive greater distances for life's necessities: work, groceries, medical care and, of course, gas.  [Read article]

As a hospitalist — a doctor who cares for patients while they are in the hospital — they typically see patients on nearly every floor, in a variety of units, each with its own nursing staff.   Doctors are spending too much time moving among patients or answering pages from another area of the hospital.  The pilot program assigns hospitalists to specific units of the hospital which eliminates wasted travel time and gives physicians more time with patients, families and staff. [Read article]