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PROFNET WIRE: HEALTH & MEDICINE - Medical Records Bill/HIPAA

Posted on: Thursday, 16 June 2005, 18:00 CDT

June 16, 2005 LEADS 1. Health: Clinton and Frist Medical Records Bill 2. Health: Consumer Confusion Over Pain Relievers 3. Health: DOJ's HIPAA Ruling Answers Some Questions, Creates Others 4. Health: Increased Access to Trusted Health Care Info Needed 5. Health: Miscarriage May Be Symptom of Broader Health Problems 6. Health: The Seven Habits of Healthy Men 7. Medicine: Hysterectomy Isn't the Only Option 8. Mental Health: ADD, ADHD Aided by Organization Techniques LEADS

1. HEALTH: CLINTON AND FRIST'S MEDICAL RECORDS BILL. GIRISH KUMAR, founder of ECLINICALWORKS, an electronic medical records servicing company, can discuss the bill sponsored by Senators Hillary Rodham Clinton and Bill Frist to establish a new national standard by which 6,000 hospitals and more than 9,000 health care providers can better communicate with one another by moving to electronic medical records. Kumar can discuss the shortcomings of the bill: "The federal government expects 50 percent of practices to adopt EMR technology by 2014. Yet EMR adoption remains at less than 20 percent among medical group practices. This is because doctors aren't financially motivated, for EMRs to date haven't delivered. The government certainly isn't going to pay, so doctors will need to see the financial benefit clearly ahead of time. Interoperability without the nodes is like a highway without cars. Government is finally forging the vision, but the reality won't happen without the missing link -- the doctor's office. Doctors will need to be incented to adopt EMR technology." News Contact: John Hallock, jhallock@schwartz-pr.com Phone: +1-781-684-6590 (06/16/05)

2. HEALTH: CONSUMER CONFUSION OVER PAIN RELIEVERS. RAGHU KILAMBI, CEO of SWISS MEDICA, which commercializes proprietary bioscience products that relieve chronic ailments: "First, the FDA issued warnings about the safety and side effects of Celebrex, Bextra and Vioxx. Now a new study reports ibuprofen in Advil and Aleve can increase the risk of a first heart attack. This has left the American consumer confused about which pain-relieving products are safe. Conflicting information about side effects and the overall safety of pain relief products are not good things for the pharmaceutical industry." News Contact: John Goodman, johnlgood@aol.com Phone: +1-914-472-1046 (06/16/05)

3. HEALTH: DOJ'S HIPAA RULING ANSWERS SOME QUESTIONS, CREATES OTHERS. CHERYL CAMIN, attorney at GARDERE WYNNE SEWELL: "The Justice Department's recent ruling, which sharply limited criminal liability for violations of the HIPAA privacy rule by individuals and companies, should not be read as letting violators off the hook completely. They may still be criminally or civilly liable under other federal and state laws. If a hospital is found liable for an employee or vendor's mistake, the hospital may seek recourse against them for breach of contract. And this announcement may not be the final word on HIPAA liability, either. Additional interpretations of this and future DOJ rulings will shed more light on who really may be held accountable under HIPAA." News Contact: Rhonda Reddick, rhonda@legalpr.com Phone: +1-800-559- 4534 (06/16/05)

4. HEALTH: INCREASED ACCESS TO TRUSTED HEALTH CARE INFO NEEDED. ROBERT ABRAMS, founder and CEO of ZIVA, a total health care community and media company, was appointed by Senator Charles Schumer as a second-time delegate to a once-per-decade White House conference on aging: "Given the advances we are seeing in health care technology and mounting costs, consumers, in general, and the elderly in particular, will need to take more control of their health care. To accomplish this, they will need better access to personalized health care information." News Contact: Arthur Germain, agermain@marcommgroup.com Phone: +1-516-829-0404 (06/16/05)

5. HEALTH: MISCARRIAGE MAY BE SYMPTOM OF BROADER HEALTH PROBLEMS. BENJAMIN RIVNAY, Ph.D., vice president of research and development at REPROMEDIX, a national reference laboratory for infertility diagnostics, says miscarriage is a painful and, unfortunately, common event, occurring in a reported 20 percent of all pregnancies: "Miscarriage patients who test positive for thrombophilia (abnormally high blood clotting) may not only be at risk for more miscarriages, but also for broader health problems, such as stroke or pulmonary embolism." Rivnay says multiple miscarriages, defined as three or more successive losses, are both traumatic and a symptom of greater health risks. News Contact: Julie Dennehy, julie@dennehypr.com Phone: +1-508- 533-8311 Web site: http://www.repromedix.com/ (06/16/05)

6. HEALTH: THE SEVEN HABITS OF HEALTHY MEN. BRIAN J. SHARKEY, Ph.D., physiologist at the Human Performance Laboratory at the UNIVERSITY OF MONTANA: "Physical health, longevity, and the rate of aging are all associated with daily health habits and lifestyle. Maintaining good physical health starts with the lifestyle choices an individual makes each day, including getting adequate sleep, eating a good breakfast, having regular meals, controlling weight, not smoking, consuming alcohol in moderation and staying regularly active. Research shows that a 55-year-old man who follows all seven of these health habits has the same health status as a person 25 to 30 years younger who follows fewer than two." News Contact: Patty Lehn, pattyl@hkusa.com Phone: +1-217-351-5076, ext. 2248 (06/16/05)

7. MEDICINE: HYSTERECTOMY ISN'T THE ONLY OPTION. DR. BRUCE MCLUCAS, obstetrician and gynecologist at FIBROID TREATMENT COLLECTIVE: "One in four women have fibroids. More than 600,000 have hysterectomies each year to treat them. However, since last November when Condoleezza Rice chose to have a uterine fibroid embolization (a procedure that shrinks fibroids while preserving the uterus) instead of a hysterectomy, more women are inquiring about the alternative treatment. It's crucial that women with fibroids know that hysterectomy isn't their only option." News Contact: Emily Wilson, ewilson@causecommunications.org Phone: +1-310-656-1001 (06/16/05)

8. MENTAL HEALTH: ADD, ADHD AIDED BY ORGANIZATION TECHNIQUES. SHEILA MCCURDY, owner of CLUTTERSTOP: "Issues faced by those with ADD, ADHD, dyslexia and learning disabilities are well known as more children and adults are diagnosed with the disorders. Difficulty with organization of thoughts, items and tasks is one of the most frustrating effects of the disorders -- for sufferers and families. Cluttering in the home or office is a typical problem for the millions of sufferers of such disorders, but there is help available." McCurdy says organizing your physical space is an important step in working and living in a less stressful environment. News Contact: Candice Pascal, Esq., candicepascal@zen-fusion.com Phone: +1-323-655-2851, ext. 15 (06/16/05)

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PRNewswire -- June 16

ProfNet

Source: PRNewswire

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