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The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) is providing guidance to home health agencies (HHAs) on two issues related to the implementation of the refined HH PPS, which became effective Jan. 1:
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Health care spending growth in the United States accelerated slightly in 2006, increasing 6.7% compared to 6.5% in 2005, which was the slowest rate of growth since 1999, according to data recently released by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).
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Environmentally preferable purchasing (EPP), also known as green purchasing, means buying products that have a reduced environmental impact while maintaining the same quality and performance.
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Remote monitoring by trained telehealth care coordinators has improved the outcomes and saved costs for high-risk chronically ill patients in the VA Connecticut Healthcare System.
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The National Alliance for Health Information Technology has called for the creation of a voluntary patient-controlled system of unique patient identifiers to ensure privacy and accuracy when exchanging medical information through an electronic health network.
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Lenalidomide is highly effective for low risk MDS associated with a deletion(5q). Raza and colleagues report on lenalidomide for low to intermediate-1 (int-1) risk MDS who were transfusion dependent but without a deletion(5q). Patients received 10 mg daily of lenalidomide either continuously or 21 out of 28 days. Grade 3 and 4 neutropenia and thrombocytopenia occurred in 25 and 20% respectively. Among the 214 patients, 43% responded of which 26% became transfusion independent and the hemoglobin exceeded 10 g/dL. Lenalidomide is an option for red blood cell transfusion dependent low risk MDS, even in patients without a 5q-deletion.
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In a European multicenter trial of interferon alfa with or without bevacizumab for treatment of metastatic renal carcinoma, response rate and progression free survival was superior for those receiving the combination. Future trials, particularly those intending to measure long-term survival will need to also include the newly available tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
