Forum to feature candidates for Georgia's top two offices
MAG
The candidates for Georgia's top two political offices are scheduled to be featured during a free forum that is open to the public on Saturday, August 28 at the Cobb Energy Centre in Atlanta. The Governor and Lt. Governor Candidates' Forum is being sponsored by the Medical Association of Georgia, United Networks of America, the Georgia College of Emergency Physicians, the Georgia Neurological Society, the Georgia Orthopaedic Society, and the Georgia Society of Dermatology.More

Britain plans to decentralize health care
The New York Times
Perhaps the only consistent thing about Britain's socialized health care system is that it is in a perpetual state of flux, its structure constantly changing as governments search for the elusive formula that will deliver the best care for the cheapest price while costs and demand escalate.More

Gainesville doctor provides options for heart patients
The Gainesville Times
When it comes to treating and diagnosing certain heart conditions, most physicians in the United States tend to go straight for the groin area -- seeking out the femoral artery. While that procedure has been highly effective, some physicians say there may be a better way.More

Consumer group: Insurers kept surplus while hiking premiums
USA TODAY
Non-profit Blue Cross and Blue Shield health plans stockpiled billions of dollars during the past decade, yet continued to hit consumers with double-digit premium increases, Consumers Union found in an analysis of 10 of the plans' finances.More

For chronic care, try turning to your employer
The New York Times
If you are one of the 133 million Americans grappling with a chronic illness like diabetes, asthma or heart disease, where do you turn for help managing your condition? Your employer may seem like an unlikely choice.More

Cuts in home care put elderly and disabled at risk
The New York Times
As states face severe budget shortfalls, many have cut home-care services for the elderly or the disabled, programs that have been shown to save states money in the long run because they keep people out of nursing homes.More

Clinic provides doctors with advanced study of inner ear
The Savannah Morning News
There may be a first time for everything, but a surgeon's first time plunging a drill into an ear shouldn't be on a living human being. A program based at Memorial University Medical Center aims to give ear experts from around the globe a chance to try their skills on cadavers.More

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Health insurers win concession on kids' coverage
The Associated Press via Google News
The health insurance industry has won a concession from the Obama administration on insurance coverage for children. The Health and Human Services Department said that insurers can set limited sign-up periods for a new kind of guaranteed coverage that is available to children regardless of medical problems.More

The effects of the oil spill on human health
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
When Linda McCauley was invited to participate in a two-day Institute of Medicine workshop to assess the human health effects of the Gulf of Mexico oil spill, she didn't hesitate. McCauley, dean of Emory University's Nell Hodgson Woodruff School of Nursing, sits on the Institute of Medicine's environmental health round table, so she rearranged her schedule and headed to New Orleans for the workshop in late June. She wasn't the only one.More

How hospitals are helping doctors achieve meaningful use
InformationWeek
Hospital executives aren't just worried about having their own organizations meet the federal government's meaningful use requirements; they're also concerned about their affiliated and owned doctor practices achieving the goals. In fact, many hospitals are assisting (or plan to help) doctors to get on board with e-health records even as those hospitals struggle with their own projects.More

A flu vaccine that could be delivered by mail
The Toronto Star
Sometime soon your annual flu vaccine may come to you by mail in the form of a microneedle patch, thanks to the work of researchers at Georgia Institute of Technology & Emory University. The patch is like a Band-aid with tiny needles no bigger than the width of a hair, which are made up of a polymer substance that's water soluble, according to Mark Prausnitz, a chemical and bio-chemical engineer and professor at Georgia Institute of Technology. More