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Only Drop-In Needle Exchange Center In Minnesota Closes Due To Lack Of Funding
Minnesota"s only storefront needle exchange drop-in center, called Access Works!, "fell victim to economic hard times and federal anti-drug policies" and ended its program last week after 13 years, the Minnesota Independent reports. The program "traded used needles for clean ones, conducted HIV and Hepatitis C testing, taught overdose prevention, held support groups and connected users with chemical dependency treatment experts," according to the Independent. Federal funding cannot be used to administer needles for such programs, Lauri Wollner, executive director of the program said. She added, "The federal ban has had a long-term impact. We spend almost $40,000 a year on needles and about $5,000 a year on disposal (of used needles)." Private donations also have been down, she said. While the ban on the use of federal funding for needle exchange is being revisited by Congress, "local needle-exchange activists say it is doubtful that congressional action will be able to save the struggling organization," the article states (Birkey, 8/3).
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Many In Congress Hold Stakes In Health Industry
"Almost 30 key lawmakers helping draft landmark health-care legislation have financial holdings in the industry, totaling nearly $11 million worth of personal investments in a sector that could be dramatically reshaped by this summer"s debate," The Washington Post reports. The list of members includes "Congress"s most powerful leaders and a bipartisan collection of lawmakers in key committee posts." For example, Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., "has at least $50,000 invested in a health-care index" (fund), and Sen. Judd Gregg, R-NH, "a senior member of the health committee, has between $254,000 and $560,000 worth of stock holdings in major health-care companies, including Bristol-Myers Squibb and Merck." The data was part of a "release of financial disclosure forms for the House and Senate" on Friday.
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Sites Continue To Expand Their Capabilities With Digisonics
HeartCare Cardiovascular Specialists in Libertyville, IL has expanded their CVIS capabilities with a new DigiNet Pro system. This system will provide the site with web access enabling users to have full CVIS capability from anywhere at anytime.
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Nationwide Telemedicine Networks Are Essential For Successful Health Care Reform

The U.S. healthcare system is in critical need of basic change to enable more equitable, effective, efficient care. Experts in various fields of medicine, public health, and industry propose that telemedicine, or information technology enhanced healthcare, must be a core component of a viable healthcare reform strategy, a view they forcefully present in a white paper published online ahead of print in Telemedicine and e-Health, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., the official journal of the American Telemedicine Association. The white paper is available free online Well-designed telemedicine systems have proven value for improving access to quality healthcare, providing effective clinical decision support and medication prescribing, promoting patient-centered care through community- and home-based res, enhancing chronic disease management, and promoting adoption of healthy lifestyle choices and self-care, and containing cost inflation. Telemedicine offers substantial benefits that greatly exceed its cost. The white paper, entitled "National Telemedicine Initiatives: Essential to Healthcare Reform," presents a consensus perspective developed by a diverse group of healthcare providers, researchers, academicians, and industry representatives from across the U.S. Lead authors Rashid L. Bashshur, PhD from the University of Michigan (Ann Arbor) and Gary W. Shannon, PhD from the University of Kentucky (Lexington), clearly state that, "While not a panacea, telemedicine offers significant opportunities to address the issues of inequities in access to care, cost containment, and quality enhancement." Contributing authors include Elizabeth A. Krupinski, PhD, Jim Grigsby, PhD, Joseph C. Kvedar, MD, Ronald S. Weinstein, MD, Jay H. Sanders, MD, Karen S. Rheuban, MD, Thomas S. Nesbitt, MD, Dale C. Alverson, MD, Ronald C. Merrell, MD, Jonathan D. Linkous, A. Stewart Ferguson, PhD, Robert J. Waters, JD, Max E. Stachura, MD, David G. Ellis, MD, Nina M. Antoniotti, PhD, Barbara Johnston, MSN, Charles R. Doarn, MBA, Peter Yellowlees, MD, Steven Normandin, and Joseph Tracy The authors encourage the continuing effort to make electronic health records (EHRs) universally available, but caution that an exclusive focus on EHRs would result in increased cost without addressing the necessary changes for effective and sustainable healthcare reform. On a broader scale, telemedicine systems will incorporate EHRs as well as a host of other technologies that enable the electronic acquisition, storage, retrieval, and exchange of information "for the purpose of promoting health, preventing disease, treating the sick, managing chronic illness, rehabilitating the disabled, and protecting public health and safety. "Telemedicine is the common element to make reform succeed," says Journal Co-Editor-in-Chief Ronald Merrell, MD, Professor of Surgery, Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond, "Telemedicine involves stunning new technologies that go well beyond just using electronic health records, which can ensure both quality care and cost savings if this technology is widely applied throughout health systems. Telemedicine applications have been tested and proven through years of research and are ready for scalable expansion to serve the entire country and make healthcare reform a reality and a success." Amy Gleason Quarshie Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News 140 Huguenot Street, 3rd Floor New Rochelle, NY 10801-5215, USA


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