Live HHS webcast tonight about health care reform

This is from the AMA:

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act—health system reform legislation signed into law by President Obama on March 23—contains a number of key provisions for you and your patients. Some provisions may have an immediate impact on your practice and patients, while others will not take effect for some time.

Given the new direction for the nation's health system, the AMA has developed Health System Reform Insight to help you understand the new law and how it will affect you, when certain provisions are scheduled to take effect, how you can be ready when the regulations go into effect and what your patients need to know. The first two issues of the series explained how health system reform will affect physician practices and your patients (PDF). Today's issue contains details about an opportunity to get your questions answered directly about the implementation of the new health reform law. Tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern, you can participate in the first of a series of live weekly Web chats at www.hhs.gov/live, hosted by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to gain a better understanding of the new health reform law.

You're invited: Online question-and-answer session tonight with HHS on health reform

All Americans have been invited to join top leaders from the HHS and across government tonight at 7 p.m. Eastern for the first in a series of weekly webcasts and discussions on the new health reform law. Broadcast live at www.hhs.gov/live, tonight's Web chat will center around the latest news on health insurance reform implementation and how it impacts your life. Small Business Administration Administrator Karen Mill will join HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius to talk about immediate benefits from the new law and answer any questions on health system reform.

Visit http://www.hhs.gov/live/ at 7 pm Eastern to participate in this live webcast.

New Food Safety Consumer Web Site

HHS and USDA Unveil New Food Safety Consumer Web Site at www.foodsafety.gov

Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Kathleen Sebelius and Agriculture (USDA) Secretary Tom Vilsack, the co-chairs of the Obama Administration’s Food Safety Working Group, unveiled a new consumer Web site today at www.foodsafety.gov. The site is designed to help consumers and families get all the latest information on food safety and food recalls in one convenient place.

The new site will feature information from all the agencies across the federal government that deal with critical food and food safety information, including preventive tips about how to handle food safely, alerts on life-saving food recalls, and the latest news from the key agencies...

To read the entire press release, click here.

Asbestos in Montana

My cousin used to live in Montana. Now, she lives in Alaska and loves it up there. Unless you enjoy the outdoors, you may not enjoy a life in Montana. According to the EPA (Environmental Protection Agency), the town of Libby, Montana has a serious asbestos problem. The problem is so bad that the EPA has declared a "cleanup emergency" in this town and it will get more than $130 million in cleanup and medical assistance from the Obama administration. Asbestosis isn't your typical "acute" emergency, but I suppose that enough health officials decided that enough was enough.

Here's a snippet from CNN: "The town was heavily contaminated with asbestos-laced dust that federal prosecutors said resulted in more than 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses. "For decades, the disease and death rate from asbestosis in the Libby area was staggeringly high -- much higher than the national average... EPA spokeswoman Adora Andy said $6 million from the Department of Health and Human Services will go to local health care providers to screen, diagnose and treat asbestos-related illnesses, while $125 million will go toward cleaning up contaminated areas."

Wow, how do you clean up a mess that started in 1920? The asbestos contamination in that town is being blamed for 200 deaths and 1,000 illnesses. This is going to be a long and arduous clean-up effort. Better late than never.

Women and Mental Illness

What role does gender play in the diagnosis, course and treatment of mental illness? Are women more prone to mental illness? The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH) has a report called "Action Steps for Improving Women's Mental Health." According to that report, women are twice as likely to suffer from major depression; three times as likely to attempt suicide; and they experience anxiety disorders two to three times more often than men. Why? What makes women so different from men?

CNN has a story about this interesting topic and highlights the personal stories of a few individuals. As technology improves brain imaging abilities and we gain a better understanding of how hormones affect our mood and cognition, are we as healthcare professionals moving in the right direction when it comes to the management of mental conditions?

National Women's Health Week

National Women's Health Week!

• National Women's Checkup Day will be Monday, May 11, 2009.
  
• The eight-week Woman Challenge, an online physical activity program, starts May 10, 2009.

National Women's Health Week is a weeklong health observance coordinated by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Office on Women's Health (OWH). The theme this year is "It's Your Time" and the focus is on taking simple steps that will lead to improved health. These steps are:

• Getting at least 2 ½ hours of moderate physical activity, 1 hour and 15 minutes of vigorous physical activity, or a combination of both each week
• Eating a nutritious diet.
• Visiting a health care professional for regular checkups and preventive screenings.
• Avoiding risky behaviors, like smoking and not wearing a seatbelt.
• Paying attention to mental health, including getting enough sleep and managing stress

Health IT Policy Committee Appoints 3

The United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has appointed three people to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee:

1. David Blumenthal, MD, MPP; head of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology
   
2. Michael J. Klag, MD, dean of Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health
   
3. Deven McGraw, director of the Health Privacy Project at the Center for Democracy and Technology

Exciting news! Let's see what this committee comes up with over the next few months.

Joining Government with Industry to Discuss Health Issues

What happens when you combine government with industry to talk about health issues related to quality of care, compliance, cost, and partnerships? You end up with roundtable reports published by the Health Care Compliance Association (HCCA). They have some recent roundtable reports where industry representatives discussed some important quality and compliance issues with the HHS Office of Inspector General (OIG).

The most recent HCCA/OIG roundtable report is titled:

A Report on the HHS Office of Inspector General and Health Care Compliance Association Roundtable on Hospital Board of Directors’ Oversight of Quality of Care
Driving for Quality in Acute Care: A Board of Directors Dashboard

Past HCCA/OIG roundtable reports include:

A Report on the Office of Inspector General and Health Care Compliance Association Roundtable on Long-Term Care Board of Directors’ Oversight of Quality of Care
December 6, 2007

A Summary of the Government-Industry Roundtable on the
Role of Governance in Compliance Programs
June 16, 2004, Office of Inspector General

HCCA/OIG Rountable Report
Building a Partnership for Effective Compliance
July, 2001

HCCA/OIG Physician Roundtable Report
Building a Partnership for Effective Compliance
July, 2000

CIA Survey
August 2001

Obama Picks Kansas Gov. Sebelius for HHS Secretary

I don't like to talk about politics very much, so I'll keep this brief. I think the headline speaks for itself. President Obama picked Kansas Gov. Kathleen Sebelius as the secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).

If you're a clinician and you have a strong interest in politics, it may help to get involved in media campaigns and local public health service projects. If you get recognized, you may find yourself on television and you may even become famous!