News From Around the Web
> The Ohio State University's Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida, last week announced the formation of a cancer research partnership they believe could be the largest of its kind worldwide. More than 100,000 patients already have agreed to donate tissue and clinical data to the effort, dubbed the Oncology Research Information Exchange Network. Announcement
> An employee at ProMedica Bay Park Hospital in Oregon, Ohio breached the protected health information of more than 500 patients by accessing the data without permission, NBC24.com reported. The breach took place from April 1, 2013 to April 1, 2014, and information accessed included names, dates of birth, diagnoses, attending physicians and medications. Article
Provider News
> Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released details of a bill to introduce into the Senate this week that will address problems in Veterans Affairs (VA) hospitals around the country. Sanders, chairman of the Senate VA Committee, said the bill will include several new provisions, including allowing veterans facing long delays to seek care outside the VA at a private office, military base or community health center. Article
> Risk of death following surgery is highest on weekends, afternoons and in February, according to a research announcement from the European Society of Anaesthesiology. Researchers from the University Medicine Berlin, who presented the information at this year's Euroanaesthesia exposition, investigated the daily, weekend and seasonal variability of hospital mortality in patients after surgery among 218,758 patients who underwent procedures between 2006 and 2011 at two hospitals in Berlin. Post
Health Insurance News
> A handful of health insurance CEOs, including Aetna's Mark T. Bertolini, will not refuse a taxpayer bailout, according to the National Center for Public Policy Research, which questioned payer execs at shareholder meetings. Article
And Finally... Yuck. Just yuck. Article