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Sen. Grassley Pushes For Exclusion Of Abortion Coverage In Health Care Reform Legislation
Senate Finance Committee ranking member Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and committee Chair Max Baucus (D-Mont.) have been privately negotiating over how their panel"s version of health reform legislation will address abortion coverage, Newsweek reports. According to Newsweek, Grassley has been pushing to include measures that would prohibit what he considers "taxpayer-subsidized abortion."Earlier this month, NARAL Pro-Choice America, Raising Women"s Voices and other women"s health advocates intensified efforts to ensure that abortion access was treated like access to all other services in health care reform, according to Newsweek. The article points out, "Though usually publicly debated in the language of personal liberty and morality, abortion is a medical procedure performed by a doctor. It"s currently covered by most private insurance plans and existing government programs, at least under some circumstances. This expanded federal oversight and use of federal dollars raises several thorny issues." Grassley is urging that federally regulated and subsidized plans be prohibited from covering the procedure. Lawmakers also could weigh whether religious organizations -- such as Catholic hospitals or health plans -- could opt out of the coverage.Jill Kozeny, Grassley"s spokesperson, said the senator "is opposed to mandating abortion coverage in health care legislation." According to his office, "At one point during the recent negotiations, there was a (compromise) solution that didn"t work out." Grassley -- who is known as a staunch opponent of abortion rights -- said in March, "I take a view that there is almost anything compromisable in public affairs. Abortion is about the only issue I know of that"s not compromisable."Baucus" office declined to comment on the legislation, citing "longstanding Finance Committee policy not to discuss the specifics of ongoing negotiations." Erin Shields, Baucus" press secretary, noted that the lawmaker has a 100% approval rating from NARAL. She added, "He has always fought for a woman"s right to choose and will continue to do so."According to Newsweek, the House"s and the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee"s proposals do not specify covered benefits, instead leaving the decision to an independent commission or the HHS secretary. A recent National Women"s Law Center poll found that 62% of participants would oppose a provision excluding abortion and family planning coverage (Feder, Newsweek, 7/14).

CDC Issues Fact Sheet On Oral Sex, HIV Transmission
The CDC has released a fact sheet informing people that there is some risk of transmitting HIV to others through oral sex, even though it is much lower than the risk of transmission from vaginal or anal intercourse, the Lakeland Ledger"s "Robin"s Rx: Medical Blogging in Polk County" reports. According to the CDC, many people believe that oral sex is safe or has no risk of transmitting disease. The CDC fact sheet said that abstaining from any sexual activity or engaging in mutual monogamy where both partners are uninfected are the only ways to completely prevent HIV transmission, but that condoms and other barriers between the mouth and genitals can reduce the risk of transmission through oral sex (Adams, "Robin"s Rx: Medical Blogging in Polk County," Lakeland Ledger, 6/4).
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Educate, Collaborate, Share And Network On HIMSS Clinical Decision Support Wiki

New wiki supports collaboration and accelerates progress on using clinical decision support for healthcare performance improvement Many organizations struggle to successfully deploy clinical decision support (CDS), a goal that takes on new importance since effective clinical decision support is a critical component of "meaningful EMR use," as required for stimulus funding under the American Reinvestment and Recovery Act. Now, to help realize the promise of clinical decision support to enable meaningful EMR use and widely improve care delivery and outcomes, the HIMSS Clinical Decision Support Task Force is opening its CDS Wiki to the public. CDS interventions provide patients and clinicians with information needed to support care decisions. Examples include alerts about dangerous drug interactions or allergies, order sets that help ensure appropriate tests and treatments are ordered, and reference information to answer questions about drugs and diseases. When implemented properly, CDS is a powerful tool for improving care quality, safety and cost. "The CDS Task Force and wiki were natural outgrowths of an initiative that culminated in the recent publication of Improving medication use and outcomes with CDS: a step by step guide," said Jerry Osheroff, MD, chair of the HIMSS CDS Task Force, editor-in-chief of the new guide, and chief clinical informatics officer for Thomson Reuters. "Scores of individuals and organizations created this guide through the use of tools that support group efforts, such as wikis. So far, the launch of the new book has been very successful; developing and opening up our CDS Task Force wiki is the next stage of this collaborative work." The CDS Task Force, anchored by six health systems consisting of 50 hospitals, initially established the wiki as a closed forum. Initial efforts have focused on synthesizing best practices for implementing CDS to address specific clinical performance improvement imperatives - starting with venous thromboembolism prevention. Now, the task force hopes to engage additional participants in this activity and other task force efforts. These includclarifying how implementers can apply CDS to achieving meaningful use; for example, by highlighting and enhancing pertinent guidance in Improving medication use and outcomes, and other res. "By engaging interested stakeholders in the wiki, we can help create a central dynamic re for the sharing of CDS lessons learned and leverage the value of the electronic health record in providing optimal patient care," said David Collins, CPHIMS, FHIMSS; Mr. Collins is HIMSS director, healthcare information systems. To join the HIMSS CDS Wiki: Anyone interested in becoming part of the HIMSS CDS wiki community can visit http://himssclinicaldecisionsupportwiki.pbworks.com/ to join. Visit the HIMSS Store to learn more about the new CDS book: Improving Medication Use and Outcomes with Clinical Decision Support: A Step-by-Step Guide. HIMSS


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