As partner with the National Rural Health Association, the American Board of Physician Specialties is committed to providing leadership on rural physician workforce issues. The American Board of Physician Specialties® (ABPS) is proud to announce the renewal of its Gold Partnership with the National Rural Health Association (NRHA) for 2012. The foundation of ABPS is placing patients first by meeting the board certification needs of rural physicians.

As part of an intensive focus on teaching care of older adults, the NLN will recognize schools of nursing that demonstrate exceptional instruction and innovation in this key area. The inaugural award for Excellence in Geriatric Education is the first step in a multi-year competitive awards program; a dozen schools of nursing will be selected for this prestigious honor between 2012 and 2015.

Professional Therapy Associates Results Support Study Findings: Physical Therapy Treatment and Activity Effective for Low Back Pain - Montana Physical Therapy Clinic finds 1 in 2 patients seek treatment for back pain; results corroborate studies on effectiveness of physical therapy for low back pain.

Global Home Health Care Market to Reach US$372 Billion by 2015, According to a New Report by Global Industry Analysts, Inc. - GIA announces the release of a comprehensive global outlook on the Home Health Care Industry. As diseases related to acute care, such as heart problems, arthritis, diabetes, and Alzheimer’s continue to rise, the adult healthcare segment is experiencing tremendous growth, creating opportunities for the homecare industry. The market for home health care services is driven by aging population, escalating healthcare cost, demographic shift, and increasing awareness and acceptance.

New 2000-2011 Survey Results: Pharmacy Benefit Trends and Data Compiles 12 Years of PBM Data Into an Easy-to-Use Resource - Just published by Atlantic Information Services, 2000-2011 Survey Results: Pharmacy Benefit Trends and Data captures PBM membership and market share data from 1st Quarter 2000 to 2nd Quarter 2011. Atlantic Information Services, publisher of Specialty Pharmacy News, Drug Benefit News and Health Plan Week is pleased to announce publication of the 2000-2011 Survey Results: Pharmacy Benefit Trends and Data. This brand-new edition captures PBM membership and market share data from 1st Quarter 2000 to 2nd Quarter 2011. With stats by company and by aggregated numbers, Pharmacy Benefit Trends and Data reports the top benchmarks on the entire books of business for PBMs: prescription volume, drug spend, covered lives, cost trends, mail-order market share and much more.

HealthHelp and RadSite have teamed up to sponsor and publish the fourth edition of Medical Imaging Consultant (MIC4), a reference guide designed for health professionals, which also can be used by patients.

Report Identifies Top 50 Cities for Patient Web Use; New “My City” Pages at HealthGrades.com/MyCity Feature Local Hospital Quality Profiles, Most Searched Medical Specialties among Physicians, Tips on How to Find the Best Doctors and Hospitals.  HealthGrades, the nation’s most trusted source for researching doctors and hospitals, today released its 2011 Healthcare Consumerism and Hospital Quality in America report, an analysis of patient outcomes at nearly 5,000 American hospitals. HealthGrades’ report also features an analysis of patient use of the internet for researching physician and hospital quality. Consumers can find local quality ratings on HealthGrades.com/MyCity.

An estimated 17.0 million nuclear medicine (NM) procedures were performed on SPECT or SPECT/CT cameras in the United States in 2010, in 7,230 hospital and nonhospital sites, according to a report just released by IMV Medical Information Division.

FunnySurgeryStories.com Stories HIPAA Compliant. FunnySurgeryStories.com has become the premier place for fun, laughs and drama from the operating room. The site’s slogan "Love and Laughs, Life and Death in the OR," encapsulates the types of humor being submitted by surgery personnel.  With the threat of being fired for a HIPAA violation constantly looming over the heads of medical provider employees, people are scared to talk about anything that happens at the hospital or office. FunnySurgeryStories.com is the only venue through which OR surgeons and staff can share their work experiences in a completely anonymous manner.

UTHealth Medical School and Baylor College of Medicine Research: Common Gene Variant Associated with Aortic Dissection - Multi-institutional study reveals risk factor that doubles chance of developing silent killer. Richard Holbrooke, John Ritter, Lucille Ball, Jonathan Larson and Great Britain’s King George II were all taken by the same silent killer: an acute aortic dissection. Now, scientists led by researchers at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) and Baylor College of Medicine (BCM) have found an association with a common genetic variant in the population that predisposes people to acute dissections and can approximately double a person’s chances of having the disease.