Burness Communications New & Noteworthy

Save The Date: HEALTH AFFAIRS Briefing -- Delivering On Global Health

Tue, 16 Jun 2009 02:30:07 EST

Getting the right care to the right patient at the right time is hard enough in highly developed countries like the United States. In low- and middle-income countries, the challenges are only magnified. Delivering on global health means dealing with a broad array of details that differ depending on the intervention and the location involved. Whether it's saving the lives of women giving birth in rural Peru, or influencing the spread of effective antimalarial medications in Africa, enormous difficulties must be overcome to combat disease and death. ...

Save the Date: Commonwealth Fund and Consumers Union Bring Patient Voices to Health Reform Debate

Tue, 2 Jun 2009 02:12:53 EST

On June 11, 2009, in Washington, DC, The Commonwealth Fund and Consumers Union will host a joint event to highlight the need for health reform that will provide security and stability for millions of people hurt by America's broken health care systemthe uninsured, those unable to afford the care they need, and families deep in debt due to unmanageable health care bills. This event will focus on Americans struggling with the high cost of health care and describe how a patient-centered health care system will make a difference for them. At the ...

Ministers Call for "Uniquely African Green Revolution" at Sustainable Development Meeting

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:22:07 EST

African agriculture and other ministers who met in Namibia in February to discuss food production on the continent endorsed efforts to bring about a sustainable African Green Revolution.At a conference hosted by the UN Commission on Sustainable Development, the ministers discussed the need to make food production in Africa more efficient through a "uniquely African Green Revolution." The group said that an African Green Revolution depends not only on improved seeds and fertilizers, but that it must be built on a range of complementary investments ...

Revisiting Medical Schools' Educational Mission

Tue, 21 Apr 2009 05:18:05 EST

The nation's medical schools are expanding their enrollments for the first time in 30 years, offering an unparalleled opportunity for medical education to reinvigorate itself.That's the message of a group of influential medical leaders who in January 2009 issued a call to action for medical schools to reform how they train physicians so that schools do a better job of meeting societal needs. The report, Revisiting the Medical School Educational Mission at a Time of Expansion, was produced by a 35-member panel supported by the Josiah Macy, ...

Long Term Care in America: The Agenda for Health Reform

Thu, 9 Apr 2009 03:48:14 EST

A Health Affairs-SCAN Foundation ConferenceExpanding access to the uninsured and restraining the rate of health cost growth are critical objectives of health reform. But given the disability and long-term care challenges facing the nation, these, too, must be a focus for national action.In January 2010, Health Affairs will publish a thematic issue on long-term care with support from the SCAN Foundation. Working papers from the following will be presented at our May 7 conference.R. Tamara Konetzka, University of Chicago; David Barton ...

Save the Date: HEALTH AFFAIRS Briefing - Mental Health Care: Better, But Not Best

Wed, 8 Apr 2009 11:55:15 EST

Last year Congress passed legislation prohibiting group health plans that provide mental health coverage from imposing stricter limits on mental health treatment than for other medical or surgical care. This marked a historical milestone for mental health care, burying the unscientific distinction between mental and physical illness. But although progress has been made in mental health care, much remains to be done.The May/June 2009 issue of Health Affairs, supported by a grant from the MacArthur Foundation, is a thematic volume ...

Consumer Reports Health Blogger Summit

Tue, 24 Feb 2009 04:27:11 EST

In today's world, Web-savvy consumers can find health information online that once would have been unavailable outside of their doctor's office. Patients can learn about treatments, interact with other patients online, and even use the Web to agitate for health policy change. But consumers can also be misinformed, misled, and ultimately harmed by incorrect information on the Internet. Individual doctors can find their voice online -- but so can unqualified medical "experts." Given the unregulated nature of the Web, how are consumers finding ...

Fighting HIV at Home

Mon, 8 Dec 2008 07:54:43 EST

The HIV epidemic in the United States has simmered largely unnoticed for years. 60,000 people are infected with HIV every year in America. Almost one-third of them are under the age of 30. More than 60 percent are African American or Hispanic. Overall, almost 250,000 HIV positive people in the U.S. do not know they are infected. They are unable to treat their infections and are far more likely to transmit them. In 2006, HIV experts at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention urged that all Americans aged 13-64 be routinely tested for ...

Looking Back: Notable Successes from the Late Summer and Fall, 2008

Mon, 24 Nov 2008 06:08:34 EST

We're pleased to provide a run-down of some notable successes from fall, 2008:Health Affairs Event Explores Innovations in CareLeading experts convened in Washington, D.C. in early September to explore ways to fix the ailing American health care system. The meeting was part of a Health Affairs briefing for the journal's September/October 2008 thematic issue, which focused on innovations in health care delivery. Burness organized and coordinated the briefing and panel discussion, which attracted more than 250 health ...

Mark Your Calendar: Two Upcoming Briefings

Wed, 12 Nov 2008 04:13:54 EST

We'd like to let you know about two upcoming briefings here in Washington, DC.The first, to be held on November 24, 2008, is a Health Affairs briefing called "Medicare Advantage: Where Is It Now, And Where Is It Going?"Are Medicare enrollees -- and U.S. taxpayers -- getting their money's worth from the private health plans that serve beneficiaries through the Medicare Advantage program? Just what is it Medicare Advantage plans are providing -- ...