Staff Accountant,

Whitman-Walker Health

Program Evaluator,

Medical Assistant, 

ACA funding goes to Washington-area health clinics

By Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, December 9, 2014

Several Washington, DC area clinics will receive funding under the ACA for their work in a number areas, including managing chronic disease, providing preventative care, and the use of Electronic Health Records to report quality data. "These funds reward and support those health centers that have taken steps to achieve the highest levels of clinical quality performance and improvement," said Health and Resources Administration (HRSA) Administrator Mary K. Wakefield. The clinics in the District that will receive funding are Community of Hope, Family and Medical Counseling Service, La Clinica Del Pueblo, Mary's Center for Maternal and Child Care and Unity Health Care.   

Home care workers sue health agencies for back pay, damages

By Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, December 11, 2014

On Thursday, 150 health care workers filed a lawsuit in the Superior Court which alleges that they have not been paid by three local home care agencies. The workers claim they were required to work without pay after an FBI sting uncovering $78 million in Medicaid fraud earlier this year. The sting resulted in temporary and permanent suspension of multiple D.C. Medicaid providers during a subsequent investigation.

'Ebola fighters' named Time's person of the year

By Tina Reed, Washington Business Journal, December 10, 2014

Time magazine has named the health workers who have fought Ebola this year's "person" of the year. Nancy Gibbs, Time's editor, called the workers heroes for their efforts to fight the virus. "Ebola is a war, and a warning," Gibbs wrote. "The global health system is nowhere close to strong enough to keep us safe from infectious disease, and 'us' means everyone, not just those in faraway places where this is one threat among many that claim lives every day."  

Medicine's unrelenting race gap

Based on a new study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, disparities in the rates at which white people versus black people are given medical treatment in hospitals have decreased considerably.  However, when it comes to preventive care, racial disparities continue to persist. Real thought needs to be given on how to incentivize safety net providers in a way that supports improved health outcomes without penalizing them with requirements that don't account for the social determinants of health and other differences in the patients they serve. 

Doctors lag in adopting cheaper, faster radiation for breast cancer 

A study has found that radiation treatment for breast cancer can be reduced in time, less costly and just as effective, but many doctors are not following the new practice recommendations. Standard radiation treatment for women is five to seven weeks. Clinical trials have found that women can take higher doses of treatment for three weeks instead which would reduce time and costs.  

Exposure to common household chemicals may cause IQ drop 

By Jen Christensen, CNN, December 11, 2014

Woman who saved relatives from Ebola coming to U.S. for nursing school

Feeling depressed? Telling Twitter might cue scientists too 

Computer scientists have begun using social media to track both physical and mental conditions. Specifically, through data mining scientists can track a certain person's mental or physical conditions as well as patterns using keywords that can point to certain conditions. While the names of individuals and their indicated conditions are not public, this information can help the government understand where particular resources are most needed for care.