Action time for roles reform - 15 December, 2007
The launch this week of a new health workforce institute will keep up the pressure for new models of health worker...More

Reality check on shopping for pandemic - 15 December, 2007
A well-stocked pantry could save your life if a flu pandemic strikes...More

Stiff rules in war on hospital lists - 15 December, 2007
States will have to meet strict quality requirements to qualify for their share of the $600million earmarked by the federal Government to reduce elective surgery waiting lists...More

Surveys to measure success are critical in the obesity battle - 15 December, 2007
The Rudd Labor Government has said it will make obesity a national health priority...More

Solving the crisis in our hospitals - 13 December, 2007
The principal reason public hospitals are under severe strain is the number of elderly patients presenting for treatment, many of whom have co-morbidities - an additional chronic condition - and require complex care...More

Warning on doctor shortage - 12 December, 2007
Australia faces a crisis in patient care unless more is done to fix the shortage of doctors by various means, including sharing their work with nurses and others...More

Obesity fight a national priority - 12 December, 2007
Obesity will join the list of national health priorities - putting it on a par with asthma, diabetes, heart disease and cancer - as experts call for more to be done to tackle the problem...More

New University-driven Institute tackles Australian health workforce crisis - 11 December, 2007
Experts at two leading Australian universities warn of a looming crisis in patient care in Australia if action is not taken to address health workforce sustainability...More

Indigenous health expert wants change - 11 December, 2007
A member of the taskforce overseeing the commonwealth intervention in Northern Territory Aboriginal communities has welcomed the election of the Rudd Government as an opportunity to make changes to the federal action in indigenous affairs...More

Audit of health workforce shortage - 10 December, 2007
Following a request from the Prime Minister, Nicola Roxon has aksed the department to immediately begin an audit of the shortage of doctors, nurses and other health professionals in rural and regional Australia...More

Pharmacists hail patients' paperless win - 8 December, 2007
A leading pharmacy organisation expects to be able to double its patient load next year with the help of Australia's first mobile paperless patient record system...More

Patients must pay more for a fast fix - 5 December, 2007
Patients needing a quick fix from their GP could be left out of pocket as doctors warn that Medicare rebates for shorter consultations may have to be cut to pay for Labor's plan to improve preventive care...More

Student interviews scrapped - 4 December, 2007
Australia's biggest medical school is scrapping interviews for student selection as "useless", saying they are too prone to bias and there is no evidence interviewers can pick which applicants will perform well during the course...More

State News

Kids the priority in waiting list cuts - 21 December, 2007
An extra 2600 operations will be conducted in Western Australia next year, with children given priority, as federal money aimed at cutting waiting lists begins to flow...More

Verdict grim in hospital report - 21 December, 2007
Poor management, a culture of bullying and a lack of resources, including nurses and beds, are to blame for a series of patient tragedies and mishaps at Sydney's troubled Royal North Shore Hospital, according to a new report...More

More for hospitals in GST deal - 20 December, 2007
Extra roads and hospitals built with commonwealth money could be NSW's compensation for lost GST revenues under the "new federalism" deal proposed by Kevin Rudd...More

$1.7bn hospital to private sector - 18 December, 2007
The planned $1.7 billion Marjorie Jackson-Nelson hospital in Adelaide - the biggest medical facility project in the nation's history - will proceed as a public-private partnership...More

International News

Hospitalists are seen as help - 20 December, 2007
Doctors who specialize in the general care of hospital patients -- a relatively new category of doctors called "hospitalists" reduce the average hospital stay by 12%, but only modestly lower treatment costs, according to a new study...More

Who can afford to eat right? - 19 December, 2007
Healthy foods are too expensive for millions, research shows...More

State assembly backs healthcare for everyone - 18 December, 2007
Lawmakers in California's lower house line up with Schwarzenegger in passing the first phase of a plan to extend medical insurance to almost all residents...More

As temperatures rise, health could decline - 17 December, 2007
The effects of climate change are diverse and sometimes contradictory...More

Health savings accounts for poor tested - 15 December, 2007
The popularity of health savings accounts for the poor will be put to the test in Indiana under a program approved Friday by the Bush administration...More

Nation's Hospital Bill Jumped by 7% in 2005 - 13 December, 2007
A handful of high-cost and high-volume conditions helped drive the national hospital bill up 7% in 2005, to $873billion, a record high and nearly double 1997 spending adjusted for inflation, a federal agency reported...More

Flexible work schedule may foster healthy habits - 12 December, 2007
People who feel they have flexibility in their job schedules tend to have a healthier lifestyle than those with less workplace freedom, new study results suggests...More

Growing Health Care Costs Must Be Addressed Before Social Security, According to Op-Ed - 12 December, 2007
The "rate at which health care costs grow will be the primary determinant of the nation's long-term budget picture," Congressional Budget Office Director Peter Orszag writes in a Wall Street Journal opinion piece. According to Orszag, CBO projections show that "under current law, federal spending on Medicare and Medicaid measured as a percentage of gross domestic product will rise to 12% in 2050 and almost 20% around 2080 from 4% today."..More

Hospitals Take Steps To Prevent Readmissions To Reduce Costs - 12 December, 2007
The Wall Street Journal on Wednesday examined how hospitals have begun "taking steps to prevent the most common risk to patients after discharge: landing back in the hospital due to complications that could have been prevented with better follow-up care." According to the Journal, a "revolving door of readmissions is driving up costs for hospitals and causing needless harm to patients, especially elderly people with multiple chronic diseases."...More

Election 2008 | ABC News Survey Examines Presidential Candidates' Approaches to Health Care Reform - 12 December, 2007
In the second part of a series on health care in the 2008 presidential election, ABC's "World News" on Tuesday examined results of an ABC News survey of presidential candidates' positions on health care-related issues...More

More adult Americans lack health insurance, U.S Report says - 11 December, 2007
About 42.5 million Americans don't have health insurance, up from about 41 million in 1997...More

Public health care preferences elusive - 11 December, 2007
Its not easy figuring out exactly what voters want when it comes to health care...More

Study: Calls help couch potatoes walk - 7 December, 2007
Fitness research shows that when a computer talks the talk, even couch potatoes can be persuaded to walk the walk...More

Other Reports

Implementing chronic disease self-management in community settings: lessons from Australian demonstration projects
Australian Health Review full report

Review of Australia's consumer policy framework: draft report
Productivity Commission full report

Moving at the speed of discovery: from bench to bedside to business (Assoc. of Canadian Academic Healthcare Organizations (ACAHO) full report