The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) have instructed Medicare Administrative Carriers (MACs) to hold claims for three more days, postponing the processing of claims at a lower rate until Friday, June 18.  Congress continues to work on legislation that would include a provision to block the 21.3% Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut retroactive to June 1, 2010 and through the end of 201 ...

While the House has passed HR 4213, a controversial tax extenders bill that includes a provision to block the 21.3% Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut through the end of 2011, the Senate has still not yet taken action.  The measure would provide a 2.2% update to provider payments for the rest of 2010 and an additional 1% for 2011. Check the end of this announcement for instructions on how to contact ...

Many university psychology programs, professional journals, and psychologists format their written work in accordance with American Psychological Association (APA) Style guidelines. I am currently working on a dissertation as part of Ph.D. program requirements and needed guidance with the sometimes cryptic APA Style. In my search, I discovered a wonderful online resource that is a fairly comprehensive guide ...

Scientists are a valuable and trusted source of information, researchers say in a recent report, but too often do an inadequate job of bringing that information to those who need it in a factual, non-technical, credible and neutral format. An analysis of science communication as it related to the establishment of "marine reserves" off the California coast offers insights into a more broad-based, sophisticat ...

Today the House passed HR 4213, a controversial tax extenders bill that includes a provision to block the 21.3% Medicare Sustainable Growth Rate (SGR) cut through the end of 2011. The vote to prevent the June 1 cut was 245-171. The measure would also provide a 2.2% update to provider payments for the rest of 2010 and an additional 1% for 2011. ...

A randomized trial compared three ways to deliver a behavioral smoking cessation program using varenicline (Chantix®): by phone, Web, or both. Although phone counseling had greater treatment advantage for early cessation and appeared to increase medication adherence, abstinence outcomes did not differ at six months. The findings suggest the three programs are all effective treatment options when combined wi ...

Moderate to severely depressed clients showed greater improvement in cognitive therapy when therapists emphasized changing how they think rather than how they behave, new research has found. The results suggest cognitive therapists should concentrate, at least during the first few sessions, on using cognitive techniques to help those with more severe depression to break out of negative thought patterns and ...

A class of antidepressants known as selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) may provide a boost to cardiovascular health by affecting the way platelets, small cells in the blood involved in clotting, clump together, say researchers at the Loyola University Medical Center in Maywood, Ill. In a study of 50 adults, the researchers found that platelets were slower to clump together, or aggregate, in par ...

Treating clinical depression on the telephone is nearly as effective as face-to-face consultations, a new Brigham Young University study finds. The trial run included 30 people newly diagnosed with major depression. Instead of eight scheduled visits to the clinic, the participants covered the same material during a series of phone calls with the therapist. Calls varied in length, ranging from 21 to 52 minut ...

When pediatricians see a child for a check-up, they may want to spend a few minutes checking out the mother's well-being, too. New research suggests that depression is common in disadvantaged mothers, well beyond the postpartum period. In addition, if depressed moms are treated briefly, their symptoms improve as do their perceptions of their child's behavior or the behavior problems themselves. ...