Miriam Widman

New Public Health Center to Help CCOs

Dec. 19, 2012 -- The new Center for Public Health Practice (CPHP) should be viewed as part of the “operating system” that keeps the machinery of public health running, its new director told The Lund Report. Dr. Tom Eversole, a veterinarian-turned public health professional, heads the new organization, which is designed to support public health in six sectors, with a special emphasis on communicable diseases, including epidemiology, laboratory testing and immunization.

Dec 20, 2012

Culturally Appropriate Care Vital to CCO’s Success

November 20, 2012 -- Oregon’s new coordinated care organizations should make important public health goals such as reducing diabetes and obesity top priorities, but they must realize that culturally appropriate care is essential if their messages are to be heard, a top public health official told The Lund Report.

Nov 20, 2012

Healthcare Leaders Stress Need for Diversity Among CCOs

November 8, 2012 -- As the state’s coordinated care organizations ramp up, healthcare experts agree that a major advance CCOs can bring to the table is the ability to custom-design healthcare priorities based on the needs of a specific community. But that won’t necessarily be easy, experts speaking at a conference last week agreed.

Nov 8, 2012

Public Education Employees Shed Thousands of Pounds

October 22, 2012 -- Oregon public education employees have lost nearly 200,000 pounds in a 20-month period that began in October 2010 after the state added free Weight Watchers classes as a benefit, an administrator for the Oregon Educators Benefit Board (OEBB) told The Lund Report. Joan M. Kapowich, who also administers the Public Employees’ Benefit Board, said those workers lost over 175,000 pounds since the free weight loss classes became part of their benefits in 2009.

Oct 22, 2012

Coordinated Care Organizations Could Advance Public Health Priorities

September 26, 2012 -- The new coordinated care organizations provide enormous opportunities to further the state’s public health agenda, but the new organizations are more likely to be successful in counties with strong existing public health departments, the state’s top public health officer told The Lund Report.

Sep 26, 2012

Critics Charge Providence Rate Hike Request Based on Incomplete Data

If the 15.7 percent rate hike is approved, some people plan to drop coverage

Aug 8, 2012

Germany Stems Healthcare Costs by Imposing New Requirements on Drug Companies

BERLIN – June 28, 2012 -- Now that the Supreme Court has upheld President Obama’s healthcare plan, pharmaceutical companies, patients and healthcare experts in Europe are waiting to see how a new cost reducing drug price mechanism affects them.Requiring citizens to have healthcare has long been a staple of European health insurance programs. But now governments and insurers are trying to stem the cost of exorbitantly expensive new drugs.

Jun 25, 2012

Germans May Complain But Still Have Better Care Than The U.S.

March 26, 2012 – BERLIN -- German healthcare experts, responding to comments made to an initial article in Tthe Lund Report, rejected some of the complaints, but acknowledged that their system isn’t perfect. Long waits and crowded hospital rooms are not the norm, they say.

Mar 26, 2012

Germans Confused Over U.S. Healthcare Debate

March 14, 2012 -- BERLIN -- As the Republican presidential candidates try to outdo each other over criticizing the Obama administration’s healthcare plan, several German healthcare officials who watch the debate in the United States are in disbelief as to why the American public doesn’t want a national plan. Their reactions come as the German public healthcare system reached a record € 4 billion ($ 5.28 billion) surplus for 2011.

Mar 14, 2012