News Briefs: Week of Sept. 21-25

This roundup includes the following news briefs:

The National Resource Center for Health Information Technology, an affiliate of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality, or AHRQ, has released three new resources to help physicians and other health care stakeholders overcome health IT challenges. The following resources are available online at no charge.

The Obama administration has announced it will set aside $25 million in funding for demonstration grants to help states fund pilot programs aimed at reducing medical malpractice lawsuits.

The demonstration grants, which will be administered by HHS, are intended to help states and health care systems test medical liability systems that will

The Institute of Medicine has recommended that HHS develop standards for electronic health record, or EHR, systems to detail patient race, ethnicity and level of English-language proficiency.

According to an August 2009 report brief, "Race, Ethnicity and Language Data: Standardization for Health Care Quality Improvement," evidence shows that health care disparities persist for specific population groups. A fundamental step in identifying which populations are most at risk is the collection of relevant patient data. Report authors say that physicians, hospitals and health plans can use data collected in EHRs to understand the populations they serve, identify disparities in care and monitor quality improvement efforts.

HHS' Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, or SAMHSA, said in a Sept. 21 news release that more than 70 percent of the illicit cocaine analyzed in July contained the veterinary antiparasitic drug levamisole. The agency said ingesting cocaine mixed with the drug reduces the number of white blood cells, leading to life-threatening infections and other side effects.

The agency said there have been about 20 confirmed or probable cases of agranulocytosis, including two deaths, associated with use of cocaine adulterated with levamisole. Symptoms include

Physicians are encouraged to report suspected and confirmed cases of agranulocytosis associated with cocaine use to their state health departments.