News Briefs: Week of Dec. 14-18

This roundup includes the following news briefs:

Congress has passed a Labor-HHS-Education appropriations bill for fiscal year 2010. The measure provides $163.6 billion for Labor-HHS-Education programs, which is an increase of $8.5 billion over FY 2009.

The appropriations measure provides $498 million for health professions programs, a $105 million increase from FY 09. The bill also provides a 12.4 percent increase for Section 747 Title VII of the Public Health Service Act, which supports the training of family physicians.

Under the measure, the National Health Service Corps receives 5.1 percent more than in FY 09. Rural health programs, which were funded at $169 million in FY 09, were increased to nearly $184 million, and the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality will receive an increase of about $10 million. The CDC's Chronic Disease and Health Promotion program, meanwhile, receives an increase of about $97 million, to $931.3 million.

The bill also includes funds for workforce information and analysis, and directs the Health Resources and Services Administration and the Department of Labor to jointly establish a strategic plan to address emerging needs in the health care sector through an interagency task force.

CMS recently announced that Medicare will cover HIV screening for Medicare beneficiaries who are at increased risk for the infection, as well as for any beneficiary who requests the service. The final decision was announced in a Dec. 8 news release and was effective as of that date.

The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008 gives CMS the authority to expand Medicare's list of covered preventives services; previously, only Congress was authorized to do so. More information about Medicare's new HIV screening benefit is available in CMS' final decision memorandum.

NIH grantee institutions, including medical schools, universities and other research organizations, have weaknesses in identifying, managing and overseeing financial conflicts of interest related to NIH-funded research, says a new report from the HHS Office of Inspector General.

According to an executive summary of the report, (46-page PDF; About PDFs) among 41 grantee institutions that reported conflicts of interest in 2006, the most common conflict was equity ownership. Many of the NIH-funded researchers owned stock or stock options in companies that could affect grant research.

Nearly half of the institutions examined don't require researchers to disclose specific amounts of equity held or compensation received, said the report. Other grantee institutions do not routinely report conflicts or verify information submitted by researchers.

Recommendations included in the report call for the NIH to increase its oversight to manage these conflicts appropriately and develop regulations that address institutional financial conflicts of interest.

The Edward Via Virginia College of Osteopathic Medicine, or VCOM, and Virginia Tech's Pamplin College of Business have launched a cooperative program that allows students to earn both a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine, or D.O., and a Master of Business Administration, or M.B.A., degree.

In a joint news release, the colleges said VCOM students would complete the M.B.A. requirements between their third and fourth years of medical school. They would take a combination of existing M.B.A. courses, new hospital administration courses and electives from either college.

M.B.A. core courses would comprise 27 of the required 48-credit-hour curriculum. Students also would take a course in entrepreneurial leadership. VCOM is developing the new courses in hospital administration.

Between three and five VCOM students would be selected for the dual-degree program each year. Candidates for the program must meet academic requirements and have passed their first round of medical board exams, the colleges said.