News Briefs: Week of Feb. 15-19

This roundup includes the following news briefs:

More than 350 individuals have joined forces to donate more than $65,000 to Haiti relief efforts since the AAFP Foundation issued an appeal for donations on Jan. 13, one day after a 7.0-magnitude earthquake shattered the Caribbean island nation. The quake has been followed by numerous aftershocks, which have continued to wreak even more destruction.

The loss of life in Haiti has been estimated at 200,000, with more than 2 million people left homeless.

The response is among the largest ever made to a foundation appeal, with an average gift of nearly $200. The contributors included many who donated to the foundation for the first time, said Brenda Cherpitel, director of individual development for the AAFP Foundation.

The Haiti disaster "really struck a chord with our members, and they stepped up to respond," she said.

The foundation continues to accept contributions, which are going to its partner relief agencies, Heart to Heart International and the International Medical Corps. Both organizations are mobilized in the disaster area.

Members may donate online. As a reminder, donations for Haiti relief that are made by Feb. 28, 2010, may be claimed on either the contributor's 2009 or 2010 tax return.

Wolters Kluwer Health, an international publisher and provider of information for professionals and students in medicine, nursing, allied health fields and pharmacy, announced in a Jan. 28 press release that it has launched a new application that offers CME credit for researching clinical questions using iPhone or iPod Touch devices.

The XtraCredit application, which can be downloaded at no charge, allows physicians to earn CME credit for online searches of approved resources. Those resources include search engines, such as PubMed and Ovid; online compendia, such as the Cochrane Collaboration and the National Guideline Clearinghouse; and medical journals, such as the Journal of the American Medical Association, the New England Journal of Medicine and Annals of Family Medicine, among numerous others.

The Internet-based point-of-care learning format used by XtraCredit was approved by the AMA in 2006.

After a search, users document their search experiences, noting the resources used and the impact of the search on their work. They pay a small fee to receive CME credit through the Lippincott CME Institute, a subsidiary of Wolters Kluwer Health and an accredited CME provider. Each completed search is eligible for a maximum of 0.5 AMA Physician's Recognition Award Category 1 credit.

"More than 50 percent of physicians are now using smartphones to support their clinical practice and as first-line reference resources," said Karen Overstreet, executive director of the Lippincott CME Institute, in the press release. "We are pleased to offer our readers and customers a simple way to gain the CME credit they need for answering clinical questions to enhance patient care."

The Department of Labor and HHS plan to release nearly $1 billion in awards to help primary care physicians and other health care providers advance the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology, or health IT, and to train workers for jobs in the health care and IT sectors.

According to a press release, HHS will award $386 million to 40 states and qualified state-designated entities to facilitate health information exchange at the state level. Another $375 million will be provided to support the development of regional extension centers to help primary care practices and other health providers implement and use health IT.

In addition, the Labor Department will award more than $225 million in grants to train 15,000 people in job skills required for careers in health care and IT. The grants will fund 55 separate training programs in 30 states to help meet the growing demand for health workers.

Anthem Blue Cross has decided to delay raising its rates for California consumers for two months after HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius called on the insurance company to publicly explain its decision to raise rates.

Anthem Blue Cross planned to raise premiums for California policy holders in the individual market by as much as 39 percent, but delayed the rate increase after Sebelius wrote a letter to the president of Anthem saying the company has a "responsibility to provide a detailed justification for these rate increases to the public."

"While a two-month delay offers some temporary relief, what California families need is long-term health insurance security, so that they don't face sharply higher prices or fewer benefits," said Sebelius in a written statement. "This rate increase underscores the urgency of passing real health insurance reform."

HHS does not have the authority to review rate increases, but Sebelius said Anthem Blue Cross "should make public information on the percent of (its) individual market premiums that is used for medical care versus the percent that is used for administrative costs."