NOTES ON NURSING

Successful Nurse-Intensive Chronic Disease Management Experiment in Jeopardy    But Health Quality Partners, with its emphasis on continuous nurse-to-patient contact, did work. Of the 15 programs, four improved patient outcomes without increasing costs. Only HQP improved patient outcomes while cutting costs.

HEALTH CARE

Austerity is Hurting Our Health    Austerity is having a devastating effect on health in Europe and North America, driving suicide, depression and infectious diseases and reducing access to medicines and care, researchers said on Monday.

Uninsured Population Swells    About 84 million were uninsured or underinsured, 3 million more than when the 2010 health law was signed and 20 million more than in 2003. About 80 million adults who had medical conditions said they chose not to see a doctor or fill a prescription because of the cost.

Bloomberg News OpEd:  What Tax Exempt Hospitals Owe Their Communities   According to a study published last week in the New England Journal of Medicine, only 5 percent of the money that tax-exempt hospitals spent on behalf of their communities in fiscal year 2009 went to public-health programs.

LABOR UPDATES

Health Care Jobs Saved Minnesota   Bottom line: Health care jobs saved our bacon in the recession. The industry continued to grow jobs during the worst economic conditions in decades.