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AACCA
Organizational News
 The
AACCA Board of Directors will be having their annual business
meeting in Las Vegas, August 2-4. Look for new organizational
information and news in your August email.
The
AACCA would like to welcome Brandie Franks to its staffing
team. Brandie has extensive human resource and business
management experience. We look forward to the unique ideas and
knowledge she will bring to our organization.
Medical
Reimbursement Specialists has over 40 RN-Coder
boot camps remaining in 2004. If you have previously attended
one of their boot camps, you can attend a second RN-Coder Boot camp
FREE! This is an excellent way to help prepare you for the http://www.aacca.net/certifications.html!
Just call the registration office at 909-393-1474 to let them know
which camp you would like to sit in on.
RN-Auditor
boot camps will be launched the beginning of 2005 and will be geared
toward the specifics of the auditing process. Look for more
information soon.
Research
Boasts Breakthrough in AIDS Test
 A
new test for the AIDS virus that detects proteins inside the microbe
may be more sensitive than existing tests, U.S. researchers said.
The
test, which can also be adapted to detect the misshapen prions that
cause mad cow disease and related sicknesses, may be useful for
screening donated blood and monitoring patients, the developers at
the University of Maryland's Institute of Human Virology said
Monday.
They
said it is 25 times more sensitive than the best technology
currently available.
Click
here to read CNN's extensive information on the new testing
process and overall effectiveness in detection.
AARP:
Drug Prices Jumped in Early 2004
 Even
after the new Medicare law promised billions of dollars in
government spending on prescription drugs, makers of best-selling
medications raised prices quickly, nearly triple the rate of
inflation, an AARP survey found.
Pharmaceutical
companies increased the prices they charge drug wholesalers for the
top 200 brand-name drugs an average of 3.4 percent in the first
three months of 2004, while inflation in general was 1.2 percent,
according to the survey AARP released Wednesday.
Read
ABC
News to hear drug manufacturer reasoning for this disturbing
trend.
Potent
Mosquito Virus Skips U.S., for Now
As
if West Nile virus wasn't bad enough, now U.S. health officials are
on the lookout for another mosquito-borne disease, fearing it could
become a permanent part of the American landscape if it entered the
country.
Rift
Valley fever, which originated in Africa, is the only disease at the
top of both human health and agriculture lists of dangerous
diseases.
The
virus can kill people, with a near 1 percent mortality rate, making
it deadlier than West Nile. But Rift Valley poses a greater threat
to cattle and sheep.
Learn
more about potential infection risks, symptoms, containment and
prevention on CNN's
website.
To
be removed from the AACCA mailing list, please request
to be removed and type "unsubscribe" in the subject of
your email.
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First
Cases of Rabies From Organ Donor Reported
 Three
people died of rabies after receiving infected organs from the same
donor in what the government says are the first documented cases of
the disease being spread through organ transplants.
Federal
agencies are now looking into whether transplant organs should be
screened for the rabies virus.
To
learn more about the patients who died, as well as human contraction
rates, visit MSNBC's
coverage.
Read
the Centers
for Disease Control's official press release regarding the rabies
transmission.
Foreign
Nurses Sought to Fill Void  Grappling
with a shortage of nurses, hospitals in the United States are sending
recruiters to Mexico and other poor nations, raising concerns of a
possible drain on already strained health care in the developing
world.
U.S. authorities have warned that the country could fall 275,000
nurses short of the numbers it will need by 2010, in part because of
increasing health care demands from a growing elderly population.
Get
more specifics about why recruiters are searching for nursing staff
overseas and find out what the American Nurses Association has to say
about this latest trend at CBS
News.
Newer
Heart Drug Found to be No Better
 A
newer blood thinner is no better than the old standby at treating
victims of heart attacks or chest pain, according to two major
studies involving nearly 14,000 patients.
While
the newer drug — enoxaparin — is more convenient to use than
heparin, it also caused modest increases in bleeding, the studies
found.
Read
USA
Today's complete coverage to find out specific results of the
study, cost comparisons of the medications and more.
Herb
and Drug Interactions: 'Natural' Products Not Always Safe
 You
may think herbal supplements are safe because they're labeled
"natural." But many herbal supplements contain active
ingredients that can harm you if taken with certain prescription or
over-the-counter (OTC) drugs.
The
Mayo
Clinic has put together a detailed lits of 14 commonly used herbs
along with the prescription and OTC drugs you shouldn't take with them.
Robots
Gaining Traction in Hospitals
Near
a pair of swinging doors at a local hospital, a cart sits apparently
abandoned. Yet at the push of a button, it perks up to say, “thank
you” and rolls itself out the door toward the pharmacy.
The
50-pound machine, which looks like a vacuum cleaner mated to a
cabinet, is designed to autonomously ferry loads of linens, medical
supplies, X-rays, food and other materials.
In
a push to lower costs and free up workers for more critical tasks,
hospital officials are turning more and more to robots like Tug to ply
their hallways.
Visit
MSNBC's
website to learn more about the common robotic uses and
advantages.
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