Health Affairs

This week, the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released a national plan to prevent and effectively treat Alzheimer’s disease by 2025. The National Alzheimer’s Project Act, legislation that was passed unanimously by both houses of Congress (yes, you read that correctly!) in 2010 required HHS to come up with a plan, said... Read the rest of this entry »

If you are taking some time off this week for Easter or Passover, you may want to dust off that resumé and apply for one of these positions. I have included a few interesting points about each position, but read the full position description for many more details. These jobs were posted on foundation websites... Read the rest of this entry »

Derek Yach, senior vice president for global health and agriculture policy at PepsiCo, was one of the plenary speakers at the recent Grantmakers In Health (GIH) Annual Meeting, held in Baltimore. A strategist, Yach previously has held positions at the Rockefeller Foundation, Yale University, and the World Health Organization (WHO). His remarks provided “food for... Read the rest of this entry »

Here are some blog posts that caught my eye this week, as I sifted through foundation blogs I follow. The descriptions are brief—just to give you a flavor of what the post is about.  This is a short week in the office for me, as I head over to nearby Baltimore for the Grantmakers In... Read the rest of this entry »

The author explains the concept and how it can help safety-net patients. David also alerts us to the Health Home Innovation Fund, managed by Tides’s Community Clinics Initiative and funded by the California Endowment. He thanks Jane Stafford, managing director of the initiative, for her help with this post. Among the many provisions of the Affordable Care Act, one of the most... Read the rest of this entry »

Read about the New York State Health Foundation’s “five-year, $35 million campaign to reverse the diabetes epidemic [in the Empire State] by improving clinical care, sustaining a comprehensive and coordinated care system, and promoting prevention.” The GrantWatch Profile in the January 2012 issue of Health Affairs, titled “New York State Health Foundation’s Diabetes Campaign Is Influencing... Read the rest of this entry »

Why did the Duke Endowment decide to select disease prevention as one of its three major funding areas in health care? Why would a private foundation invest in programs and infrastructure to prevent disease when the number of uninsured is growing and there is not enough funding available to treat people burdened with chronic disease? ... Read the rest of this entry »

The author, who is president of the Pfizer Foundation, spoke at a UN meeting this week on noncommunicable diseases. The United Nations (UN) has been hosting its High-Level Meeting on Non-Communicable Diseases September 16–21 in New York City. This is an important opportunity to highlight the alarming incidence of chronic diseases in developing countries and... Read the rest of this entry »

Editor’s note: You’ve heard of an Accountable Care Organization, haven’t you? Now read about a new initiative—an Accountable Care Community—in this northeastern Ohio city. In response to chronic health conditions, the Austen BioInnovation Institute in Akron (ABIA), its founding members, and numerous community organizations have joined to launch a first-of-its-kind Accountable Care Community, which will use... Read the rest of this entry »

Jim Knickman, whom many of you know from his current job as president and CEO of the New York State Health Foundation (and/or his former job as a vice president of research and evaluation at the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation) wrote a column this week for the Huffington Post. His topic was diabetes prevention, which... Read the rest of this entry »

Use of fluoride is known to reduce tooth decay. Earlier this month, the federal government announced plans to lower the amount of fluoride in water because of concerns that some children were receiving too much of it. This prompted me to revisit the subject of oral health and what some foundations around the country have... Read the rest of this entry »

More than 30 million uninsured people will acquire either public or private insurance over the next five years as a result of the Affordable Care Act of 2010. What does this mean for foundations promoting healthier communities by investing in increased access to health care? In short, it means new opportunities, especially for foundations that... Read the rest of this entry »

A bill was introduced this week in the U.S. Senate to legalize the federal government’s funding of embryonic stem cell research. If passed, according to news reports, the legislation would codify President Obama’s 2009 executive order advancing such research. The Ellison Medical Foundation funded a recent report and updated guidelines about this research. Other foundations... Read the rest of this entry »

Below, we have tabulated a list of the three most-read GrantWatch Blog posts in August 2010. (GrantWatch Blog launched in March 2010.) Here is a chance to take a gander at these posts if you missed them when the original Tweet or e-alert came out. “The Relief of Suffering from Serious Illness: How Foundations Can... Read the rest of this entry »

Our discussions at the recent health funders’ retreat at Brandeis University drove home an important point. The Affordable Care Act is a lot more than a series of provisions to assure access to health care coverage for millions of uninsured Americans. The new health reform law creates opportunities to develop fundamental and complementary payment and... Read the rest of this entry »

Earlier in July 2010, the White House released a new strategy for combating HIV/AIDS in the United States. Then, this week, the XVIII International AIDS Conference kicked off in Vienna, Austria. As we know, the disease affects people around the world. I decided to pull together some information in today’s post on what philanthropy has... Read the rest of this entry »

Diabetes has been in the news this week what with a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory panel ruling on the diabetes drug Avandia. So, today’s post focuses on a foundation-funded program to reduce disparities in care for people who have this chronic disease. The Alliance to Reduce Disparities in Diabetes, which is funded by... Read the rest of this entry »