Congressional Research Service Reports - 17 Matching Results

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Hospital-Based Emergency Departments: Background and Policy Considerations

Description: This report describes Emergency departments (EDs), the role they play in the health care delivery system, and current federal involvement in supporting EDs. It then discusses the causes and consequences of three commonly identified and interrelated challenges that EDs face: (1) crowding, (2) providing repeat care to a subset of patients who are frequent users, and (3) providing care to a large population who have behavioral health conditions when an ED lacks the appropriate resources to provide… more
Date: December 8, 2014
Creator: Heisler, Elayne J. & Tyler, Nancy Leigh
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

The Federal Food Safety System: A Primer

Description: This report discusses concerns about food safety, the resources required to ensure food safety, and whether federal food safety laws themselves, first enacted in the early 1900s, have kept pace with the significant changes that have occurred in the food production, processing, and marketing sectors since then.
Date: January 17, 2014
Creator: Johnson, Renée
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Prescription Drug Monitoring Programs

Description: This report looks at ways that prescription drug monitoring programs (PDMPs), which maintain statewide electronic databases of prescriptions dispensed for controlled substances, can help to deter prescription drug misuse.
Date: March 24, 2014
Creator: Finklea, Kristin M.; Bagalman, Erin & Sacco, Lisa N.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Regulation of Clinical Tests: In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Devices, Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs), and Genetic Tests

Description: In vitro diagnostic (IVD) devices are used in the analysis of human samples, such as blood or tissue, to provide information in making health care decisions. Examples of IVDs include pregnancy test kits or blood glucose tests for home use; laboratory tests for infectious disease, such as HIV or hepatitis, and routine blood tests, such as cholesterol and anemia; and tests for various genetic diseases or conditions. More recently, a specific type of diagnostic test--called a companion diagnostic… more
Date: December 17, 2014
Creator: Sarata, Amanda K. & Johnson, Judith A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Immigration Policies and Issues on Health-Related Grounds for Exclusion

Description: This report discusses the criteria that foreign nationals must meet before admission to the United States including the reasons why a foreign national might be denied admission, most particularly on health-related grounds. It describes this issue in relation to the recent outbreak of the 2009 H1N1 ("swine flu") virus, and how the outbreak has affected various government agencies, such as the Customs and Border Protection (CBP) agency within the Department of Homeland Security (DHS). This report… more
Date: April 28, 2014
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Regulation of Clinical Tests: In Vitro Diagnostic (IVD) Devices, Laboratory Developed Tests (LDTs), and Genetic Tests

Description: In vitro diagnostic (IVD) devices are used in the analysis of human samples, such as blood or tissue, to provide information in making health care decisions. Examples of IVDs include pregnancy test kits or blood glucose tests for home use; laboratory tests for infectious disease, such as HIV or hepatitis, and routine blood tests, such as cholesterol and anemia; and tests for various genetic diseases or conditions. More recently, a specific type of diagnostic test--called a companion diagnostic-… more
Date: March 27, 2014
Creator: Sarata, Amanda K.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Veterans Affairs: Presumptive Service Connection and Disability Compensation

Description: This report discusses presumptive service connection, its legislative history, and current challenges in making evidence-based determinations of presumptions. It also discusses the Agent Orange Act (P.L. 102-4) and suggests implications of the process established by the act for future presumptive service-connected determinations.
Date: November 18, 2014
Creator: Panangala, Sidath Viranga; Shedd, Daniel T. & Moulta-Ali, Umar
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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The 2014 Ebola Outbreak: International and U.S. Responses

Description: This report discusses the Ebola virus disease (Ebola or EVD), which is a severe, often fatal disease that was first detected near the Ebola River in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) in 1976.
Date: August 26, 2014
Creator: Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Safe at Home? Letting Ebola-Stricken Americans Return

Description: This report examines the U.S. practice of isolation and quarantine for citizens arriving in the country who have been infected with or exposed to a dangerous communicable disease. The report frames this information in the context of the two American healthcare workers who were brought back into the U.S. for treatment after contracting the Ebola virus in West Africa in the Summer of 2014.
Date: August 5, 2014
Creator: Lister, Sarah A.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Ebola: 2014 Outbreak in West Africa

Description: This report gives a overview of the West African Ebola outbreak that began in March, 2014. The report discusses the nature of the disease as well as local and international responses to it. The report also briefly examines U.S policy and congressional actions in the wake of the outbreak.
Date: August 8, 2014
Creator: Cook, Nicolas & Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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Medicaid Prescription Drug Pricing and Policy

Description: This report provides an overview of the Medicaid prescription drug pricing and policy.
Date: November 7, 2014
Creator: Binder, Cliff
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

U.S. and International Health Responses to the Ebola Outbreak in West Africa

Description: In March 2014, an Ebola Virus Disease (EVD) outbreak was reported in Guinea, West Africa. The outbreak is the first in West Africa and has caused an unprecedented number of cases and deaths. The outbreak is continuing to spread in Guinea, Sierra Leone, and Liberia (the "affected countries"); it has been contained in Nigeria and Senegal, and has been detected in Mali. As of October 22, 2014, more than 10,000 people have contracted EVD, more than half of whom have died. This report focuses on the… more
Date: October 29, 2014
Creator: Salaam-Blyther, Tiaji
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Immigration Policies and Issues on Health-Related Grounds for Exclusion

Description: This report discusses the criteria that foreign nationals must meet before admission to the United States, specifically examining the health-related grounds for exclusion. It provides this information in the context of recent outbreaks of communicable diseases abroad such as Ebola in West Africa, avian influenza in China, polio in the middle east, and dengue fever in the Caribbean.
Date: August 13, 2014
Creator: Wasem, Ruth Ellen
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Title X (Public Health Service Act) Family Planning Program

Description: This report looks at several bills addressing the Family Planning Program (Title X of the Public Health Service Act) which have been introduced in the 112th Congress, including: funding for abortion-providing entities, elimination of the program, and prohibitions on government spending for the program.
Date: September 3, 2014
Creator: Napili, Angela
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
open access

Mandatory Vaccinations: Precedent and Current Laws

Description: This report provides an overview of the legal precedent for mandatory vaccination laws, and of state laws that require certain individuals or populations, including school-aged children and health care workers, to be vaccinated against various communicable diseases. Also discussed are state laws providing for mandatory vaccinations during a public health emergency or outbreak of a communicable disease.
Date: May 21, 2014
Creator: Cole, Jared P. & Swendiman, Kathleen S.
Partner: UNT Libraries Government Documents Department
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