This week's audio news summary features stories about a significant change in the way some of America's largest health insurance companies will collect and report physician performance data; a newly enacted law in Ohio that requires insurance companies to clearly spell out the terms and conditions of their contracts with physicians; an AAFP-adopted recommendation to expand annual influenza immunization to all children ages 6 months to 18 years; and a new CME initiative designed to help physicians reduce the number of Americans who smoke.

This week's audio news summary features stories about a Senate bill that, if enacted, would block steep reductions in Medicare physician payment for the last half of 2008 and all of 2009; the April 1 deadline for implementing tamper-proof prescription pads for Medicaid patients' prescriptions; an online patient education resource called Lab Tests Online; and a reminder that there's still plenty of time for physicians to participate in CMS' 2008 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative.

This week's audio news summary features stories about results of the 2008 National Resident Matching Program that gave family medicine a near-91 percent fill rate; an analysis of the three leading presidential candidates' positions on health care; a new initiative that will beef up funding for the nation's community health centers; and a research study that explores the psychosocial, behavioral and clinical differences between men and women with diabetes.

This week's audio news summary features stories about how physicians are reacting to uncertainty about Medicare physician payments and a projected 10.6 percent cut scheduled in July; a study that shows possible links between calcium supplements and adverse cardiovascular events in postmenopausal women; a study that calls for the creation of rural physician programs in every medical school as a means of increasing the number of rural physicians; and a new Web site for seniors that can help physicians field patient questions about their cholesterol.

This week's audio news summary features stories on CDC's reminder to physicians to defer the Hib booster dose in some children due to a shortage of the Haemophilus influenzae type b conjugate vaccine; a preliminary report examining data on the 2007 Physician Quality Reporting Initiative; a new clinical practice guideline the Academy helped develop on pharmacological treatment of dementia; and a call by some health care stakeholders for Congress to block CMS regulations that would tighten eligibility for Medicaid and the State Children's Health Insurance Program.

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