Health Care

Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island announced today its LifeStyleBlue health plan for the small employer market, with flexibility of three different benefit designs to fit the lifestyles of a diverse population. May 21

Dr. G. Alan Kurose, president and CEO of Coastal Medical, one of the largest group practices of physicians in Rhode Island, testified on May 16 before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee. May 21

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, the state’s largest health insurer, is launching a policy to curb abuse of prescription painkillers, shepherded by Chief Physician Executive Dr. John Fallon. May 21

PROVIDENCE – Construction is now under way at The Highlands to transform the former 78-unit facility into 41 assisted-living apartments and 23 Alzheimer’s and dementia-care apartments, according to officials from Great Point Investors and HallKeen Management, partners in the project. May 19

Health insurers will gain $1 trillion in new revenue over the next eight years under the 2010 health care law, assuming it’s upheld by the Supreme Court, according to a Bloomberg Government study. May 19

The deployment of mobile technology in the delivery of health care is under way, with an estimated 30 percent of health care providers in the United States already working with tablets, and another 50 percent of providers making tablet decisions in the next year, according to AT&T research. At the Warren Alpert Medical School at Brown University, incoming students are now provided with an iPad. May 19

PROVIDENCE – The R.I. Department of Health this month announced two resources to help Rhode Islanders monitor the quality of their drinking water. May 19

The days of the candy striper, those red-and-white-clad teenagers who became an iconic, pop-culture symbol, may be all but over but the need for what they did – serve as volunteers who helped ration the valuable time and attention of doctors and other staff – remains. May 19

Ten years ago, wellness in the workplace was a simple concept promoted by health insurers trying to reduce their costs through preventative care. Like many revolutionary ideas, businesses and the public didn’t embrace it wholeheartedly. May 19

PROVIDENCE – Pete Thomas, a winner in the “The Biggest Loser” program, will help celebrate the sixth annual “Shape Up RI Challenge on May 23 at noon at Waterplace Park. The event, sponsored by Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island, is free and open to the public. May 19