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Weekend effect in hospitals affect kidney stone treatment, outcomes

Patients with severe cases of kidney stones are 26 percent less likely to receive timely treatment when they're admitted to the hospital on the weekend, according to a study by researchers at Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

12 Apr 2016

New app can improve patients' choices of nursing home

A new app created at the University of California, Irvine can improve a patient's choice of a nursing home. This is important, because when rating quality measures for nursing homes, patients and experts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services usually don't agree on what is best, leading UCI researchers to conclude that patients may benefit from a more personalized approach to choosing a nursing home.

5 Apr 2016

Frequent TAVR to replace damaged aortic heart valve improves patient outcomes

The more frequently a hospital performs a minimally invasive technique called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, to replace a damaged aortic heart valve, the better patients fare, on average, immediately after the procedure, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

4 Apr 2016

New report offers startling statistics about chronic kidney disease in the U.S.

A sweeping new report assessing chronic kidney disease in the United States offers startling statistics about a condition that affects almost 14 percent of the U.S. population and costs billions in Medicare spending each year.

30 Mar 2016

High out-of-pocket costs linked to lower use of specialty drugs

"Specialty drugs" have become important treatment options for many serious and chronic diseases, and in some conditions like cancer they represent the only chance for long-term survival.

29 Mar 2016

Endocrine Society issues recommendations to improve care for people with diabetes

To provide integrated care for people who have diabetes and may be at risk of developing related medical complications, the U.S. health care system needs to continue building effective multidisciplinary care team models, according to new recommendations issued by the Endocrine Society today.

23 Mar 2016

Increased travel distance to cancer treatment facility affects receipt of RT

Increased travel distance to a cancer treatment facility negatively impacts the likelihood that patients with stage II/III rectal cancer will receive radiation therapy (RT) to treat their disease, according to a study analyzing 26,845 patient records from the National Cancer Data Base that was published in the March 2016 issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology .

22 Mar 2016

Evolent Health's Complex Care program validated by Care Innovations Validation Institute

Today, Evolent Health announced that its Complex Care program, which focuses on high-risk chronic patients with extensive care management needs, has been validated by the Care Innovations Validation Institute, an organization that provides health care industry consumers with credible validation of population health outcomes.

18 Mar 2016

Vascular events in CML may not be linked to TKI therapy

The increased risk of vascular events observed among elderly patients with chronic myeloid leukaemia, compared with patients without cancer, may not be driven by tyrosine kinase inhibitor therapy, US researchers suggest.

17 Mar 2016

Study finds disparities in discontinuing diabetes drug rosiglitazone following FDA safety alert

Among older adults with diabetes, certain subgroups--including white patients and those with lower incomes--were slower to discontinue the diabetes drug rosiglitazone after a US Food and Drug Administration safety alert, reports a study in the April issue of Medical Care.

17 Mar 2016

Indego exoskeleton receives FDA certification for U.S. use

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has given clearance to market and sell the powered lower-limb exoskeleton created by a team of Vanderbilt engineers and commercialized by the Parker Hannifin Corporation for both clinical and personal use in the United States.

11 Mar 2016

Phase 3 study: Sarilumab monotherapy meets primary endpoint in active rheumatoid arthritis patients

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Sanofi today announced that a Phase 3 monotherapy study met its primary endpoint demonstrating that sarilumab was superior to adalimumab (marketed by AbbVie as HUMIRA) in improving signs and symptoms in patients with active rheumatoid arthritis (RA) at Week 24.

11 Mar 2016

Complex biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies lack evidentiary standards

Potentially useful biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies are not being adopted appropriately into clinical practice because of a lack of common evidentiary standards necessary for regulatory, reimbursement, and treatment decisions.

7 Mar 2016

PACE: A community-based long-term care model for elderly

A new article "A Case Exemplar for National Policy Leadership: Expanding Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE)," in the March 2016 Journal of Gerontology, chronicles the beginnings of PACE (Program of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly) and outlines its rise to nationwide acceptance. PACE is a viable and sustainable model of community-based long-term care that provides coordinated and comprehensive services with an interdisciplinary patient-centered team model that is paid for through Medicare, Medicaid, and other insurers.

7 Mar 2016

RUVICA (ibrutinib) capsules approved for treatment-naïve CLL patients

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved IMBRUVICA (ibrutinib) capsules for treatment-naïve patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL).

4 Mar 2016

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, LSU Health New Orleans create new fellowship program

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, a Medicaid managed care health plan serving Louisiana, and the LSU Health New Orleans School of Public Health, today announced the creation of a new fellowship program that each year will allow up to seven LSU Health New Orleans medical students who are also enrolled in the Master of Public Health (M.P.H.) degree program to spend four to eight weeks in the policy offices of Washington, D.C. organizations.

4 Mar 2016

HSS study examines cost-effectiveness of knee replacement surgery in high- and low-volume hospitals

If all patients scheduled for knee replacement were directed to high-volume hospitals for the surgery, it could save the U.S. healthcare system between $2.5 and $4 billion annually by the year 2030, according to a study at Hospital for Special Surgery in New York City.

4 Mar 2016

Health Catalyst, Partners HealthCare named recipients of Microsoft Health Innovation Awards

Health Catalyst and Partners HealthCare today announced they have been named recipients of Microsoft Corp.'s 2016 Health Innovation Awards. The organizations won the "Reinventing Productivity and Business Processes" category, which evaluates solutions that transform care delivery or population health by connecting clinicians and staff to new processes and insights.

3 Mar 2016

New study demonstrates role of hospital nurses in ensuring safe outcomes for surgical patients

A new study from the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing's Center for Health Outcomes and Policy Research (CHOPR) shows that patients, who undergo elective hip and knee surgery in hospitals with inadequate nurse staffing and poor nurse work environments, are more likely to require re-hospitalization.

3 Mar 2016

Study reveals demographic and clinical disparities associated with substernal thyroid goiters

Older patients, minorities, and male patients are more likely to develop substernal thyroid goiters that are difficult to remove surgically, putting them at risk for treatment complications and death, say researchers in the January 6 online in the American Journal of Surgery.

3 Mar 2016

Medicare News and Research

Weekend effect in hospitals affect kidney stone treatment, outcomes

New app can improve patients' choices of nursing home

Frequent TAVR to replace damaged aortic heart valve improves patient outcomes

New report offers startling statistics about chronic kidney disease in the U.S.

High out-of-pocket costs linked to lower use of specialty drugs

Endocrine Society issues recommendations to improve care for people with diabetes

Increased travel distance to cancer treatment facility affects receipt of RT

Evolent Health's Complex Care program validated by Care Innovations Validation Institute

Vascular events in CML may not be linked to TKI therapy

Study finds disparities in discontinuing diabetes drug rosiglitazone following FDA safety alert

Indego exoskeleton receives FDA certification for U.S. use

Phase 3 study: Sarilumab monotherapy meets primary endpoint in active rheumatoid arthritis patients

Complex biomarker tests for molecularly targeted therapies lack evidentiary standards

PACE: A community-based long-term care model for elderly

RUVICA (ibrutinib) capsules approved for treatment-naïve CLL patients

AmeriHealth Caritas Louisiana, LSU Health New Orleans create new fellowship program

HSS study examines cost-effectiveness of knee replacement surgery in high- and low-volume hospitals

Health Catalyst, Partners HealthCare named recipients of Microsoft Health Innovation Awards

New study demonstrates role of hospital nurses in ensuring safe outcomes for surgical patients

Study reveals demographic and clinical disparities associated with substernal thyroid goiters

Advancing Neuroscience Research Through Collaboration and Patient-Centered Innovation

The impact of vibration on microscopy

How Omics Technologies Are Transforming Biological Research and Drug Discovery

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