Health Care News and Research

RSS

Total Medical Solutions ranks #291 on 2010 Inc. 500/5000 list of fastest-growing private companies

For the second year, Total Medical Solutions (TMS) has made Inc. magazine's list of the 5,000 fastest-growing private companies in the US. The 2010 Inc. 500/5000 is ranked according to percentage revenue growth when comparing 2006 to 2009. TMS saw its revenue grow by 53 percent and ranks as number 291 in its industry category of Health.

9 Sep 2010

IMF and CHPF join to promote awareness of myeloma in China

The International Myeloma Foundation (IMF), the oldest and largest foundation dedicated to improving the life and care of myeloma patients, today announced plans to sign a cooperative agreement with the Chinese Health Promotion Foundation (CHPF), an agency that operates under the Chinese Ministry of Health, to promote awareness of myeloma in China and to encourage measures to prevent and combat the disease.

9 Sep 2010

Focusing on most disadvantaged children more cost-effective than current strategies, UNICEF reports say

UNICEF on Tuesday said that by "comparing the effectiveness of different strategies for aid delivery, targeting the poorest and neediest children could save more lives per $1 million spent than the current path," Reuters reports (Charbonneau, 9/7).

9 Sep 2010

Defensive medicine costs much less than 'imagined' by malpractice reformists

The combined cost of malpractice -- and doctors' efforts to avoid it by practicing so-called defensive medicine -- costs about $55.6 billion a year, or 2.4 percent of total health spending, according to a new analysis by "Harvard University's Atul Gawande and co-authors, Bloomberg reports. "The yearly price of so-called defensive medicine -- tests, visits and procedures performed to reduce litigation risk -- is about $45.6 billion, the authors said today in the journal Health Affairs, in a report using 2008 dollars."

9 Sep 2010

Study shows importance of formal education in preventing spread of HIV in Africa

Simply teaching people the facts about how to protect themselves from HIV may not be enough to prevent the spread of AIDS in Africa, a new study suggests.

9 Sep 2010

World Water Week: Urbanization, irrigation, global food security

"Global efforts to improve access to drinking water have been hampered by rapid urbanisation, with the proportion of people in urban areas with access actually declining, according to U.N. figures presented" at the World Water Week conference in Stockholm, Agence France-Presse reports.

9 Sep 2010

UK researchers’ new model to describe burden of postmenopausal osteoporosis

An article just published in the scientific journal 'Osteoporosis International' introduces a validated new model that can be used to describe the current and future burden of postmenopausal osteoporosis in different national settings.

9 Sep 2010

Federal appeals court declines to reconsider 'pay-for-delay' on generic drugs

A federal appeals court on Tuesday said it will not revisit its decision to uphold settlements that allow pharmaceutical companies to pay competitors to keep generic versions of their drugs off the market, The Wall Street Journal reports. "In April, the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals [in New York] affirmed the legality of a settlement in which Bayer AG, in essence, paid Barr Pharmaceuticals Inc., a potential generic competitor, to drop its patent challenge to Cipro, a Bayer antibiotic."

9 Sep 2010

Concerted action on antibiotic resistance discussed at Uppsala meeting

For 70 years the world has mismanaged the common good of antibiotics. The result is a growing global burden of antibiotic resistance, threatening to take health care back to an era where ordinary infections might once again become fatal.

9 Sep 2010

Health reform politics: GOP campaigning against law; Dems have mixed strategy

The Associated Press: "Even if Republicans succeed beyond any current predictions and capture both the Senate and the House, they wouldn't have enough GOP votes to overcome President Barack Obama's veto." But, they could exercise the "congressional power of the purse, denying the administration billions of dollars ... Faced with an opposition Congress 'defunding' his health care plan, would Obama make a stand?

9 Sep 2010

Hospitals find new ways to serve growing senior, immigrant, suburban populations

News outlets report on hospital industries in Houston, Texas; Irvine, Calif. and Madison County, La.

9 Sep 2010

Study: Only 42% of acute care visits are made to personal physicians

Only 42 percent of yearly acute care visits in the U.S. are made to patients' personal physicians, according to a new study published in the journal Health Affairs.

9 Sep 2010

Groups call for mandatory flu vaccinations for health workers

USA Today: "The American Academy of Pediatrics plans to call for all health workers to get flu vaccinations, saying unvaccinated doctors, nurses and other medical staffers pose a threat to patients. The academy, which represents 60,000 pediatricians, is the latest of several organizations that now back mandatory flu shots for health workers

9 Sep 2010

HHS has guidance on annual limits

The Hill's Healthwatch: The Department of Health and Human Services has issued guidance on how insurers can get waivers from health law-mandated restrictions on annual limits. "The new law creates temporary restrictions on health plans starting Sept. 23. But the law also allows the annual limits to be waived 'if compliance ... would result in a significant decrease in access to benefits or a significant increase in premiums.'

9 Sep 2010

Team of scientists issues HIV vaccine strategy

The Council of the Global HIV Vaccine Enterprise on Tuesday released a new strategy for HIV vaccine research, which marked "the culmination of an 18-month effort that included the input of 400 scientists worldwide," VOA News reports (DeCapua, 9/7).

9 Sep 2010

States continue to wrestle with federal funding issues, budget shortfalls

The Fiscal Times: "Nationally, the number of Medicaid beneficiaries has risen by 8 percent a year since 2008, and 44 states have reported that they will exceed their enrollment and spending growth projections this year, the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured reported. A dozen other states, including Arizona, Utah, Wisconsin and Maryland, have experienced double-digit annual enrollment increases."

9 Sep 2010

Spirus Medical obtains Japanese marketing approval for ENDO-EASE line of endoscopy devices

Spirus Medical announced today that it has obtained marketing approval from the Japanese Ministry of Health, Labor and Welfare for the company's proprietary ENDO-EASE line of endoscopy devices. The Endo-Ease Endoluminal Advancement System features novel "over-tubes" that use a spiral design utilizing simple rotation to facilitate enteroscopy, colonoscopy and ileoscopy.

9 Sep 2010

Federal judge refuses to lift order blocking federal funding for stem cell research

The Associated Press: "A federal judge on Tuesday refused to lift his order blocking federal funding for some stem cell research, saying that a 'parade of horribles' predicted by federal officials would not happen. Medical researchers value stem cells because they are master cells that can turn into any tissue of the body.

9 Sep 2010

Insurers raise rates, cancel plans in response to overhaul

The Wall Street Journal: "Aetna Inc., some BlueCross BlueShield plans and other smaller carriers have asked for premium increases of between 1% and 9% to pay for extra benefits required under the law, according to filings with state regulators." The requests undermine "Democrats' efforts to trumpet their signature achievement before the midterm elections."

9 Sep 2010

Health reform myths debunked

The Associated Press examines political ads on health reform. "With the country sharply divided over the sweeping new insurance law, Republicans and their allies are taking to the airwaves to attack it as elections near, often resorting to exaggeration and omissions to make their points."

9 Sep 2010