Hospital News and Research

RSS

Improved technology is improving outcomes for cardiac stent patients

While coronary artery bypass surgery has long been the standard treatment for patients with the most extensive forms of coronary artery disease, the results of a recent study by an international team of researchers suggests that advances in technology appear to be narrowing the "benefit gap" between the two approaches. The results of the study appear in the March 17, 2011 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

28 Mar 2011

Ozarks Medical Center selects ProVation Order Sets electronic solution

Wolters Kluwer Health, a leading global provider of information for healthcare professionals and students, announced today that Ozarks Medical Center has selected ProVation® Order Sets, powered by UpToDate® Decision Support, as the hospital's electronic order set solution.

28 Mar 2011

Early symptoms of Parkinson's disease may be revealed in dream sleep

During a large-scale study of the socioeconomic costs of this neurodegenerative disease, Danish researchers, some from the University of Copenhagen, discovered that very early symptoms of Parkinson's disease may be revealed in dream or REM sleep.

28 Mar 2011

New USARAD.com Peer Review Program for radiologists

USARAD.com LLC, a Joint Commission-accredited provider of outsourced radiology reading services, today announced the first-ever national quality assurance (QA) service to assist imaging facilities in achieving and maintaining American College of Radiology (ACR) accreditation. The new USARAD.com Peer Review Program is open to individual radiologists, hospital radiology departments, imaging centers, IDTFs, mobile imaging providers and multi-specialty physician groups.

28 Mar 2011

Angioplasty procedures have minimal risk

Understanding that angioplasty—a medical treatment used by interventional radiologists to widen the veins in the neck and chest to improve blood flow—is safe may encourage additional studies for its use as a treatment option for individuals with multiple sclerosis, say researchers at the Society of Interventional Radiology's 36th Annual Scientific Meeting in Chicago, Ill.

28 Mar 2011

Challenges of high-risk surgery

A small group of "high-risk" patients account for a disproportionately high number of surgery-related deaths, complications, and costs. The April issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society (IARS), commences a special series on high-risk surgery—focusing on new and emerging strategies for identifying and managing patients at high risk.

28 Mar 2011

IMRIS sells IMRISNV to University of Utah Hospital

IMRIS Inc. today announced the sale of IMRISNV to University of Utah Hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah.

28 Mar 2011

Nurse staffing levels, safety net status both factors in patient outcomes

A new study finds that higher nurse staffing levels can lead to better patient outcomes. However, the study also found this to not always be the case at safety net hospitals. Meanwhile, the Connecticut Mirror reports on hospitals' efforts to reduce readmissions. And, in other news, new research has found that patients are less likely to fill prescriptions when doctors specify brand names instead of allowing generic substitutions.

28 Mar 2011

Alpha II, PCIS Gold enter integration contract

Alpha II, a leader in healthcare coding, compliance and reimbursement, announced today a new integration contract with PCIS Gold, a provider of single-source medical group practice software. Alpha II's ClaimStaker software will enhance coding reliability, while increasing professional and institutional claim validity for PCIS Gold's customers.

28 Mar 2011

Concord Medical fourth quarter total net revenues increase 30.1% to RMB112.9 million

Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited, the operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China, today announced its unaudited consolidated financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

28 Mar 2011

Graymark Healthcare 2010 net revenues increase 30% to $22.8 million

Graymark Healthcare, Inc., the nation's second largest provider of diagnostic sleep services and an innovator in comprehensive care for obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), reported financial results for the fiscal year ended December 31, 2010.

28 Mar 2011

Hospital pricing, mergers grab headlines

In Texas, reports indicate that costs vary widely by hospital. Meanwhile, merger talks begin in Connecticut.

28 Mar 2011

Pathway Medical initiates enrollment in JETSTREAM G3 Calcium Study in peripheral artery disease

Pathway Medical Technologies, Inc., an innovator of endovascular treatments for peripheral vascular disease (PVD), today announced enrollment of the first patient in the company's JETSTREAM G3 Calcium Study, a prospective, single-arm, multi-center registry to evaluate the treatment effects of the JETSTREAM G3 System in patients with moderate to severely calcified peripheral artery disease.

28 Mar 2011

Cancer drug Gleevec may hold promise against scleroderma: Study

A drug approved to treat certain types of cancer has shown promising results in the treatment of patients with scleroderma, according to results from an open-label Phase II trial. While the drug's efficacy must be demonstrated in a Phase III trial, the gold standard for testing a drug, researchers are optimistic that Gleevec- (imatinib) could potentially be a weapon against the chronic connective tissue disease for which a treatment has remained elusive.

28 Mar 2011

Chembio develops DPP assay for rapid detection of HIV and HEP B/C

A kidney recipient in a New York City hospital recently contracted HIV from the transplanted organ, which came from a living donor, according to the New York State Department of Health. Although an initial screening had been performed on the donor, he or she apparently had unsafe sex after the test but before donating the kidney.

28 Mar 2011

First open fetal surgery to treat lung malformations performed at Texas Children's Hospital

Experts from Texas Children's Fetal Center published a study that appears in volume 46, issue 2 of the Journal of Pediatric Surgery documenting the first successful cases of open fetal surgery to treat fetal lung malformations in the Southern U.S.

28 Mar 2011

Cleveland Clinic, Elsevier to offer physicians with evidence-based clinical content

Elsevier, a world leader in health care and medical publishing and online solutions, today announced a strategic relationship between First Consult and Cleveland Clinic to provide physician-author support of content for First Consult, an evidence-based resource integrated into the clinical workflow to deliver trusted medical information at the point-of-care.

28 Mar 2011