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Data miners can inform drug companies of doctors' prescribing habits

The Baltimore Sun reports: "[P]harmaceutical companies that make … prescription drugs are also looking over the doctor's shoulder, keeping track of how many prescriptions for whose drugs the individual physician is writing."

25 Nov 2009

Health reform financing ideas watered down, questions remain on premiums, taxes

The New York Times reports that while the Senate health bill "includes nearly every big idea that health economists and medical researchers have for slowing cost growth — as well as for improving the patchwork quality of American health care, ... many of the ideas, like the rule on Medicare reimbursement, have been at least partly neutered. A provision to punish hospitals for infecting their patients, for example, would cut payments for the related treatments by a mere 1 percent.

25 Nov 2009

Health companies' momentum may cut right through reform savings

Health companies have done better than the rest of corporate America during the past decade, MarketWatch/Seattle Times reports. While profits at the S&P 500 companies declined slightly over 10 years, "[d]ata compiled by MarketWatch show that the 52 health-care companies in the index are about to close out the decade with average profits that nearly tripled."

25 Nov 2009

Medtronic's strong earnings reassure defibrillator industry

Medical technology company Medtronic's stocks surged 5 percent Tuesday in the wake of strong earnings reports, while rivals on implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICD) market saw similar gains in the neighborhood of 4 percent, Dow Jones/Wall Street Journal reports. ICDs monitor patient's hearts and shock them when they fall out of beat. The market for the devices was believed to be in a slowdown lately.

25 Nov 2009

Fact checks examine various health care reform claims

The Christian Science Monitor reports on four key issues - a public option, raising taxes and cutting costs, individual mandates and abortion - that may become points of major differences when expected debate begins Nov. 30 on the Senate bill. The Monitor examines how each issue is covered in both the House and the Senate bills (Chaddock, 11/24).

25 Nov 2009

Senate Health Committee likely to hold hearing on new mammogram guidelines

Roll Call reports that 22 senators have written the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee asking its leaders to hold hearings on controversial new mammogram guidelines. "The letter came less than a week after the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force recommended looser guidelines for breast cancer screenings. The task force suggested that women wait until they turn 50 to begin screening and then undergo one mammogram every two years instead of every year."

25 Nov 2009

Medical fees surprise patients, bankruptcy plagues others

High medical fees often catch patients off-guard while many plagued by medical debt file for bankruptcy.

25 Nov 2009

A two-door clinic segregates patients based on how they pay

A radiology clinic in Manhattan's Upper East Side has two doors, an example of a new, two-tiered medical practice model favored by some doctors, MSNBC reports. One door opens to a crowded waiting room while the other opens into a small private room with four chairs and little or no waiting line.

25 Nov 2009

KHN column: Don't rationalize busting the budget -- start over

In this Kaiser Health News column, Robert Laszewski writes about concerns that the reform measures being considered on Capitol Health do not slow the growth of health care costs.

25 Nov 2009

Senators push for COBRA benefit extension

CongressDaily: "Democratic senators are aiming to pass legislation to extend subsidies to help the unemployed and underemployed afford healthcare coverage before federal funding expires at the end of this year, Sen. Robert Casey Jr., D-Pa., said today. Casey said he expects the Senate to move to the bill following the healthcare bill, which could be difficult depending on how rancorous the debate becomes" (11/24).

25 Nov 2009

Swiss investor acquires Swissray International

Swissray International, Inc. a leading manufacturer of direct digital Radiography (ddR) systems, announced today that its operations have been acquired by a private Swiss Investor with a long term view towards growing Swissray's medical imaging brand. The acquisition included all assets and intellectual property, as well as contracts and inventory.

25 Nov 2009

AARP calls for Idaho's members of Congress to support real health care reform

As the debate over health care reform is expected to pick up in the Senate after Thanksgiving, notices of health care premium increases are hitting mailboxes across Idaho -- leaving many families wondering how they'll be able to afford the hikes. While high health care costs have left nearly 15% of Idaho without insurance, as benefits run out for the state's 67,300 jobless residents that number will jump in the coming months.

25 Nov 2009

Great Lakes Health Plan rated among Top 20 Medicaid health plans

Great Lakes Health Plan (GLHP), part of AmeriChoice, is rated among the nation’s Top 20 Medicaid health plans according to the 2009-10 U.S. News & World Report/National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) survey of “America’s Best Health Insurance Plans.”

25 Nov 2009

Evidence-based clinical research should not be influenced by political considerations, says ACP

The American College of Physicians (ACP), representing 129,000 internal medicine physicians and medical student members, believes that it is essential that research on the effectiveness and comparative effectiveness of different medical treatments not be influenced by political considerations.

25 Nov 2009

SBI urges Congress to exclude the USPSTF guidelines from health care legislation

Several sections of Senate health care reform legislation contain language stipulating that insurance entities such as private insurers, Medicare and Medicaid would only be required to cover services receiving a specific grade from the U.S. Preventative Services Task Force. Presently, this would exclude mammography services for women 40-49, would only require coverage of biennial (every other year) coverage for women 50-74, and exclude coverage for those 74 and older.

25 Nov 2009

Congress brings oral health into conversation to improve nation's overall health

The W.K. Kellogg Foundation commends Congress for its recognition of the urgent need to comprehensively and substantially strengthen oral health care for our most vulnerable children.

25 Nov 2009

Pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies test medicines and vaccines to treat HIV/AIDS

America's pharmaceutical research and biotechnology companies are testing 97 medicines and vaccines to treat or prevent HIV/AIDS and related conditions, according to a new report released today by the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA).

25 Nov 2009

IQWiG calls for mandatory registration and publication of all clinical trial results

Today the Institute for Quality and Efficiency in Health Care (IQWiG) is calling for registration and publication of the results of all clinical trials to be made obligatory.

25 Nov 2009

MedLink International announces its participation in Health Information Technology Extension Program

MedLink International, Inc. (OTCBB: MLKNA) announced today that it will participate in the Health Information Technology Extension Program. The extension program consists of Regional Extension Centers and a national Health Information Technology Research Center (HITRC).

25 Nov 2009

Older adults with chronic musculoskeletal pain face increase risk for falls

Older adults who reported chronic musculoskeletal pain in two or more locations, higher levels of severe pain, or pain that interfered with daily activities were more likely to experience a fall than adults who did not reports these types of pain, according to a study in the November 25 issue of JAMA.

25 Nov 2009