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Study: Hospital follow up can curb readmission rate for heart patients

"Hospitals can slow the revolving door that shuttles heart failure patients back into bed within a month of going home by following up promptly to ensure patients get the right outpatient care, a study shows," USA Today reports.

6 May 2010

Experts propose policy solutions to help the U.S. prepare for increasing number of geriatric patients

Leading physician policy experts are calling for changes in medical education policy at multiple levels to ensure that doctors are prepared to treat the country's aging adult population.

6 May 2010

Whole body MRI helps physicians diagnose and treat breast cancer: Study

Whole body magnetic resonance imaging should be the imaging modality of choice for the detection of breast cancer metastases (when the cancer has spread beyond the breast) as it is highly accurate and can detect bone metastases while a patient is still asymptomatic (shows no symptoms), according to a study to be presented at the ARRS 2010 Annual Meeting in San Diego, CA.

6 May 2010

Officials investigate if use of surgical robot led to injuries

The Wall Street Journal: Injuries at a small New Hampshire hospital that uses a surgical robot have some questioning the use of such machines in the care of people. The machine, which is named after Leonardo da Vinci, has been linked to surgeries where patients have been hurt, including two with lacerated bladders and one woman who required four subsequent surgeries after errors using the machine.

6 May 2010

DexCom first-quarter product revenue up 153%

DexCom, Inc. today reported its unaudited financial results for the quarter ended March 31, 2010.

6 May 2010

Study finds medical homes help lower health care costs, maintain quality

Kaiser Health News: "Some health policy experts and clinicians have long maintained that, in the effort to reduce health care costs and improve patient outcomes, there's no place like (a medical) home. A new study in the May issue of the journal Health Affairs seems to validate that notion. Medical homes — where primary care doctors are held responsible for coordinating care for individual patients - are seen as a model for lowering costs without sacrificing quality.

6 May 2010

New research suggests tPA can act as neuroprotectant against stroke

New research on the properties of the clot-busting stroke drug tPA (tissue-type plasminogen activator) suggests that tPA can act as a neuroprotectant and may form the keystone of an adaptive response to a reduction in blood flow.

6 May 2010

Democrat endorses GOP plan on hospital price disclosure

The Hill: Rep. Gene Green, D-Texas, is endorsing two Republican plans to require hospitals disclose their prices while other Democrats are pushing a much broader bill in the House Energy and Commerce Committee. Green "hopes to bring other Democrats with him, arguing a scaled-down approach stands a better chance of becoming law than the Democratic proposal, which would apply to all healthcare providers, including hospitals, physicians, pharmacies, drug makers and insurers."

6 May 2010

New test indicates bone marrow cell therapy may benefit MS patients

A groundbreaking trial to test bone marrow stem cell therapy with a small group of patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) has been shown to have possible benefits for the treatment of the disease.

6 May 2010

Forbidding ambulance costs deter heart attack victims from calling ‘000’: National Heart Foundation

According to a new survey conducted by The National Heart Foundation, the forbidding ambulance costs are preventing timely calls to the emergency by at least one in 10 heart attack victims. The Foundation also released a discussion paper released during Heart Week urging free universal ambulance services in all states and territories. Dr Bill Coote in the paper entitled Universal Ambulance Cover has also said that this would prevent many heart attack deaths.

5 May 2010

BioTime first-quarter total revenue up 159% to $767,127

BioTime, Inc. today reported financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010 and provided an update on recent corporate developments.

5 May 2010

Viking Systems' first-quarter 2010 sales up 26%

Viking Systems, Inc. today announced financial results for its first quarter ended March 31, 2010. The Company reported a 26% increase in sales to $1,915,073 for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 and a net loss of $295,450 or ($0.01) per share.

5 May 2010

Cadence Pharmaceuticals resubmits OFIRMEV NDA

Cadence Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that it has resubmitted its New Drug Application (NDA) to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its investigational product candidate, OFIRMEV™ (acetaminophen) injection, for the treatment of pain and fever in adults and children.

5 May 2010

LightLab Imaging granted FDA clearance for C7-XR Imaging System and C7 Dragonfly Imaging Catheter

LightLab Imaging, Inc., the pioneer and leader in the development of Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) technology for vascular and other imaging applications, has received clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for the C7-XR Imaging System and companion C7 Dragonfly Imaging Catheter.

5 May 2010

Survey reveals need for educating U.S. women about stroke symptoms

Although more than 425,000 women suffer from stroke each year, 55,000 more than men, a new survey showed that women may be dramatically underestimating their risk of this medical emergency, the third leading cause of death in the United States. Only 27 percent of women who were surveyed could name more than two of the six primary stroke symptoms. Moreover, seven out of 10 women who were surveyed said they are not aware they are more likely than men to have a stroke, and were not at all or only somewhat knowledgeable about risk factors.

5 May 2010

High-altitude exposure helps detect early vascular dysfunction

High altitude medicine is a "natural research laboratory" for the study of cardiovascular physiology and pathophysiology. As such, it can shed light on conditions and diseases that mimic the low oxygen content of the atmosphere at the top of mountains. Yves Allemann, MD, FESC, Swiss Cardiovascular Center, University Hospital, Bern, and Urs Scherrer, MD, Centre Hospitalier Universitaire Vaudois, Lausanne, have assembled an international group of leading authorities to contribute to a special issue of Progress in Cardiovascular Diseases.

5 May 2010

Older men who receive pneumococcal vaccine not less likely to have heart attack, stroke: JAMA

Men 45 years or older who received pneumococcal vaccine were not less likely to have a heart attack or stroke compared to men who did not receive the vaccine, according to a study in the May 5 issue of JAMA.

5 May 2010

Researchers analyze spine surgery patients' existing comorbdities in relationship to hospital stay, costs

It is estimated that between 75 and 85 percent of all Americans will suffer from low back pain and/or neck pain at some point in their lives. An estimated 12 million Americans suffer from degenerative disc disease, with over one million patients undergoing surgery each year. The cost of treating back pain is currently estimated at more than $100 billion annually in the U.S. Many patients with back pain have comorbidities that impact spine surgery.

5 May 2010

Pre-treatment quality-of-life scores predict malignancy in patients with pancreatic disease

Quality-of-life measures used routinely to assess treatment outcomes for patients with pancreatic disease may be used to predict both malignancy and survival for those patients, according to a study by Henry Ford Hospital.

5 May 2010

Pay-for-performance may create unintended financial incentives for doctors to discriminate against obese patients

Pay-for-performance reimbursement models may create unintended financial incentives for doctors to discriminate against obese patients, measuring a patient's waist circumference may be more effective in predicting surgical outcomes than the more traditional body mass index measure, and childhood obesity doubles the risk of developing colon cancer, according to data being presented at Digestive Disease Week- 2010.

5 May 2010