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Teva acquires Théramex

Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Théramex, Merck KGaA's European-based women's health business.

5 Jan 2011

20% of patients who received implantable cardioverter-defibrillators did not meet guidelines for receipt of ICD

A study that included more than 100,000 patients who received implantable cardioverter-defibrillators (ICDs) found that about 20 percent did not meet evidence-based guidelines for receipt of an ICD, and that these patients had a significantly higher risk of in-hospital death than individuals who met criteria for receiving an ICD, according to a study in the January 5 issue of JAMA.

5 Jan 2011

HMS receives contracts to perform dependent eligibility audit services

HMS, a wholly owned subsidiary of HMS Holdings Corp., today announced that it had been awarded contracts by both the Iowa Department of Administrative Services and the Maine State Employee Health Commission to perform dependent eligibility audit services for their State Employee Health Benefit Plans.

5 Jan 2011

Alzheimer's Association applauds President Obama for signing National Alzheimer's Project Act into law

As the leading care, research and advocacy organization for Alzheimer's disease, the Alzheimer's Association® applauds President Obama for signing the National Alzheimer's Project Act(NAPA) into law. NAPA creates for the first time a coordinated national strategy to confront one of America's most feared and costly diseases, a disease that will only plague more baby boomers as they age.

5 Jan 2011

Invacare comments on FDA warning letter over bed manufacturing facility inspection

Today Invacare Corporation commented on an FDA warning letter related to an inspection of the Company's bed manufacturing facility in Sanford, Florida. The warning letter takes issue with Invacare's compliance with the FDA's Quality System Regulation, specifically related to Invacare's ability to establish and maintain adequate procedures to analyze processes and operations and to document actions taken on product complaints.

5 Jan 2011

AvMed receives NCQA's Excellent Accreditation status for commercial and Medicare products

Once again, AvMed Health Plans has received an Excellent Accreditation status from the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) for both its commercial and Medicare products, a distinction shared only by a select group of health plans in the country.

5 Jan 2011

New research finds physicians are not following standard care guidelines for OA

New research found clinicians who care for patients with osteoarthritis are likely not following standard care guidelines that are based on current medical evidence.

5 Jan 2011

Setting the date: House scheduled to vote Jan. 12 on health law repeal

House GOP leaders have scheduled for Jan. 12 a much-awaited and politically charged vote to repeal the health law. In the background, news organizations report on the positions being taken by Democrats who may have voted against the measure the first time around and how Republicans plan to explain the budget implications of this repeal effort.

5 Jan 2011

Senate Dems line up against the effort to undo the health overhaul

In the Senate, Democratic leaders pledge to block any House attempt at repeal and cite the health measure's benefits for seniors as key reason.

5 Jan 2011

Today's Opinions: GOP rerun; Finding bipartisanship; Pawlenty's legacy

You just can't close the door on this crowd. The party that brought us the worst economy since the Great Depression, that led us into Iraq and the worst foreign policy disaster in American history, that would like to take a hammer to Social Security and a chisel to Medicare, is back in control of the House of Representatives with the expressed mission of undermining all things Obama (Bob Herbert, 1/3).

4 Jan 2011

First Edition: January 4, 2011

The House GOP leadership sets Jan. 12 as the date for a vote on repealing the health law. Meanwhile, California's new health insurance commissioner takes action on health insurers' expenditures while New York's governor targets Medicaid spending.

4 Jan 2011

Clinicians rely upon analgesics and surgery; overlook exercise and weight loss for OA patients

New research found clinicians who care for patients with osteoarthritis (OA) are likely not following standard care guidelines that are based on current medical evidence. Researchers noted physicians were prescribing medications for pain and inflammation, or opting for surgical interventions rather than recommending weight loss plans or exercise programs to OA patients.

4 Jan 2011

New program may help reduce hospital readmission rates for high-risk seniors

SCAN Health Plan and Lakewood IPA have partnered with Dovetail Health in a program designed to reduce readmission rates for high-risk seniors following discharge from hospitals and skilled nursing facilities.

4 Jan 2011

Non-radiologist physicians are paid more for NDI by Medicare than radiologists

Researchers have found that Medicare payments for non-invasive medical imaging, including magnetic resonance imaging and computed tomography scans, are now higher to non-radiologists than to radiologists, according to a study in the January issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology.

4 Jan 2011

Florida public hospitals a likely target for new governor; Two people appointed to create Calif. health exchange

Florida's government-owned hospitals will be in the political cross hairs after Tuesday's inauguration of Rick Scott, once leader of the nation's largest for-profit hospital chain. The governor-elect's transition team has recommended creation of a panel to study whether government-owned hospitals -- Miami-Dade's Jackson Health System and Broward's two hospital districts among them -- are necessary (Dorschner, 1/2).

4 Jan 2011

C. difficile infection has become common among hospitalized children in the US

Hospitalized children in the United States are more frequently becoming infected with the bacteria Clostridium difficile, according to a report posted online today that will appear in the May print issue of Archives of Pediatrics & Adolescent Medicine, one of the JAMA/Archives journals.

3 Jan 2011

U.S. Physical Therapy acquires majority interest in 14 clinic physical therapy group

U.S. Physical Therapy, Inc., a leading national operator of outpatient physical therapy clinics, has acquired a majority interest in a 14 clinic physical therapy group located in the Southeast.

3 Jan 2011

Today's Opinions: End-of-life counseling; Rising costs of boomers; Controlling infections in hospitals

Death panels. Government-sponsored euthanasia. Pulling the plug on grandma. Those were just some of the blatantly false terms conservatives threw around last year to scare Congress into stripping a provision out of the health-reform bill that would have allowed Medicare to reimburse doctors for providing voluntary, end-of-life counseling to their patients. The scare tactics worked (1/2).

3 Jan 2011

Invacare completes redemption of outstanding 9¾% Senior Notes due 2015

Invacare Corporation announced today that it has completed the redemption of its outstanding 9¾% Senior Notes due 2015. In total, the Company redeemed $146,000,000 worth of the Senior Notes in the Fourth Quarter of 2010.

3 Jan 2011

Team care to help multiple chronic conditions

According to a new study patients with multiple chronic diseases like diabetes mellitus and heart disease are at higher risk of depression that can render medication ineffective. Lead researcher Dr. Wayne J. Katon and colleagues at University of Washington in the study found that patients who received care from nurses who worked with patients and physicians to manage the care for depression and diabetes and heart disease had better outcomes. The study was published in the Dec 30, 2010 issue of New England Journal of Medicine.

2 Jan 2011

Medicare News and Research

Teva acquires Théramex

20% of patients who received implantable cardioverter-defibrillators did not meet guidelines for receipt of ICD

HMS receives contracts to perform dependent eligibility audit services

Alzheimer's Association applauds President Obama for signing National Alzheimer's Project Act into law

Invacare comments on FDA warning letter over bed manufacturing facility inspection

AvMed receives NCQA's Excellent Accreditation status for commercial and Medicare products

New research finds physicians are not following standard care guidelines for OA

Setting the date: House scheduled to vote Jan. 12 on health law repeal

Senate Dems line up against the effort to undo the health overhaul

Today's Opinions: GOP rerun; Finding bipartisanship; Pawlenty's legacy

First Edition: January 4, 2011

Clinicians rely upon analgesics and surgery; overlook exercise and weight loss for OA patients

New program may help reduce hospital readmission rates for high-risk seniors

Non-radiologist physicians are paid more for NDI by Medicare than radiologists

Florida public hospitals a likely target for new governor; Two people appointed to create Calif. health exchange

C. difficile infection has become common among hospitalized children in the US

U.S. Physical Therapy acquires majority interest in 14 clinic physical therapy group

Today's Opinions: End-of-life counseling; Rising costs of boomers; Controlling infections in hospitals

Invacare completes redemption of outstanding 9¾% Senior Notes due 2015

Team care to help multiple chronic conditions

Advancing Intracellular Delivery with LumiPore®

How ELRIG Is Helping Mid-Career Scientists Navigate Leadership, Career Change and Redundancy

The role of UV-Vis in biopharma QC

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