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Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings to raise $550 million through private placement

Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings Corp. today announced that it has commenced an offering through a private placement of $550 million aggregate principal amount of senior notes due 2016 (the “Notes”). Talecris intends to use the proceeds from the offering to repay its First and Second Lien Term Loans, repay a portion of borrowings under its Revolving Credit Facility, and to pay related fees and expenses.

13 Oct 2009

First Edition: October 13, 2009

All eyes are watching for the outcome of today's Senate Finance Committee health bill vote. Will the measure pass? How will Sen. Olympia Snowe vote? And what about that insurance industry report?

13 Oct 2009

Good Samaritan Hospital tops HealthGrade ratings for stroke treatment and joint replacement

A study issued today by HealthGrades, Inc., the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, finds that Good Samaritan Hospital is among the Top 5% in the Nation for Treatment of Stroke and Top 10% in the Nation for Joint Replacement. The nation’s nearly 5,000 nonfederal hospitals were all included in the sweeping study, which examined mortality rates and complication rates from government data from 2006, 2007 and 2008.

13 Oct 2009

Premier healthcare alliance adds seven new suppliers in its supplier diversity program

The Premier healthcare alliance today announced that seven new hospital supplier agreements have been launched in its supplier diversity program aimed at increasing the number of small, diverse and regional enterprises doing business with members of the Premier alliance.

13 Oct 2009

Patient outcomes better in highly rated hospitals than others

The largest annual study of patient outcomes at each of the nation's 5,000 nonfederal hospitals found a wide gap in quality between the nation's best hospitals and all others. According to the study, issued today by HealthGrades, the leading independent healthcare ratings organization, patients at highly rated hospitals have a 52 percent lower chance of dying compared with the U.S. hospital average, a quality chasm that has persisted for the last decade even as mortality rates, in general, have declined.

13 Oct 2009

Premier Purchasing Partners awards new agreements for blood bank analyzers

Premier Purchasing Partners, LP, today announced new agreements for blood bank analyzers, reagents, consumables and service have been awarded to Biotest Diagnostics Corporation of Rockaway, N.J.; and Johnson & Johnson Health Care Systems Inc. of Piscataway, N.J., contracting on behalf of Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. of Raritan, N.J.

13 Oct 2009

Kidney Care Partners commends CBC for supporting reforms to improve access to quality kidney care

Kidney Care Partners - an alliance of patient advocates, dialysis professionals, care providers and manufacturers working together to improve quality of care for individuals with kidney disease and kidney failure - today applauded the Congressional Black Caucus (CBC) for supporting reforms that will improve patient access and choice in receiving quality kidney care.

13 Oct 2009

New OASIS-C products to meet extensive regulatory changes mandated by CMS

Briggs, a leading provider of solutions to improve clinical outcomes and reduce operating costs in the home care market, today announced new OASIS-C products to meet extensive regulatory changes mandated by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

13 Oct 2009

President Obama to sign a healthcare reform package, according to members of Congress

At a healthcare forum hosted by Politics magazine, current and former members of Congress said they believed President Obama would sign some sort of a healthcare reform package, most likely later this year. "There would be too much political damage done if something doesn't pass, so Congress will find a way," said Congressman Michael Burgess, MD (R-TX).

13 Oct 2009

Webinar to discuss the issues surrounding disease management programs

At a time when healthcare is at the top of the national agenda, two issues have emerged as most critical to reform: reducing costs and improving care. Managing chronic illness and improving overall consumer health through personalized disease management and wellness programs are proven to be effective, but today, only those patients and health plan members who are most at risk get personalized attention.

13 Oct 2009

Health care reform should include transparency requirements for PBMs: Consumer groups

More than 30 groups representing consumer, labor and Medicare beneficiaries have joined a growing coalition urging Congress to support transparency requirements for pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) in the health care reform proposals being considered by Congress.

13 Oct 2009

Fully insured members of AvMed Health to receive coverage for H1N1 flu administration fees

AvMed Health Plans announced that it will cover H1N1 flu administration fees for all of its fully insured members. Co-pays, co-insurance and deductibles will not apply for administration of the H1N1 vaccine even if they have a benefit plan that does not include immunizations.

12 Oct 2009

Thousands of patients, workers and families threatened by proposed cutbacks

Congress is considering a measure that would drastically reduce Medicare dollars available to states for skilled nursing care. Such a move would be especially devastating to the states like Illinois where the Medicaid rates are substantially less than the actual cost of providing care.

12 Oct 2009

Free web-based e-prescribing solution for Iowa physicians

Iowa's largest integrated health care system and the nation's largest provider of electronic prescribing software today announced the launch of an initiative to convert a majority of the state's physicians from paper prescriptions -- known to be the cause of costly medical errors -- to electronic prescribing.

12 Oct 2009

Benefits of health overhaul won't be immediate

Mechanisms to make health insurance more affordable for families and low- and middle-income households won't start until 2013 if health care reform passes.

12 Oct 2009

Today's selection of opeds: Cutting health costs

Many commentators have treated the Senate Finance bill as the likely template for any final legislation because it may be more palatable to conservative Democrats, and deficit hawks, in both houses.

12 Oct 2009

Insurers change course, attack health care reform, predict huge premium increases

Insurers who backed Democratic attempts to reform the health care system in America are now attacking the Senate Finance Committee bill, saying it would cause premiums to increase.

12 Oct 2009

Horizon BCBSNJ to use NaviNet’s Web-based portal for secure information exchange with providers

NaviNet, America’s largest real-time health care communications network, and New Jersey’s largest health insurer, Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey (Horizon BCBSNJ), announced today an agreement in which Horizon BCBSNJ will use NaviNet’s multi-payer, Web-based portal as its exclusive secure information exchange with providers.

12 Oct 2009

Physician shortage worries rural communities but gets little attention in health bills

Garfield Memorial Hospital in Pomeroy, Wash., has been struggling to make ends meet for years - through patient revenues and property taxes that helped cover a $70,000 roof repair - the Seattle Times reports. Many rural hospitals face similar problems, and in the case of Pomeroy, if the hospital closed, residents would have to travel miles to find other choices.

12 Oct 2009

Navinet to outline ways in which healthcare providers can maximize reimbursement in a post-CDH world

NaviNet, America’s largest real-time healthcare communications network, announces that Timothy Mills, senior vice president, provider operations, will speak about how healthcare providers can maximize reimbursement in a post-CDH world, at the MGMA 2009 Annual Conference, held in Denver, Colorado from October 11-14, 2009.

12 Oct 2009

Medicare News and Research

Talecris Biotherapeutics Holdings to raise $550 million through private placement

First Edition: October 13, 2009

Good Samaritan Hospital tops HealthGrade ratings for stroke treatment and joint replacement

Premier healthcare alliance adds seven new suppliers in its supplier diversity program

Patient outcomes better in highly rated hospitals than others

Premier Purchasing Partners awards new agreements for blood bank analyzers

Kidney Care Partners commends CBC for supporting reforms to improve access to quality kidney care

New OASIS-C products to meet extensive regulatory changes mandated by CMS

President Obama to sign a healthcare reform package, according to members of Congress

Webinar to discuss the issues surrounding disease management programs

Health care reform should include transparency requirements for PBMs: Consumer groups

Fully insured members of AvMed Health to receive coverage for H1N1 flu administration fees

Thousands of patients, workers and families threatened by proposed cutbacks

Free web-based e-prescribing solution for Iowa physicians

Benefits of health overhaul won't be immediate

Today's selection of opeds: Cutting health costs

Insurers change course, attack health care reform, predict huge premium increases

Horizon BCBSNJ to use NaviNet’s Web-based portal for secure information exchange with providers

Physician shortage worries rural communities but gets little attention in health bills

Navinet to outline ways in which healthcare providers can maximize reimbursement in a post-CDH world

Revolutionizing Life Science: An Interview with SCIEX on ASMS, the SCIEX 7500+ System, and AI-Driven Quantitation

From Discovery Biology to ELRIG Chair

Breathing New Life into Diagnostics: Plasmion's SICRIT Technology

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