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Medicare fee payments for outpatient care to go up 1.9 percent; payments for home health will drop

Hospital operators such as Tenet Healthcare Corp. (THC) will get higher federal payments for emergency room visits, diagnostic imaging and other outpatient services in 2012 under U.S. rules. Medicare payments for outpatient services will rise 1.9 percent to $41 billion and dialysis clinics, cancer centers and ambulatory surgery facilities also are scheduled to receive modest fee increases from the U.S. health program for the elderly and disabled under regulations issued yesterday.

3 Nov 2011

Biomoda submits new U.S. Patent application for CyPath lung cancer assay

Cancer diagnostics company Biomoda, Inc. filed an application for a new U.S. Patent that refines the use of fluorescent microscopy to increase the accuracy, sensitivity and specificity of the CyPath diagnostic assay for lung cancer.

3 Nov 2011

Affective symptoms can help diagnose early psychotic disorders

Functional psychosis can be diagnosed from the first indications of the patient, thanks to affective symptomatology. Depressive moods, hyperactivity and lack of concentration are affective symptoms that can present themselves during the first psychotic episodes, and the presence or absence of any of them may contribute to differentiating, at an early stage, between the different variations of the mental disease.

3 Nov 2011

HRM curve analysis identifies patients at risk of MH

A new DNA test may make it much simpler to identify patients at risk of malignant hyperthermia (MH)—a rare but life-threatening complication of exposure to common anesthetics reports the November issue of Anesthesia & Analgesia, official journal of the International Anesthesia Research Society.

2 Nov 2011

Articles explore clinical dilemma about children's behavioral problems

Clinicians often face the challenge of trying to make sense of conflicting reports from parents, teachers, and children about a child's behavioral problems. However, a better understanding of the source and nature of these disagreements may provide important information that could improve treatment and outcomes. A group of articles in the current issue of Journal of Child and Adolescent Psychopharmacology, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc., explores this challenging clinical dilemma.

2 Nov 2011

Diagnostic test communication failure accounts for higher proportion of malpractice awards

Because clinical evaluation often depends on diagnostic tests, diagnostic physicians have a responsibility to notify referring clinicians when test results reveal urgent or unexpected findings.

2 Nov 2011

BMI, age are important risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus

Age and body mass index (BMI) are important risk factors for gestational diabetes mellitus (GDM) particularly amongst South Asian and Black African women finds new research published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.

2 Nov 2011

New protein microarray technology could eradicate malaria

A new research technology is revealing how humans develop immunity to malaria, and could assist programs aimed at eradicating this parasitic disease.

2 Nov 2011

Interleukin Genetics commences two new PST test clinical studies in China

Interleukin Genetics, Inc. announced today that the Company has initiated two clinical studies to demonstrate the utility of its new PST genetic test in the ethnic Chinese population. The programs are being conducted in collaboration with Professor Chi-Cheng Tsai of Kaohsiung Medical University and Professor Dong Chen at Shanghai Stomatological Disease Center.

2 Nov 2011

Emotional and psychological traumas may contribute to adult IBS

The psychological and emotional traumas experienced over a lifetime--such as the death of a loved one, divorce, natural disaster, house fire or car accident, physical or mental abuse—may contribute to adult irritable bowel syndrome (IBS), according to the results of a study unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 76th Annual Scientific meeting in Washington, DC.

1 Nov 2011

Ultra-sensitive techniques for early detection of breast cancer

A team of scientists at Tufts University will develop ultra-sensitive techniques at the single-molecule and single-cell levels designed to detect breast cancer earlier, and treat it with greater precision, through a $6.6 million Innovator Award from the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program made to Tufts chemist David R. Walt, Ph.D.

1 Nov 2011

Gender not an independent predictor of mortality post-PCI

New research shows that women undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI), also known as angioplasty, exhibit more co-morbidities and cardiovascular risk factors than men. Risk-adjusted analyses have now indicated that, in the contemporary era, gender is not an independent mortality predictor following PCI according to the study now available in Catheterization and Cardiovascular Interventions, a journal published by Wiley-Blackwell on behalf of The Society for Cardiovascular Angiography and Interventions.

1 Nov 2011

NCI awards ImaginAb $2.3M grant to develop PET diagnostic imaging agents

ImaginAb, Inc. is pleased to announce that it has been awarded a total of $2.3 million in funding from the National Cancer Institute's Small Business Innovation Research program to help further develop diagnostic imaging agents for Positron Emission Tomography.

1 Nov 2011

Dementia people with stroke more likely to become disabled and not return home

New research shows people with dementia who have a stroke are more likely to become disabled and not return home compared to people who didn't have dementia at the time they had a stroke.

1 Nov 2011

ER-positive breast cancer patients with high levels of heat shock factor 1 experience poor outcomes

Whitehead Institute scientists report that patients whose estrogen receptor (ER)-positive breast cancers have high levels of the ancient cellular survival factor heat shock factor 1 (HSF1) experience poor outcomes—including increased mortality.

1 Nov 2011

iCAD, Hitachi enter distribution agreement for MRI breast cancer diagnosis and guided biopsy solution

iCAD, Inc., an industry-leading provider of advanced image analysis, workflow solutions and radiation therapies for the early identification and treatment of cancer, today announced that it has entered into a distribution agreement with Hitachi Medical Systems.

31 Oct 2011

Haemonetics second quarter net revenues increase 8% to $179.4 million

Haemonetics Corporation today reported second quarter 2012 GAAP net revenues of $179.4 million, up 8%, net income of $13.9 million, down 35%, and earnings per share of $0.54, down 36%. Excluding transformation costs and contingent consideration income, adjusted second quarter net income was $18.7 million, down 7%, and adjusted earnings per share was $0.72, down 9%. Excluding currency impacts, net revenue was up 6% in the quarter.

31 Oct 2011

Centracare chooses Merge's iConnect for image interoperability, informatics strategy

Merge Healthcare, a leading provider of enterprise imaging and interoperability solutions, today announced that Centracare Health System's St. Cloud Hospital, the largest healthcare provider in the St. Cloud, MN region, has selected Merge's iConnect VNA (vendor neutral archive) and iConnect Share for their image interoperability and informatics strategy.

31 Oct 2011

Gen-Probe receives FDA approval for APTIMA HPV assay

Gen-Probe Incorporated announced today that the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved its APTIMA HPV assay, an amplified nucleic acid test that detects high-risk strains of human papillomavirus (HPV) that are associated with cervical cancer and precancerous lesions.

31 Oct 2011

COPCP chooses eClinicalWorks comprehensive EHR solution

eClinicalWorks, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that Central Ohio Primary Care Physicians (COPCP), the second largest privately-owned primary care group in the United States, has chosen eClinicalWorks comprehensive electronic health records (EHR) solution for its 230 physicians across 44 practices.

31 Oct 2011