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Biomaterial gel for treating spinal cord injury

Research led by a scientist at the Barrow Neurological Institute at St. Joseph's Hospital and Medical Center has shown injecting biomaterial gel into a spinal cord injury site provides significantly improved healing.

18 Sep 2009

Plans could change how Medicare pays doctors, hospitals

Sen. Max Baucus' health proposal includes achieving cost savings, in part, by reconfiguring the way doctors and hospitals are paid for their services, The Wall Street Journal reports.

18 Sep 2009

Foundation launches public service campaign

The Word-OUT! Awareness Foundation, a member of the Congressional District Program 501(c)(3)-509(a)(1), will launch the third year of its You Gotta Wash Your Hands! A Public Service Campaign, on September 21, 2009. The press conference will start promptly at 1:30 p.m. and take place on the lawn of The Philadelphia High School For Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA), located at Broad and Christian Streets.

18 Sep 2009

Health policy research roundup

Implementation Choices for the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009 - This report examines two key areas of the implementation process of the Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act (CHIPRA) of 2009 - outreach and enrollment, and quality of care - and issues a set of recommendations. "Recommendations include: giving funding priority to states that will adopt or maintain key simplifications… ensuring quality measures focus on priority health needs for children, and building quality measurement and improvement capabilities into electronic health information systems, among others," according to a Commonwealth Fund description of the report (Simpson, Fairbrother, Touschner and Guyer, 9/10).

18 Sep 2009

Baylor Health Care System receives national recognition for the second consecutive year

For the second consecutive year, Baylor Health Care System has been named among the 100 best places to work in healthcare by Modern Healthcare magazine.

17 Sep 2009

UCSF chooses Think First to support revenue cycle performance

Think First, a premier provider of revenue cycle services, has been chosen by the University of California San Francisco (UCSF) Medical Group to support their efforts to improve revenue cycle performance.

17 Sep 2009

Medicare to create pilot program for medical home model

Medicare will create a pilot program for a "medical home" model. The Wall Street Journal reports: "The Obama administration said Medicare will help fund state pilot projects that use primary-care doctors and teams of coordinators to manage patient care and reduce costs. Under the 'medical home' model, pioneered in Vermont and several other states, physicians are paid more for coordinating care for their patients.

17 Sep 2009

Interim data from GORE PROPATEN Vascular Graft studies presented at the 2009 vascular meeting

W. L. Gore & Associates (Gore) today announced that several physicians recently presented interim data from ongoing GORE PROPATEN® Vascular Graft studies to clinical audiences at the 2009 annual vascular meeting. The conference, the premier event hosted by the Society for Vascular Surgery (SVS), was held in mid-June in Denver, Colorado. One physician reported primary patency rates as high as 100 percent for below-knee bypasses.

17 Sep 2009

InterMune and National Jewish Health to collaborate in the research of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

InterMune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ITMN) today announced that it will be collaborating with National Jewish Health(R)( )investigators in order to help further the research of inherited genetic factors that may play a role in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). InterMune will provide researchers at National Jewish with access to DNA collected from patients who participated in the Company's Phase 3 clinical trials in IPF for both pirfenidone (CAPACITY trials) and Actimmune(R) (interferon gamma-1b) (INSPIRE).

17 Sep 2009

Fourth-quarter and fiscal year end 2009 results announced by Pioneer Behavioral Health

PHC, Inc., d/b/a Pioneer Behavioral Health (NYSE Amex: PHC), a leading provider of inpatient and outpatient behavioral health services, reported financial results for the company's fourth fiscal quarter and year ended June 30, 2009. The results exclude the operations of the company`s research division, Pivotal Research Centers, Inc. ("Pivotal"), which was sold during the 2009 third fiscal quarter and was classified as a discontinued operation.

17 Sep 2009

Study reveals that YAP can be used for the diagnosis of gastric carcinoma

A research team led by Professor Yan Xin, from The Fourth Laboratory of Cancer Institute in China measured the expression of YAP and survivin in normal gastric mucosa, precancerous lesions and gastric carcinoma using an immunohistochemical method to analyze the significance and correlations of the 2 factors with gastric carcinogenesis.

17 Sep 2009

CEO Cancer Gold Standard accreditation for Meridian Health

Meridian Health has received CEO Cancer Gold Standard™ accreditation, recognizing the organization’s commitment to taking concrete actions to reduce the cancer risk of its employees and their families through screenings, early detection, and healthy changes in lifestyle and in the workplace.

17 Sep 2009

Study to determine the outcomes and complications of ERCP in a community practice to appear in GIE journal

A new study from researchers in Minnesota found that endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP) performed in a community hospital setting results in complication rates that compare favorably with those of academic centers while achieving technical success at or above the performance levels recommended by the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy (ASGE)/American College of Gastroenterology (ACG) Task Force.

17 Sep 2009

Educational initiative proves successful in identifying and diagnosing fibromyalgia

According to The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, the Fibromyalgia Circle of Care Initiative has achieved dramatic success in heightening awareness, diagnosis and best practice treatment of fibromyalgia – a complex and chronic pain disorder that plagues an estimated 10 million Americans.

17 Sep 2009

Cancer patients struggles with huge drug costs

Canada's patchwork system of drug coverage is leading to financial hardship for many cancer patients, says a Canadian Cancer Society report released today.

17 Sep 2009

Hypatia Research on the benefits of electronic health records systems

Hypatia Research, LLC today released a report entitled "What Healthcare CIOs Need to Know About ARRA & EHR: Healthcare Technology Solutions & Service Providers" outlining current developments, major adoption challenges, business case justification and an assessment of more than 30 EHR vendors that meet government standards for certification and funding programs.

17 Sep 2009

New CCHI for quality medical care

A solution to help healthcare practitioners and limited English proficient (LEP) speaking patients focus directly on quality healthcare rather than an inability to communicate with each other is now at hand. A new organization is now working to assure competency in language interactions in healthcare settings -- the Certification Commission for Healthcare Interpreters (CCHI).

17 Sep 2009

We are happy with SEIU-UHW: San Francisco home care workers

Home care workers demanded today that an organization created by former union officials acknowledge that it failed in its attempt to force a new union election. The San Francisco workers say they overwhelmingly want to stay with their current union, Service Employees International Union, United Healthcare Workers West (SEIU-UHW).

17 Sep 2009

Secretary Sebelius' new initiative to improve health care delivery

Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, along with Vermont Governor Jim Douglas and Director of the White House Office of Health Reform Nancy-Ann DeParle today announced an initiative that will allow Medicare to join Medicaid, and private insurers in state-based efforts to improve the way health care is delivered.

17 Sep 2009

Laerdal Medical redeveloping its Emergency Preparedness Scenarios simulation packages

Laerdal Medical, in conjunction with The University of Miami's Gordon Center for Research in Medical Education, is in the final stages of re-developing the Emergency Preparedness Scenarios - Terrorism package to function on Laerdal's VitalSim-capable Simulators.

From Laerdal 17 Sep 2009