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Johns Hopkins patient safety expert: Unreliable "outcomes" measures hamper efforts to assure better, safer care

With a push to make hospitals and doctors more accountable for health care quality, more attention must be paid to the accuracy and reliability of measures used to evaluate caregivers, says a prominent Johns Hopkins patient safety expert.

8 Apr 2011

Results of study evaluating potential inhibitory effects of PPIs on Plavix presented at ACC 2011

Takeda Pharmaceuticals North America, Inc. announced the presentation of new study results, which evaluated the potential inhibitory effects of certain proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) on Plavix (clopidogrel bisulfate). The results showed that in healthy subjects, clopidogrel's active metabolite and inhibition of platelet function were reduced less by the co-administration of clopidogrel with dexlansoprazole or lansoprazole, rather than esomeprazole.

6 Apr 2011

NextGen partners with CalHIPSO to help primary care providers achieve Meaningful Use

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, announced today a partnership with California Health Information Partnership and Services Organizations, the regional extension center for all of California except Los Angeles and Orange County, to help primary care providers across the state achieve Meaningful Use.

22 Mar 2011

New checklists to help providers use lowest dose necessary to perform fluoroscopic procedures on children

The Image Gently campaign has developed easily accessible online teaching materials and checklists to help providers use the lowest dose necessary to perform fluoroscopic procedures on children. Physicians, medical physicists, and radiologic technologists are encouraged to visit the Image Gently Web site (www.imagegently.org) to review these important materials and factor the information into their clinical decision making.

14 Feb 2011

Aegis releases Discoverant 4.0 manufacturing intelligence software

Aegis Analytical Corp., the leading provider of Enterprise Manufacturing and Process Intelligence software, announced today the availability of Aegis Discoverant® 4.0, the latest version of its global software platform.

18 Jan 2011

New Hora de Hablar CARDIO program launched to help better manage heart health

An innovative new program, Hora de Hablar CARDIO – Creando la Atencion Real y Dialogo Inmediato en la Oficina, launched today to encourage patients and health care professionals to actively partner to help better manage heart health through more productive conversations during medical visits.

8 Dec 2010

2011 RAC Summit prepares physicians for new audit landscape

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act signed into law by President Obama this past March greatly expands the audit operations for Medicare and Medicaid programs. At the hub of these efforts are the Recovery Audit Contractors (RACs), which are fully operational for the Medicare program, and will expand to include services reimbursed by state Medicaid programs in April of 2011.

22 Nov 2010

New treatment model to incorporate systematic depression screening at primary care visits

A treatment model designed to accommodate the beliefs and concerns of Chinese immigrants appears to significantly improve the recognition and treatment of major depression in this typically underserved group

20 Nov 2010

Arthritis Foundation urges FDA to expeditiously create regulatory pathway for biosimilars

Arthritis Foundation patient advocate, Jan Wyatt, PhD, will provide oral testimony on behalf of the approximately 4 million Americans with inflammatory arthritis at a Food and Drug Administration (FDA) hearing today. The hearing will focus on issues and challenges associated with an approval pathway for biologic products that are highly similar "biosimilar" or interchangeable with FDA-licensed products.

3 Nov 2010

Study finds variations at state and national levels in children's health insurance coverage

Children's health insurance coverage still varies significantly at both the state and national levels, according to researchers at the University of Minnesota School of Public Health (SPH). In particular, researchers found gaps in coverage that vary across states by age, race/ethnicity and income.

13 Oct 2010

3M announces series of educational events to combat healthcare-associated infections

As a company on a mission to help hospitals fight healthcare-associated infections (HAIs), 3M Infection Prevention today announced a series of educational events taking place the week of September 27.

24 Sep 2010

Nationwide Health Information Network tool to convey public health information

One hundred and sixty-six years after Samuel Morse used dots and dashes to telegraph "What hath God wrought?" opening up a whole new world of communication, Indiana has become the first state in the nation to use a potentially equally revolutionary tool, the Nationwide Health Information Network, to convey public health information to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

22 Sep 2010

Switching ACS patients to Effient therapy reduces Maximum Platelet Aggregation

A study evaluating the level of platelet aggregation achieved after switching from Plavix (clopidogrel) 75 mg once-daily maintenance dosing plus aspirin to Effient(prasugrel) 10 mg once-daily maintenance dosing (MD) in patients with acute coronary syndrome (ACS) was published today in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology.

14 Sep 2010

Exercise can ease arthritis pain

People with arthritis who exercise have less pain, more energy, improved sleep, and better day-to-day function, according to the American College of Rheumatology.

16 Aug 2010

Progestins have tumor-stage specific effects that determine promotion, suppression: Study

Progestins are used in hormone replacement therapies to counteract the negative effects of estrogen on the uterus and reduce the risk of uterine cancer. However, evidence in recent studies and clinical trials has demonstrated that progestins increase the risk of breast cancer. Now, University of Missouri researchers have compared four types of progestins used in hormone replacement therapies and found significantly different outcomes on the progression of breast cancer in an animal model depending on the type of progestins used.

11 Aug 2010

Pay-for-performance program may cause inequalities among healthcare providers

Pay-for-performance is an increasingly popular approach to improving health care quality. But the planned nationwide implementation of institutional bonuses mandated under federal health care reform threatens to act as a "reverse Robin Hood," potentially causing hospitals in less-advantaged regions to lose funds to health care facilities in more affluent areas of the country, according to a study published in the academic journal PLoS Medicine.

2 Jul 2010

Patients' relationship with primary care physician improves health care quality: Study

Patients who report having a regular doctor either at a community health center or at the physician's office report receiving better quality health care, and have a better health care experience, than patients who have a regular place of care, but lack an established physician relationship. The findings are part of a study published in the May Journal of Health Care for the Poor and Underserved, and authored by Anne Beal, MD, MPH, head of the Aetna Foundation, and Susan Hernandez, MPA, formerly of The Commonwealth Fund.

19 Jun 2010

Biofeedback training on MPA decreases performance anxiety, improves performance in musicians

Traditionally, the most successful methods used to combat stage fright have been prescribed medications (beta blockers) and aerobic exercise. In the most recent issue of Biofeedback, researchers studied another technique: the effect of biofeedback training on Musical Performance Anxiety (MPA). MPA is a severe form of stage fright marked by high anxiety levels and impaired performance.

9 Jun 2010

AAPA recognizes role of PAs in transforming health care delivery with 2010 PAragon Awards

The American Academy of Physician Assistants celebrated the role of physician assistants in transforming health care delivery at its 38th Annual Physician Assistant Conference in Atlanta yesterday with its presentation of the 2010 PAragon Awards.

1 Jun 2010

Regenstrief Institute framework evaluates costs, effort and value of health internet

As the United States moves toward the goal of a secure nationwide health information network, a new study from the Regenstrief Institute provides a framework for evaluating the costs, effort and value of what is sometimes referred to as the health internet.

12 May 2010