Running News and Research

RSS

State highlights: Calif. insurance regulatory system criticized

The two-headed beast that regulates health insurance in California is under fire. For the first time in a decade, healthcare leaders in Sacramento are publicly asking whether it's time to junk overlapping bureaucracies that police health insurers and HMOs (Helfand, 6/23).

24 Jun 2011

Up to 5M Pakistanis at risk from floods this year, U.N. says

"Up to five million people in Pakistan are at risk from floods this year, partly due to poor reconstruction and the inadequate rehabilitation of survivors who are still reeling from last year's epic deluge, the U.N. said on Wednesday," Reuters reports.

24 Jun 2011

CMS official grilled on Medicare Secondary Payer program

Politics were at work as Deborah Taylor, the chief financial officer of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, faced tough questioning during a House Energy and Commerce Subcommittee On Oversight and Investigations hearing regarding the financial controls applied to this aspect of Medicare — a generally complex and obscure part of the program.

24 Jun 2011

Health law politics cause sparks to fly among GOP presidential hopefuls

In the background, Republicans on Capitol Hill are renewing their criticisms of the health law's Independent Payment Advisory Board as a "rationing" panel. Also reverberating — how candidates are handling the GOP anti-abortion pledge, and findings from a new poll suggest Americans are leery of the Medicare plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis.

24 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: McKinsey report contentiousness; Medicare facts vs. beliefs; insurers' HSA 'strategy'

The White House routinely tries to intimidate its health-care critics, but the campaign against McKinsey & Co. is something else. The management consultants attempted to find out how U.S. business will respond to the government restructuring of 17.3% of the economy, Democrats don't like the results, and so McKinsey must pay with its reputation.

24 Jun 2011

Payroll agitation for Queensland health workers

The health workers’ unions of Queensland have rallied at Chermside to highlight the unresolved pay problems, and demand more recognition for the extra work and expertise involved in running the new payroll system.

23 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 23, 2011

In today's headlines, reports that the Department of Health and Human Services will scale back the health law's rules on patient health care appeals.

23 Jun 2011

FDA releases new tobacco warning labels that emphasize "horror factor"

The labels, which represent the first change in these warnings in 25 years, are required under a federal law that was passed in 2009 and must be displayed on cigarette packaging and advertisements by September 2012.

23 Jun 2011

Loyola to launch innovative clinic for runners

Loyola University Health System is launching an innovative new Running Clinic that will help runners avoid injury, improve their stride and boost race times.

23 Jun 2011

New surprising details about flow of neurotransmitters between brain neurons

Two studies featuring research from Weill Cornell Medical College have uncovered surprising details about the complex process that leads to the flow of neurotransmitters between brain neurons -- a dance of chemical messages so delicate that missteps often lead to neurological dysfunction.

23 Jun 2011

First audio data of naturally occurring spanking of children

In one recording, a mom spanks her 3-year-old 11 times for fighting with his sister. In another, a mom slaps her son for turning the page of a book while she reads to him. In still another, a mom spanks her 5-year-old when he refuses to clean up his room after repeated warnings to do so.

23 Jun 2011

Elavon wins Merchant Acquirer of the Year Award at Cards & Payments European Conference

At a glittering award ceremony at the Westin Grand in Frankfurt last night, Elavon, a leading global payments provider and wholly-owned subsidiary of U.S. Bancorp, was announced as winner of the Merchant Acquirer of the Year Award at the Cards & Payments Europe 2011 Conference and Awards Dinner.

22 Jun 2011

Hospice of the Red River Valley selects CellTrak mobile point-of-care application

Hospice of the Red River Valley, an independent, nonprofit hospice organization serving 29 counties across North Dakota and Minnesota, provides care to more than 250 patients each day. Based in Fargo, N.D., Hospice of the Red River Valley has successfully implemented the CellTrak mobile point-of-care application to improve the ability of its Certified Nursing Assistants (CNAs) to deliver more focused and dedicated care.

22 Jun 2011

Valencell receives $5.5M in Series B venture investment

Valencell, an innovator in mobile health and fitness technology, announced today that it has received $5.5 million in Series B venture investment. The round was led by Best Buy Capital, the investment group of Best Buy Co., Inc., with participation from Series A investors TDF and True Ventures.

20 Jun 2011

Veritract to develop 'Smart Feeding Tube' with live camera and steering mechanism

Feeding tubes are not as harmless as they seem. Every year in the U.S. over 40,000 feeding tubes are mistakenly placed into a patient's lungs, which results in an estimated 6,000 deaths. But a University of Utah startup company, Veritract Inc., hopes to end these risks by making the placement of feeding tubes much safer and faster.

20 Jun 2011

RIKEN, JASRI produce first beam of X-ray laser light

RIKEN and the Japan Synchrotron Radiation Research Institute (JASRI) have successfully produced a first beam of X-ray laser light with a wavelength of 1.2 Angstroms. This light was created using SACLA, a cutting-edge X-ray Free Electron Laser facility unveiled by RIKEN in February 2011 in Harima, Japan.

18 Jun 2011

Pawlenty aims verbal barb at Romney

On Thursday, GOP presidential hopeful Tim Pawlenty called rival Mitt Romney a "co-conspirator" in the federal health overhaul. He also repeated his call for repealing the measure, and maintained that, when he was governor, he handled health reform "the right way."

17 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 17, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about how health entitlement programs are faring in the ongoing deficit-reduction negotiations.

17 Jun 2011

GenMark prices public offering of common stock

GenMark Diagnostics, Inc., a molecular diagnostics company focused on developing and commercializing proprietary eSensor detection technology, announced today the pricing of a public offering of 7,065,600 shares of its common stock at a price to the public of $4.25 per share.

17 Jun 2011