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Obama to issue order to address medicine shortages

President Obama will issue an executive order on Monday that the administration hopes will help resolve a growing number of critical shortages of vital medicines used to treat life-threatening illnesses.

31 Oct 2011

Insurers look for opportunities for expansion

Big players such as Aetna and Cigna are snapping up smaller companies in an effort to keep earnings figures up.

31 Oct 2011

Medicare costs rise as hospice use increases

The Orlando Sentinel reports that this increase tracks with other increases in costs from for-profit hospice organizations.

31 Oct 2011

Nursing home residence may allow for 'on-admission' prediction model of C. difficile infection severity

Antibiotics may not be the only risk factor associated with community-acquired Clostridium difficile infection, indicating that other undefined causes of the potentially life-threatening infection may exist and could also predict whether or not a patient will require hospitalization, according to the results of the study, "Predictors of Hospitalization in Community-Acquired Clostridium difficile Infection."

31 Oct 2011

Focused training increases physician's ability to find potentially precancerous polyps

Just two extra hours of focused training significantly increased the ability of physicians to find potentially precancerous polyps, known as adenomas, in the colon, according to researchers at Mayo Clinic in Florida. These findings suggest that new methods to educate endoscopists, the physicians who examine the colon, could increase colorectal cancer detection rates and potentially reduce cancer deaths.

31 Oct 2011

Observer bias increases likelihood of GERD diagnosis

Patients who complain of upper gastrointestinal (GI) symptoms often face a diagnosis of either gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD) or functional dyspepsia. Because the two conditions often overlap, it can be difficult to distinguish between them and diagnose them properly. Yet ambulatory care facilities and hospitals have reported a dramatic increase in the number of GERD-related visits/discharges in recent years.

31 Oct 2011

Health insurers defend rate increases

In Maine and New Hampshire, insurance companies are challenging state regulation of rates.

31 Oct 2011

Political cartoon: 'Great Pumpkin'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh perspective on health policy developments with "Great Pumpkin" by Lisa Benson.

31 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 31, 2011

In today's headlines, news reports about a key medical group's take on accountable care organizations and how a "merger wave" is hitting the health care sector.

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

WageWorks launches EZ Receipts to manage healthcare, dependent care spending accounts

WageWorks, Inc., a leading on-demand provider of tax-advantaged programs for consumer-directed health, commuter and other employee spending account benefits, is pleased to announce the launch of its new EZ Receipts mobile application for use by WageWorks' participants on their smartphones and other mobile devices.

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

PPRT publishes study that evaluates pharmacist provision of clozapine

According to a study which evaluated alternative models for the delivery of clozapine services, published by the Pharmacy Practice Research Trust (PPRT), there is scope to review the team configurations needed to deliver community services in a cost-effective manner and to provide opportunities for improving the services provided to patients.

31 Oct 2011

Toshiba’s Infinix DP-i cardiovascular X-ray system to be used in eight live cases

Enabling clinicians to seamlessly transition between cardiac and peripheral intervention during a single procedure, Infinix DP-i cardiovascular X-ray system from Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. will be used in eight live cases at Peripheral Angioplasty and All That Jazz conference, Oct. 31 - Nov. 2, 2011, New Orleans.

31 Oct 2011

EarlySense to launch contact-free patient monitoring system in Europe

EarlySense announced today that the Company will launch its contact-free patient monitoring system in Europe at MEDICA in Duesseldorf, November 16 - 20, 2011.

31 Oct 2011

NALC's national bowling event to raise money for Muscular Dystrophy Association

Thousands of members of the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC), an organization affiliated with the AFL-CIO, will head for scores of local bowling centers across the nation on Sunday, Nov. 6.

31 Oct 2011

Study: New verbal autopsy methods are fast, effective and inexpensive

New research by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington shows that innovative and improved methods for analyzing verbal autopsies - a method of determining individuals' causes of death in countries without a complete vital registration system - are fast, effective, and inexpensive, and could be invaluable for countries struggling to understand disease trends.

31 Oct 2011

EBD Group launches partnering360 for life science professionals

EBD Group, the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry, today announced the launch of partnering360, an online network of professionals in the life science industry. partnering360 provides members with a personalized network to the people, the events and the information necessary for partnering success.

31 Oct 2011

Study looks at the strain of military deployment on adolescent boys and girls

Adolescent boys with at least one parent in the military are at elevated risk of engaging in school-based physical fighting, carrying a weapon and joining a gang, according to research presented today at the American Public Health Association's 139th Annual Meeting in Washington, D.C.

31 Oct 2011

Weighing the cost and benefits of screenings and MRIs

The New York Times offers two stories examining medical advances for determining disease and injuries and whether that has improved health or just increased health costs.

31 Oct 2011