Healthcare News

RSS

Health reform - and opposition to it - remains contentious as Nov. 2 nears

As the election approaches, Americans remain divided on the health law and GOP challengers seeking to use that to their advantage are finding mixed results. The Associated Press has a variety of coverage.

25 Oct 2010

Daschle says GOP might defund health plan, and other overhaul news

Former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle, a South Dakota Democrat, tells Kaiser Health News that a Republican strategy to defund the health law may be an effective way for the plan's opponents to unravel it.

25 Oct 2010

Vote set on contentious health law provision

Kaiser Health News staff writer Julie Appleby reports: "Regulators are set to vote Thursday on controversial rules governing how much insurers must spend on patients' medical care - a key provision of the new health overhaul law" (Appleby, 10/20).

25 Oct 2010

Diabetes and peripheral artery disease are costly; PAD may spur growth in medical device industry

Diabetes cases in the U.S. are expected to double or triple by 2050, according to a new report by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

25 Oct 2010

State Watch: N.Y. approves rate hikes; Arizona referendum on health insurance mandate; Md. insurer cuts broker fees

The Sacramento Bee: "A Sacramento federal judge has ordered the state to keep providing adult dental, podiatric and chiropractic services to poor people in underserved rural areas until it gets permission from federal health authorities to discontinue the benefits. U.S. District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. ruled Wednesday that, while the services are not mandatory under the federal Medicaid program (Medi-Cal in California), the Legislature's decision to end them last year as a cost-saving measure was unlawful without federal approval.

25 Oct 2010

Daschle on health law: Defunding is 'a serious threat'

Tom Daschle, the former Senate Majority Leader and a senior, informal, advisor to President Obama during the health debate has been writing and talking about how the law got passed.

25 Oct 2010

GE Healthcare signs definitive agreement to acquire Clarient

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company and Clarient, Inc. announced today that they have entered into a definitive agreement for GE Healthcare to acquire Clarient, a leading player in the fast-growing molecular diagnostics sector.

25 Oct 2010

72% of patients misdiagnosed with pneumonia upon readmission : Study

Patients were misdiagnosed with pneumonia at an alarming rate when they were readmitted to the hospital shortly after a previous hospitalization for the same illness, according to two Henry Ford Hospital companion studies.

25 Oct 2010

New annual campaign to prevent skin cancer

The annual "Euromelanoma Day" campaign is designed to prevent skin cancer among the general public. While there has been considerable interest, it has proved difficult to reach out to some of the at-risk groups. As such, new ways of encouraging these people to go to a dermatologist are being introduced, reveals research from the University of Gothenburg presented at the dermatologist conference in Sweden.

25 Oct 2010

State regulators recommend new health insurance rules

Insurance regulators unanimously recommended controversial rules Thursday governing how much insurers must spend on patients' medical care.

25 Oct 2010

ASD-related health care expenditures escalate in state Medicaid programs

Autism was described as early as 1940, but a marked increase in the prevalence for the broader class of autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) during the past decade highlights the demand for treatment of affected individuals. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) reported that the prevalence of ASD was one in 110 children in 2006 and increased at an average annual rate of 57% between 2002 and 2006. The rising prevalence has heightened concern about the financial impact of treating ASDs in the private and public health care systems.

25 Oct 2010

Candidates debating health law as election nears

Minnesota Gov. Tim Pawlenty (R) needled President Obama upon his planned campaign stop in the state on Saturday. Pawlenty, a potential Republican candidate to challenge Obama in 2012, leveled criticisms against the president.

25 Oct 2010

Opinions: U.S. aid for Haiti delays; U.S. Medical Education Initiative

In a Washington Examiner opinion piece, Senator Tom Coburn (R-Okla.) writes about U.S. aid to Haiti and addresses allegations that he is holding up funding The situation in Haiti is confusing, but there are some things we know. First, we know that immediately after the earthquake the United States responded quickly and compassionately with aid and relief.

25 Oct 2010

Hepatitis C from anesthetist case assumes new proportions

According to Victoria’s chief health officer yesterday, another 1,100 people would be screened for hepatitis C that could have come from contact with an infected doctor at more than one clinic.

24 Oct 2010

AlloSource receives Foothills Award from CPEx

AlloSource, one of the nation's largest non-profit providers of skin, bone and soft tissue allografts for use in surgical procedures and the world's largest processor of live cellular bone growth substitutes, today announced its receipt of the Foothills Award from Colorado Performance Excellence (CPEx), a statewide non-profit that helps organizations improve performance and achieve results.

22 Oct 2010

Quest Diagnostics reports use of prescription opiates by American workers has increased by 40%

According to the American Council for Drug Education, more than 70 percent of substance abusers hold a job, which increases their risk of work related injury to them or others. While this statistic includes abuse of both legal and illegal drugs, Quest Diagnostics, a diagnostic testing company, reported the use of prescription opiates by American workers and job applicants has increased by 40% since 2005.

From Quest Diagnostics 22 Oct 2010

UTHealth renewed as 'Center of Excellence' by NIDA

By delivering an innovative, interdisciplinary approach to drug abuse and addiction research, The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth) has been renewed as a "Center of Excellence" by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, part of the National Institutes of Health.

22 Oct 2010

Primary care-based patient navigation can reduce healthcare disparities

A new research study conducted by Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) shows that patient navigation services significantly improve biennial mammography screening rates among inner city women. The results, published online in the Journal of General Internal Medicine, indicate the importance of patient navigation in reducing health disparities in vulnerable patient populations.

22 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 22, 2010

Today's headlines detail the National Association of Insurance Commissioners vote on recommendations regarding a key provision of the health law.

22 Oct 2010

BIOCOM selects partneringONE platform for Global Life Science Partnering Conference

EBD Group, the leading partnering firm for the global life science industry, today announced that BIOCOM has selected partneringONE as the partnering platform for its inaugural Global Life Science Partnering Conference to be held February 22–24, 2011 at the Estancia Hotel and Spa in La Jolla, California. This conference is an exclusive global partnering and networking forum for senior executives and business development professionals of the life science industry.

22 Oct 2010