Healthcare News

RSS

Candidates continue to clash over health care law

Candidates around the nation are increasingly focusing on what they'll do with the new health law if they're elected as clashes over the overhaul's usefulness and future continue to occur on the campaign trail.

20 Oct 2010

As state commissioners meet on medical loss ratio, insurers warn of impact

Insurers are warning that a provision in the health law that requires them to spend 80 or 85 percent of premiums they collect on actual medical costs and not administrative expenses could put them out of business.

20 Oct 2010

State Roundup: Md.'s heath info exchange; LA to cut retiree health benefits; N.Y.'s mental health building boom

The Washington Post: "A Maryland health information exchange that will allow hospitals, physicians, labs and radiology centers to share patient information within the state went live last week. Three hospitals, three radiology centers, Quest Diagnostics and the Laboratory Corp. of America are already participating in the exchange."

20 Oct 2010

Boeing to shift health costs to workers

The Wall Street Journal: Boeing will increase the costs of health insurance for its 90,000 nonunion workers next year in response to rising health costs, spurred, in part, a Boeing official said, by the federal health law. The company plans to "phase in higher employee costs for deductibles, co-payments and co-insurance during 2011.

20 Oct 2010

Agendia establishes contract with Humana for coverage of MammaPrint breast cancer recurrence test

Agendia, a world leader in molecular cancer diagnostics, announced today that it has established a contract with leading insurance provider Humana to reimburse for the company's MammaPrint test. Agendia's contract with Humana expands the coverage for MammaPrint by more than 17 million lives. In November 2009, Palmetto GBA, California's Part B Medicare administrator, established coding guidelines for MammaPrint, allowing healthcare providers from across the United States to submit claims for the test.

19 Oct 2010

Celebrity health messages play an important role in society: Study

Celebrity journalism is often considered to be without merit, discounted due to its sensational details and lack of news value. MU researchers now say that celebrity journalism may be an underappreciated way to communicate health messages. In a recent award-winning paper, Amanda Hinnant, assistant professor of magazine journalism in the University of Missouri School of Journalism, found some readers of celebrity health stories report that the stories have an impact on their own behavior and how they discuss health issues.

19 Oct 2010

Research calls for better environmental risk assessments of pharmaceuticals

The strategies used to assess the environmental risks posed by pharmaceuticals are not enough to protect natural microbial communities, reveals a researcher from the University of Gothenburg (Sweden) who is calling for better environmental risk assessments.

19 Oct 2010

ProBuild raises $275,000 for City of Hope

ProBuild Company LLC, one of the nation's largest suppliers of building materials to professional contractors, continued its commitment to further cancer and diabetes research by hosting its 2010 Charity Golf Tournament at The Omni Interlocken Resort and Hotel in Broomfield, Colo. ProBuild and its supply partners from across the Rocky Mountain Region together raised more than $275,000 for City of Hope, one of the nation's leading research and treatment centers for cancer, diabetes and other life-threatening diseases.

19 Oct 2010

U.S. patient monitoring market to reach $4 billion by 2017: iData Research

According to a new report by iData Research the leading global authority in medical device and pharmaceutical market research, the U.S. patient monitoring market is expected to reach almost $4 billion by 2017.

19 Oct 2010

Legacy joins in collective call to ban menthol in all tobacco products

As the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) weighs the evidence on the deadly impact of menthol cigarettes, three African American organizations have spoken out against a potential ban, urging the Tobacco Products Scientific Advisory Committee to consider the negative implications of a ban and to discount any unsubstantiated evidence on menthol.

19 Oct 2010

Novartis to implement Veeva CRM for global deployments

Veeva Systems announced today that Novartis Pharmaceuticals AG, a world leader in the research, development, manufacturing and marketing of products to protect and improve health and well-being, has chosen Veeva CRM® for various global deployments.

19 Oct 2010

Metcare enters definitive agreement to acquire assets of Delima's medical practice

Metropolitan Health Networks, Inc. a leading provider of healthcare services in Florida, today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary, Metcare of Florida, Inc., has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire the assets and assume certain liabilities of Selma C. Delima, M.D., P.A.

19 Oct 2010

First Edition: October 19, 2010

Today's major health policy headlines include reports about the latest developments in Virginia's court challenge against the health law, a U.S. government lawsuit targeting Michigan Blue Cross Blue Shield for anti-trust activities and a study about the Department of Health and Human Services' Hospital Compare.

19 Oct 2010

CAPG and IHA convene health care conference focusing on ACOs

The California Association of Physician Groups (CAPG) and the Integrated Healthcare Association (IHA) are convening a three day conference of health care leaders in Los Angeles, October 25-27, 2010, which provides an unprecedented opportunity for reporters covering healthcare to gain a deeper understanding of accountable care organizations (ACOs) and their implications to patients, providers, employers and our overall healthcare delivery system.

19 Oct 2010

Maria Shriver, Ann O’Leary introduce The Shriver Report for Alzheimer's patients

Guests Maria Shriver (First Lady-California) and Ann O'Leary (Berkeley Center for Health, Economic and Family Security) appeared yesterday to introduce The Shriver Report: A Woman's Nation takes on Alzheimer's on the ABC Sunday morning show This Week with Christiane Amanpour

19 Oct 2010

Health care reform will lead more people to seek cancer prevention and risk-reduction services

More people will likely seek cancer prevention and risk-reduction services as a result of health care reform, say experts at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center.

19 Oct 2010

Iraqi Cultural Center to host first-of its-kind public discussion among behavioral health specialists

On Oct 21, 2010, the Iraqi Cultural Center in Washington, D.C. will host a first-of its-kind public discussion among behavioral health specialists from Iraq and the U.S. about Iraq's increasingly effective behavioral healthcare programs and how the lessons learned in treating severe trauma there can be applied in the U.S. and elsewhere.

19 Oct 2010

Increased colorectal cancer screening in pre-Medicare population can reduce program costs

Investment in screening programs that target the pre-Medicare population, individuals aged between 50 and 64, is needed to reduce the costs of colorectal cancer in the Medicare program, according to the results of a new study, "Cost-Savings to Medicare from Increased Colorectal Cancer Screening in the Pre-Medicare Population," unveiled today at the American College of Gastroenterology's (ACG) 75th Annual Scientific meeting in San Antonio, Texas.

19 Oct 2010

MRG data finds factors that drive single-port laparoscopy market

According to Millennium Research Group (MRG), the global authority on medical technology market intelligence, a combination of increased volume from current practitioners and growth in the number of surgeons performing the technique will drive the single-port laparoscopy market to over 100% growth over the next year, and to high double-digit growth past 2011.

19 Oct 2010

getSTDtested.com introduces new payment options for preventative healthcare

Today getSTDtested.com, a leading online social health clinic, announced that consumers preferring alternative payments to credit cards for diagnostic health tests that they have ordered can now pay with cash in a simple web-to-store transaction using PayNearMe services at select convenience stores nationwide.

19 Oct 2010