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Royal Philips Electronics introduces IntelliVue MX800 patient monitoring system

Royal Philips Electronics today introduced the IntelliVue MX800 patient monitoring system, a new dimension in patient care that provides immediate access to comprehensive patient information directly at the monitor. In addition to displaying and recording traditional data such as patient vital signs, the IntelliVue MX800 offers direct access to patient information from almost any system on a hospital's IT infrastructure.

From Philips Healthcare 8 Oct 2010

Patient personality can cause missed diagnoses of depression

Patient personality affects the accuracy of reports by friends and family members of mood history and symptoms and can cause missed diagnoses of depression, according to research published online by the journal International Psychogeriatrics.

8 Oct 2010

Opeds: Editorials weigh in on success -- or not -- of 'Obama's' health reform

Six months after the passage of health care reform, it is easy to forget how far we have come in such a short time. It will take years to make the law's most important changes.

8 Oct 2010

International scientific conference explores new approaches to prevent infectious diseases

Swine flu, cancer, bioterrorism and the latest trends in countermeasures to combat these life-threatening diseases and infections are among the topics to be discussed at the upcoming New Cells for New Vaccines V: Global Perspectives international scientific conference, on October 11-13 in Wilmington, Delaware, at the Hotel du Pont.

8 Oct 2010

Michigan judge rules individual mandate in health law is constitutional

"A U.S. judge on Thursday upheld a key part of President Barack Obama's signature healthcare law that requires Americans to obtain coverage, rejecting a challenge by a conservative interest group. The Thomas More Law Center filed a lawsuit in Michigan the day Obama signed it into law. It argued that the provision requiring Americans buy coverage by 2014 under threat of penalty was beyond Congress' authority and an unconstitutional tax" (Pelofsky, 10/7).

8 Oct 2010

Insurer funds business PAC supporting Calif. GOP insurance commissioner candidate, other health politics

A California Chamber of Commerce political action committee bankrolled in part by insurance companies is funding TV ads supporting Republican Mike Villines in his quest to become state insurance commissioner, the Los Angeles Times reports.

8 Oct 2010

AHRQ awards $1.2M grant to evaluate effectiveness of primary care transformation efforts

The Department of Health and Human Services Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality has awarded a $1.2 million grant to Michigan State University to evaluate the effectiveness of primary care transformation efforts at Priority Health and Independent Health, a New York plan.

8 Oct 2010

HHS offers waivers as firms, insurers threaten to abandon markets

The Obama administration has granted "dozens" of waivers that will allow insurers and companies - most notably McDonald's - to continue offering health benefits that do not meet new health law requirements in an effort "to stave off threats by some health insurers to abandon markets, drop out of the business altogether or refuse to sell certain policies," The New York Times reports.

8 Oct 2010

Device maker study: Hospital middlemen arrangement wastes billions

The payment arrangements of group purchasing organizations waste billions of dollars each year, according to a new study funded by the Medical Device Manufacturers Association, a trade group that represents device makers.

8 Oct 2010

Websites bridge gaps between patients and doctors and marketers

Conveying how well a therapy works and doing so in understandable terms isn't easy, but a group of physicians is trying to change that The Wall Street Journal's Health Blog reports.

8 Oct 2010

Senate Dems criticize 'excessive' Medigap price hikes; Acos examined

Top Senate Democrats on Wednesday called on the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to protect seniors in Medigap plans from excessive rate hikes.

8 Oct 2010

Filthy nursing home in Thursday Island – manager fired

The manager looking after an aged care facility in the Torres Strait Islands has been sacked after the nursing home was found filthy and unsuitable for patient care. According to Torres Strait Regional Mayor Fred Gela, the nursing home in question is Star of the Sea on Thursday Island and the incident occurred after the state of affairs was brought to notice by a nurse. He said, “The person that was responsible for the overall administration and overseeing all of that, their employment has been terminated as of Monday.”

8 Oct 2010

Mass. attorney general recommends approval of Caritas sale; Calif. will require students to get whooping cough vaccine

Attorney General Martha Coakley yesterday recommended approval of the proposed sale of Caritas Christi Health Care to a New York private equity firm, a deal that would bring for-profit health care on a large scale to a state long dominated by nonprofit hospitals.

8 Oct 2010