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Aware to introduce its new AccuRad ImageShare Platform at the 2009 RSNA meeting

Aware, Inc., a global provider of imaging and biometrics software, today announced it will showcase its new AccuRad ImageShare Platform, a standards-based cross-enterprise image sharing platform for health information exchange (HIE), at the RSNA 2009 Scientific Assembly and Annual Meeting.

19 Nov 2009

Reid tries to balance many interests in Senate health bill

Kaiser Health News staff writers Mary Agnes Carey and Phil Galewitz write about last night's big news. "In one of the most anticipated events in the health reform debate, Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., tonight released the bill expected to go to the Senate floor. Reid added new taxes and modified major provisions of health bills passed by two Senate panels in his quest to meet President Barack Obama's target of health legislation that would cost less than $900 billion and win 60 votes in the Senate" (11/18).

19 Nov 2009

CBO: Senate health bill would reduce deficit $130 billion over a decade

Democratic leaders were jubilant that the nonpartisan Congressional Budget Office determined that the Senate bill would cut federal deficits by $130 billion over the next decade. That projection, released shortly before midnight Wednesday, represents the biggest cost savings of any legislation to come before the House or Senate this year, but the measure's effective date also was pushed back by one year, to 2014.

19 Nov 2009

Insurers say they won't alter mammogram coverage despite new guidelines

Insurance companies say mammogram coverage is unlikely to change despite the debate over the effectiveness of breast cancer screenings for women in their forties.

19 Nov 2009

Daschle still making voice heard on health care

The Hill reports that former Senate Majority Leader Tom Daschle helped Obama Administration officials strategize to win health care reform votes from Senators on Capitol Hill Wednesday.

19 Nov 2009

A look at how key provisions compare in the House and Senate bills

The New York Times reports that "the health care proposals from the House and the Senate are broadly similar but differ on some major issues." It reports on five issues - the public plan, employer contribution, abortion, illegal immigrants and financing - and puts differences in bold type (11/19).

19 Nov 2009

A selection of today's opinions and editorials

Everyone has been trying to come up with a good nickname for the 10 years we're concluding next month. Terror Era really sounds like too much of a downer. How about the Decade of Medical Backtracking? Somewhere between the reports that Pap smears and tests for prostate cancer aren't all they were cracked up to be and the news that a high fiber diet doesn't do anything to prevent cancer, the health establishment began looking decidedly nonomniscient. Then this week, a federal task force reported that most women don't need annual mammograms (Gail Collins, 11/18).

19 Nov 2009

Senate bill draws immediate reactions from GOP, interest groups

Republicans quickly rebuked Senate Democrats' health overhaul bill after its release last night, Roll Call reports. They said it would result in higher insurance premiums, tax hikes, and Medicare cuts, and complained that it was drafted behind closed doors, and that they have not yet had a chance to read it.

19 Nov 2009

Democrats' continue efforts to win over moderates

Wavering moderates, including Sens. Mary Landrieu, D-La., Blanche Lincoln, D-Ark., Ben Nelson, D-Neb., and Joe Lieberman, I-Conn., control the key votes needed to bring the health overhaul bill to the Senate floor, so securing their agreement to go forward has become a priority for the Democratic leadership.

19 Nov 2009

Senate leaders consider timeline for health bill votes

Roll Call reports: "Senators may keep slogging through debate on their health care overhaul until the day before Thanksgiving, according to an adjournment resolution the House approved Wednesday. That measure provided for the Senate to adjourn Friday — or next Wednesday. The House is set to break on Thursday or Friday of this week." The Senate must first vote on a motion to proceed - to move the bill to the floor (Newmyer, 11/18).

19 Nov 2009

Kansas pilot program to use electronic medical records to coordinate care

A health information technology project "may revolutionize how health care is managed" by using medical records to coordinate patients' records.

19 Nov 2009

White House backing Medicare 'doc fix' bill

Reuters reports that the White House Wednesday "urged Congress to pass a bill to boost Medicare payments to doctors, a step that could shore up support" from the American Medical Association for health care reform.

19 Nov 2009

Lawmakers call for inquiry into pharmaceutical company price hikes

Congressional Democrats are seeking government investigations into recent price increases of brand-name prescription drugs, as Congress finalizes an overhaul of the healthcare system. Lawmakers are concerned the companies are trying to reap gains ahead of reforms aimed at lowering drug prices and forcing drugmakers to partly fund changes that aim to boost the number of Americans covered by health insurance.

19 Nov 2009

Dicom Systems' latest API improves the Teleradiology network experience for healthcare professionals

Dicom Systems, consolidating their reputation for continued and groundbreaking innovation, are preparing to launch the latest addition to their DCMSYS family: API for Advanced Statistical reports and graphs, and for monitoring.

19 Nov 2009

VCU-RAA treatment protocol nearly doubles pre-hospital cardiac arrest resuscitation and survival rates

ZOLL Medical Corporation announced today that in a “Best Original Resuscitation Science” presentation at the American Heart Association’s Resuscitation Science Symposium (ReSS) in Orlando Florida, Joseph P. Ornato, M.D., and Mary Ann Peberdy, M. D., reported nearly doubling the resuscitation and survival rates from out-of-hospital cardiac arrest due to a comprehensive treatment protocol established between Virginia Commonwealth University Medical Center (VCU) and the Richmond Ambulance Authority (RAA).

19 Nov 2009

Medtronic introduces imaging and visualization service for endovascular specialists

Continuing to drive innovation in endovascular aortic repair (EVAR), Medtronic, Inc., today announced the introduction of an imaging and visualization service for endovascular specialists who use the company’s market-leading portfolio of stent grafts to treat aortic aneurysms. Aortic aneurysms affect more than one million people in the United States alone and can rupture with fatal consequences if left untreated.

19 Nov 2009

The Community Hospice sets up social community site to raise awareness on hospice care

The Community Hospice, one of the largest and most established hospice organizations in the nation, will premiere its online "Quality of Life, Not End of Life" program on December 10 at Noon ET. The goal is to raise awareness of the many benefits of hospice care for both patients and their family members.

19 Nov 2009