Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

First Edition: August 6, 2014

Today's headlines include reports about the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index that details how politics play a role in the nation's health care gap between red and blue states.

6 Aug 2014

Sinai Hospital’s groundbreaking program helps ER patients to manage own care

Sinai Hospital of Baltimore and HealthCare Access Maryland are piloting a groundbreaking program developed to proactively help patients, who frequently use the hospital's Emergency Department for non-urgent and chronic health conditions, better manage their own care, lead healthier lives, and in turn, save precious health-related resources.

6 Aug 2014

Mental health coaching eases depression and reduces blood sugar levels in people with diabetes

In a rural, low-income area with a high rate of diabetes, mental health coaching significantly eased depression and reduced blood sugar levels in people with diabetes, according to a pilot study being presented here today at AADE14, the American Association of Diabetes Educators Annual Meeting & Exhibition.

6 Aug 2014

Hearing problems reduce active participation of older people in various events

Vision and hearing problems reduce the active participation of older people in various events and activities. This was observed in two studies carried out by the Gerontology Research Center.

6 Aug 2014

Where new coverage is involved, there's satisfaction, but questions about whether new enrollees will go to the doctor

News outlets report on the behaviors and the satisfaction levels of people who have new insurance as a result of the health law.

6 Aug 2014

Viewpoints: Treating Ebola patients in the U.S.; Medicare costs; discouraging Medicaid enrollment

It was a commendable decision - and more unnerving than risky - for Emory University to accept into its hospital two Americans who contracted the deadly Ebola virus while doing humanitarian work in Africa.

6 Aug 2014

Tenn.-based hospital company to pay $98 million to settle improper billing claims

Community Health Systems and the federal Justice Department announced the settlement Monday. In other hospital news, Tenet says its financial outlook is improving.

6 Aug 2014

Eating beans, peas, chickpeas can increase fullness, may lead to better weight management

Eating about one serving a day of beans, peas, chickpeas or lentils can increase fullness, which may lead to better weight management and weight loss, a new study has found.

6 Aug 2014

Potential health concerns, but limited data on electronic cigarettes safety

Electronic cigarettes (ECIGs) are booming in popularity-but there's still only limited evidence on their potential health risks, or their advertised benefits in helping people to quit smoking, according to a research review in the July/August Journal of Addiction Medicine, the official journal of the American Society of Addiction Medicine.

6 Aug 2014

Laboratories at TSRI investigate antibodies to fight Ebola virus

Laboratories at The Scripps Research Institute (TSRI) are investigating antibodies to fight Ebola virus, including the three antibodies recently used to treat two American health care workers infected with the Ebola virus.

5 Aug 2014

Study suggests that cuts in Medicare prices may slow overall hospital spending

A recent study in Health Services Research based on 15 years of hospital data suggests that cuts in Medicare prices under the Affordable Care Act may slow the growth in total overall hospital spending.

5 Aug 2014

Ascendant Solutions’ subsidiary acquires Family Pharmacy

Ascendant Solutions, Inc. ("Ascendant" or the "Company") today announced that its Healthcare subsidiary, Dougherty's Holdings, has acquired Family Pharmacy ("Family"), located in Lewisville, Texas and has combined Family's operations with Dougherty's Pharmacy location at Forest Park Medical Center.

5 Aug 2014

Federal judge strikes down Alabama abortion clinic law

U.S. District Judge Myron Thompson ruled Monday that state lawmakers exceeded their authority when they passed a law last year requiring doctors at abortion clinics to have hospital admitting privileges.

5 Aug 2014

Hospitals see new revenues, stiffer fines from Obamacare

A surge in insured patients using health services has increased hospital revenues, even as Medicare stiffens penalties for facilities with high readmission rates or patients who contract infections and injuries while admitted for other reasons.

5 Aug 2014

iMedicor announces launch of cloud-based EHR software system for dentists

iMedicor, Inc. announced today, the launch of its second cloud-based software product one week following the launch of iCoreMD. iCoreDental is a fully customizable, cloud-based, Electronic Heath Record (EHR) system for dentists.

5 Aug 2014

California insurance giants create patient database

Two major insurers -- Anthem Blue Cross and Blue Shield of California -- are creating a joint health-information exchange, making the medical records of about nine million plan members available to participating doctors and hospitals.

5 Aug 2014

MD Anderson partners with HIAE to address cancer burden in Brazil

The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center has announced a partnership with Hospital Israelita Albert Einstein to pioneer multidisciplinary patient care in Brazil and advance MD Anderson's mission to eliminate cancer globally.

5 Aug 2014

Aeterna Zentaris signs strategic co-promotion services agreement with ASCEND

Aeterna Zentaris Inc. today announced a strategic co-promotion services agreement with ASCEND Therapeutics US, LLC.

5 Aug 2014

First Edition: August 5, 2014

Today's headlines include coverage of a partnership between two of California's largest insurers in which they will join forces to create a database of patient medical records.

5 Aug 2014

Team debriefings linked with good neurological survival for kids suffering from cardiac arrest

A new study found that staff members who joined structured team debriefings after emergency care for children suffering in-hospital cardiac arrests improved their CPR performance and substantially increased the rates of patients surviving with favorable neurological outcomes.

5 Aug 2014