Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Pace of health insurance applications picks up

News outlets in Wisconsin and Minnesota report increases in applications for coverage through new online marketplaces. But baby boomers, as opposed to so-called "young invincibles," dominate sign-ups in Colorado, while in California, Democratic lawmakers worry a lookalike website set up by Republican lawmakers will lead some applicants astray.

6 Dec 2013

Medicaid signups may be affected by website glitches

The federal government has been unable to transfer full Medicaid applications to the 36 states participating in healthcare.gov, potentially leaving some who sign up for Medicaid without coverage.

5 Dec 2013

Bostrom announces acquisition of Administrative Systems

Bostrom, a leading, national association management company, today announced its acquisition of Administrative Systems, Inc., an Illinois-based association management company. As AMCI-accredited companies, both Bostrom and ASI adhere to industry best practices. The acquisition was effective December 1.

5 Dec 2013

Presence Health uses automated IVR calls to increase colorectal cancer screening rates

Presence Health, the largest Catholic health system based in Illinois, significantly increased screening rates for colorectal cancer by utilizing automated, interactive voice response calls, according to research being presented on Dec. 10 at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement's 25th Annual National Forum on Quality Improvement in Health Care.

5 Dec 2013

Ventana now offers FDA-cleared image analysis and digital read application for IHC breast markers

Ventana Medical Systems, Inc., a member of the Roche Group, received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the Companion Algorithm ER (SP1) image analysis algorithm used with the VENTANA iScan Coreo scanner running Virtuoso software. With this clearance, Ventana is now the only company in the industry offering a comprehensive portfolio of FDA-cleared image analysis algorithms and digital read applications for the five key immunohistochemistry breast markers.

5 Dec 2013

First Edition: December 5, 2013

Today's headlines include reports about how President Barack Obama is trying to connect with young adults and urge them to sign up for health coverage.

5 Dec 2013

First Databank starts publishing NADAC pricing file released by CMS

First Databank (FDB), the leading provider of clinical drug knowledge that helps improve medication-related decisions and patient outcomes, today announced it has begun publishing the National Average Drug Acquisition Cost (NADAC) pricing file recently released by The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS).

5 Dec 2013

All China Biotech Conference & Exhibition to be held in Nanjing on May, 2014

Jointly organized by Nanjing Pushlong Business Management Co., Ltd. and more than 10 national associations, the All China Biotech Conference & Exhibition (Biotech China) will be held in Nanjing on May 14-16, 2014, providing a platform for business and academic exchanges.

5 Dec 2013

Alvotech to invests $250M in the development of biosimilar monoclonal antibodies

Alvotech, a powerful new player in the field of biopharmaceuticals, today announced plans to invest $250 million in the development and manufacturing of a portfolio of biosimilar monoclonal antibodies.

5 Dec 2013

SingHealth, Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School join global network to boost healthcare research

SingHealth and Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, which form Singapore's largest academic healthcare cluster, are joining a new global research network to accelerate the discovery of treatments and cures. They will be signing a memorandum of understanding with the Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine today.

5 Dec 2013

New report analyzes growth and development of stem cell field

Elsevier, EuroStemCell, and Kyoto University's Institute for Integrated Cell-Material Sciences, today released "Stem Cell Research report: Trends and Perspectives on the Evolving International Landscape" at the World Stem Cell Summit. This new, comprehensive analysis of the growth and development of the stem cell field as a whole, closely examines the research landscape for embryonic stem cell, human embryonic stem cell and induced pluripotent stem cell.

5 Dec 2013

Long-term ECG may help patients suffering from chronic cardiac insufficiency

Patients suffering from cardiac diseases may rapidly become emergencies. Then, seconds decide about life and death. However, many cardiac diseases are announced several months before. Symptoms are simply overlooked. A long-term ECG may help. A sensor belt developed at KIT for the first time allows to document cardiac activity of a patient over a long term all around the clock for up to six months. The sensor belt is now presented by the researchers at the Medica trade fair in Düsseldorf.

5 Dec 2013

Viewpoints: Why can't health website be like Amazon?; debunking GOP's resistance to Medicaid

For an "Amazon-like" experience, it isn't enough to have a website that functions on the front end, the back end and in between. ... You also need an Amazon-like culture, which is the product of other Amazon-like realities.

5 Dec 2013

Archimedes Model simulation suggests genetic screening for breast cancer risk can reduce deaths

Archimedes Inc., a healthcare modeling and analytics company, today announced results of a simulated clinical trial which found that the seven single-nucleotide polymorphisms (7SNP) genetic test for breast cancer was most cost effective when used to guide MRI screenings for patients found to have an intermediate lifetime risk of developing the disease.

5 Dec 2013

Federal judge hears arguments on health law subsidies

Millions of people in 34 states could be denied government subsidies to help them pay for insurance if the latest lawsuit brought by the opponents of the health law is successful.

5 Dec 2013

White House advances positive messages to defend health law, urges Americans to enroll

President Obama on Tuesday embarked on the difficult task of persuading Americans to reconsider his landmark health-care law after its botched launch, imploring people to sign up as part of a major push to publicize the benefits of the Affordable Care Act. Republicans immediately lampooned the effort - coming more than three years after passage of the law and two months after its disastrous rollout - and conservative activists vowed to wage a counterassault publicizing the law's downsides (Goldfarb and Eilperin, 12/3).

5 Dec 2013

New, improved healthcare.gov gets praise, but problems persist

Administration officials lauded the website fixes and said that 750,000 users logged on Monday, but insurers continued to have concerns about the transfer of inaccurate data and automated subsidy calculations.

5 Dec 2013

1.46 million enroll in Medicaid through health law exchanges

The Obama administration said Tuesday that more than 1.46 million people have been found eligible and signed up for Medicaid or the Children's Health Insurance Program in October.

5 Dec 2013

States lead in health law insurance sign-up race

States operating their own insurance websites are leading the federal government in signing up people for health coverage. Though healthcare.gov, the federal website which serves the residents of 36 states, is working better for some, complicated cases still bewilder "navigators" -- and Texas has proposed new rules and background checks for the workers.

5 Dec 2013

BIDMC study shows carbon monoxide may have a role to play in treating cancer

In recent years, research has suggested that carbon monoxide, the highly toxic gas emitted from auto exhausts and faulty heating systems, can be used to treat certain inflammatory medical conditions. Now a study led by a research team at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) shows for the first time that carbon monoxide may also have a role to play in treating cancer.

4 Dec 2013