Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Study reveals strategies to contain acute care costs

The acute care system, which includes urgent care and retail clinics, emergency departments, hospitals, and doctors' offices, reflects the best and worst in American medicine. While acting as a safety net for the under- and uninsured, the system is also fragmented, disconnected, and costly.

4 Dec 2013

UH Rainbow receives Top Children's Hospital distinction from Leapfrog Group

University Hospitals Rainbow Babies & Children's Hospital (UH Rainbow) is one of only 13 children's hospitals in the country - and the only one in northern Ohio - to receive the Top Children's Hospital distinction from The Leapfrog Group.

4 Dec 2013

People who rely on visual identification of medications may risk poor BP control

People who identify their blood pressure medications by shape, size and color instead of by name may risk poor blood pressure control and increase their risk of hospitalization, finds a recent study in the Journal of Health Communication: International Perspectives.

4 Dec 2013

Problem transferring Medicaid enrollment data could leave some without coverage

The difficulty with sending the completed Medicaid applications from the federal website to states for final processing could leave some of the newly enrolled without coverage early next year. To circumvent the problem, administration officials agreed to let states enroll people without their full applications. But that poses potential risks for states.

4 Dec 2013

Frequent mammography screening reduces the rate of lymph node positivity

In a study of screening mammography-detected breast cancers, patients who had more frequent screening mammography had a significantly lower rate of lymph node positivity—or cancer cells in the lymph nodes—as compared to women who went longer intervals between screening mammography exams.

4 Dec 2013

Cell Therapeutics concludes agreement with GKV-SV regarding reimbursement price of PIXUVRI

Cell Therapeutics, Inc. (CTI) announced today that it concluded an agreement with the National Association of Statutory Health Insurance Funds (GKV-Spitzenverband) in Germany for PIXUVRI® (pixantrone).

4 Dec 2013

Reviews mixed for 'fixed' health care website

Some said the Monday's healthcare.gov relaunch -- marked by heavy traffic -- was "rocky" and "bumpy," but administration officials maintained the user experience was much smoother as a result of fixes.

4 Dec 2013

Scientific poster on EKF's Quo-Test and Quo-Lab POCT HbA1c analyzers to be presented at IDF 2013

EKF, announces the successful assessment of its Quo-Test and Quo-Lab point-of-care HbA1c analyzers within the College of Medicine, Swansea University.

From EKF Diagnostics 4 Dec 2013

Novartis to present updates on broad cancer portfolio at ASH and SABCS symposiums

Novartis will present updates on its broad cancer portfolio with more than 240 abstracts at the upcoming American Society of Hematology (ASH) annual meeting and CTRC-AACR San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium (SABCS).

4 Dec 2013

White House readies new health law push after website woes

President Barack Obama and the White House will launch a new three-week health law offensive to re-sell the law to Americans after woes with the federal online website to buy health coverage hurt public perception of the law. Obama himself plans on buying coverage on the federal exchange website.

4 Dec 2013

Research findings pave new ways to treat gastrointestinal disorders

For those living with gastrointestinal disorders, such as ulcers or Crohn's disease, treatment often means quelling uncomfortable symptoms through medications or dietary changes. But what if one day treatment meant doing away with the old gut for a new gut free of inflamed or diseased tissues?

4 Dec 2013

Cognitive behavioral therapy for PTSD affects underlying biology of the disorder

A new paper published in Biological Psychiatry suggests that cognitive behavioral therapy for posttraumatic stress disorder not only reduces symptoms but also affects the underlying biology of this disorder.

4 Dec 2013

Earlier signs of website problems weren't addressed

The Wall Street Journal examines how officials building the federal marketplace failed to alert others to problems they were encountering. Other reports look at the concerns about some functions on the site that still are not working properly.

4 Dec 2013

AHF commends donors for rallying to pledge financial support for Global Fund

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, today heartily praised donor countries for rallying to pledge financial support for the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB, and Malaria.

4 Dec 2013

ARN announces recipient of the RNF/ANF Research Grant Award

The Association of Rehabilitation Nurses (ARN) presents Mariam Kayle, RN MSN CCNS, with the Rehabilitation Nursing Foundation (RNF)/American Nurses Foundation (ANF) Research Grant Award.

4 Dec 2013

Feds may help offset insurers' losses on canceled policies; if website falters again, some consumers face increased risks

The White House is offering more money to insurance companies as an incentive for them to let people keep insurance policies that were to have been canceled next year. The administration floated several proposals on Monday to "help offset the loss in premium revenue and profit" that it said might occur if insurers went along with President Obama's request to reinstate canceled policies (Pear, 12/2).

4 Dec 2013

California's small business insurance exchange opens for business

Even though the federal government announced last week that it would delay the federal small business online marketplace, California's began operating on Monday for businesses with as many as 50 employees.

3 Dec 2013

Exercise may benefit older people with dementia

Exercise may benefit older people with dementia by improving their cognitive functioning and ability to carry out everyday activities, according to a new systematic review published in The Cochrane Library. However, the authors of the review did not see any clear effect of exercise on depression in older people with dementia and say that more evidence is needed to understand how exercise could reduce the burden on family caregivers and health systems.

3 Dec 2013

HyGreen, HCS-Medical partner to build strategic relationships with federal healthcare markets

HyGreen, Inc., maker of the first electronic hand hygiene reminding and recording system, announced today a partnership and distribution agreement with HCS-Medical to build strategic relationships with federal healthcare markets and distribute its HyGreen Hand Hygiene System.

3 Dec 2013

LabCorp's HCV GenoSure NS3/4 test now available for Q80K polymorphism screening

Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings announced today the immediate availability of an enhanced version of its HCV GenoSure NS3/4, a drug resistance test that screens for the Q80K polymorphism. Q80K is a naturally occurring polymorphism that develops in certain strains of HCV, making the virus less susceptible to Janssen Therapeutics' OLYSIO (simeprevir), which was recently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for the treatment of certain adult patients diagnosed with genotype 1chronic hepatitis C.

3 Dec 2013