Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Study defines complexity of underlying mutations responsible for pancreatic cancers

A large-scale study that defines the complexity of underlying mutations responsible for pancreatic cancers in more than 100 patients was published in Nature today.

26 Oct 2012

Roundup: New laws on breast screening irk some doctors; Improved school meals cut obesity; More Coloradans use ER

In a sign of the improving national economy, Medicaid spending growth this year slowed to 2 percent as enrollment in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor also slowed for the third consecutive year, according to a report released Thursday. In 2011, Medicaid spending soared by nearly 10 percent, which helped put the entitlement program in the crosshairs of politicians looking to lower the federal deficit and ease pressure on state budgets.

26 Oct 2012

Geographic variations in US diabetic foot expenditure identified

Researchers report that in the USA, Medicare spending on patients with diabetic foot disease varies significantly between different hospital referral regions.

25 Oct 2012

AHA/ASA honors UCLA Medical Center with Get With The Guidelines-Stroke award

Ronald Reagan UCLA Medical Center has received the American Heart Association/American Stroke Association's Get With The Guidelines-Stroke Gold Plus Quality Achievement Award.

25 Oct 2012

Obama administration to relax Medicare benefit rules

As part of a proposed settlement in a national class-action lawsuit, the federal government would expand benefits for skilled nursing and home health care to the chronically ill.

25 Oct 2012

Thrasos completes $35 Million financing for development of THR-184 against AKI

Thrasos Therapeutics announced that it has completed a $35 Million (U.S.) financing for the development of THR-184, its lead product candidate for the treatment of acute kidney injury (AKI).

25 Oct 2012

Obama, Romney bring health policy resumes to the presidential race

But swing state voters continue to be skeptical of the two candidates' positions and plans. The Los Angeles Times reports how Ohio voters are critical of President Barack Obama's healthcare law because they see their healthcare costs continuing to rise and also skeptical that a man as rich as Mitt Romney could understand their needs.

25 Oct 2012

Global Health Service Partnership 'could be the start of something big'

Writing in GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog, Claire Panosian Dunavan, a professor of medicine and infectious diseases at the University of California, Los Angeles, reflects on the Global Health Service Partnership, a new public-private partnership launched by Vanessa Kerry, daughter of Sen. John Kerry (D-Mass.) "to boost the education of doctors and nurses in sub-Saharan Africa."

25 Oct 2012

Meningitis outbreak spreads; Mass. revokes Compounding Center's license

The Massachusetts Board of Pharmacy has permanently revoked the license of the New England Compounding Center, the facility implicated in a nationwide outbreak of fungal meningitis, Gov. Deval Patrick announced Tuesday. ... State Director of Healthcare Safety Madeleine Biondolillo said ... investigators witnessed "black particulate matter" in some vials of medicine returned amid the nationwide recall of NECC's products.

25 Oct 2012

Study finds high internet use by caregivers of children with hydrocephalus

When faced with disease, patients and caregivers now readily turn to the Internet for information and emotional support. This is particularly true in the case of caregivers of children with hydrocephalus.

25 Oct 2012

AACN selects 7 North Carolina hospitals for nurse leadership and innovation training program

The American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) has selected seven hospitals in central North Carolina to participate in its new hospital-based nurse leadership and innovation training program.

25 Oct 2012

Feedback intervention improves hand hygiene compliance in modern hospitals

A major three-year trial led by researchers at UCL, in partnership with the Health Protection Agency, has shown that giving one-to-one feedback to healthcare workers makes them twice as likely to clean their hands or use soap.

25 Oct 2012

Focused ultrasound technology safe, effective in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's

The Focused Ultrasound Foundation today announced a new clinical trial investigating the use of focused ultrasound technology in treating patients with tremor-dominant Parkinson's disease.

25 Oct 2012

Neurophysiologic mechanism may underpin manual therapy effects

Non-thrust manual therapy may reduce chronic low-back pain by attenuating side-to-side differences in the stretch reflex amplitude of the erector spinae muscles, study findings suggest.

24 Oct 2012

Medication at end of life indicates care quality

Medication given to patients at the end of life varies according to whether they are being cared for in a hospice or hospital, and has the potential to indicate the quality of their care, suggest researchers.

24 Oct 2012

Wis. Senate candidates wrestle with health policy issues

Medicare and the health law also are emerging as flashpoints in Pennsylvania's Senate contest and various House races.

24 Oct 2012

New U-M mobile phone app for concussion patients

A new mobile phone app, the first of its kind, helps concussion patients track their activities and symptoms, and share that information with their healthcare team. The app from the University of Michigan, is called Return2Play.

24 Oct 2012

New report on overview of medical researchers' training across Europe

Fostering and improving medical research education is crucial to biomedical research and clinical patient treatment, and as such it has been identified as the main challenge in every joint European Science Foundation (ESF) - European Research Medical Councils (EMRC) strategy report. A new policy report entitled "Medical Research Education in Europe" has just been published looking at crucial factors to improve medical research education throughout Europe.

24 Oct 2012

Meningitis outbreak linked to pharmaceutical compounding has long history

News outlets report that the FDA released a list of customers - including some major hospitals - of the New England Compounding Center. But the FDA later "found technical problems" and withdrew the list, promising to repost it as soon as the data are corrected.

24 Oct 2012

Nanotechnology for Louisiana conference to be held on Nov. 9

Louisiana Tech University's College of Engineering and Science will host industry leaders from throughout the region as well as faculty and research experts from Louisiana Tech at the "Nanotechnology for Louisiana" conference, November 9 at the Louisiana Tech Shreveport Center in Shreveport.

24 Oct 2012