Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Lower 3rd quarter earnings for Health Net, Humana - but optimism still reigns

Woodland Hills insurer Health Net Inc. said third-quarter net income plunged 71%, but its shares rose as the company resolved a dispute with California officials over reimbursement for government health programs. Health Net disappointed investors in August when it slashed its full-year profit outlook and reported higher-than-expected medical costs. On Monday, Chief Executive Jay Gellert ... cited a wide-ranging agreement with California healthcare officials as a major step forward.

7 Nov 2012

State roundup: Ga. considers Medicaid managed care 'light' touch; AMA files Fla. 'docs and glocks' court brief

Kansas has updated its roster of disabled residents who have requested state-funded, in-home medical care and is now better equipped to provide that care more quickly and efficiently, officials in the governor's office said Monday. The waiting list was cut by more than a third, from 3,423 to 2,197 people, after a company hired by the state spent the last few months trying to reach out to those on the lists, Lt. Gov. Jeff Colyer and Aging and Disability Services Secretary Shawn Sullivan said.

7 Nov 2012

Study highlights value of specialized care in heart failure treatment

When a cardiologist attends to heart failure patients, even when the severity of illness is higher, patients have reduced rates of hospital readmissions, compared with those patients who are treated by a hospitalist, according to a trial being presented today at the American Heart Association's scientific sessions in Los Angeles.

7 Nov 2012

Young adults with high blood pressure less likely to be diagnosed during doctor visits

Adults 18-24 years old with high blood pressure were 28 percent less likely to be diagnosed during doctor visits than those 60 and older, according to findings presented at the American Heart Association's Scientific Sessions 2012.

7 Nov 2012

Lupus may carry pregnancy complication risk

US researchers report that women with systemic lupus erythematosus have a twofold higher risk for developing preeclampsia than women without an autoimmune disease.

6 Nov 2012

Traditional CV risk factors linked to peripheral artery disease

Smoking, Type 2 diabetes, hypertension, and hypercholesterolemia are significantly associated with the risk for clinically significant peripheral artery disease in men, with each additional factor doubling the risk, conclude US and Dutch researchers.

6 Nov 2012

Imaging Healthcare Specialists implements successful radiation dose reduction program

According to an article in the November issue of the Journal of the American College of Radiology, a medical imaging facility in San Diego, Imaging Healthcare Specialists, has implemented a successful radiation dose reduction program, reducing radiation exposure by up to 90 percent in some patients.

6 Nov 2012

Both candidates use abortion issue to turn out their base

NPR takes a long look at how both candidates have put abortion "front and center," while the Los Angeles Times describes how the issue is galvanizing Catholic and evangelical Protestant voters in the swing state of Ohio. And then there are the robo-calls.

6 Nov 2012

Low-dose aspirin effective at preventing serious blood clots

Low-dose aspirin is a cheap and effective way to prevent potentially deadly blood clots in the leg or the lungs in patients who have had a previous blood clot a new study shows.

6 Nov 2012

Health law implementation issues expected to loom large post-election

News outlets reported on insurance exchanges, Medicaid expansion and how the law's employer mandate may already be affecting workers' hours.

6 Nov 2012

IOM offers assessment framework for community-based wellness efforts

An Institute of Medicine committee released a report describing a framework to estimate the value of community-based, nonclinical prevention policies and wellness strategies.

6 Nov 2012

Selective blocking of HDAC11 inhibitor would act exclusively on tumor cells

Several substances inhibiting so-called HDAC enzymes have been studied in trials searching for new anti-cancer drugs in recent years. "Trials have shown that HDAC inhibitors are very effective in arresting growth of cultured cancer cells. But apart from a very rare type of lymphoma, these drugs unfortunately do not clinically affect malignant tumors," says Prof. Dr. Olaf Witt, who heads a research department at DKFZ and is pediatrician at the Center for Child and Adolescent Medicine of Heidelberg University Hospital.

6 Nov 2012

Detailing Medicare's 2013 doc pay schedules: Home health flat, primary care up

Under Medicare's 2013 payment schedule, released late last week, home health agency payments will remain flat while primary care physicians can expect up to a 7 percent boost in payments.

6 Nov 2012

UnitedHealthcare, MARS Advertising to design and open 30 MedicareStore sites across the U.S.

MARS Advertising, Inc., a leading retail marketing agency has partnered with UnitedHealthcare to design and open more than 30 MedicareStore sites across the United States in support of the company's inaugural National Medicare Education Week, which will seek to encourage beneficiaries and caregivers to learn more prior to the Medicare Open Enrollment Period.

6 Nov 2012

Tengion receives U.S. patent allowance titled ‘Isolated Renal Cells and Uses Thereof’

Tengion, Inc., a leader in regenerative medicine, today announced that the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a Notice of Allowance for U.S. Patent Application No. 12/617,721, titled "Isolated Renal Cells and Uses Thereof."

5 Nov 2012

Express Scripts reports net income of $391.4 million for third quarter 2012

Express Scripts announced 2012 third quarter net income of $391.4 million, or $0.47 per diluted share. Adjusted earnings per share, as detailed in Table 4 were $1.02 per diluted share for the third quarter.

5 Nov 2012

Affymetrix reports net loss of $17.9 million for third quarter 2012

Affymetrix, Inc., today reported its operating results for the third quarter of 2012. Total revenue for the quarter was $79.6 million, including approximately $17.6 million in revenue from eBioscience during the third quarter of 2012. This compares to total revenue of $64.0 million for the same period of 2011.

5 Nov 2012

Viewpoints: Romney, Obama offer details of their plans; The 'passionate supply-sider' who taught Paul Ryan; Medicare plan has not 'doomed GOP'

All presidential elections matter. This one matters a great deal. It matters to the senior who needs medical care but, thanks to ObamaCare, can't find a doctor who is taking new Medicare patients. ... This election is about them. It is about all of us. ... It is about the education of our children, the value of our homes, the take-home pay from our jobs, the price of the gasoline we buy, the choices we have in our health care.

5 Nov 2012

Traditional CV risk factors linked to peripheral artery disease

5 Nov 2012

AcelRx commences dosing in ARX-04 sufentanil NanoTab Phase 2 study for acute and breakthrough pain

AcelRx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a specialty pharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of innovative therapies for the treatment of acute and breakthrough pain, today announced that it has dosed the first subjects in a Phase 2, placebo-controlled, dose-finding study of its ARX-04 sufentanil NanoTab product candidate.

5 Nov 2012