Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

GlobalPost examines debate surrounding PrEP

GlobalPost's "Global Pulse" blog examines questions surrounding the use of the antiretroviral Truvada for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of HIV infection among people at high risk, as studies released and panel discussions held last week at the XIX International AIDS Conference (AIDS 2012) "raised concerns about the drug's effect on the future of the AIDS fight."

31 Jul 2012

Aetna reports net income of $457.6 million for second-quarter 2012

Aetna today announced second-quarter 2012 operating earnings of $452.0 million, or $1.31 per share, compared to the $1.35 per share reported in the second quarter of 2011.

31 Jul 2012

Harris reports revenue of $1.44 billion for fourth quarter 2012

Harris Corporation (NYSE:HRS) reported revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2012 of $1.44 billion compared with $1.52 billion in the prior-year quarter.

31 Jul 2012

Planned Medicare payment reductions trigger hospital action

Hospitals are sharpening their efforts to stop a scheduled 2 percent across-the-board cut in payments to Medicare providers. Meanwhile, GOP lawmakers may be stepping back from efforts to block the health law's birth control coverage mandate.

31 Jul 2012

Federal court blocks health law contraception coverage mandate for one business

A U.S. district judge in Colorado issued a temporary injunction Friday, blocking the Obama administration from enforcing the birth control coverage requirement on one employer based on the owner's religious beliefs. The judge issued a three-month temporary injunction, allowing for further legal review of the case brought by a small Catholic business owner.

31 Jul 2012

ProMedica enters collaborative business relationship with Cleveland Clinic

ProMedica has entered into a collaborative business relationship with Cleveland Clinic as part of a national Innovation Alliance network to help commercialize medical innovations.

31 Jul 2012

Conn. nursing home strike may be hurting care; Judge rules nursing home operator violated federal law

The CT Mirror reports workers are protesting cuts to their benefits, but some say care is suffering because of the strike.

31 Jul 2012

National Marfan Foundation’s annual conference to be held in Chicago

The National Marfan Foundation is gearing up for its 28th Annual conference, held at Northwestern Memorial Hospital in Chicago, August 2-5. Hosted by Northwestern Medicine- and the Ann and Robert H. Lurie Children's Hospital of Chicago, the four-day conference has something for everyone with Marfan syndrome (MFS) and related disorders, including access to many of the top MFS experts in the world.

31 Jul 2012

ATP1A3 gene mutations responsible for alternating hemiplegia of childhood

Alternating hemiplegia of childhood (AHC) is a rare disorder that usually begins in infancy, with intermittent episodes of paralysis and stiffness, first affecting one side of the body, then the other. Symptoms mysteriously appear and disappear, again and again, and affected children often experience dozens of episodes per week. As they get older, children fall progressively behind their peers in both intellectual abilities and motor skills, and more than half develop epilepsy.

31 Jul 2012

Infant whooping cough concern

The ongoing increase in whooping cough cases has extended to very young babies, reports the Health Protection Agency, prompting further efforts to step up the immunisation programme.

30 Jul 2012

Screening checks in adolescents with hypertension diverge from guidelines

Guideline-recommended diagnostic tests for hypertension complications, such as echocardiograms and renal ultrasonography, are being poorly used in adolescents, a study suggests.

30 Jul 2012

Healthcare-associated pneumonia management could be improved

Although healthcare-associated pneumonia is common among patients treated in internal medicine departments and linked to poor outcomes, rates of testing and adherence to therapeutic guidelines are low, say Spanish investigators.

30 Jul 2012

Bathroom scale performs electrocardiograms

The Instrumentation, Sensors and Interfaces (ISI) Group has developed an intuitive and cost-effective scale, which, as well as measuring weight, also records the electrical activity of the heart from foot and hand contact. The device demonstrates the usefulness of telemedicine, which is particularly appropriate for people who need frequent heart checkups.

30 Jul 2012

Encore Health Resources on list of Best Places to Work in Healthcare

For the third time since its founding just over three years ago, Encore Health Resources has won a place on Modern Healthcare Magazine's prestigious list of the Best Places to Work in Healthcare. Encore, a recognized leader in advanced information technology consulting services and solutions for the Healthcare Industry, earned the award based on survey feedback from its employees nationwide.

30 Jul 2012

GenomeQuest's genomic decision support system achieves HIPAA compliance

GenomeQuest Inc., a global provider of large-scale genomic software applications, today announced that its GQ-Dx genomic decision support system for the production of clinical-grade diagnostic reports from next-generation sequencing (NGS) runs now meets Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) security and privacy standards.

30 Jul 2012

Roper enters into definitive agreement to acquire Sunquest Information Systems

Roper Industries, Inc. today announced that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Sunquest Information Systems, Inc., the leading provider of diagnostic and laboratory software solutions to healthcare providers, in an all cash transaction valued at $1.415 billion, including $25 million in cash tax benefits.

30 Jul 2012

Nurse burnout leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates

Nurse burnout leads to higher healthcare-associated infection rates (HAIs) and costs hospitals millions of additional dollars annually, according to a study published in the August issue of the American Journal of Infection Control, the official publication of the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC).

30 Jul 2012

Osiris second quarter biosurgery product revenue increases 43% from previous quarter

Osiris Therapeutics, Inc., the leading stem cell company focused on developing and marketing products to treat medical conditions in inflammatory, cardiovascular, orthopedic and wound healing markets, announced today its results for the second quarter ended June 30, 2012.

30 Jul 2012

Positive results from Vermillion OVA500 multi-center study for ovarian cancer

Vermillion, Inc., a leading molecular diagnostics company, today announced positive results from a new prospective, multi-center clinical study of its ovarian cancer diagnostic OVA1.

30 Jul 2012

FDA clears Proteus ingestible sensor

Proteus Digital Health, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has cleared its ingestible sensor for marketing as a medical device. The ingestible sensor (formally referred to as the Ingestion Event Marker or IEM) is part of the Proteus digital health feedback system, an integrated, end-to-end personal health management system that is designed to help improve patients' health habits and connections to caregivers.

30 Jul 2012