Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Supplies and devices may contribute to increase in average cost per patient discharge

Inpatient hospital treatment accounts for the largest proportion of health care spending in the U.S., with the use of diagnostic imaging services such as MRIs, frequently implicated as the probable cause. A new analysis finds that the biggest expense may not be imaging technology but from supplies including medical devices, such as stents and artificial joints.

15 Sep 2012

Number of uninsured Americans drops by 1.3 million

New census data shows that for the first time since 2007, the number of Americans without health insurance declined. However, high rates of poverty persisted.

14 Sep 2012

New ads, campaign appearances deepen political lines in the sand

As former President Bill Clinton concludes his two-day Florida campaign tour for President Barack Obama, he continued to hammer domestic themes including the importance of the health law and to criticize GOP statements regarding Medicare.

14 Sep 2012

Kohl, Grassley press CMS on long-delayed physician payment sunshine rule

In other hearings, Republican lawmakers pressed the IRS about the regulatory costs of the health law and criticized the requirement that all insurance plans cover birth control.

14 Sep 2012

ASN's top five recommendations to avoid wasteful and harmful medical interventions

Earlier this year, the American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the world's leading kidney organization, joined other groups in a campaign to help health care professionals and patients avoid wasteful and sometimes harmful medical interventions. A new article in the Clinical Journal of the American Society of Nephrology (CJASN) outlines the ASN's top five recommendations for the campaign and the rationale behind them.

14 Sep 2012

Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation: an interview with Dr Leon Ekchian, President and CEO of NeuroSigma

Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation (TNS) is a novel medical treatment in which mild electrical signals stimulate branches of the trigeminal nerve in order to change the activity of targeted brain regions. The trigeminal nerve is the largest cranial nerve, and provides sensation to the face and head. Because it is a large sensory nerve, the trigeminal offers a high-bandwidth pathway for electrical signals to enter the brain. The brain areas targeted by TNS are known to play key roles in seizures, mood, and attention.

14 Sep 2012

New report on paediatric intensive care units

Standards of care in children's intensive care units come under scrutiny in a new audit report published today by the University of Leeds and the University of Leicester.

14 Sep 2012

Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim announce availability of My Well Planner for adults with type 2 diabetes

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Eli Lilly and Company today announce the availability of a new online program offering customized educational content to help adults with type 2 diabetes make simple lifestyle changes to improve their health.

14 Sep 2012

Researchers regenerate axons at spinal cord injury site

In a study at the University of California, San Diego and VA San Diego Healthcare, researchers were able to regenerate "an astonishing degree" of axonal growth at the site of severe spinal cord injury in rats.

14 Sep 2012

New links between ghrelin and brain cells involved in development of alcoholism

Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute have found new links between a protein that controls our urge to eat and brain cells involved in the development of alcoholism. The discovery points to new possibilities for designing drugs to treat alcoholism and other addictions.

14 Sep 2012

Report: Risk pools extend insurance coverage now, but are 'unsustainable' as alternative to health law

The health reform law's high-risk insurance pools, one of the first pieces of the law to be enacted, are operating at a loss and prohibitively expensive - but they also provide needed coverage to a small group of people, according to a new report out Thursday.

14 Sep 2012

Longer looks: The smells to treat PTSD; Nudging healthy choices; When a disabled daughter was shunned

On an Orlando college campus, veterans and active duty soldiers suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder inhale the unmistakable smell of burning tires, rotting garbage and Middle Eastern spices as part of a virtual reality treatment for the psychological wounds of war. Participants sit in a chair wearing a head-mounted display and video goggles connected to a computer system and a scent machine that puffs out the odors, recreating their memories of war.

14 Sep 2012

Mo. lawmakers override veto of bill that would allow employers to refuse to cover abortion, contraceptive services

Missouri lawmakers voted Wednesday to override Gov. Jay Nixon's veto and allow employers to refuse to provide health insurance coverage for birth control if doing so violates their religious convictions. But almost immediately after the vote, a Kansas City firefighter and the Greater Kansas City Coalition of Labor Union Women filed a lawsuit asking a judge to throw the new law out.

14 Sep 2012

UHC recognizes 10 academic medical center members with Quality Leadership Award

UHC has recognized 10 of its principal academic medical center (AMC) members with the 2012 UHC Quality Leadership Award. The award is given to AMCs that demonstrated excellence in delivering high-quality care as measured by the UHC Quality and Accountability Study, which UHC has conducted annually since 2005.

14 Sep 2012

FDA clears Tangent Medical’s NovaCath Secure IV Catheter System

Tangent Medical, an innovator in IV therapy products, today announced it has received FDA 510(k) clearance for the NovaCath Secure IV Catheter System, a product designed to set new standards in peripheral IV catheter design, functionality and performance.

14 Sep 2012

Roundup: Portland to add flouride to city water; Fla. officials probe federal report of disabled children forced to nursing homes; Regulators find Minn. hospital violated federal patient protection laws

Over jeers and cheers from the audience, commissioners on the Portland, Ore., City Council voted Wednesday to add fluoride to the city's drinking water starting in 2014. Portland is the largest American city that doesn't add fluoride to its drinking water. But some groups have raised questions about the possible risks from fluoridation and oppose its use.

14 Sep 2012

Sun-protection counseling by medical staff ineffective

Research shows that sun-protection behaviors carried out by 9 to 16-year-old children are not significantly influenced by sun-protection counseling by pediatricians.

13 Sep 2012

Protocol adherence enhances outcomes in fast-track colorectal surgery

Outcomes following fast-track colorectal surgery are directly related to adherence to enhanced recovery after surgery protocols, shows an Italian study.

13 Sep 2012

Multiple interventions improve medication adherence for patients with chronic conditions

Although patients with chronic conditions who do not take medications as prescribed tend to have poorer health outcomes and higher health care costs than those who adhere to medication regimens, a new report sheds light on the potential for multiple interventions to improve medication adherence.

13 Sep 2012

Care New England joins five other pioneering organizations to support Conversation Project

Care New England Health System has joined with five other pioneering organizations to support a new effort by the Institute for Healthcare Improvement (IHI) to better prepare health care providers to receive and respect patients' wishes about end-of-life care.

13 Sep 2012

Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Supplies and devices may contribute to increase in average cost per patient discharge

Number of uninsured Americans drops by 1.3 million

New ads, campaign appearances deepen political lines in the sand

Kohl, Grassley press CMS on long-delayed physician payment sunshine rule

ASN's top five recommendations to avoid wasteful and harmful medical interventions

Trigeminal Nerve Stimulation: an interview with Dr Leon Ekchian, President and CEO of NeuroSigma

New report on paediatric intensive care units

Lilly, Boehringer Ingelheim announce availability of My Well Planner for adults with type 2 diabetes

Researchers regenerate axons at spinal cord injury site

New links between ghrelin and brain cells involved in development of alcoholism

Report: Risk pools extend insurance coverage now, but are 'unsustainable' as alternative to health law

Longer looks: The smells to treat PTSD; Nudging healthy choices; When a disabled daughter was shunned

Mo. lawmakers override veto of bill that would allow employers to refuse to cover abortion, contraceptive services

UHC recognizes 10 academic medical center members with Quality Leadership Award

FDA clears Tangent Medical’s NovaCath Secure IV Catheter System

Roundup: Portland to add flouride to city water; Fla. officials probe federal report of disabled children forced to nursing homes; Regulators find Minn. hospital violated federal patient protection laws

Sun-protection counseling by medical staff ineffective

Protocol adherence enhances outcomes in fast-track colorectal surgery

Multiple interventions improve medication adherence for patients with chronic conditions

Care New England joins five other pioneering organizations to support Conversation Project

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

A new method to measure intracellular water in biological systems

Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

A new method to measure intracellular water in biological systems

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