Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Truven Health Analytics names Banner Heart among 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals

Banner Heart Hospital has been named one of the nation's 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals by Truven Health Analytics, formerly the health care business of Thomson Reuters.

5 Oct 2012

FDA licenses Quotient’s ALBAsera products

Quotient Biodiagnostics, Inc., a supplier of innovative and high-quality transfusion diagnostic products to hospitals, blood banks and other healthcare institutions, is pleased to announce that its range of ALBAsera Rare Antisera products have been licensed for sale by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

5 Oct 2012

Researchers determine nature and frequency of pain assessments in Canadian children

A multi-site study published in The Journal of Pain showed a wide range of pain intensity scores in hospitalized infants and a significant number of them were found to have moderate to severe pain during their hospital stays.

5 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 4, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with the PBS Newshour, reports: "The future of Medicaid -- the state-federal workhorse of the nation's health system that provides health coverage to the poorest and sickest Americans -- hangs in the balance on Election Day. President Barack Obama and Republican nominee Mitt Romney have vastly different approaches to the program."

4 Oct 2012

Premier, ArjoHuntleigh announce three-year contract for vascular compression therapy systems

ArjoHuntleigh announced today that it has been awarded a three-year contract with Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P., the group purchasing unit of the Premier healthcare alliance, for its vascular compression therapy systems.

4 Oct 2012

Parsing health and Medicare plans amid campaign promises

News outlets analyze the presidential candidates' proposals for tackling Medicare and Medicaid costs, as well as how these differing ideas are playing among voters.

4 Oct 2012

States ask, answer questions on health law implementation

Even as some states didn't meet the target set by the Department of Health and Human Services for submitting their "benchmark" plans regarding the health law's essential health benefits, others offered specifics about what would be covered and what plans would be their choice.

4 Oct 2012

Report: Overhaul will bring new customers, challenges to the insurers

A report released Tuesday by the health care consultant PricewaterhouseCoopers outlines how various changes put in place by the 2010 health law will change the insurance industry.

4 Oct 2012

Obama spending more cash than Romney on TV advertising, with new ad highlighting Medicaid

Meanwhile, GOP vice presidential nominee Paul Ryan, who is also seeking reelection to his congressional seat, unveils a new health care ad in his district.

4 Oct 2012

SpineSmith receives U.S. patent for VisuALIF lumbar interbody device

SpineSmith, a Celling Biosciences company, announces that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has issued US Patent 8,273,127, covering the VisuALIF, the first lumbar interbody device featuring a revolutionary open-face design.

4 Oct 2012

Structured deliberation improves neonatal decision-making process

The implementation of a structured multiprofessional medical ethical decision-making process could improve decision-making in neonatal intensive care units, show study results from the Netherlands.

3 Oct 2012

First Edition: October 3, 2012

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jordan Rau reports: "Medicare's new readmission penalties for hospitals just got a bit tougher. The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has discovered errors in its initial calculations in August. As a result, 1,422 hospitals with comparatively high readmission rates will lose slightly more money than they were expecting, according to a Kaiser Health News analysis of the revised penalties. Fifty-five hospitals will lose less than were previously told."

3 Oct 2012

Liberty University hopes to revive health law challenge

The school says its suit raises questions not answered by the Supreme Court in its June decision and is asking the high court to order an appeals court to hear the case.

3 Oct 2012

Clouds and venture capital: Both sides of health technology news

NPR reports that how cloud computing is changing the health care industry as Reuters notes that venture capital funding for health technology is getting harder to raise.

3 Oct 2012

Senate leaders working on post-election plan to avoid 'fiscal cliff'

The New York Times reports that a bipartisan group is trying to find a path to a deficit reduction deal, but Democrats and Republicans still remain far apart on details.

3 Oct 2012

Study finds Medicare may favor skilled-nursing facilities over hospice

According to findings published in the Archives of Internal Medicine, almost a third of Medicare beneficiaries use their benefits to pay for nursing home end-of-life services.

3 Oct 2012

Obama administration urges states to pursue the health law's Medicaid expansion

Even as federal officials push states to expand Medicaid programs, at least a dozen states are not ready or not willing to set up state-based health exchanges -- another aspect of the health law that is key to expanding insurance coverage.

3 Oct 2012

Washington Post buys major stake in Celtic Healthcare Inc.; Tenet plans buybacks

Post Co. said Monday it would buy a majority stake in Celtic Healthcare Inc., a closely held provider of hospice and home health care in Pennsylvania and Maryland. Terms of the deal weren't disclosed, although one analyst, Sheryl Skolnick of CRT Capital Group, said average valuations suggests the deal could have been worth at least $50 million. That is a drop in the bucket for Post Co., which has a market capitalization of $2.7 billion.

3 Oct 2012

Chloroquine begins to work against malaria

Malaria-drug monitoring over the past 30 years has shown that malaria parasites develop resistance to medicine, and the first signs of resistance to the newest drugs have just been observed. At the same time, resistance monitoring at the University of Copenhagen shows that the previously efficacious drug chloroquine is once again beginning to work against malaria. In time that will ensure cheaper treatment for the world's poor.

3 Oct 2012

Debate primer: 'A mere 15 minutes' set aside to cover lots of differences on health policies

News outlets set the scene for some of the tough health policy questions the two presidential candidates might face during tomorrow night's debate. And new ads about the health law and women's health issues have been unleashed.

3 Oct 2012