Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Health Canada announces labelling update for Cipralex

Health Canada is informing Canadians of a labelling update for the prescription drug Cipralex (the brand name of the drug escitalopram) regarding a dose-related risk of abnormal heart rhythms. Cipralex is used to treat depression and belongs to a family of drugs known as Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs).

7 May 2012

Low weight gain reported among women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy

In one of the largest studies of its kind, clinicians and researchers with Carolinas HealthCare System found that nearly 25% of women with nausea and vomiting of pregnancy (NVP) reported weight gain below recommended levels for their pre-pregnancy body mass index (PPBMI).

7 May 2012

Comprehensive mobile stroke ambulance

NeuroLogica Corporation and German based MEYTEC GmbH announced today the development of the world's first comprehensive mobile stroke ambulance. Stroke-Emergency-Mobile, VIMED STEMO, combines MEYTEC's cutting-edge telemedicine solutions with NeuroLogica's state of the art portable CT scanner, CereTom.

7 May 2012

House GOP budget cuts social programs – including Medicaid -- to stave off Pentagon cuts

As Congress returns after a weeklong recess, House Republicans will advance legislation to trim almost $380 billion from the federal budget, with social programs bearing the brunt of the cuts.

7 May 2012

Attitude and personal behavior control affect children's snacking

Attitudes, relationships, intentions and personal behavior control are all factors that could affect a child's decision in either reaching for an apple or grabbing a bag of chips, according to a new study out of the University of Cincinnati.

7 May 2012

Claraview reports successful deployment of Enterprise Data Integrity solution for Affinity Health Plan

Claraview, a division of Teradata, a strategy and technology consultancy focused exclusively on business intelligence (BI) and analytic solutions, announced today the successful deployment of the Enterprise Data Integrity (EDI) solution for Affinity Health Plan.

7 May 2012

Emdeon expands healthcare payment integrity solutions with TC3 acquisition

Emdeon Inc., a leading provider of healthcare revenue and payment cycle management and clinical information exchange solutions, today announced its acquisition of TC3Health, Inc. The acquisition of TC3 expands Emdeon's already robust Payment Integrity solutions for healthcare payers to include new claims analytics tools from pre-adjudication through post-payment, as well as access to a broad out-of-network claims cost management solution.

7 May 2012

Obama, Romney and their supporters debate government role in health care

[Bill] Clinton defended the Affordable Care Act that Obama signed into law in 2010, which is now the subject of debate among U.S. Supreme Court justices who are weighing the constitutionality of the legislation's requirement that all people have health insurance.

7 May 2012

Chesapeake Regional Medical Center rolls out automated disinfection robot

Chesapeake Regional Medical Center rolled out the newest member of its environmental team last week, a five-foot, automated disinfection robot named Tru-D (Total Room Ultraviolet Disinfection). Implementation of the mobile, high-tech disinfection device is part of a $2 million CDC grant awarded to Duke University for the prevention of healthcare-associated infections (HAI's).

7 May 2012

New communication technologies in healthcare pre-collection services

Mnet Financial, Inc., the premier solution for providing patient Pre-Collections, Collections and Payment Services for Ambulatory Surgical Centers and Hospitals throughout the United States, announced a focus on the use of new communication technologies in Pre-Collection Services.

7 May 2012

First Edition: May 7, 2012

Today's health policy highlights include reports detailing what's ahead this week on Capitol Hill as well as state-level developments.

7 May 2012

American CareSource launches ACS DiaSource solution for containment of dialysis costs

American CareSource Holdings, Inc. today introduced its new DiaSource solution for containment of dialysis costs. The solution is from Ancillary Care Services (ACS), the leading national network of ancillary healthcare providers and a wholly owned subsidiary of American CareSource.

7 May 2012

Drug-related morbidity perceived to affect half of all patients attending healthcare

It is well known that drug-related morbidity is common among hospitalized patients, and is to some extent preventable, but less is known about drug-related morbidity outside hospitals. Two new studies conducted at the Nordic School of Public Health NHV, show that healthcare professionals perceive drug-related morbidity to affect half of all patients attending healthcare.

7 May 2012

Survey: First-year medical school enrollment expected to increase

According to the Association of American Medical Colleges, the number of students entering medical school will show an increase of nearly 30 percent from its starting point in 2002 to projections for 2016.

5 May 2012

State legislative news: Mass. legislature poised to consider cost control plan

Meanwhile, in Connecticut, the legislature approves a bill giving collective bargaining rights to home health care workers and goes against leadership to gut a bill that would loosen requirements for suing a health care provider.

5 May 2012

High profile judge hints that Supreme Court decision to strike health law 'would be a mistake'

The Wall Street Journal reports that Judge J. Harvie Wilkinson said the high court should "think twice" about overturning the law. In other health law news, the White House's under-the-radar effort to build support for the overhaul appears to be working.

5 May 2012

Oregon gets $1.9B to launch Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations to try to cut health spending

The federal support will help Oregon's Medicaid Coordinated Care Organizations as they try to cut health costs by 2 percent over two years using preventive care to keep patients healthy.

5 May 2012

HIMSS Analytics recognizes 17 Banner Health facilities with Stage 7 award

Seventeen Banner Health facilities have achieved Stage 7, the final stage in the adoption of electronic medical record (EMR) as acknowledged by HIMSS Analytics, a wholly owned nonprofit subsidiary of the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society.

5 May 2012

LRI applauds ACR colleagues for new lupus nephritis guidelines

The Lupus Research Institute (LRI) applauds our colleagues at the American College of Rheumatology (ACR) for issuing new guidelines to help healthcare professionals screen, diagnose and treat lupus nephritis, a type of kidney disease associated with lupus. Available on the ACR website, the new guidelines are just published in the April 2012 issue of Arthritis Care & Research.

5 May 2012

American Anesthesiology acquires BAA

American Anesthesiology, a division of MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Brazos Anesthesiology Associates, P.A. (BAA), a physician group practice based in Bryan, Texas that provides anesthesia services, including cardiac, pediatric, obstetric, regional anesthesia and chronic pain management, throughout the Brazos Valley.

5 May 2012