Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Premier, healthcare providers to create performance improvement collaboratives

The Premier healthcare alliance is working with hospitals, health systems and manufacturers to create performance improvement collaboratives that evaluate which clinical practices result in better outcomes while lowering costs.

7 Apr 2012

Obama and Romney campaigns assail the other's budget plans

Each casts the other's plans for entitlement programs, such as Medicare, as dangerous.

7 Apr 2012

Free public grouper of medical condition episodes-of-care from CCGroup

CCGroup is pleased to announce the release today of a free download version of the Cave Grouper software known as CaveGrouper-Lite. This is the first public grouper of medical condition episodes-of-care.

7 Apr 2012

Ohio AIDS advocates, patients protest against rationing of lifesaving HIV medicines

A group of Ohio AIDS advocates, patients and medical providers hosted a protest in Columbus today in conjunction with a public hearing held by the Ohio Department of Health (ODH) and its Director, Theodore E. Wymyslo, M.D., on proposed rule changes that would restrict access to lifesaving AIDS drugs for low-income Ohioans based on medical criteria.

6 Apr 2012

Study: MLR rule would have translated into $2B in rebates to consumers

If the health law's requirement that insurers spend at least 80 percent of premiums on medical care had gone into effect in 2010, instead of a year later, private plans would have had to refund as much as $2 billion to consumers, either in rebates or reduced premiums, according to a study by the Commonwealth Fund, which supports the law.

6 Apr 2012

Questions emerge after Obama spars with the Supreme Court

Earlier this week, President Barack Obama made comments that "implicitly" warned the court against overturning the health law. Since then, defenders and critics have weighed in on his words and strategy.

6 Apr 2012

Attorney General: Justice Department will respond to federal judge on judicial review

In what has become a charged exchange, a federal judge in Texas demanded the Obama administration explain its views on the court's authority to overturn acts of Congress. Attorney General Eric Holder said yesterday the Justice Department would respond "appropriately."

6 Apr 2012

Longer looks: Berwick calls for leaders to rise above 'political catechism'; Convincing the healthy to feel sick

Between July 2010 and December 2011, Dr. Donald Berwick was head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency that runs the government's health insurance programs. In a sane world, he would be still. But Senate Republicans refused even to let his confirmation come up for a vote ... A pediatrician by training and a widely respected expert in health care policy, Berwick should have been a lock for the CMS job. But he was a backer of Obamacare; a believer in data and science; a proponent of universal health care.

6 Apr 2012

U.S. spending on prescription drugs, doctor visits levels off

A study by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics found that seniors citizens especially are filling fewer prescriptions as out-of-pocket costs increase.

6 Apr 2012

State roundup: Advocates in Va. back shifting disability care from state institutions; New Vt. law overhauls mental health system; Aetna mistakenly tells thousands in Calif. their doctors were dropped

A state agency that looks out for the rights of people with disabilities is advocating for a proposed settlement that would shift the care of Virginians with intellectual disabilities from state-run institutions.

6 Apr 2012

Purdue Pharma launches Intermezzo for middle-of-the-night insomnia

Purdue Pharma L.P. announced today that Intermezzo (zolpidem tartrate) sublingual tablet CIV is now available in 1.75 mg and 3.5 mg dosage strengths by prescription in retail pharmacies nationwide.

6 Apr 2012

Susan G. Komen Community Health Advisor program kicks off April 12 in Cleveland

More than 110,000 minority and medically underserved women in Northeast Ohio and across the nation will soon have new health resources through a landmark program that trains volunteers to provide breast cancer education and healthcare support in local communities.

6 Apr 2012

Evergreen Healthcare employs transanal endoscopic microsurgery for colorectal tumor removal

Evergreen Healthcare today announced that it has successfully integrated a colorectal procedure called transanal endoscopic microsurgery to its growing suite of minimally invasive surgical options, reducing the need for major surgery and providing patients with faster recovery times.

6 Apr 2012

Allscripts Wand now available for EHR users

Allscripts announced the much-anticipated release of Allscripts Wand, which provides users of Allscripts Electronic Health Records a unique, native iPad application that extends the most commonly used functions of Allscripts Professional and Enterprise solutions.

6 Apr 2012

Ameritox, Ridge Diagnostics partner to develop MDDScore test

Ridge Diagnostics, Inc., a neurodiagnostic company, announced today it has entered into an exclusive agreement with Ameritox, Ltd., a leader in medication monitoring, for the license rights to its proprietary developmental blood test MDDScore, a multiple biomarker analysis for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) for primary care and pain physicians.

6 Apr 2012

MEDNAX acquires Burlington Anesthesia

MEDNAX, Inc., today announced the acquisition of Burlington Anesthesia PLLC, a physician group practice that provides anesthesia services in Burlington, N.C. and Farhouch Berdjis MD Medical Corp (FBMC), a pediatric cardiology practice in Orange, Calif.

6 Apr 2012

Cancer diagnosis associated with suicide, cardiovascular death

People who are diagnosed with cancer have a markedly increased risk of suicide and cardiovascular death during the period immediately after being given the diagnosis. This has been shown in a new study from Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, published in the prestigious scientific journal The New England Journal of Medicine.

6 Apr 2012

Spectrum signs definitive agreement to acquire Allos

Spectrum Pharmaceuticals and Allos Therapeutics, Inc. today announced that they have signed a definitive agreement under which Spectrum will acquire all of the outstanding shares of Allos for $1.82 per share in cash plus one Contingent Value Right.

6 Apr 2012

Care Investment Trust reports net income of $16.0M for fourth quarter 2011

Care Investment Trust Inc., a real estate investment and finance company that invests in healthcare-related real estate, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and full year ended December 31, 2011, and announced that it has declared a quarterly dividend of $0.135 per share for the fourth quarter 2011.

6 Apr 2012

FDA clears Devon Medical Products’ extriCARE 2400 NPWT system

Devon Medical Products, a global medical device designer, manufacturer, and distributor, today announced it has received Food & Drug Administration (FDA) 510(k) clearance to market its extriCARE 2400 Negative Pressure Wound Therapy (NPWT) system.

6 Apr 2012