Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

AHS announces acquisition of COMPUDATA

AdvantEdge Healthcare Solutions (AHS), one of the nation's leading providers of medical billing, practice management, and coding services for specialty physicians, hospitals, and surgery centers, announced today that it has acquired COMPUDATA, Inc., an Ohio-based medical billing company. This represents AHS' fifth acquisition since mid-2009, and expands the company's footprint in Ohio and Pennsylvania while strengthening the company's anesthesia practice customer base.

6 Apr 2012

Political cartoon: 'Vegetable Tale'

Kaiser Health News provides a fresh take on health policy developments with "Vegetable Tale" by Jen Sorensen.

6 Apr 2012

Dentists to screen for too much alcohol intake

The UK Government is proposing that dentists should question their patients on alcohol consumption, or that dental receptionists hand out drinking questionnaires to patients to be filled in while they wait for appointments. The plans have been drawn up by dentists at Cardiff University to try to combat excessive drinking. Patients who are deemed to drink too much would be referred on to sessions with dental nurses or hygienists for advice on cutting down.

5 Apr 2012

FDA alerts on fake cancer drug imports

This week, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) alerted healthcare professionals that 120 vials of fake cancer drug Altuzan - which contained no active ingredient - had entered the U.S from distributors in the U.K. after being purchased from wholesalers in Turkey.

5 Apr 2012

Opportunity for developers and marketers of EGFR inhibitors in Brazil and Mexico

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that patient access to premium-priced targeted cancer treatments in Brazil and Mexico is improving, creating an opportunity for developers and marketers of epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) inhibitors.

5 Apr 2012

New AACN program to empower bedside nurses as clinician leaders

A new hospital-based nurse leadership and innovation training program from the American Association of Critical-Care Nurses (AACN) aims to empower bedside nurses as clinician leaders and change agents whose initiatives measurably improve patient outcomes with bottom-line impact to the hospital.

5 Apr 2012

GOP plans for health law replacement; Obama softens court rhetoric

Republican lawmakers say they are beginning to pull together a health care package that could replace the 2010 law if the Supreme Court overturns it.

5 Apr 2012

Hospital news: Officials plan new building in Colo.; Mich. facility is shutting down

In hospital news: Denver hospital officials plan an expansion, a Michigan hospital says it's shutting down, and in Massachusetts, Steward Health Care plans to buy a hospital.

5 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 5, 2012

In today's headlines, reports about how the budget debate is mixing into presidential poiltics.

5 Apr 2012

Health plan settles lawsuits in Fla.; Minnesota HMOs to return $73M to state, feds

In Florida, a health plan in Tampa will pay $137.5 million to settle lawsuits over Medicare and Medicaid claims, while Magic Johnson plans to invest in a new HIV plan there. In Minnesota, the federal government and the state will split $73 million nonprofit HMOs are returning while other Minnesota health plans profits jump 21 percent.

5 Apr 2012

Drug dispensing robots can harbor dangerous bacteria

Drug dispensing robots designed to quickly prepare intravenous medications in a sterile environment can harbor dangerous bacteria, according to a report in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

5 Apr 2012

Only few women consume aspirin to reduce risk of heart disease

Heart disease is the leading cause of death among women, and evidence-based national guidelines promote the use of daily aspirin for women at increased risk for cardiovascular disease. However, less than half of the women who could benefit from aspirin are taking it, according to an article in Journal of Women's Health, a peer-reviewed publication from Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

5 Apr 2012

Physician groups identify unnecessary procedures

The list of 45 tests and procedures was pulled together by nine medical speciality groups to help reduce spending and improve patients' health.

5 Apr 2012

President lashes out at GOP budget and Medicare plan, Romney

In a Tuesday speech billed by many as a preview of the Obama reelection campaign's favorite themes, President Barack Obama blasted the treatment of Medicare, Medicaid and other entitlement programs by the Republicans and warned that their spending blueprint is a form of "Social Darwinism."

5 Apr 2012

Simbionix sponsors first fellowship at USF Health CAMLS

Simbionix, a leading global provider of medical education and simulation training, has sponsored the first fellowship at the USF Health Center for Advanced Medical Learning and Simulation (CAMLS).

5 Apr 2012

Viewpoints: Obama's 'diatribe' on Ryan budget; President 'recovers' on statements about the court; Other health care mandates

If there's a Laffer Curve for Presidential invective - some point at which dishonest political abuse yields diminishing returns - the White House political team must not think their boss has hit it. Even in this hyperpartisan age, President Obama's speech to the Associated Press yesterday was a parody of the form. This was a diatribe that managed to invoke "Social Darwinism" and "a Trojan Horse" in the same paragraph, amid the other high crimes that Mr. Obama says Paul Ryan wants to commit.

5 Apr 2012

Cedars-Sinai cancer center wins Outstanding Achievement Award from CoC

Cedars-Sinai's Samuel Oschin Comprehensive Cancer Institute is the only cancer center in Los Angeles to receive a Commission on Cancer 2011 Outstanding Achievement Award for providing quality care and services to cancer patients.

5 Apr 2012

Covidien to acquire Oridion Systems

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products and recognized innovator in patient monitoring and respiratory care devices, today announced a definitive agreement to acquire Oridion Systems Ltd.

5 Apr 2012

Patients with community-onset CDI have increased risk of colectomy

Patients whose symptoms of Clostridium difficile infection (CDI) start outside of the hospital setting have a higher risk of colectomy due to severe infection, according to a large multicenter study funded by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and published in Infection Control and Hospital Epidemiology, the journal of the Society for Healthcare Epidemiology of America.

5 Apr 2012

Asthma management tips for student athletes

For the student athlete with asthma, spring and summer pose particular dangers. The most significant danger is the all-too-frequent lack of access to a life-saving asthma inhaler, explains Maureen George, PhD, RN, of the University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing. Federal law permits students to carry their asthma inhalers with them, yet many schools do not because of safety concerns.

5 Apr 2012