Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Health law implementation news: Most red states slow walk health exchanges

Politico reports that most GOP-controlled states are holding off on building insurance exchanges until the Supreme Court issues its decision. Meanwhile, the Internal Revenue Service's ability to enforce the health law is the topic of a Capitol Hill hearing and a former White House advisor offers his views during a Madison speech.

20 Apr 2012

GE Healthcare, NXT2B partner to develop micro-scale radiotracer infrastructure

GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company, and NXT2B, a privately owned venture capital company, today announced they have entered into a joint financing agreement with the goal of developing a micro-scale radiotracer infrastructure including cyclotron and PET tracer production.

20 Apr 2012

Budget consideration continues in both the Senate and the House

In the Senate, a "voteless" markup was held on Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad's, D-N.D., presentation of the Bowles-Simpson plan. Meanwhile, Sen. Pat Toomey, R-Pa., says he will bring the House GOP budget plan advanced by Rep. Paul Ryan, R-Wis., up for a vote by the full Senate later this year.

20 Apr 2012

First Edition: June 20, 2012

Today's headlines include reports that the Veterans' Administration will increase its mental health staffing.

20 Apr 2012

New data shows consolidation of interferon-free revolution in HCV treatment

New data presented at the International Liver Congress 2012 shows consolidation of the interferon-free (IFN) revolution in HCV treatment. The much anticipated data from a number of clinical trials confirm that combinations of antivirals offer the hope of shorter, more effective treatment with fewer side effects.

20 Apr 2012

Survey: Gaps in health insurance coverage, knowledge persist

A Commonwealth Fund survey found that many U.S. adults ages didn't have health insurance over the course of a year.

20 Apr 2012

Obama and Romney start long-distance debate over Medicare

President Barack Obama and GOP presidential hopeful Mitt Romney have started a long-distance, health care debate, fighting over how to reform the Medicare system. Other politicians are getting in on the act too, as Sen. Jim Webb, D-Va., and Mass. Senate hopeful Elizabeth Warren give their two cents on the health reform law.

20 Apr 2012

Fingertip Formulary launches iPad apps at AMCP annual meeting

Fingertip Formulary, the leading provider of access and insight into formulary data, announced the launch of their iPad applications today at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) annual meeting.

20 Apr 2012

Roundup: State spending drops $290 billion in 5 years; Emory hospital loses data on 315,000 patients

News outlets examine a variety of state health policy issues, including articles from California, Colorado, Florida, Georgia, Kansas, Louisiana, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Oregon.

20 Apr 2012

N.Y. Medicaid audit finds $42M in improper payments; Minn. commissioner to testify before congressional committee

Auditors in New York have found $42 million in improper payments were doled out to Medicaid providers. In the meantime, Minnesota's human services commissioner will testify before a congressional committee next week about financing and a payment made to the state by a managed care plan with Medicaid contract.

20 Apr 2012

ESC launches European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care

The European Society of Cardiology (ESC) announced today the launch of the European Heart Journal: Acute Cardiovascular Care, the organisation's official journal of the ESC Working Group on Acute Cardiac Care.

20 Apr 2012

Optimism could benefit the heart: A review of studies

A Harvard School of Public Health review of more than 200 studies suggests that optimism is good for the heart. The researchers looked at studies that had recorded psychological well-being and cardiovascular health. This revealed that factors such as optimism, life satisfaction, and happiness appeared to be linked associated with a reduced risk of heart and circulatory diseases, regardless of a person's age, socio-economic status, smoking status or body weight. Disease risk was 50% lower among the most optimistic individuals.

19 Apr 2012

NHS surgery waiting times and time of discharge under scrutiny

The NHS medical director Prof Sir Bruce Keogh, has written to Strategic Health Authorities saying it is unacceptable to send people home when they may have no family support. Figures show that 100 NHS trusts sent 239,233 patients home between 23:00 and 06:00 in 2011. The Times reported that some 3.5% of all hospital discharges took place between those hours and this rate had steadily held for the past five years. The Times had contacted 170 NHS trusts in England but only 100 responded. The rates of those discharged varied widely between different hospitals.

19 Apr 2012

Health law part of budget machinations taking place on both sides of the Capitol

Senate Budget Committee Chairman Kent Conrad, D-N.D., is rolling out the final budget blueprint of his career. It takes a different position on the health law than the House GOP's measure.

19 Apr 2012

First Edition: April 18, 2012

Today's health policy headlines include reports about how a one-year experiment on Medicare competitive bidding showed positive results in terms of saving money as well as reducing waste and fraud.

19 Apr 2012

UCSD named among 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters

UC San Diego Medical Center, located in Hillcrest, has been named one of the nation's 100 Top Hospitals by Thomson Reuters. Ranked among the country's major teaching hospitals, the Medical Center was also one of twelve hospitals to receive the Everest Award. This award honors hospitals that have achieved both the highest current performance and the fastest long-term improvement over a five-year period in Reuter's national benchmarking study.

19 Apr 2012

Merkin Family Foundation pledges new commitment to the Broad Institute

The Merkin Family Foundation today announced a commitment to the Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT to establish the Merkin Institute Fellows, a program that will support some of the most promising and ambitious scientists pursuing bold research at the Broad Institute.

19 Apr 2012

Study finds lack of cervical screening in non-Caucasian, young and socioeconomically deprived women

New research published today in the Journal of Public Health has found that cervical screening participation is significantly lower in general practices that look after a high percentage of younger-aged women, non-Caucasian women and those living in areas of socioeconomic deprivation. The authors, Ji Young Bang, Ghasem Yadegarfar, Michael Soljak and Azeem Majeed, suggest that this disparity needs to be addressed by developing and implementing strategies to improve cervical screening attendance in these women.

19 Apr 2012

Official provides details, dates for PCORI's research priorities

The COO of the Patient Centered Outcomes Research Institute offered insights into what appears to be a busy agenda, according to two subscription publications.

19 Apr 2012