Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

ASN joins ABIM Foundation's Choosing Wisely campaign

The American Society of Nephrology (ASN), the world's leading kidney organization, joins the American Board of Internal Medicine (ABIM) Foundation, eight other leading national medical specialty societies and Consumer Reports in the Choosing Wisely campaign. This campaign will help physicians, patients and other health care professionals address overuse of health care resources in the United States.

15 Dec 2011

ACR's Radiology Leadership Institute, RBMA form partnership

The Radiology Business Management Association (RBMA) is the first affiliate organization of the American College of Radiology's Radiology Leadership Institute (RLI). This is the latest step in the development of the RLI — radiology's first professional development and leadership academy — set to launch in July 2012.

15 Dec 2011

Attention deficit drugs safe for adult hearts as well

A new study looked at nearly 150,000 adults taking drugs for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) and found that the medications do not increase the risk for heart attack, stroke, or sudden death from heart-related causes.

15 Dec 2011

Antioxidant can delay onset of all indicators of Alzheimer's

When you cut an apple and leave it out, it turns brown. Squeeze the apple with lemon juice, an antioxidant, and the process slows down. Simply put, that same "browning" process-known as oxidative stress-happens in the brain as Alzheimer's disease sets in. The underlying cause is believed to be improper processing of a protein associated with the creation of free radicals that cause oxidative stress.

15 Dec 2011

Molecular signature indicative of hypoxia predicts progression to AD

A study led by Research Professor Matej Ore-ič from VTT Technical Research Centre of Finland suggests that Alzheimer's disease is preceded by a molecular signature indicative of hypoxia and up-regulated pentose phosphate pathway.

15 Dec 2011

Roundup: Nonprofits get big money in disabled payments; Calif. budget problems bring additional Medicaid cutbacks

Spending on this little-known home care program, called Community Habilitation, has soared in recent years, creating multimillion-dollar surpluses at some nonprofit agencies and eye-popping salaries and benefits for those who run them. And it helps explain how New York's costs of caring for developmentally disabled people have ballooned in recent years, creating the nation's most generous system of Medicaid-financed programs, with little scrutiny of its efficiency or result.

15 Dec 2011

FDA warnings to gastric banding centers

The Food and Drugs Administration (FDA) has come out with warning letters to eight California healthcare organizations and one marketing firm for failing to provide adequate risk information in their advertisements for an implanted gastric band.

14 Dec 2011

IASIS Healthcare fourth quarter net revenue increases 13.8% to $716.8 million

IASIS Healthcare LLC today announced financial and operating results for the fiscal fourth quarter and year ended September 30, 2011.

14 Dec 2011

Research on pancreatic cancer diagnostic test wins QED award

Hwyda Arafat, M.D., Ph.D., Associate Professor of Surgery at Thomas Jefferson University and co-director of the Jefferson Pancreatic, Biliary and Related Cancers Center, and Mon-Li Chu, Ph.D., Professor and Vice Chair of the Department of Dermatology and Cutaneous Biology, were awarded $200,000 from the University City Science Center's QED Proof of Concept Program for their breakthrough work on a diagnostic test for pancreatic cancer.

14 Dec 2011

Bill that forces prompt payments from Medicaid advances in House; Grassley challenges CMS on hedge funds

Modern Healthcare reports that Rep. Brian Bilbray, R-Calif., and Rep. Anna Eshoo, D-Calif., have introduced legislation to require Medicaid to pay its bills promptly. Also in the news, Sen. Chuck Grassley, R-Iowa, said Monday that he believes the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services may have given special treatment to information requests from hedge funds and political intelligence brokers.

14 Dec 2011

House vote scheduled on payroll tax reduction package

The bill, which also would extend a number of other expiring measures and includes "must-pass" provisions such as the Medicare "doc fix," has drawn opposition. Hospitals groups have blasted it because it includes billions of dollars in cuts to hospital payments.

14 Dec 2011

With federal court action looming, Sebelius says Plan B decision 'not about politics'

A federal judge in Brooklyn will hear arguments Tuesday afternoon on the constitutionality of the federal decision regarding the access teenage girls should have to morning-after contraceptive pills. Meanwhile, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said the decision about Plan B's over-the-counter status was not a political one.

14 Dec 2011

Donors must continue funding R&D to bring new global health technologies to patients

In this post in the Hill's "Congress Blog," Kaitlin Christenson, the coalition director of the Global Health Technologies Coalition; Jim Connolly, president and CEO of Aeras; and Mel Spigelman, president and CEO of the TB Alliance, respond to a recently released G-FINDER report that shows "overall global investment in the research and development (R&D) of new global health technologies has declined for the first time since 2007, when the tracking of such funding began."

14 Dec 2011

Roundup: FBI reportedly questioning Prime Healthcare billers in Calif.; Uninsured ranks grow in Wash.

The FBI is interviewing witnesses about billing practices at Prime Healthcare Services, the hospital chain that has charged Medicare for treating elderly patients with rare medical conditions at far higher rates than other California hospitals. The FBI would neither confirm nor deny an investigation, but at least two former Prime medical coders say they were approached by the agency to discuss the chain's billing practices. ... A spokesman for Prime said the chain is unaware of an FBI probe.

14 Dec 2011

ImmusanT secures $20M in Series A financing

ImmusanT, Inc. announced today it has raised $20 million in Series A financing from Vatera Healthcare Partners LLC to advance development of the biotechnology company's immunotherapeutic vaccine Nexvax2, companion diagnostic and monitoring tool for celiac disease.

14 Dec 2011

Microwave ablation therapy may be safe, effective for pulmonary metastases

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that Radiology, the monthly journal of the Radiological Society of North America, has published a new research study led by Prof. Thomas J. Vogl, MD, entitled, "Microwave Ablation Therapy: Clinical Utility in Treatment of Pulmonary Metastases."

14 Dec 2011

Mandatory vaccination policy increases healthcare worker flu vaccination rates

A California hospital raised its employee influenza vaccination rate above 90 percent by shifting from a voluntary vaccination program to one mandating all healthcare workers either get vaccinated or wear a mask at work for the entire flu season (December through March).

13 Dec 2011

Acurian, Onconova sign Clinical Trial Liaison Services agreement

Acurian, Inc., a leading, full-service provider of global patient recruitment and retention solutions, announced today that it has signed an agreement with Onconova Therapeutics, Inc., a private biopharmaceutical company located in Newtown, PA and Pennington, NJ.

13 Dec 2011

Iowa: GOP presidential debate turns up campaign heat

With the Iowa caucuses fast approaching, new political ads are hitting the airwaves, and Saturday night's debate draws lots of fact-checking by news organzations.

13 Dec 2011

Lawmakers move closer to completing legislative to-do list

Still remaining on the list, however, is action to prevent a scheduled reduction in Medicare payments for physicians. A proposal to avert this cut is included in a broader measure that would extend the payroll tax break.

13 Dec 2011