Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Viewpoints: Obama fighting back; putting a price on compassion; questions for GOP candidates

As part of his newfound assertiveness, President Obama is using the term "Obamacare," the Republicans' sneering dismissal of the Democratic health care reforms. We are skeptical that he will be able to turn it into a term of approbation. But it is heartening to see him finally out there defending his pioneering policy with no apologies and an uncharacteristic feistiness.

11 Oct 2011

Sandlot, TactusMD partner to offer EHR and HIE service solutions

Sandlot - a clinical health information technology company founded by practicing physicians - has partnered with TactusMD Inc. - a physician-owned electronic health record (EHR) solutions company based in Marietta, Georgia. The two physician-governed companies will offer tailored, integrated EHR and HIE service solutions to maximize patient care and business efficiencies for pediatric practices, hospitals and health plans.

11 Oct 2011

GE Healthcare launches new GEM Suite surface coil technology

GE Healthcare today announced the U.S. launch of the GEM Suite (Geometry Embracing Method) of surface coils, designed for use with the Optima MR450w 1.5T wide bore magnetic resonance imaging system, at Syracuse Orthopedic Solutions, the first U.S. site to install the technology.

11 Oct 2011

FDA to review Banner's Bexarotene ANDA for CTCL skin cancer treatment

Banner Pharmacaps Inc. has confirmed that its Abbreviated New Drug Application for Bexarotene 75 mg soft gelatin capsules, a generic version of Targretin, has been accepted for review by the US Food and Drug Administration.

11 Oct 2011

Coridon demonstrates 100% protection using DNA HSV-2 vaccine

DNA vaccine development company Coridon Pty Ltd. today announced that it had successfully completed pre-clinical efficacy testing of its prototype Herpes Simplex Virus 2 (HSV-2) vaccine, with outstanding results. The company will now look to progress the program into clinical studies.

10 Oct 2011

Is American obesity rate on the decline? Survey reports encouraging

Latest findings showed that for the first time “normal” beat out “overweight.” The survey however found that 61.6% of Americans were in the categories of either “overweight” or “obese”. The survey found 35.8 percent of Americans to be overweight, compared with 36.0 percent a year ago, and 25.8 percent obese, down from 26.6 percent last year.

10 Oct 2011

The health law's future: Prose on politics and policies

Politico reports on how the elections of 2012 will dictate the future of the health law. Also, other news outlets report on states' efforts to figure out what to do if the individual mandate is struck down, the essential benefits package, the development of health exchanges and where things stand with accountable care organizations.

10 Oct 2011

Hospitals attempting to cut costs, what measures matter most?

Hospitals waiting on Congress to squeeze spending may sympathize with the Oakland Athletics' reversal of fortune more than a decade ago, when the ball club's owners refused to continue profligate spending...

10 Oct 2011

AIT Laboratories introduces new suite of services for prescription compliance monitoring

Chronic pain affects an estimated 116 million adults in the U.S.—more than the number affected by heart disease, diabetes, and cancer combined, according to a recent report by the Institute of Medicine.

10 Oct 2011

First Edition: October 10, 2011

In today's headlines, reports about the 'super committee's' moving parts and how the fate of the health law may be determined by what happens in 2012.

10 Oct 2011

Patients with AF can benefit from Medtronic Phased RF Ablation System ablation system

Medtronic, Inc. today announced results from its Tailored Treatment of Permanent Atrial Fibrillation clinical trial, the first randomized study comparing ablation therapy with the Medtronic Phased RF Ablation System ablation system to traditional medical management in 210 patients with persistent or long-standing persistent atrial fibrillation.

From Medtronic 10 Oct 2011

Welch Allyn's high-performance healthcare solutions to be showcased at Medica 2011

Welch Allyn, a leading global provider of medical diagnostic devices headquartered in Skaneateles Falls, NY, will showcase its newest generation of connected solutions designed to address the needs of busy medical practices next month at the 2011 Medica International Trade Fair and Congress in Dusseldorf, Germany.

10 Oct 2011

Novo Nordisk introduces new disposable prefilled insulin pen

Novo Nordisk has today announced the launch of their new disposable prefilled insulin pen - FlexTouch - in the UK. FlexTouch is available in the UK with Novo Nordisk's rapid-acting modern insulin analogue NovoRapid.

From Novo Nordisk 10 Oct 2011

Boehringer Ingelheim receives FDA approval for COMBIVENT RESPIMAT to treat COPD

Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved COMBIVENT RESPIMAT, a new, propellant-free inhaler product that uses a slow-moving mist to deliver the same active ingredients of COMBIVENT Inhalation Aerosol in a metered dose inhaler.

10 Oct 2011

Novartis, IBM announce NCD Challenge

IBM and Novartis today announced the NCD Challenge, a competition among a number of the world's leading universities designed to tap the inventiveness of students to find new ways to address the rise of non-communicable diseases in both developing and developed countries.

10 Oct 2011

Merck receives FDA approval for JUVISYNC to treat type 2 diabetes

Merck, known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved JUVISYNC(sitagliptin and simvastatin), a new treatment for type 2 diabetes that combines the glucose-lowering medication sitagliptin, the active component of JANUVIA (sitagliptin), with the cholesterol-lowering medication ZOCOR.

10 Oct 2011

IOM: Essential benefits package must be developed with affordability in mind

In its 297-page report, the Institute of Medicine recommended that cost should be a factor in deciding what benefits would be included in plans sold on the health law's new insurance exchanges.

7 Oct 2011

MedPAC approves draft proposal to junk Medicare's physician pay formula

The MedPAC plan, which relies on cuts to provider reimbursements to offset its proposal, has drawn opposition from physician groups and other provider organizations, which argue the approach would impact patients' access to care.

7 Oct 2011

Maryland DHMH deploys Upp Technology’s irms|GOKIT Mobile Logistics platform

Upp Technology, Inc., a leader in IT solutions for Public Health, announced today that the Maryland Department of Mental Health and Hygiene has selected the irms|360™ Enterprise solution suite, deploying the irms|GOKIT™ Mobile Logistics platform throughout the state's 55 counties for emergency resource management and patient tracking.

7 Oct 2011

Public perceives health law parts better than whole; Obama increasingly critical to measure's future

Some of the law's specific provisions draw stronger support than the entire package, but the real key to the measure's future is increasingly linked to President Barack Obama's polling numbers.

7 Oct 2011