Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Candelis' ASTRA cloud-hosted services to augment Microsoft HealthVault's patient-centric services

Candelis announced today that it has reached a definitive agreement with Microsoft whereby Candelis' ASTRA cloud-hosted suite of services will provide for the secure transferring of patient digital medical images and studies to patients' Microsoft HealthVault accounts upon their request.

28 Nov 2011

DR Systems to deploy Fovia's HDVR in Unity and zero-download v|Series product lines

Fovia Medical, Inc., a global leader in volume rendering technology, and DR Systems, Inc., a leading provider of healthcare enterprise imaging and information management solutions, announced today that DR Systems will enhance its product offering by incorporating Fovia's High Definition Volume Rendering technology across its Unity and zero-download v|Series product lines, including both web-accessible and mobile device-accessible advanced image processing and viewing.

28 Nov 2011

Toshiba to showcase Aquilion PRIME CT scanner at RSNA 2011

As the latest addition to the "ONE Family" of CT scanners, Toshiba America Medical Systems, Inc. will showcase the AquilionTM PRIME CT (pending 510(k) clearance) at this year's Radiological Society of North America (RSNA) annual meeting in Chicago, Nov. 27 - Dec. 2, 2011 (Booth #5634, South Hall).

28 Nov 2011

Dicom Systems announces XMRI.com beta, a new B2C service for radiological opinions online

San Francisco-based healthcare IT company and interoperability experts Dicom Systems announces the beta version of XMRI.com, a new B2C service that enables consumers to receive primary or secondary radiological opinions online.

25 Nov 2011

Cardinal Health Canada, Futuremed report on proposed acquisition

Futuremed Healthcare Products Corporation and Cardinal Health Canada Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cardinal Health, Inc., reported on developments in the Competition Bureau's review of Cardinal Health Canada's proposed acquisition of Futuremed under the Canadian Competition Act.

25 Nov 2011

Malaria is almost under control in Suriname

Malaria is almost under control in Suriname. According to an impact study conducted by Hélène Hiwat - van Laar, who was awarded a PhD on the subject on 21 November at Wageningen University, a five-year control programme with new strategies has proved successful. The people most at risk nowadays are the mobile gold miner communities, especially those along the French Guianese border.

24 Nov 2011

Apparent gap between levels of pediatric care in urban and rural areas

When it comes to providing healthcare for children across Canada, a team of researchers say there's an apparent gap between the levels of care received by children in urban and rural areas.

24 Nov 2011

BD MAX MRSA Assay receives CE Mark approval

BD Diagnostics, a segment of BD, today announced that it obtained CE Marking for the BD MAX MRSA Assay to rapidly and accurately identify methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) in patients.

From BD (Becton, Dickinson and Company) 24 Nov 2011

Study finds use of retail clinics rising

Researchers from the RAND Corporation found a dramatic increase in adults seeking care at clinics in drugs stores and other outlets.

24 Nov 2011

House panel seeks records about Kagan and health law

House Judiciary Committee Chairman Lamar Smith (R-Texas) on Tuesday asked the Obama administration to provide documents and internal correspondence on Supreme Court Justice Elena Kagan's role in defense of the health reform law. Republicans argue that Kagan, while she was solicitor general in the Obama administration, participated in the early defense of the law and should recuse herself as the law goes before the Supreme Court.

24 Nov 2011

Congress facing deadline on Medicare payments to doctors

Preventing the cut in Medicare payments to doctors is estimated to cost more than $20 billion next year. It is considered a near certainty that Congress will address it because of the clout that Medicare and doctors have with lawmakers. Within minutes of Monday's announcement that the supercommittee had failed, the American Medical Association was warning that the 27 percent cut would "force many physicians to limit the number of Medicare and TRICARE patients they can care for in their practices."

24 Nov 2011

Insurance commissioners back brokers on health law standard

After more than a year of debate, state regulators ... approved a resolution calling for changes to the healthcare reform law's medical loss ratio provision. The National Association of Insurance Commissioners (NAIC) passed the measure 26-20, over strenuous objections from commissioners who said the process and the resolution itself would undermine the NAIC's reputation.

24 Nov 2011

OECD report finds U.S. pays more by far for health care

The U.S. healthcare system is more effective at delivering high costs than quality care, according to a new study that found first-rate treatment for cancer but insufficient primary care for other ailments. The study, released on Wednesday by the 34-nation Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development, or OECD, said Americans pay more than $7,900 per person for healthcare each year -- far more than any other OECD country -- but still die earlier than their peers in the industrialized world.

24 Nov 2011

Health industry raising alarms about cuts to Medicare after super committee failure

Automatic Medicare cuts triggered by the congressional super committee's failure would hit hospitals harder than any other health industry, according to an analysis from Avalere Health. The report puts hard numbers to across-the-board cuts that stakeholders have mostly viewed in broad, general terms. But Avalere chief executive Dan Mendelson cautioned that the figures also assume the automatic cuts will actually happen - an assumption he's not ready to make.

24 Nov 2011

New Techna Institute at UHN signs first agreement with INO

The new Techna Institute at University Health Network (UHN) has signed its first agreement with INO of Quebec City and Hamilton.

24 Nov 2011

Philips launches Veradius Neo mobile C-arm with flat detector for orthopedic procedures

Royal Philips Electronics today introduced the Philips Veradius Neo mobile C-arm with flat detector to allow surgeons to more easily and precisely handle challenging patients and procedures.

From Philips Healthcare 24 Nov 2011

State roundup: Another Medi-Cal lawsuit; medical homes in Tenn.; Pa. moving forward on exchanges

Some California hospitals would take a significant and long-lasting hit from Medi-Cal reimbursement cuts recently approved by CMS, according to the California Hospital Association, which this week filed a petition in federal court to put a temporary halt to those reductions. CHA's lawsuit and injunction request are separate from the court action taken earlier this week by the California Medical Association and other provider organizations.

24 Nov 2011

A new era in low energy, low dose and low injected contrast imaging

Royal Philips Electronics today announced that Philips iDose4, the latest generation of Philips iterative reconstruction technique, has nearly 500 sales. While iDose4 only began shipping in March, its success validates the desire of radiologists to be able to both acquire and reconstruct images in less time, with improved image quality at low dose.

23 Nov 2011

TJU expands Jefferson Medical College

Thomas Jefferson University announces the expansion of Jefferson Medical College with the creation of its Delaware Branch Campus. The Campus includes three participating hospitals - Christiana Care Health System, Nemours/Alfred I. duPont Hospital for Children and the Wilmington Veterans Affairs Hospital.

23 Nov 2011

New report: Sharp rise in number of energy drink-related ED visits from 2005-2009

A new nationwide report indicates that from 2005 to 2009, there has been a sharp increase in the number of emergency departments visits associated with the use of non-alcohol energy drinks - from 1,128 visits in 2005 to 13,114 visits in 2009.

23 Nov 2011