Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Janssen announces FDA label update approval for PREZISTA HIV tablets

Janssen Therapeutics, Division of Janssen Products, LP, announced today that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved a label update for PREZISTA (darunavir) tablets to include 192-week data from the ARTEMIS study.

22 Oct 2011

Merz presents XEOMIN clinical data on dystonia at IDS 2011

New data presented at recent neurological congresses and summarized at the IDS indicate that patients treated with XEOMIN for cervical dystonia or blepharospasm (involuntary closing of the eyelids) experienced long-term sustained efficacy with a favorable safety profile in studies of up to 121 and 88 weeks duration, respectively.

22 Oct 2011

Medical homes save money, but many practices 'lack what it takes'

Families with special needs kids can save up to a third of their out-of pocket medical expenses by having a so-called "medical home" coordinate the care for their child, a news study suggests. A medical home could be a primary care doctor's office that incorporates the family in medical decision-making and coordinates and follows up on visits to specialists.

22 Oct 2011

Learning about politics in the midst of screening recommendations

The recent recommendation by the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force that women get less frequent screenings for cervical cancer demonstrated a remarkably different response than other such recommendations.

22 Oct 2011

NIPPV helps decrease mortality rates among hospitalized COPD patients

Although increased use of noninvasive positive-pressure ventilation (NIPPV) nationwide has helped decrease mortality rates among patients hospitalized with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), a small group of patients requiring subsequent treatment with invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) have a significantly higher risk of death than those placed directly on IMV, according to researchers in the United States who studied patterns of NIPPV use.

22 Oct 2011

States react, act on health law waivers and other implementation issues

Sen. Ron Wyden draws line in the sand about how health law waivers should be used. Meanwhile, Kansas' planning board continues its efforts toward the creation of a state-based health exchange while acknowledging that the federal government may end up in charge. Also, in Oregon, a consumer-run health plan is positioning itself to be included in the state's exchange.

22 Oct 2011

MRI helps researchers to study molecules directly in organs and tissue

Researchers at Lund University can now study molecules which are normally only found in very small concentrations, directly in organs and tissue. After several years of work, researchers in Lund have managed to construct an instrument that 'hyperpolarises' the molecules and thus makes it possible to track them using MRI.

22 Oct 2011

Urban environments and women's health

Women's Health and the World's Cities (Penn Press 2011) explores the relationships of urban environments and women's health worldwide, a topic expected to grow in importance in the coming decades.

22 Oct 2011

Viewpoints: The toll of Medicare fraud; insurer's Medicare Advantage switch can confuse seniors

In a searing two-part investigative series earlier this week, the Chronicle's Terri Langford wrote about unscrupulous operators, here in Houston, who make millions of Medicare dollars exploiting the most vulnerable of our local residents through private ambulances and for-profit psychiatric clinics. Medicare, and American taxpayers, are footing the bill, which is enormous.

22 Oct 2011

AAN recognizes six nurse informaticians with nursing fellowship

Six nurse informaticians, all leaders in the area of nursing known as nursing informatics, were inducted into the American Academy of Nursing (AAN) as Fellows, Saturday evening, Oct. 15, at the annual AAN Meeting and Conference.

22 Oct 2011

AHRQ: Only 8.7M of 12.1M women suffering from chronic pain received treatment in 2008

An estimated 12.1 million women age 18 and older reported suffering from chronic pain in 2008 as a result of underlying medical conditions such as chronic fatigue syndrome, endometriosis, fibromyalgia and vulvodynia. Of these women, only 8.7 million reported receiving treatment that year at a total cost of $12.9 billion, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

21 Oct 2011

Effective, safe care depends on coordination across primary and secondary healthcare service levels

The Norwegian healthcare services are organized in primary and secondary service levels. According to PhD student Kristin Laugaland at UiS effective and safe care depends on coordination across the two service levels in which transitions across them represent a crucial stage in the recovery of elderly people.

21 Oct 2011

CMS provides new guidance on EHR payment program

Modern Healthcare reports on this development, which will set up a "double check" to ensure that hospitals have what is necessary to become "meaningful users" of electronic health records.

21 Oct 2011

New Zealand can provide valuable model for health policy makers, IT professionals

A new report suggests that New Zealand can provide a valuable model for health policy makers and IT professionals seeking to reduce costs and increase the quality of health care in the United States and other nations.

21 Oct 2011

Covidien releases results from largest global post-market P.A.D. device study

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today released the six-month results of the DEFINITIVE LE (Determination of Effectiveness of SilverHawk Peripheral Plaque Excision System for the Treatment of Infrainguinal Vessels/Lower Extremities) study, the largest global post-market peripheral arterial disease (P.A.D.) device study ever undertaken.

21 Oct 2011

Final ACO rule relaxes requirements for doctors, hospitals

The Obama administration today released much-awaited final rules on Medicare accountable care organizations that make it easier for doctors and hospitals to participate.

21 Oct 2011

States take cautious approach to health law's new coverage mandates

Politico Pro reports that states are waiting to "get greater clarity" on the federal benefit package in order to minimize the extra coverage costs for which they might ultimately be responsible.

21 Oct 2011

Arizona, Wisconsin trying to quell Medicaid costs; Alabama goes electronic

Arizona voters never intended to write a blank check when they agreed to expand eligibility for government-funded health care, a lawyer for the state's Medicaid program said Wednesday. Attorney Joe Kanefield told a three-judge panel of the Arizona Court of Appeals that the voter-approved measure, which allowed everyone under the federal poverty level to qualify for health coverage, doesn't force the Legislature to pay for it,

21 Oct 2011

CMHDRE, DCSNO and CHF team up to help autistic children in New Orleans

The disappearance of reliable healthcare services in New Orleans following Hurricane Katrina left many children with asthma no choice but to seek treatment in emergency rooms across town - if they sought care at all. Xavier University of Louisiana's Center for Minority Health & Health Disparities Research and Education, Daughters of Charity Services of New Orleans and the Children's Health Fund have teamed up to reverse that trend by bringing reliable health care directly to these children.

21 Oct 2011

No unique link between first-trimester ACE inhibitor use and birth defects

Women who take angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors to treat high blood pressure in the first trimester of their pregnancies are at no greater risk of having babies with birth defects than are women who take other types of high blood pressure medication or who take no blood pressure drugs, according to a new study from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

21 Oct 2011