Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Viewpoints: High-cost drugs and Medicare; pitfalls for ACOs; federal funding fix for nursing homes

Life-extending drugs debut frequently, and they usually seem exorbitantly expensive when weighed against their promise of adding a few weeks or months of life to someone with a terminal illness. In these prostate-cancer cases, one new drug costs $5,000 a month, another $8,000 every three weeks and a third $93,000 for a full course of treatment.

11 Aug 2011

Bristol-Myers Squibb, GNS collaborate to identify biomarkers in immuno-inflammation

GNS Healthcare, Inc., (GNS) the leading healthcare analytics company focused on enabling personalized medicine to improve human health, today announced that it has entered into a collaboration with Bristol-Myers Squibb Company focused on the discovery of novel disease biology and biomarkers in the area of immuno-inflammation.

11 Aug 2011

Walgreen to sell health insurance

Walgreen Co. is thinking of selling health insurance through a private exchange set up to help consumers find insurance coverage under the health reform law.

10 Aug 2011

First Edition: August 10, 2011

Today's headlines include reports about Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid's picks for the debt panel and what Americans -- according to two new polls -- expect the 'super committee' to accomplish.

10 Aug 2011

NCI, Genesis Biopharma sign CRADA agreement to develop cancer immunotherapies

Genesis Biopharma, Inc., a biotechnology company developing targeted cancer immunotherapies, today announced it has signed a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the National Cancer Institute.

10 Aug 2011

Accretive Health second quarter net income increases 118% to $8.6 million

Accretive Health, Inc., a leading provider of comprehensive end-to-end healthcare revenue cycle management services and population health management services infrastructure, today announced financial results for the quarter ended June 30, 2011.

10 Aug 2011

TrovaGene regains ownership of worldwide rights to transrenal technology

TrovaGene, Inc., a developer of transrenal molecular diagnostics, confirmed today that it regained ownership of its worldwide rights and control over its patent estate for transrenal technology for non-invasive prenatal applications and cancer through the termination of a license agreement between TrovaGene and Sequenom, Inc.

10 Aug 2011

Study finds demand continues for safety-net care in Massachusetts

Even though the state reduced the number of uninsured residents in its health care overhaul, many people still get treatments at community health centers and safety-net hospitals.

10 Aug 2011

Medicare officials report positive results for ACO precursor program

Some health policy experts, though, considered the findings from the five-year demo programs to be discouraging, noting that six of the 10 sites involved in the effort did not qualify for savings. But some news coverage highlights success stories.

10 Aug 2011

Republicans stay quiet on new health law rules related to birth control coverage

Republicans who swept to power last year vowing to repeal President Barack Obama's health care law have been nearly silent about new rules that will force health insurance companies to cover birth control and other women's health services without co-pays.

10 Aug 2011

Current Medical Research & Opinion publishes new data on EVISTA for postmenopausal osteoporosis

Eli Lilly and Company today announced that data on EVISTA® (raloxifene HCl tablets) therapy for more than three years was published online in Current Medical Research & Opinion.

10 Aug 2011

Study finds highest and lowest healthcare spending regions in the U.S.

A study released today has found vast differences from one city to the next in the amount spent on healthcare for Americans with employer-sponsored health plans.

10 Aug 2011

IntraPace connect.abiliti Wand H102 system receives European CE Mark

IntraPace, Inc. announced today that it has received European CE Mark for the connect.abiliti Wand H102. The device provides wireless access to personal eating and exercise data to patients with an abiliti system, a unique approach to the treatment of obesity that uses gastric stimulation to help patients feel full sooner.

10 Aug 2011

First renal denervation with Medtronic Symplicity Catheter System performed in Latin America

Medtronic today announced the first use in Latin America of renal denervation with the Medtronic Symplicity Catheter System™ to treat a patient with resistant hypertension, which is defined as high blood pressure despite treatment with three or more anti-hypertensive medications. Hypertension is an especially dangerous disease affecting hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

From Medtronic 10 Aug 2011

In bid to calm markets, Obama urges deficit reduction approach that includes 'modest adjustments' to Medicare

As the stock market plunged, President Barack Obama said the nation's deficit couldn't be ignored. He recommended an approach that includes spending cuts as well as increased tax revenue and "modest adjustments" to health care programs. Meanwhile, health care stocks were among those that posted double-digit losses, and, as the fallout from S & P's downgrade continues, some states are at more risk than others.

10 Aug 2011

Dems split on Supreme Court Medicaid case

Some congressional Democrats told the Supreme Court Monday that low-income Medicaid beneficiaries should be able to file suit to enforce their rights to care and to challenge state cuts to the program.

10 Aug 2011

Roundup: Mass. Gov. remains committed to health payment changes; insurers fight Fla. decision on state workers' HMO

The Patrick administration is still angling to get the Legislature to pass a sweeping overhaul of the state's health care payment and delivery system by the end of 2011, Lieutenant Governor Timothy P. Murray said yesterday.

10 Aug 2011

Nova Scotia to implement DeltaWare's Medigent Drug Information System

MAXIMUS, Inc., a leading provider of government services worldwide, announced that its Canadian business unit DeltaWare Systems was awarded a contract with the Government of Nova Scotia for the implementation of its Medigent Drug Information System.

9 Aug 2011

TSO3 second quarter revenues increase to $703,000

TSO3 Inc. an innovator in sterilization technology for medical devices in healthcare settings, posted its highest quarterly revenues in its second quarter of 2011.

9 Aug 2011

Medidata Solutions second quarter net revenues increase 25% to $50.2 million

Medidata Solutions, a leading global provider of SaaS-based clinical technology solutions that enhance the efficiency of clinical development, today announced its financial results for the second quarter 2011, as well as provided financial guidance for the third quarter and full year 2011.

9 Aug 2011