Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Study identifies sharp rise in Parkinson's prevalence in Israel from 2000 to 2007

In a new study published today in the inaugural issue of the Journal of Parkinson's Disease, Israeli researchers report that by tracking pharmacy purchases of anti-Parkinson drugs they could estimate the number of Parkinson's disease (PD) cases in a large population.

10 Jun 2011

LGL to host third annual pharmacogenetic conference on 8-9th November 2011

London Genetics Limited, an expert in the use of pharmacogenetics in clinical drug discovery and development, is pleased to announce that its third annual pharmacogenetic conference will feature top-level presentations from players in all parts of the healthcare chain.

10 Jun 2011

Quest Diagnostics receives MDEA gold award for Simplexa/3M technology

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, today announced that its Simplexa molecular diagnostic test on the 3M Integrated Cycler won a gold award in the in vitro diagnostics category at the 2011 MDEA awards ceremony yesterday in New York City.

From Quest Diagnostics 10 Jun 2011

Longer looks: Dr. Oz as patient; Utah puts Medicaid enrollees to work

As a federal judge considers whether to block the implementation of a recently-passed law that defunds Planned Parenthood of Indiana, more than 20,000 low-income patients are on the verge of losing their primary health care provider.

10 Jun 2011

Roundup: Maryland program treats prisoners' medical problems

A sweeping deal to cut pensions and health-care benefits for hundreds of thousands of New Jersey public workers was teetering Wednesday, as rank-and-file Assembly Democrats refused to go along with an agreement struck between top legislative Democrats and Gov. Chris Christie.

10 Jun 2011

Spacelabs receives $3M U.S. hospital contracts for patient monitoring, connectivity products

OSI Systems, Inc., a vertically-integrated provider of specialized electronic products for critical applications in the Security and Healthcare industries, today announced that its Healthcare division, Spacelabs Healthcare, has received approximately $3 million in orders from US hospitals in the Southeast region.

10 Jun 2011

TriWest earns third consecutive Health Network reaccreditation from URAC

Successfully managing a network of 170,000-plus providers and meeting high compliance standards earned TriWest Healthcare Alliance yet another recertification from URAC, a national leader in promoting quality health care.

10 Jun 2011

Viewpoints: Health law's latest day in court; Obama's "abdication" on Medicare; Blue Shield profits vs. premiums

Provisions of the federal Affordable Care Act, also known as ObamaCare, "may violate the constitution of Ayn Rand, but they do not violate the Constitution of the United States," acting solicitor general Neal Kumar Katyal told a three-judge panel of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals Wednesday. Conversely, attorney Paul Clement, representing Georgia and 25 other states, framed the issue of mandated purchase of health insurance as an issue of liberty.

10 Jun 2011

Drugs for enlarged prostate raise cancer risk

According to health officials, this Thursday, a class of drugs meant to improve symptoms of an enlarged prostate gland may actually increase the chance of getting a more serious form of prostate cancer. However they also said the drugs' benefits outweigh the risks.

9 Jun 2011

New bariatric bed

Twenty-percent of the adult U.S. population is obese, including approximately five percent that are considered morbidly obese. The direct health issues, related complications and safety challenges affecting this population are far reaching and well documented. VitalGo, Inc., a provider of advanced technology-based solutions for medical staff safety, patient safety and home care, has announced the immediate availability of the new bariatric version of its Total Lift Bed™ (TLB) which addresses a wide variety of care, treatment and safety issues for patients weighing up to 1,000 lbs.

9 Jun 2011

Avvo.com, cites top 10 most popular medical specialty categories based on website's patient usage

Avvo (www.avvo.com), the world's largest online directory for doctors and lawyers that provides free rankings for 90% of the working physicians in the U.S., today revealed the most popular medical specialty categories based on Q1 2011 metrics quantifying patient participation in Avvo's online services that include searching Avvo's physician directory, asking health related questions in the Q&A forum, and submitting reviews on their doctors' Avvo profiles.

9 Jun 2011

European Bioinformatics Institute drives genomics research with GÉANT

The European Molecular Biology Laboratory’s European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI), which hosts the world’s largest public collection of molecular biology databases, is using the pan-European GÉANT research network and JANET, the UK research network, to help biologists share vital data across the globe.

9 Jun 2011

Hospitals seek help with costs of caring for illegal immigrants

The American Hospital Association is urging President Barack Obama to consider the costs hospitals incur for treating illegal immigrants—and to include provisions in his legislative recommendations to Congress that would sufficiently reimburse them for doing so (Zigmond, 6/9).

9 Jun 2011

Deadline extended for ACO pioneer program

The new deadline is Aug. 19. Meanwhile, in other policy-related news, the White House pushed back against study findings released earlier this week by McKinsey & Co. that as many as 30 percent of companies may stop offering health insurance to their employees and said the president's healthcare plan "will reduce costs overall."

9 Jun 2011

ASI announces successful completion of $10 million round of financing

Access Scientific, Inc. (ASI) today announced the successful completion of a $10 million round of financing. The round was led by CAC and further supported by the company's previous institutional investors.

9 Jun 2011

First Edition: June 9, 2011

Today's headlines include reports from yesterday's action in an Atlanta courtroom where oral arguments were held in an appeal related to the multi-state challenge to the health law.

9 Jun 2011

Celerion earns ANVISA certification to conduct clinical research operations in Belfast, Lincoln

Celerion, the premier provider of innovative early stage drug development solutions, is pleased to announce that its clinical research operations in Belfast, Northern Ireland UK, and its clinical research and bioanalytical services operations in Lincoln, Nebraska USA, have been certified by the Brazilian National Health Surveillance Agency.

9 Jun 2011

Blue Shield of California will cap earnings

Health insurer Blue Shield of California, under fire for a series of recent rate hikes and the pay of its chief executive, plans to cut this year's premiums by 2.5% for many of its 3.3 million policyholders as part of a new initiative to hold down costs.

9 Jun 2011

Massachusetts 'pay for performance' health care program finds no signs of racial, ethnic disparities

Massachusetts' innovative use of "pay-for-performance" bonuses to try to reduce racial and ethnic disparities in the case of Medicaid patients has turned up no evidence of the problem at any of the state's 66 acute-care hospitals, according to a new study that raises questions about the effectiveness of the state's novel approach.

9 Jun 2011

Eight out of 10 countries using mHealth services, WHO report says

Eighty-three percent of countries are using mobile phone technology for health services, according to a WHO study released on Tuesday at the Mobile Health Summit in Cape Town, South Africa, Agence France-Presse reports.

9 Jun 2011