Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Hospital groups fight over patients

News outlets report on a variety of issues affecting hospitals and doctors.

21 May 2011

Conservative groups urge states, insurers to seek health law waivers

Two groups on the right are urging states and insurers to seek waivers from the Democrats' health care law including exemptions from so-called "mini-med" plans and medical-loss ratio requirements. HHS is also refusing to release the names of rejected waiver applicants.

21 May 2011

Coburn writing his own budget, Sebelius helps Dems refine Medicare message

Sen. Tom Coburn is writing his own budget, which he started before leaving the "gang of six" talks on deficit reduction. Meanwhile, HHS Sec. Sebelius is helping Democrats refine their message on the GOP budget.

21 May 2011

House GOP plans vote on canceling health bill provision on medical education

House Republicans plan another vote on a bill to roll back a spending provision of the health law. Plus some question whether Senate candidate Tommy Thompson is out of step with other Republicans on health care reform, and what OMB's role was in the latest ACO regs.

21 May 2011

HHS rule says insurers must justify double-digit rate increases

Despite opposition from insurers, the Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule stipulating that health insurance premium increases greater than 10 percent will trigger extra regulatory scrutiny.

20 May 2011

State health care 'compact' advances; Some states wrestle with exchanges, MLR

Oklahoma and Tennessee moved forward Wednesday on the health care "compact" that some states are pursuing as a challenge to the health care reform law.

20 May 2011

Survey finds consumers face higher health care costs; Employer costs also expected to rise in 2012

Meanwhile, an Associated Press poll finds that college graduates have been hit by the recession — and their health insurance coverage is one of the key indicators.

20 May 2011

EMA CHMP recommends positive opinion for marketing authorization of Amgen's XGEVA

Amgen today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has recommended a positive opinion for the marketing authorization of XGEVA (denosumab) for the prevention of skeletal-related events (pathological fracture, radiation to bone, spinal cord compression or surgery to bone) in adults with bone metastases from solid tumors.

20 May 2011

OMB review could lock-in ACO rule; Long-term care providers say health law doesn't help with their problems

If there's a fight between CMS and the Office of Management and Budget over the final shape of the accountable care organization regulations, OMB may have an ace in its pocket.

20 May 2011

Merck's VICTRELIS receives European CHMP positive opinion for treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection

Merck, today announced that the Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use of the European Medicines Agency has adopted a positive opinion under accelerated assessment recommending approval of the investigational medicine VICTRELIS (boceprevir) for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C virus genotype 1 infection, in combination with peginterferon alfa and ribavirin, in adult patients with compensated liver disease who are previously untreated or who have failed previous therapy.

20 May 2011

HHS issues finalized health insurance rate review regulation

The Health and Human Services Department finalized regulations Thursday that will require insurance companies to disclose and justify rate increases of 10 percent or more.

20 May 2011

Medicare politics play out as possible presidential candidates vie for position and in a special congressional election

Medicare is again a hot-button issue as news outlets speculate on how Republican plans to revamp the program could play into the upcoming election season.

20 May 2011

Monitoring adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols can help stop outbreaks of C. diff bacteria

Just like intelligence agents watching for the real terrorists threatening to attack, monitoring healthcare worker adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols via hand-washing squads in hospitals can go a long way to stop outbreaks of the opportunistic C. diff bacteria, says Irena Kenneley, an infection prevention and control expert and assistant professor of nursing from the Frances Payne Bolton School of Nursing at Case Western Reserve University.

20 May 2011

Roundup: Private prison costs; GOP lawmakers in Wis. break with Governor on cuts to senior services

The conviction that private prisons save money helped drive more than 30 states to turn to them for housing inmates. But Arizona shows that popular wisdom might be wrong: Data there suggest that privately operated prisons can cost more to operate than state-run prisons — even though they often steer clear of the sickest, costliest inmates (Oppel, 5/18).

20 May 2011

The Chartis Group and HPMG partner to help providers improve outpatient care delivery systems

HealthPartners Medical Group and Clinics and The Chartis Group today announce a unique collaboration to help hospitals and health systems achieve superior performance in health care quality and patient service, while simultaneously lowering costs.

20 May 2011

'No magic pill' for HIV prevention

AIDS Healthcare Foundation today released the results of a groundbreaking online survey designed to gain better understanding of community perceptions regarding the possible use of an HIV prevention pill.

20 May 2011

Court documents offer details of administration's legal defense of individual mandate

The federal government offered an aggressive defense of the new health law in a reply brief filed Wednesday in the multi-state challenge to the overhaul.

20 May 2011

Bayer, Onyx to present Nexavar-chemotherapy combination Phase 2b trial data in breast cancer at ASCO 2011

Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced results from a Phase 2b trial evaluating Nexavar® (sorafenib) tablets in patients with locally advanced or metastatic breast cancer previously treated with a bevacizumab-containing regimen, which showed that Nexavar was associated with statistically significant improvements in progression-free survival and time-to-progression.

20 May 2011

Naltrexone improves clinical, inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease patients

Naltrexone reduced inflammation in Crohn's patients in a research study at Penn State College of Medicine.

20 May 2011

Tornier announces launch of Porous Coated Affiniti Stem for shoulder joint replacement surgery

Tornier Inc. the operating subsidiary of Tornier N.V., a leading global medical device company focused on serving extremities specialists who treat orthopedic conditions of the shoulder, elbow, wrist, hand, ankle and foot, today announced the introduction of the Porous Coated Affiniti Stem for shoulder joint replacement surgery.

20 May 2011

Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Hospital groups fight over patients

Conservative groups urge states, insurers to seek health law waivers

Coburn writing his own budget, Sebelius helps Dems refine Medicare message

House GOP plans vote on canceling health bill provision on medical education

HHS rule says insurers must justify double-digit rate increases

State health care 'compact' advances; Some states wrestle with exchanges, MLR

Survey finds consumers face higher health care costs; Employer costs also expected to rise in 2012

EMA CHMP recommends positive opinion for marketing authorization of Amgen's XGEVA

OMB review could lock-in ACO rule; Long-term care providers say health law doesn't help with their problems

Merck's VICTRELIS receives European CHMP positive opinion for treatment of chronic HCV genotype 1 infection

HHS issues finalized health insurance rate review regulation

Medicare politics play out as possible presidential candidates vie for position and in a special congressional election

Monitoring adherence to mandatory hand-washing protocols can help stop outbreaks of C. diff bacteria

Roundup: Private prison costs; GOP lawmakers in Wis. break with Governor on cuts to senior services

The Chartis Group and HPMG partner to help providers improve outpatient care delivery systems

'No magic pill' for HIV prevention

Court documents offer details of administration's legal defense of individual mandate

Bayer, Onyx to present Nexavar-chemotherapy combination Phase 2b trial data in breast cancer at ASCO 2011

Naltrexone improves clinical, inflammatory activity in Crohn's disease patients

Tornier announces launch of Porous Coated Affiniti Stem for shoulder joint replacement surgery

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How industrial hygiene flow calibration supports defensible exposure data

How electrical engineering ensures accurate calibration and patient safety

The importance of ketones from a clinical and medical perspective

Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

How industrial hygiene flow calibration supports defensible exposure data

How electrical engineering ensures accurate calibration and patient safety

The importance of ketones from a clinical and medical perspective

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