Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Saint Vincent Hospital to build new cancer center in downtown Worcester

Saint Vincent Hospital today announced it has signed a purchase and sale agreement with the CitySquare II Development Co. LLC , to build a medical office building that will house a new comprehensive cancer center in Worcester's CitySquare development. The new center, which represents a $21 million capital investment by Saint Vincent Hospital, is expected to open in January 2013.

22 Apr 2011

Enrollment in managed Medicaid plans on the rise

Tough economic times are driving people both in and out of Medicaid programs. Medicaid enrollment climbs as individuals deal with loss of insurance through employment channels. Then, state legislators challenged with making budget cuts, are forced to reduce Medicaid rosters to balance budgets. Many states are increasing their use of care management strategies to help rein in costly Medicaid programs.

22 Apr 2011

Roswell Park Cancer Institute named Blue Distinction Center for Transplants

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) has been named a Blue Distinction Center for Transplants® by BlueCross BlueShield of Western New York for demonstrating better overall quality of care and patient results in bone marrow/stem cell (autologous and allogeneic) procedures.

22 Apr 2011

Live surgical procedure to repair abdominal aortic aneurysm broadcast to CICE 2011 in Sao Paolo, Brazil

Scott & White Healthcare today teleconferenced one of the world's first live international surgical procedures to repair an abdominal aortic aneurysm to conference attendees in Sao Paolo, Brazil. The meeting, CICE (Current Issues in Comparative Education) 2011, is one of the globe's largest vascular surgery events and includes over 2,000 attendees. The procedure demonstrated the use of an endograft device called a repositionable endoprosthesis.

22 Apr 2011

Tenet Healthcare board rejects revised undervalue proposal from Community Health Systems

Tenet Healthcare Corporation today announced that its Board of Directors, after consulting with its independent financial and legal advisors, has unanimously determined that the revised proposal from Community Health Systems, Inc. to acquire all of the outstanding shares of Tenet for $6.00 per share in cash grossly undervalues the Company and is not in the best interests of Tenet or its shareholders.

22 Apr 2011

U.S. healthcare costs continue to increase at a declining rate

Data released today by S&P Indices for the S&P Healthcare Economic Composite Index indicate that the average per capita cost of healthcare services covered by commercial insurance and Medicare programs increased by 6.19% over the 12-months ending February 2011. This is a drop from the 6.31% increase in annual growth rate posted in January 2011 for this index.

22 Apr 2011

Creekridge Capital, Healthland partner to offer financing solutions for healthcare information system

Creekridge Capital LLC, a nationwide independent healthcare and technology vendor leasing company, has signed an agreement with Healthland, a healthcare information technology (HIT) vendor, to offer creative financing solutions under the private label name, Healthland Financing.

22 Apr 2011

Now campaigning, Obama to ask voters to give health law a chance

Meanwhile, The Hill reports that health lobbying has dropped off compared to the level a year ago when Congress was in the midst of the health reform debate.

22 Apr 2011

Emerus implements Stockell's suite of Patient Access and Revenue Cycle Management solutions

Stockell Healthcare Systems, Inc. is pleased to announce that Emerus Hospital Partners based in The Woodlands, Texas, has selected the company's InsightCS® Patient Access, Patient Accounting and Revenue Cycle Information software solution.

22 Apr 2011

Digital Assent announces 100th customer of PatientPad self-service patient check-in and education solution

Just weeks after launching a national sales campaign, Digital Assent, provider of the award-winning PatientPad® self-service patient check-in and patient education solution, has signed its 100th PatientPad customer and expanded its point-of-care network to 15 states.

22 Apr 2011

Federal judge in N.J. dismisses health overhaul challenge

According to press reports, U.S. District Judge Freda Wolfson ruled that Nicholas Purpura and Donald R. Laster Jr., who filed their lawsuit without a lawyer, lack legal standing to challenge the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

22 Apr 2011

State news: Calif. report faults screening of in-home care providers

Two of the state's largest private medical practices are in talks to merge into a giant doctor-run group that would care for nearly a million Massachusetts patients and significantly escalate the pace of health care consolidation throughout the state. Atrius Health, which runs the Harvard Vanguard system and four other doctors practices, is in advanced talks with Fallon Clinic, the Worcester-based medical group.

22 Apr 2011

Study suggests flaw in methods used to measure racial health disparities

Just weeks after HHS released the first national strategy to reduce racial and ethnic health disparities, a new study published in the journal Demography suggests there is a flaw in the method used to measure racial health differences: it does not adequately account for people of mixed race.

22 Apr 2011

First Edition: April 22, 2011

Today's headlines include a variety of reports about the political reactions to the Democratic and Republican deficit proposals as well as plans for Medicare.

22 Apr 2011

Teva acknowledges promising results of DEFINE study in MS

We acknowledge the results of the DEFINE study seem promising for patients. It is important to note that as a general rule, results obtained in clinical trials in multiple sclerosis (MS) cannot be compared, unless agents are tested in a head-to-head manner in the same trial.

22 Apr 2011

Longer looks: Tommy Thompson on Medicare; Was WSJ Pulitzer undeserved?; IPAB and cost cutting

The law contains Medicare cuts, but the savings achieved are then used to pay for new federal spending, such as the Medicaid expansion and new subsidies to purchase health care in state-based exchanges.

22 Apr 2011

At Facebook appearance, Obama calls GOP plan for Medicare 'radical'

Although President Barack Obama used strong and critical language to describe the Republican proposals to change Medicare and Medicaid, he also indicated that he expected to reach a deal to reduce the deficit without transforming these programs.

22 Apr 2011

Hospitals to host Earth Day events emphasizing link between health, environment

Hospitals and other members of the health care sector will be marking Earth Day 2011 with a wide variety of events showcasing their efforts to develop sustainable operations and reduce their environmental footprint.

22 Apr 2011

Decision Resources: 63% of neurologists select Tysabri as effective MS treatment

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the majority of surveyed U.S. neurologists selected Biogen Idec/Elan's Tysabri as the most effective therapy for the treatment of relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, when compared to other currently available agents.

22 Apr 2011

Obama administration urges new graduates to understand their health insurance options

Administration officials sent letters to college and university presidents and student body leaders reminding them to communicate to students about how, because of changes resulting from the health overhaul, they can remain on a parent's plan until age 26. In other health reform news, President Obama says that he is flexible on health reform, and the AP reports on how the absence of one Supreme Court justice on certain legal questions has been "no big deal."

22 Apr 2011