Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

SMArt platform to support flexible health IT environment, promote innovation

Through a grant from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology, researchers at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School have developed a first-of-its kind platform architecture to support a flexible health information technology environment and promote innovation.

9 Mar 2011

Health law policy disputes central to congressional spending fight

As lawmakers tussle over how much spending should be cut in this year's budget, these key policy questions related to the health law and other regulatory issues are a flashpoint. In addition, House Republicans are stepping up their strategies to defund the overhaul.

9 Mar 2011

GRACE model improves health and reduces Medicare costs in high risk seniors

The March 2011 issue of the journal Heath Affairs highlights an evidence-based model of geriatric care management developed, implemented and tested by researchers and clinicians from Indiana University, the Regenstrief Institute and Wishard Health Services.

9 Mar 2011

HHS unveils format for consumer notices of insurance rate increases

Meanwhile, in other policy news related to the health law, Stateline examines how, for some states, waivers really are a big deal.

9 Mar 2011

Pulse Health's Revelar device helps minimize free radical damage

Pulse Health announces Revelar the first non-invasive device to help healthcare professionals and their patients measure aldehydes and help minimize free radical damage. Revelar is breakthrough breath technology that accurately detects and measures the presence of aldehydes, which are indicators of free radical damage in the body.

9 Mar 2011

Several states weigh new rules on abortion

Legislatures in several states, including Georgia, Texas and Minnesota, are considering new measures on abortion.

9 Mar 2011

Study: Americans experience higher rates of chronic disease than their English counterparts

Researchers announced today in the American Journal of Epidemiology that despite the high level of spending on healthcare in the United States compared to England, Americans experience higher rates of chronic disease and markers of disease than their English counterparts at all ages.

9 Mar 2011

Florida considers managed care program to cut Medicaid costs

In Florida, the state legislature is looking for ways to cut Medicaid costs and one of the options is setting up a state-wide managed care program.

9 Mar 2011

Belly laugh best for venous leg ulcers

Forget technology. The best prescription for patients with venous leg ulcers is good quality nursing care - and the occasional belly laugh!

9 Mar 2011

CMS' Berwick in hot seat again

The New York Times reports that even Democrats are acknowledging that the Senate will not likely be able to confirm Dr. Donald Berwick as the head of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. However, Modern Healthcare reports that the health care provider community remains in his corner.

9 Mar 2011

Novartis QAB149 receives FDA Pulmonary-Allergy Advisory Committee approval for COPD

An advisory committee recommended today that the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approve QAB149 (indacaterol) 75 mcg in the US as a once-daily long-term maintenance bronchodilator treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema.

9 Mar 2011

Smart technology for healthy longevity

A national policy is required for the research, demonstration, commercialisation and wide-scale deployment of smart technology for ageing-in-place to ensure: a healthy, safe, secure and fulfilling future for the increasing aged population in Australia by enabling them to remain at home longer, by easing the strain on the national healthcare system and providing cost effective solutions to meet the needs of the growing number of elderly Australians.

9 Mar 2011

Majority of Americans believe doctors using EHR systems provide better care

A survey conducted by GfK Roper for Practice Fusion reveals an overwhelming majority of Americans believe doctors using a computer system provide them with better care.

8 Mar 2011

Swisher Hygiene announces acquisition of healthcare and hospitality division of SPS, ADCO

Swisher Hygiene Inc., a leading provider of essential hygiene and sanitation products and services, today announced that it has acquired the healthcare and hospitality division of Solvents and Petroleum Service, Inc., a New York-based hygiene and chemicals company, and ADCO Services, Inc., an Atlanta-based hygiene and chemicals company.

8 Mar 2011

EHR? Not so fast - Patients express security concerns

CDW Healthcare, part of the public sector subsidiary of CDW LLC, today announced the results of a national survey on patient perceptions of electronic health records (EHRs) and the security of personal health information (PHI). The report, “Elevated Heart Rates: EHR and IT Security,” found that while patients trust their doctors to protect their information, 49 percent believe that EHRs will have a negative impact on the privacy of their PHI and health data.

8 Mar 2011

New research finds OSS for health IT may be more secure than other systems

Globally the sale of health care information systems is a multibillion dollar industry. The vast costs, frequent failed systems, and inability of systems to talk to each other regularly attract media comment.

8 Mar 2011

AudioNova, Amplifon's hearing aid and audiology device drive European wholesale market

According to a new report by iData Research, the leading global authority in medical device and pharmaceutical market research, the retail European hearing aid and audiology device market was valued at over €3.8 billion in 2010, while the wholesale market was valued at almost €1.3 billion The retail market is expected to grow rapidly by 2017 due to aggressive growth strategies among local and international retail chains and the adoption of new technologies such as wireless Bluetooth hearing aids and receiver-in-canal models.

8 Mar 2011

BrainScope announces launch of Ahead EU-100 to help in head injury assessment

BrainScope Company, Inc. announced today that it is preparing for the introduction of the Ahead™ EU-100, a product in development to aid in the assessment of head injury, in the United Kingdom.

8 Mar 2011

U-M receives Connections for Cardiovascular Health grant to expand 'Project Healthy Schools'

The AstraZeneca HealthCare Foundation program, Connections for Cardiovascular Health, today announced a grant of more than $252,000 to the University of Michigan Health System to expand "Project Healthy Schools."

8 Mar 2011

PHS announces result of OSHPD data on malnutrition rates at all of state's hospitals

Prime Healthcare Services, California's leading healthcare provider and one of the nation's top for-profit healthcare systems, today announced the result of a detailed review of California's 2009 Office of Statewide Health Planning and Development Data on malnutrition rates at all of the state's hospitals.

8 Mar 2011