Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Lawsuits scaring Australian doctors away: Study

The latest study shows that Australian doctors are now so afraid of being sued by patients that one third are considering giving up medicine. The study looked at nearly 3,000 specialists, general practitioners and trainees. Alarmingly 32% are considering reducing their work hours and 40 per cent are considering early retirement.

14 Nov 2010

Abaxis releases new Piccolo reagent disc panel

Abaxis, Inc., a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today announced the release of a new Piccolo® reagent disc panel called BioChemistry Panel Plus. This new reagent disc will be used by healthcare professionals in conjunction with the Piccolo Xpress™ point-of-care analyzer.

12 Nov 2010

Transgenomic awarded $1,070,453 grant under Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

Transgenomic, Inc. today announced that it has been awarded a research and development grant totaling $1,070,453.32 from the U.S. government under HR: 3590 – Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (the "Act") in immediately available funds. This is among the largest awards for any one company under the Act.

12 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 12, 2010

Today's headlines include examinations of Medicaid and state budget issues as well as the next round of the congressional health overhaul fight.

12 Nov 2010

Medical Facilities third quarter revenue increases 4.2% to $51.0 million

Medical Facilities Corporation, today reported its financial results for the three- and nine-month periods ended September 30, 2010. All amounts are expressed in U.S. dollars unless indicated otherwise.

12 Nov 2010

Progressive report recommends new practices to manage errors in HIT systems

An original and progressive report on health information technology (HIT) vendors, their customers and patients, published online today, makes ground-breaking recommendations for new practices that target the reduction or elimination of tensions that currently mar relationships between many HIT vendors and their customers, specifically with regard to indemnity and error management of HIT systems.

12 Nov 2010

MEDecision publishes e-book to support PCMH implementations

MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, on November 4 published an e-book, The Patient-Centered Medical Home: The Cornerstone of Healthcare Transformation.

12 Nov 2010

Mutual accountability on women's and children's health goals essential to Millennium Development Goal success

This year, governments, foundations, businesses, multilateral organizations, non-governmental organizations and health care professional associations publicly pledged more than $ 40 billion* to improve maternal and child health and save million of lives.

12 Nov 2010

Scientists to present new findings from NIAID-funded research at ACAAI Annual Meeting

The 2010 Annual Meeting of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology (ACAAI) brings together leading allergists and immunologists from around the world.

12 Nov 2010

American healthcare system not as safe as thought

A new tool for measuring patient safety shows that the American healthcare system "isn't as safe as we thought it was," according to David Classen, MD, senior partner at CSC and associate professor of medicine at the University of Utah.

12 Nov 2010

SU2C to receive second CLIO Healthcare Award

The CLIO Healthcare Awards will present its second annual honorary award, to Stand Up To Cancer (SU2C), on November 12th, 2010. This dedicated award celebrates an organization or individual for excellence in healthcare communications and for contributing to the improvement of public health.

12 Nov 2010

Hartford Hospital research team receives $238,000 grant from InHealth to study prostate cancer

The Institute for Health Technology Studies (InHealth) has awarded a grant totaling more than $238,000 to a research team at the Helen & Harry Gray Cancer Center at Hartford Hospital in Connecticut to study how various prostate cancer treatments affect a patient's "social capital" the ability to continue working productively in a paying job.

12 Nov 2010

Drug industry roundup: Fosamax trial focuses scrutiny on osteoporosis drugs; What about $4 generics; Recalls undermining confidence

The New York Times: A civil trial against the drugmaker Merck is now underway in Manhattan. A retired investigator for the U.S. army is one of 1,400 people suing the company on the premise that Fosamax, a Merck drug used by millions of women with thinning bones, caused them to develop jawbone ailments.

12 Nov 2010

IBM enters agreement with Central Norway Regional Health Authority to support healthcare system

At the Smarter Industries Symposium today in Barcelona, IBM announced it has entered into an agreement with Central Norway Regional Health Authority to provide information technology to support all hospitals in Norway and improve coordination and reporting of health information, logistics and finance. The agreement is estimated at $120 million USD.

12 Nov 2010

GOP prepares to grill Berwick at Senate hearing next week

Bloomberg: "Medicare Administrator Donald Berwick will face critics of President Barack Obama's health-care overhaul next week, his first appearance before Congress since he was appointed in a process that bypassed the Senate. Berwick will testify at a Senate Finance Committee hearing on Medicare, the health insurance program for the elderly and disabled, and the Medicaid program for the poor, the panel said today in a statement.

12 Nov 2010

Debt panel's draft would take on Medicare, raise Social Security age

President Barack Obama's bipartisan debt-reduction panel laid out a draft version of its recommendations for cutting spending and raising taxes on Wednesday, The New York Times reports. The proposal includes increasing the retirement age for Social Security and plans to reduce the growth of the Medicare program. In all, the proposals would lower deficits by $4 trillion through 2020 and "stabilize" debt. Liberal groups immediately lashed back at what they see as excessive cuts in spending (Calmes, 11/10).

12 Nov 2010

IPC The Hospitalist Company announces acquisition of Zenith Hospitalists

IPC The Hospitalist Company, Inc., a leading national hospitalist physician group practice company, announced today that it has acquired Zenith Hospitalists, LLP, based in Las Vegas, Nevada. The acquisition represents an expansion in the Nevada market, where IPC already has a well-established presence. Zenith has an annualized volume of approximately 40,000 patient encounters.

12 Nov 2010

Veterans and caregivers face ongoing challenges

WebMD: "When veterans with service-related injuries or illness need caregivers, the role typically falls on women, usually spouses or partners," according to a new study by the National Alliance for Caregiving and the United Health Foundation. The study "reports that 96% of veterans' caregivers are women, compared to an overall nationwide finding that 65% of family caregivers are women.

12 Nov 2010

Comparative effectiveness push tailed by controversy, distrust

Two-third of Americans agree that studies comparing treatments are needed, but even more 75 percent say the government and insurers would use the results of such studies to ration medical care, MarketWatch reports.

12 Nov 2010

New A.D.A.M. Health Navigator for hospital, healthcare websites

A.D.A.M., Inc., a leading provider of health information and benefits technology solutions, announced today that the company will unveil the new A.D.A.M. Health Navigator at the 14th Annual Healthcare Internet Conference in Las Vegas, November 15th - 17th.

12 Nov 2010