Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Elsevier to support MSF through 'The Great Giveback' campaign

Elsevier, the world-leading publisher of scientific, technical and medical information products and services, announced today that it will contribute to Doctors Without Borders/M-decins Sans Fronti-res through 'The Great Giveback' campaign, providing medical assistance and support to numerous people around the world.

10 Nov 2010

Covidien analysis finds lower incidence of GI adverse events with topical NSAIDs versus oral

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, announced the results of an analysis that will be presented at the American College of Rheumatology's Annual Scientific Meeting. A pooled analysis of safety data suggests that patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) receiving the topical PENNSAID® (diclofenac sodium topical solution) 1.5% w/w had significantly fewer gastrointestinal (GI)-related adverse events than those receiving an oral non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug (NSAID).

10 Nov 2010

City and State officials, AHHE leaders to discuss quality of care for Hispanics

The Association of Hispanic Healthcare Executives announced today the City and State elected officials who will meet with the leaders of nine Hispanic health associations to discuss Hispanic Health Care Disparities, Policy and the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. The Roundtable of Hispanic Professional Health Associations, which will formally be established at this meeting, will hold its 2010 State & National Legislative Summit on the heels of the 2010 election, which generated results that may challenge the implementation of the health reform law.

10 Nov 2010

Genpact to implement process optimization programs for Manipal Health Enterprises

Genpact Limited, a global leader in business process and technology management, today announced a five-year contract with Manipal Health Enterprises Pvt. Limited (MHE), one of the largest tertiary care hospital chains in India. Genpact will implement process optimization programs for MHE's 11 hospitals across India by leveraging its proprietary Smart Enterprise Processes (SEPSM) methodology.

10 Nov 2010

Experts to discuss public health issues on using mobile health technology at 2010 mHealth Summit

As obesity rates and the cost of healthcare continue to be on the rise, the 2010 mHealth Summit in Washington D.C. is bringing together industry thought leaders, researchers, and policy makers to discuss the opportunities to address pressing public health issues utilizing mobile health technology.

10 Nov 2010

U.S. Preventive Services Task Force expected to announce open positions shortly

The agency that oversees the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force is likely to announce soon that it will accept nominations for open positions until Nov. 29.

10 Nov 2010

States slash budgets for tobacco-prevention programs; Florida lawmakers consider Medicaid revision; Md. to probe nonprofit mental health clinic

"Many cash-strapped U.S. states are slashing budgets for tobacco-prevention programs, raising alarms among public-health groups as the nation's progress toward getting adult smokers to quit has stalled. The adult smoking rate was 20.6% in 2009, the same as a year earlier and largely unchanged since 2004, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention."

10 Nov 2010

Pres. Obama emphasizes U.S.-Indian partnerships to track, fight diseases

On his final day in India as part of his 10-day Asia-Pacific tour, President Barack Obama on Monday addressed the joint session of the Indian Parliament in New Dehli, where he emphasized the importance of U.S.-Indian partnerships to tackle disease and improve education, Indo-Asian News Service/Hindustan Times reports (11/8).

10 Nov 2010

ECRI Institute introduces CT Radiation Dose Safety Review service to reduce risk of excessive radiation

Keeping radiation dose in check is a top safety concern for today's hospitals, particularly in computed tomography, which has undergone some significant technological advances in the last ten years. The down side is that CT delivers some of the highest radiation doses in diagnostic radiology.

10 Nov 2010

Synageva's SBC-102 enzyme replacement therapy for LAL deficiency granted European orphan product designation

Synageva BioPharma Corp., a privately held biopharmaceutical company, announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) granted orphan product designation for SBC-102 (Recombinant Human Lysosomal Acid Lipase), the Company's enzyme replacement therapy in development to treat Lysosomal Acid Lipase (LAL) Deficiency.

10 Nov 2010

Education can help prevent preterm birth

Doctors and patients should discuss a pregnant woman's risk of preterm birth by the twelfth week of pregnancy, according to a commentary published in the November issue of Ob.Gyn. News.

10 Nov 2010

Patient satisfaction vital to establish an accountable care organization

According to a recent survey from HealthLeaders Media, 80% of healthcare executives believe the patient experience will be a business imperative that drives referrals, volume and revenue as much as clinical quality.

10 Nov 2010

Insurance premiums rise, high-deductible plans increase, health costs can lead to elder bankruptcy

The Washington Post: "According to experts and industry insiders, recent trends suggest [health insurance] rates will continue to rise and employers will continue to shift more of the cost of health insurance onto workers - asking them to shoulder a larger share of premiums, for instance, or increasing out-of-pocket costs such as deductibles and co-pays."

10 Nov 2010

Republicans' committee plans take shape amid health reform questions

The Hill: "House Ways and Means Chairman-to-be Dave Camp (R-Mich.) is making his case for repealing and replacing the healthcare overhaul, touting his own version of a bill that he says would reduce premiums." Camp made his case in a USA Today editorial and says the GOP plan would reduce premiums by up to 10 percent. Camp says his plan would reform medical malpractice lawsuits, allow Americans to buy health insurance across state lines, and gives "states the flexibility to make changes that best meet the needs of their residents."

10 Nov 2010

Survey says majority of voters want some or all of health law repealed

The Washington Post: "A new Kaiser Family Foundation post-election poll suggests that a majority of people who voted on Nov. 2 favor repealing some or all of the health-care legislation passed by the Democratic-controlled Congress and signed into law by President Obama earlier this year. ... Political strategists continue to debate just how much of an impact healthcare had on the 2010 midterms.

10 Nov 2010

Emergent BioSolutions awarded five grants totalling $1.2 million under QTDP Program

Emergent BioSolutions Inc. today announced that it has been awarded five separate grants under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program to support continued development of its therapeutic programs in oncology and autoimmunity. The grants, with a total value of over $1.2 million, will fund Emergent's TRU-016 Small Modular ImmunoPharmaceutical (SMIP™), DRACO anti-CD3 SMIP, X1 TNF-based SCORPION™, X2 CTLA4-based SCORPION, and T-Scorps-based SCORPION therapeutic programs.

10 Nov 2010

Doctors urge Congress to delay pay cuts — again

Doctors are renewing their campaign to get Congress to block a 23 percent cut to Medicare reimbursements that would begin Dec. 1, the Los Angeles Times reports. The cuts — part of a 1997 law designed to control Medicare costs — are a lingering issue that Congress and doctors typically address at least once a year.

10 Nov 2010

Phytomedics awarded $244,000 QTDP grant for development of RA drug

Phytomedics, Inc., a transformational healthcare company developing a novel portfolio of drugs and consumer products solely derived from plant sources, announced today that it has been awarded a grant in the amount of $244,000 under the Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Project (QTDP) Program to advance the development of its lead product PMI-001 for Rheumatoid Arthritis. PMI-001 is presently in Phase 2b/3 development.

9 Nov 2010

Nursing homes fear Medicaid cuts under GOP-led House

The nursing home industry is concerned about pending Medicaid cuts, news outlets report.

9 Nov 2010

Baxa launches ExactaMix 1200 Automated Compounding Device

Baxa Corporation, a leading provider of medical devices and systems that automate pharmacy operations, today introduced the ExactaMix 1200 Automated Compounding Device (ACD) for small- to mid-sized hospital pharmacies in need of an automated approach to compounding large-volume parenteral doses.

9 Nov 2010