Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Blue Shield of California withdraws planned rate hike

Part of the reason for the decision may have been the result of political and public pressure, but an unexpected development may have made the retreat easier for the company to accept — it's paying out less than expected for claims.

18 Mar 2011

$Guide to improving care of baby boomers' fragility fractures$

Guide to improving care of baby boomers' fragility fractures

Many Baby Boomers will experience a bone fracture as they age, and the current US healthcare system is not prepared to provide the necessary care required, according to a special monograph released in the January 2011 issue of Geriatric Orthopaedic Surgery and Rehabilitation (GOS), published by SAGE.

18 Mar 2011

UCLA researchers identify new biomarker that can help track amyloid beta in Alzheimer's

UCLA researchers have identified a new biomarker that could help them track how effectively the immune system is able to clear the brain of amyloid beta, which forms the plaques considered one of the hallmarks of Alzheimer's disease.

18 Mar 2011

At the one-year mark, implications of health law emerge

Media outlets report on a range of issues related to implementation of the health law and its one-year anniversary — among them, the unexpected importance taken on by waivers, the marketplace impact on health insurance brokers, the geography of the health care workforce issues likely to result from coverage expansions and the continuing problems faced by lawmakers who are trying to repeal the measure's 1099 reporting provision.

18 Mar 2011

MeadWestvaco's Mebane packaging plant earns FSC Chain of Custody certification

MeadWestvaco Corp. announced today that its Mebane, N.C. packaging plant received Forest Stewardship Council Chain of Custody certification in February 2011.

18 Mar 2011

Covidien provides update on its operations in Japan

Covidien, a leading global supplier of healthcare products, today provided an update on its operations in Japan.

18 Mar 2011

ANCI signs agreement with Annapolis for healthcare solution

American CareSource Holdings, Inc., the nation's leading ancillary health care network services company, announced today that it has signed and implemented an agreement with Annapolis, Maryland-based Self Funding Administrators Corporation, a third party administrator representing an additional 30,000 covered lives.

18 Mar 2011

Roundup: Cuts in Calif. programs; Ga. seeks federal MLR waiver; N.J. lawmakers try to restore some health funding

State lawmakers Wednesday approved billions of dollars in cuts to welfare, medical programs for the poor and in-home care for the elderly and frail, among other services, moving forward key pieces of Gov. Jerry Brown's budget reduction package.

18 Mar 2011

St. John Providence Health System selects Intuit Health Patient Portal

St. John Providence Health System, a 3,200 provider health system serving the Metro Detroit area, has selected Intuit Health, the nation's leader in patient-to-provider communication solutions, to provide its physician practices with a patient portal. With the Intuit Health Patient Portal, employed and private practices can now connect with data from multiple electronic health record and practice management systems to offer patients a single view of data for their personal health record.

17 Mar 2011

Crowell Systems' Medformix XXV v3 earns Ambulatory Software Certification

Crowell Systems, Inc.'s Medformix XXV v3 received the Federal Government's "meaningful use" stamp of approval on March 8, 2011 by earning Ambulatory Software Certification.

17 Mar 2011

MedPAC recommends patients help pay home health care costs

The advisory panel also urged that payments for physicians and hospitals be increased and that the home health care payment formula be reworked. In related news, a Ways & Means subcommittee hearing on Medicare payment issues quickly turned into an exploration of a GOP proposal to replace the program's current structure with a voucher system.

17 Mar 2011

TF3 consortium receives ECCH contract to provide RNTI

The TF3 consortium has been chosen to provide a Remote Telemonitoring Service to Northern Ireland which will support over 8,000 patients during the course of the contract.

17 Mar 2011

White House: Don't fast track Virginia's health law challenge to Supreme Court

Because the measure's individual mandate does not take effect until 2014, Administration lawyers are arguing that there is "no persuasive reason" to speed the Supreme Court's consideration of this lawsuit.

17 Mar 2011

Harvard, UCI receive $2 million CDC grant to help reduce hospital-borne MRSA infections

A UC Irvine infectious disease specialist will be part of a nationwide Centers for Disease Control and Prevention research program to develop and test innovative approaches to reducing infection in healthcare settings.

17 Mar 2011

Computer-based tools can help improve relationship between patients, healthcare workers

A vast computer based glossary of healthcare terms culled from so-called e-health tools, medical news sites, telemedicine applications, home care-management systems, internet-based public health records, and even health-oriented and medical blogs could help improve the relationship between patients and healthcare workers, according to research published in the International Journal of Electronic Healthcare.

17 Mar 2011

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia receives $10 million fund to combat childhood obesity

The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia today announced that it has received a pledge of $10 million over the next three years from the Foundation for a Healthy America, a non-profit entity created by the non-alcoholic beverage industry.

17 Mar 2011

RBMG selects Dynatronics for inclusion in the RB Milestone Portfolio

Dynatronics Corporation announced that it has been selected for inclusion in the RB Milestone Portfolio, a group of companies selected by RB Milestone Group, LLC, to be introduced to the market via a combination of traditional and innovative analytical and communication strategies including equity research, The Portal Network, and non-deal roadshows, with a focus on the healthcare, mining, energy, and technology sectors.

17 Mar 2011

Expert discusses certain measures that can help prevent HAI spread

Healthcare-associated infections represent a growing concern for both patients and healthcare providers across the nation. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention estimates that approximately 1.7 million HAIs occur each year and contribute to the death of 99,000.

17 Mar 2011

Viewpoints: Wis. Medicaid dilemma; an army doc's Rx for cutting costs; Rep. Boren on repeal

These slipshod exercises in governance were choreographed by House Republicans, who knew that neither the Senate nor President Obama would ever accept their original proposal to gut nonsecurity discretionary spending with $61 billion in cuts through September, including riders to end financing for Planned Parenthood and the health care law.

17 Mar 2011

CVDW, Dow Corning collaborate to improve vision correction in children

Dow Corning, a global leader in silicon-based technology, and the Centre for Vision in the Developing World are jointly announcing a collaboration to create an innovative new way to help correct the vision of children in the developing world.

17 Mar 2011