Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

HHS seeking to publish new health insurance data

The Department of Health and Human Services is working on regulations that would allow it to publish additional in-depth health insurance data, including the number of people enrolled in each insurance plan.

16 Nov 2010

BIDMC, IPFnet to conduct clinical trials for idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis

Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center (BIDMC) will join the Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis Clinical Research Network (IPFnet), a clinical research network sponsored by the National Heart Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI) to conduct randomized clinical trials to evaluate new and existing medications for the treatment of idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). The network is made up of healthcare institutions from around the United States.

16 Nov 2010

Physician-owned hospitals gear up to fight health law restrictions

Doctors are challenging provisions of the new health law that seemed to spell the demise of physician-owned specialty hospitals, a fast-growing phenomenon in states such as Texas where hospital growth is largely unregulated.

15 Nov 2010

National health disparities conference wraps up with creative approaches, expectations for new healthcare reform

Focusing on the disparities in the quality of health care across demographic groups, the Fourth Annual National Conference on Health Disparities brought together White House officials and national and local healthcare executives to address a series of key questions about non-medical determinants of health quality and to recommend strategies to bring more equitable healthcare access to the underserved. The determinants discussed at the four-day-long conference, which began November 10, 2010 and concluded Saturday, November 13, 2010, included education levels, health literacy, poverty, public safety, community design, access to care, environmental quality and personal, government and corporate responsibility.

15 Nov 2010

MEDecision earns NCQA Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set Software Certification

MEDecision, Inc., a leading provider of collaborative healthcare management solutions, has earned the National Committee for Quality Assurance (NCQA) Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS®) Software Certification for its programs that identify "care opportunities."

15 Nov 2010

BioTime third quarter total revenues increase 82% to $815,284

BioTime, Inc. today reported financial results for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 and provided an update on recent corporate developments.

15 Nov 2010

MedClean enters distribution agreement with SunBelt

MedClean Technologies, the leading provider of on-site technology for the treatment and disposal of medical waste and the destruction of confidential documents and related media, today announced it has signed a distribution agreement with SunBelt Medical Services, Inc. With this agreement, MedClean now has 11 regional distributors covering 41 states, one national partner targeting the Veteran's Administration, and one international partner covering Canada.

15 Nov 2010

Unilife and IMCO enter exclusive marketing program for Unitract range of 1mL safety syringes

Unilife Corporation today announced that it has commenced U.S. sales of its Unitract® range of 1mL safety syringes.

15 Nov 2010

Autonomy introduces Meaning Based Healthcare platform

Autonomy Corporation plc, a global leader in infrastructure software for the enterprise, today announced the availability of the Autonomy Meaning Based Healthcare (MBH) platform, a comprehensive set of clinical diagnosis and information governance technologies designed to help Healthcare Delivery Organizations (HDOs) provide higher quality care at lower costs.

15 Nov 2010

National Health third quarter revenues increase 12.3%

National Health Partners, Inc., a leading provider of unique discount healthcare membership programs, is pleased to announce today that the Company has achieved positive earnings for the quarter ended September 30, 2010 compared to a loss of $522,542 for the same period last year. Revenues for the 3rd quarter grew 12.3% over the same period last year.

15 Nov 2010

First Edition: November 15, 2010

According to today's headlines, Republicans are spoiling for a health care fight and doctors are bracing from scheduled Medicare cuts.

15 Nov 2010

PAREXEL wins 2010 Scrip Award for 'Clinical Research Team of the Year'

PAREXEL International Corporation, a leading global biopharmaceutical services provider, today announced that the Company has won the 2010 Scrip Award for "Clinical Research Team of the Year." The award was presented to PAREXEL at the sixth annual Scrip Awards ceremony, hosted by Scrip Intelligence, a leading news, data, and information service for the global pharmaceutical industry, on November 4, 2010 in London, England.

From Parexel 15 Nov 2010

ATA publishes 'A blueprint for telerehabilitation guidelines'

The American Telemedicine Association (ATA) has just announced its latest standard publication, 'A Blueprint for Telerehabilitation Guidelines,' which discusses the key administrative, clinical technical and ethical principles that should be considered in the course of providing telerehabilitation services. The purpose of these guidelines is to inform and assist practitioners in providing effective and safe services based on client needs, current empirical evidence, and available technologies.

15 Nov 2010

Temple University professionals focus on community viral load to combat HIV

World AIDS Day is December 1, but healthcare professionals at Temple University work year-round to combat HIV by focusing on reducing the community viral load, or the severity of HIV in a particular group. This approach has become widespread in the past two years, and it is still evolving and undergoing evaluation.

15 Nov 2010

Health IT reshaped veterans health; What will it do for 'mobile telephony'?

Health IT reshaped the United States system for caring for veterans, The Toronto Globe and Mail reports. "Ken Kizer is the miracle man of U.S. health care. Mr. Kizer brought in bold reform that transformed the vast and woeful Veterans Health Administration into an efficient, effective model institution with sky-high patient satisfaction. Starting in 1994, it took him five years to reduce costs and increase quality of care, while nearly doubling the number of patients."

15 Nov 2010

ICS/LABA combination therapy increases asthma-related pharmacy cost

Researchers find inhaled corticosteroid and long-acting beta agonist (ICS/LABA) combination products are commonly used by patients with mild asthma, despite the lack of evidence or guidelines for such use.

15 Nov 2010

Health law expected to boost Medicaid enrollees in managed care

Kaiser Health News staff writer Phil Galewitz, working in collaboration with USA Today, reports: "HealthCare USA is one of dozens of private managed health care plans providing care to nearly half the nearly 50 million Americans on Medicaid, a state-federal program for the poor and disabled.

15 Nov 2010

Novel light technology kills hospital superbugs

A pioneering lighting system that can kill hospital superbugs - including MRSA and C.diff - has been developed by researchers at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow. Scotland.

15 Nov 2010

Medtronic Eureka medical technology innovation portal launched

Medtronic today launched Medtronic Eureka, a European web-based portal for medical technology innovation designed to help physicians and medical technology inventors to bring their innovative ideas to life.

15 Nov 2010

Insurers consider shake-ups to business models under health law

Reuters: "Become tech-savvy. Bulk up. Venture abroad. Those appear to be among the most appealing alternatives for U.S. health insurers with their core U.S. markets in upheaval following passage of the healthcare overhaul, speakers at the Reuters Health Summit said this week.

15 Nov 2010