Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

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

Healthcare costs rise for people insured through an employer

Reuters: "Healthcare costs for people insured through an employer rose 6.3 percent for the year ended June 30, according to a new Thomson Reuters index released on Thursday. It found spending for hospital care rose especially fast -- 8.2 percent, compared to a 5.5 percent rise for physician services and a 3.4 percent increase in drug costs.

15 Nov 2010

State roundup: Calif. speeds ahead on health reform; Nebraska abortion provider expanding clinics; Ky. hospital merger

California has moved quickly to implement key provisions of the federal health care overhaul law, including a health benefits exchange, but the exchange and California's plans could be vulnerable as House Republicans threaten to starve the federal health program of funding.

15 Nov 2010

States and providers threaten to drop Medicaid; shortage of providers threatens Medicaid managed-care networks

After Republicans in the Texas legislature floated a radical cost-saving proposal to opt out of Medicaid last week, experts are trying to determine how serious they are, and whether other states are likely to follow suit, Kaiser Health News reports.

15 Nov 2010

Republicans take hard line, look for Democrat health law repeal allies

Republicans aren't softening their tough criticism of the health law even as they seek Democratic allies to join them in their bid to repeal the overhaul.

15 Nov 2010

Baucus to offer bill to amend business provision in health law

A leading Senate Democrat vowed Friday to introduce legislation killing a part of the new healthcare reform law that imposes new tax-filing requirements on small businesses.

15 Nov 2010

Pneumonia Report Card shows prevention, treatment tools not widely adopted in countries where disease kills most children

In advance of World Pneumonia Day, the International Vaccine Access Center (IVAC) on Thursday released a report card showing that pneumonia prevention and intervention targets are not being met in the 15 countries where three-quarters of deaths in children under age 5 from the disease occur each year, IRIN reports.

14 Nov 2010

TCA Cellular Therapy receives QTDP grant for adult stem cell therapies

TCA Cellular Therapy was recently awarded a Qualifying Therapeutic Discovery Program (QTDP) grant from U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The program was highly competitive with nearly seven thousand applicants vying for funding.

14 Nov 2010

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