Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

KHN column -- High-risk pools: A rare opportunity for bipartisanship

In his latest Kaiser Health News column, Harold Pollack writes: "This month a key program created by the new health overhaul law, the Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plan, becomes operational in many states. Over the next 40 months, this high-risk insurance pool will provide $5 billion to cover Americans who face the dual challenges of chronic illness and uninsurance.

8 Jul 2010

CompuMed secures extended contracts with Oklahoma and Arizona's departments of corrections

CompuMed, Inc., a medical informatics and telemedicine services company, has secured extended contracts to provide its signature CardioGram™ electrocardiogram (ECG) remote interpretation systems and over-read services for the Oklahoma Department of Corrections (OKDOC) and Arizona Department of Corrections (ADC) at selected facilities throughout both states. The OKDOC rents 21 CardioGram systems, and the ADC owns 45 CardioGram systems.

8 Jul 2010

pSivida submits MAA for Iluvien to UK MHRA

pSivida Corp., a leader in the development of sustained release back of the eye drug delivery systems for difficult-to-treat conditions, today announced that its licensee, Alimera Sciences has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) to the Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the United Kingdom (UK) for Iluvien®.

8 Jul 2010

Allscripts Electronic Health Record chosen for PAL

Allscripts announced today that Central Penn Management Group, a management services organization in Central Pennsylvania, has selected the Allscripts Electronic Health Record for Physicians Alliance Ltd., a 120-provider, independent multispecialty group that CPMG manages.

8 Jul 2010

Alimera Sciences submits MAA for Iluvien to MHRA

Alimera Sciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that specializes in the research, development and commercialization of prescription ophthalmic pharmaceuticals has submitted a Marketing Authorization Application to the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in the United Kingdom for Iluvien (fluocinolone acetonide intravitreal insert).

8 Jul 2010

Shire files patent infringement lawsuit against Zydus

Shire plc, the global specialty biopharmaceutical company, announces that its subsidiaries Shire Development Inc. and Shire Pharmaceutical Development Inc. have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware against Cadila Healthcare Limited, doing business as Zydus Cadila and Zydus Pharmaceuticals, Inc. for the infringement of U.S. Patent No. 6,773,720.

8 Jul 2010

45% of high school-age students not considering career in healthcare and science fields

Despite the projected need for healthcare practitioners at all levels in a challenging job market, nearly half of high school-age students (45 percent of 13 to 18 year-olds) are not considering pursuing a career in healthcare and science fields. The news comes as a result of a recent survey conducted online by Harris Interactive for University of the Sciences in Philadelphia.

8 Jul 2010

Health information technology still faces significant barriers to implementation: Survey

Hospitals understand the importance of health information technology (IT) and the benefits of its widespread adoption, yet as a field still face significant barriers to implementation according to a newly released survey of America's Most Wired hospitals and health systems.

8 Jul 2010

First Edition: July 8, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the continued coverage of President Obama's recess appointment of Dr. Donald Berwick to head CMS as well as other developments related to Medicaid, the health insurance industry and state challenges to the health reform law.

8 Jul 2010

20% of Canadians less sympathetic towards lung cancer sufferers

Canadian lung cancer patients are likely to suffer significant stigma due to the disease's link to smoking, a connection that may impact the care and treatment patients receive. According to a 16-country survey carried out by Ipsos MORI on behalf of The Global Lung Cancer Coalition, one in five Canadians admit feeling less sympathetic towards lung cancer sufferers because of its known association with smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products.

8 Jul 2010

Researchers use nanotechnology to develop advanced wound dressing to detect, treat infection

Researchers are using nanotechnology to develop a medical dressing which will detect and treat infection in wounds. Scientists at the University of Bath and the burns team at the Southwest UK Paediatric Burns Centre at Frenchay Hospital in Bristol are working together with teams across Europe and Australia to create an advanced wound dressing.

8 Jul 2010

Barriers to dental care among Californian children

Lack of dental care continues to be a significant problem for American children, who miss about 1.6 million school days each year due to dental disease.

8 Jul 2010

AHF denounces Obama administration plan to address AIDS drug crisis with $25M

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, will host a press teleconference tomorrow, Thursday, July 8th at 10:00 AM Pacific/1:00 PM Eastern, to denounce an Obama administration plan to address AIDS drug crisis with an insufficient $25 million as "too little, too late."

8 Jul 2010

Increasing HAART treatment for HIV/AIDS patients will provide significant cost savings: Study

Increasing highly active antiretroviral therapy treatment for people with HIV/AIDS will provide significant cost savings over a relatively short period of time, according to a formal economic analysis led by researchers at the BC Centre for Excellence in HIV/AIDS (BC-CfE) at Providence Health Care and the University of British Columbia.

8 Jul 2010

Children of unemployed Americans experience avoidable loss of healthcare coverage: Research

Not only are the children of the 15.3 million unemployed Americans feeling the impact of financial hardship brought on by the economic recession, many of their children may be experiencing an avoidable loss of healthcare coverage, according to new research by the Child Policy Research Center at Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center published in the July issue of Health Affairs.

8 Jul 2010

Optics Express publishes special focus issue on lung cancer imaging research

Advanced imaging technologies that promise to improve the development of effective drugs to treat lung cancer are the focus of the current special issue of Optics Express, an open-access journal published by the Optical Society (OSA). Research featured in the special focus issue on Imaging in Diagnosis and Treatment of Lung Cancer outlines standardized approaches to measure and compare tumor size, as well as to validate the accuracy of such measurements under defined settings.

8 Jul 2010

Silence strengthens RNAi IP portfolio with issuance of key patent in structural modification technology

Silence Therapeutics plc announces the issuance of United States patent 7,750,144, titled Methods and Compositions for Enhancing Efficacy and Specificity of RNA Silencing, by the United States Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO). The issued patent generally claims methods of producing double stranded (RNAi) agents having decreased off-target silencing activity through certain structural modifications. The ability to minimize the off-target effects of RNAi therapeutics is critical for controlling unwanted cellular activity and/or potential safety concerns.

8 Jul 2010

Medizone seeks international patent protection for Asepticsure technology

Medizone International, Inc. has filed an international patent application under the auspices of the Patent Co-operation Treaty (PCT) to secure international patent protection for its Asepticsure™ technology. The international patent application consolidates the two previously filed patent applications titled "Healthcare Facility Disinfecting System" and "Disinfecting Process and Apparatus."

8 Jul 2010

Zanett closes $20.6M in new contracts for second-quarter 2010

Zanett, Inc. announced today that Q-2 2010 was a record quarter for the firm with respect to the rate of contracts closed in a quarterly period. Between the period of April 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010, over $20.6 million in new business has been closed. This amount is comprised of 50 different customers, with the largest customer being responsible for a $7.5 million mandate previously announced.

8 Jul 2010

Health information technology improves quality of care, study shows

Secure patient-physician e-mail messaging improves the effectiveness of care for patients with diabetes and hypertension, according to new research by Kaiser Permanente. The study, published in the July issue of Health Affairs, shows that health information technology improves quality of care scores.

8 Jul 2010