Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Despite cuts, GOP continues block of Bill to extend Medicaid assistance, 'fix' Medicare payments

A Republican filibuster may kill a bill that would extend jobless benefits and extra Medicaid assistance to states while also leaving in limbo efforts to delay cuts in Medicare payments to doctors.

25 Jun 2010

NKI awarded Phase II SBIR grant to develop new ophthalmic screening device for diabetic retinopathy

Neuro Kinetics, Inc., manufacturers of noninvasive medical diagnostic equipment used worldwide to test for vestibular and neurological conditions, said today that it has been awarded a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research grant to further the company's development of a new ophthalmic screening device and testing protocols for the detection and diagnosis of diabetic retinopathy.

25 Jun 2010

Details emerge on young adults coverage, small business health law provisions

More details are emerging on what aspects of the new health reform law mean for coverage for young adults and how small businesses will be affected by the changes.

25 Jun 2010

FHCRC selects SciQuest to enhance its ERP system and improve on cost-efficiency

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a world-renowned research and treatment institution in Seattle, has selected SciQuest, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand strategic procurement and supplier enablement solutions, to enhance its enterprise resource planning system and improve on cost-efficiency.

25 Jun 2010

Workers in small businesses more likely to have high premium for employer-sponsored health plans: AHRQ

Nearly 13 percent of workers with employer-sponsored health plans who worked in firms with 10 or fewer employees had premiums of $7,200 or more a year for single-coverage plans in 2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This amount is much higher than the $4,704 average, national premium for employer-sponsored single-coverage health plans in 2008.

25 Jun 2010

UNICEF and Kiwanis team up to protect mothers and babies from tetanus

Kiwanis International and UNICEF have joined forces to save the lives of babies and their mothers by eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT), a disease that kills an estimated 60,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers each year.

25 Jun 2010

Study: Low BP levels are unhealthy for CKD patients

Recent guidelines by The National Kidney Foundation Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF KDOQI)1 call for lower target blood pressure levels in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

25 Jun 2010

e-Health identifiers for Australians to be allocated next week

The new Australian electronic healthcare database service has been on the cards for a while now. The legislation that flags off this scheme passed in the federal parliament and may be implemented next week on 1st July. This will ensure that every Australian is given a unique healthcare identification number. Doctors, hospitals, healthcare organisations and allied health providers will receive similar identifiers.

24 Jun 2010

USPTO grants Tethys key patent for PreDx Diabetes Risk Score test

Tethys Bioscience, Inc., a privately held company, announced today that the United States Patent and Trademark Office has granted the Company US Patent 7,723,050. The patent is directed to the company's groundbreaking PreDx™ Diabetes Risk Score (DRS) test and relates to proprietary methods for assessing the risk of developing a diabetic condition.

24 Jun 2010

BCBST achieves certification for implementation of CAQH CORE Phase II rules

CAQH announced today that BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee has achieved certification for its implementation of the CAQH Committee on Operating Rules for Information Exchange Phase II rules. The certification will benefit more than 3 million insured members of the Tennessee health plan.

24 Jun 2010

LTCFP announces publication of revised guidebook, Long Term Care Insurance at the Worksite

Many companies seem conflicted by a key part of the recent Health Reform legislation, the CLASS Act, which will offer a form of long term care insurance for working people who may become disabled. "CLASS" stands for Community Living Assistance Services and Supports; and the program, a legacy of the late Senator Edward Kennedy, is intended to offer new choice and security for millions now at risk. But, "we find that those who manage employees or employee benefits don't know how to react," says Denise Gott, Chairman of the Board of LTC Financial Partners LLC, one of the nation's most experienced long term care insurance agencies.

24 Jun 2010

Premier healthcare alliance recognizes winners of Pinnacle and Performance Awards

The Premier healthcare alliance has recognized the winners of its fifth annual awards for suppliers exceeding operational and quality expectations.

24 Jun 2010

Ventas enters definitive agreement to acquire Lillibridge

Ventas, Inc. said today that it has entered into a definitive agreement to acquire 100 percent of Lillibridge Healthcare Services, Inc. and real estate interests in 95 medical office buildings and ambulatory facilities ("MOBs"). Lillibridge, a premier Chicago-based, fully-integrated healthcare real estate company, owns, develops and manages MOBs, and offers strategic, financial and operational real estate advisory services, principally for highly rated, not-for-profit healthcare systems nationally.

24 Jun 2010

Merck's DULERA Inhalation Aerosol for asthma receives FDA approval

Merck today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has approved DULERA® (mometasone furoate and formoterol fumarate dihydrate) Inhalation Aerosol, a new fixed-dose combination asthma treatment for patients 12 years of age and older. DULERA is not indicated for the relief of acute bronchospasm. DULERA combines an inhaled corticosteroid (mometasone furoate) with a long-acting beta2-agonist (formoterol fumarate).

24 Jun 2010

MHQP survey assesses patients' experiences with primary care since health reform law implementation

A report released today by Massachusetts Health Quality Partners provides the first comprehensive assessment of how patients rate their experiences with primary care since the state's groundbreaking health reform law was implemented.

24 Jun 2010

Personalized medicine holds promise for the future of healthcare

With the accelerating pace of scientific discovery in life sciences, coupled with our ability to process and analyze enormous amounts of genetic information, the field of personalized medicine holds great promise for the future of healthcare.

24 Jun 2010

Medica, HealthInsight partner to deliver value-based benefit program to commercial customers

Today, Medica, a leading health care insurance provider headquartered in Minneapolis, and HealthInsight, provider of the leading value-based healthcare incentive platform, announced that they have partnered to deliver a next generation value-based benefit program to Medica's commercial customers.

24 Jun 2010

Nominations for 2010 Excellence in Healthcare Information Management Award are now open

Cintas Corporation, the leader in secure document management, today announced that nominations for its 2010 Excellence in Healthcare Information Management Award are now open. The award will recognize one leading healthcare facility that has gone above and beyond to implement secure document strategies to protect its patients' private information and remain compliant with government standards.

24 Jun 2010

First Edition: June 24, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the latest news about action in the Senate regarding the Medicare "doc fix" and Medicaid assistance for states as well as developments across the health care marketkplace.

24 Jun 2010

Cancer Research UK launches new cutting-edge research centre at Imperial

A new cutting-edge cancer centre dedicated to robotic surgery, cancer imaging and drug discovery is launched today, putting London at the forefront of cancer research.

24 Jun 2010