Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Asthmatx announces first U.S. patient treated with BT delivered by Alair System

Asthmatx, Inc. reported today that doctors at Virginia Hospital Center in Arlington, Va., recently treated the first U.S. patient with bronchial thermoplasty (BT) delivered by the Alair® System, the first device-based asthma treatment approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).

10 May 2010

CFMG to adopt eClinicalWorks EMR system

eClinicalWorks®, a market leader in ambulatory clinical systems, today announced that California Forensic Medical Group (CFMG), which provides health care to correctional facilities in 25 counties in the state, has selected eClinicalWorks electronic medical records (EMR) system. Using eClinicalWorks will allow the group to streamline operations and improve the quality of care provided through reporting capabilities and the ability to share data across the counties. This will help in the continuity of care for inmates.

10 May 2010

NHI first-quarter normalized FFO increases to $17.17M, net income to $15.94M

National Health Investors, Inc. announced today its normalized Funds From Operations ("FFO") and net income for the three months ended March 31, 2010.

10 May 2010

First Edition: May 10, 2010

Today's health policy headlines include the feature coverage of aspects of health reform implementation, including how "gradfathering" will be defined in regulations and the latest details on the early retiree reinsurance program.

10 May 2010

Integrated NextGen platform to be implemented at Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc., and leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced it has executed an agreement with Aunt Martha's Youth Service Center to deploy NextGen® EHR, NextGen® Practice Management and electronic dental records from Quality Systems.

10 May 2010

Takeda enters co-promotion agreement with Janssen Pharma for VELCADE

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited and its wholly owned subsidiary Millennium: The Takeda Oncology Company today announced that Takeda has entered into a co-promotion agreement with Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K. for VELCADE® (bortezomib) for Injection, a treatment for patients with multiple myeloma.

10 May 2010

ASR increases production of new 5-in-1 non contact thermometers

American Scientific Resources, Inc. announced today that the Company has increased production of its new line of affordable, revolutionary 5-in-1 non contact thermometers to allow for various distribution channels to take full advantage of ASR's production capabilities.

10 May 2010

Allied Healthcare Products reduces cost of sales for third-quarter 2010

Budget constraints for hospitals and municipalities continued to depress sales for Allied Healthcare Products, Inc. but the company managed to improve its third quarter results over last year's performance by reducing overhead and operating costs.

10 May 2010

GSK participates in FDA advisory committee's rotavirus vaccine meeting

GlaxoSmithKline today participated in a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) advisory committee meeting convened to discuss recent findings of porcine circovirus (PCV) in rotavirus vaccines. Although the committee did not issue any formal recommendations, members widely acknowledged that the benefits of vaccinating infants worldwide against rotavirus disease clearly outweigh the theoretical risks associated with the presence of porcine circovirus type 1 (PCV-1) in the vaccines.

10 May 2010

$Free online fracture-risk calculator$

Free online fracture-risk calculator

FRAX- is a free online fracture-risk calculator (http://www.shef.ac.uk/FRAX/) that has been developed by the World Health Organization Collaborating Centre for Metabolic Bone Diseases at the University of Sheffield, UK. More and more physicians around the world are using the tool as an aid in making informed treatment decisions in the course of a clinical assessment of their patients.

10 May 2010

Experts to present latest research on prostate cancer and related conditions

WHAT: This symposium features a renowned faculty of clinicians and researchers who will present leading-edge information on the best standards of care in managing the full spectrum of prostate cancer and related conditions.

10 May 2010

Researchers study link between cognitive impairment and adherence problems among HF patients

Surviving heart failure calls for lifestyle changes, taking medications and following doctor's orders. Some of the 5 million heart failure patients have trouble adhering to these changes and end up returning to the hospital.

10 May 2010

House committee to investigate Johnson & Johnson after kids' Tylenol recall

A House committee is looking at Johnson & Johnson after the company announced a recall of children's medicines. "Lawmakers requested information on Thursday from regulators about Johnson & Johnson's recall of Children's Tylenol and other over-the-counter pediatric medicines, saying the company's repeated recalls 'point to a major problem' with production," Reuters/The New York Times reports.

10 May 2010

Proposal for regular health check ups for the mentally ill

SANE Australia has revealed data that shows that nearly 90% of patients with mental illness also suffer from chronic ailments like diabetes, heart disease etc.

9 May 2010

Hospitals' financial woes cause shake-ups in three cities

"Some doctors from St. Vincent's Hospital in Manhattan fear they won't be covered for malpractice insurance for care they provided while on staff before the hospital's demise. They believe the failed institution has a legal obligation to continue to provide the coverage. The doctors fear they may have to buy their own medical malpractice coverage for the next several years, policies they say can cost $40,000 a year when purchased individually" (Sataline, 5/7).

7 May 2010

Today's opinions and editorials: Health reform's paperwork and accountability in Medicare

Without the support of the AMA it is quite possible that the health-care reform initiative would have failed. So why the effort to silence other doctors? (Hal Scherz, 5/7).

7 May 2010

House panel may stall action on health pricing disclosure bills

Proposals to make the price of health care services and products more transparent to consumers has attracted bipartisan support on a House panel, but the subcommittee's chairman, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., would not say whether he would allow such legislation to move forward. Having just passed the health overhaul legislation, Pallone said he thought Congress should devote energy to initiatives "outside of health care" (McCarthy, 5/7).

7 May 2010

MFA reports continued growth in number of new policies issued

The latest Medicare Supplement membership figures show continued growth in the number of new policies being issued, according to Mark Farrah Associates. The number of policies issued in the last three years increased by 1.25% in 2009 when compared to the 2008 base. Growth slacked off somewhat compared to 2008 when carriers had experienced 2.67% growth in new policies. Nonetheless, this is encouraging as Medigap carriers are positioning to introduce new Plans M and N on June 1, 2010.

7 May 2010

Ardea Biosciences reports lower net loss of $10.1M for first-quarter 2010

Ardea Biosciences, Inc. a biotechnology company focused on the development of small-molecule therapeutics for the treatment of gout, cancer and human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), reported recent accomplishments and financial results for the first quarter ended March 31, 2010.

7 May 2010

AHF's Magic Johnson Testing America Tour arrives in Minneapolis to offer free HIV testing

AHF's Magic Johnson 'Testing America' Tour, a six month, 48 state national cross country HIV testing tour, arrives in Minneapolis today and will offer free HIV testing, along with local partner, Siouxland Community Health Center, today in the historic 4th Street area on the south side of Mac Behr's from 7:00 PM to 12:00 Midnight.

7 May 2010