Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Picis commends inclusion of ED in final rules for ARRA HITECH meaningful use criteria

Picis executives today weighed in on the final rules for the ARRA HITECH meaningful use criteria issued this week. The company commends policy makers for their comprehensive and diligent work to create a flexible, workable solution that lays the foundation for a strong electronic health record (EHR) plan for the future of U.S. health care.

16 Jul 2010

CCP's milestone marks 50% increase in physicians offering hybrid concierge model

Concierge Choice Physicians, the nation's largest hybrid concierge medicine company, announced today the signing of its 155th physician practice and expansion to 16 states, most recently Missouri, Tennessee and the District of Columbia. The milestone marks a 50 percent increase in the number of physicians offering the hybrid concierge model in just one year's time.

16 Jul 2010

Neurologists more aware of Merck Serono/EMD Serono's oral cladribine than Novartis/Mitsubishi Tanabe's FTY-720

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that surveyed neurologists have low awareness of Novartis/Mitsubishi Tanabe's FTY-720 (Gilenia) among the surveyed oral emerging therapies for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

16 Jul 2010

UCI first medical center on West Coast to perform robotic thyroidectomies

UC Irvine Healthcare is the first medical center on the West Coast and the only one in California to perform robotic thyroidectomies, a procedure that removes the diseased gland without leaving a visible scar on the neck. Dr. Jason Kim, associate clinical professor of otolaryngology and a head and neck cancer specialist, has performed robotic-assisted surgery using the daVinci Surgical System on three patients with thyroid tumors.

16 Jul 2010

First-of-its-kind patient, healthcare provider support program for management of HE

Concentric Pharma Advertising, an independent healthcare advertising and marketing agency, announces the creation of Salix Pharmaceuticals' Hepatic Encephalopathy Living Program. H.E.L.P. launched May 24, 2010, and coincides with the launch of Xifaxan550 (rifaximin) for the management of patients 18 or older at risk for overt hepatic encephalopathy recurrence.

16 Jul 2010

ALOKA announces new ProSound F75 high-end color diagnostic ultrasound system

ALOKA CO., LTD., announced on July 16 the ProSound F75, a high-end color diagnostic ultrasound system of the new "F" series at its private exhibition, "Aloka Fair 2010." This new flagship of multi-purpose systems, providing unprecedented performance in a variety of clinical applications, is comfortable and easy to use.

16 Jul 2010

N.C. firms show health sector jobs not as recession-proof as advertised

Are health jobs recession proof? Try recession resistant. The Winston-Salem (N.C.) Journal reports, "Health-care jobs might not be as recession-proof as was once thought, but they are still safer than jobs in many other fields, employment experts said yesterday, after Forsyth Medical Center announced a day earlier that 48 people would lose their jobs through layoffs… Large layoffs in the health-care industry have taken place elsewhere. In January, for example, Southeastern Regional Medical Center in Lumberton laid off 112 employees" (Graff, 7/15).

16 Jul 2010

Insurers will pick up preventive care costs under new rules

The recommendations of a federal task force on preventive care - once just suggestions for doctors - will soon become coverage requirements for private insurers under regulations unveiled Wednesday by the Obama administration, according to Kaiser Health News and The Washington Post. "Under the new health care overhaul law, insurers will be required to pay fully for services that get an "A" or "B" recommendation from the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force, a volunteer group made up of primary care and public health experts."

16 Jul 2010

Sumner M. Redstone donates $24M to Keck School of Medicine of USC to support cancer research

The Keck School of Medicine of the University of Southern California has announced a $24 million charitable gift from media executive and philanthropist Sumner M. Redstone. The multi-million dollar gift will support cancer research directed by renowned oncologist David Agus, M.D., professor of medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and director of the USC Center for Applied Molecular Medicine and the USC Westside Prostate Cancer Center.

16 Jul 2010

Public, private efforts to boost health IT connectivity

First, Computerworld reports, "Verizon announced on Wednesday a new cloud-based service offering for healthcare providers that will handle the sharing of patient information electronically between disparate platforms. The new service, called the Verizon Health Information Exchange, consolidates clinical patient data from various providers and translates it into a standardized format that can then be accessed via a secure Web portal" (Mearian, 7/14).

16 Jul 2010

U.S. News releases 2010 Best Hospitals rankings

U.S. News & World Report has released its 2010 rankings of the best hospitals. Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore topped this year's honor roll. "The special quality shared by the 152 that made it into the new 2010-11 Best Hospitals rankings (out of nearly 5,000 that were considered) is their ability to take on and meet the most difficult challenges" (Comarow, 7/14).

16 Jul 2010

8.8% of drug-related hospital emergency department visits by adolescents is a suicide attempt

A new series of studies analyzing drug-related hospital emergency department visits throughout the country during 2008 reveals a substantial percentage of these visits involve suicide attempts. According to these studies conducted by the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration (SAMHSA) more than one in every twelve (8.8 percent) drug-related hospital emergency department visit by an adolescent is a suicide attempt - double the rate found among cases involving those age 25 and older (4.4 percent).

15 Jul 2010

Pitney Bowes to deliver customized mailing solutions to RCP

Pitney Bowes Inc. today announced that Revenue Cycle Partners, a leading business process outsource provider for hospitals and healthcare systems nationwide, has chosen Pitney Bowes for customized mailing solutions to further deliver world-class BPO services to its hospital client base while helping to ensure the highest level of healthcare privacy compliance.

15 Jul 2010

Scientists gather to discuss latest advances in Alzheimer's disease at AAICAD 2010

This week, nearly 4,000 scientists from around the world gathered to report and discuss the latest advances in research on treatments, risk factors, and diagnosis for the health epidemic of the 21st century – Alzheimer's disease – at the Alzheimer's Association's 2010 International Conference on Alzheimer's Disease in Honolulu.

15 Jul 2010

Practice Fusion API Challenge kicked off

Practice Fusion, the free, web-based Electronic Health Record company, kicked off the Practice Fusion API Challenge today as part of the Health 2.0 Developer Challenge, an initiative supported by the US Department of Health and Human Services. The challenge invites developers to connect patient health data from medical devices, mobile apps, social media systems and websites to doctors in real-time through Practice Fusion's new API.

15 Jul 2010

AHCA recognizes Advocat's long term care facilities with 2010 National Quality Awards

Advocat Inc. today announced that five of its long term care facilities were recognized with 2010 National Quality Awards by the American Healthcare Association (AHCA).

15 Jul 2010

Sharp HealthCare deploys Allscripts Community Record for all employed physicians

Allscripts today announced that Sharp HealthCare has selected the Allscripts Community Record, provided in partnership with dbMotion, to deliver end-to-end connectivity across the health system. Using the Allscripts solution, Sharp's caregivers and those in affiliated physician practices will have shared access to a single, unified patient record, bridging gaps that often exist between hospital-based and office-based care.

15 Jul 2010

Premier, Xoft execute group purchasing contract

Premier Inc., an alliance of more than 2,300 U.S. hospitals and 67,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to achieve high quality, cost-effective care, and Xoft, Inc., the leading provider of FDA-cleared Electronic Brachytherapy Systems, announced the execution of a group purchasing contract. Xoft was awarded an exclusive three-year contract for brachytherapy systems with Premier Purchasing Partners L.P., the group purchasing unit of Premier, Inc.

15 Jul 2010

IBM dedicates $100 million for global initiative to improve healthcare quality and costs

IBM today announced plans to enlist some of the company's leading scientists and technologists to help medical practitioners and insurance companies provide high-quality, evidence-based care to patients. As part of this initiative, IBM is collaborating with clinicians in medical institutions and hiring medical doctors to work alongside its researchers to develop new technologies, scientific advancements and business processes for healthcare and insurance providers.

15 Jul 2010

Xerox to deploy MPS strategy to help Solaris Health System reduce IT infrastructure costs

Healthcare institutions charged with cost cutting, improved patient satisfaction and overall operational efficiency are turning to Xerox Corporation for help. Solaris Health System, in Edison, N.J., will save more than 20 percent on costs associated with printing, storing and sharing documents, as one of Xerox's newest managed print services clients.

15 Jul 2010

Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Picis commends inclusion of ED in final rules for ARRA HITECH meaningful use criteria

CCP's milestone marks 50% increase in physicians offering hybrid concierge model

Neurologists more aware of Merck Serono/EMD Serono's oral cladribine than Novartis/Mitsubishi Tanabe's FTY-720

UCI first medical center on West Coast to perform robotic thyroidectomies

First-of-its-kind patient, healthcare provider support program for management of HE

ALOKA announces new ProSound F75 high-end color diagnostic ultrasound system

N.C. firms show health sector jobs not as recession-proof as advertised

Insurers will pick up preventive care costs under new rules

Sumner M. Redstone donates $24M to Keck School of Medicine of USC to support cancer research

Public, private efforts to boost health IT connectivity

U.S. News releases 2010 Best Hospitals rankings

8.8% of drug-related hospital emergency department visits by adolescents is a suicide attempt

Pitney Bowes to deliver customized mailing solutions to RCP

Scientists gather to discuss latest advances in Alzheimer's disease at AAICAD 2010

Practice Fusion API Challenge kicked off

AHCA recognizes Advocat's long term care facilities with 2010 National Quality Awards

Sharp HealthCare deploys Allscripts Community Record for all employed physicians

Premier, Xoft execute group purchasing contract

IBM dedicates $100 million for global initiative to improve healthcare quality and costs

Xerox to deploy MPS strategy to help Solaris Health System reduce IT infrastructure costs

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Menopause Care: Non-Hormonal Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Event guide: 3rd Measuring Patient Engagement Summit eBook

Advancing Menopause Care: Non-Hormonal Treatments for Vasomotor Symptoms

Building quality into drug development for safer, faster medicines

How Pulp Fixin Is Turning Paper into High-Performance Sustainable Labware

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