Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Americans' confidence to access and pay healthcare services drops: Thomson Reuters Healthcare Survey

Americans' confidence in their ability to access and pay for healthcare has hit its lowest level since December, according to a consumer sentiment index from Thomson Reuters.Overall confidence dropped to 95 points on the Thomson Reuters Consumer Healthcare Sentiment Index in July the lowest level since the index was launched in December 2009.

23 Aug 2010

NextGen Healthcare collaborates with clients for Primary Care Information Project

NextGen Healthcare Information Systems, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Quality Systems, Inc. and a leading provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity solutions, today announced its successful collaboration with clients that received assistance through the Primary Care Information Project (PCIP), a bureau of the NYC Health Department.

23 Aug 2010

AHRA announces third Patients First grant program to provide health care facilities

Healthcare facilities across the country are committed to providing the highest levels of patient care and safety for their communities. To help facilities build new or expand existing education and patient care initiatives, AHRA: The Association for Medical Imaging Management announces the third year of its successful Putting Patients First grant program.

23 Aug 2010

Researchers find medication for diabetes, smoking cessation

The script for two research teams inducted today into the American Chemical Society (ACS) scientific "hall of fame" the ACS Heroes of Chemistry is a tale of two pills. One team invented a medication that helps people with diabetes control their blood sugar levels. The second team invented a medicine that helps people stop smoking, an addiction that experts regard as today's single greatest preventable cause of death worldwide.

23 Aug 2010

Golden Meditech medical device business raises USD 40 million

Golden Meditech Holdings Limited, China's leading integrated healthcare enterprise, is pleased to announce that its medical devices business has successfully raised USD 40 million from a number of renowned private equity investors where the proceeds will fund the construction of new production lines for both medical devices and medical accessories to fund the formation of joint-venture with Fenwal Inc.

23 Aug 2010

Intelerad to feature hospital solutions at AHRA annual meeting

Intelerad Medical Systems will be featuring its hospital solutions at the AHRA 2010 Annual Meeting and Exposition on August 22 to 26, 2010 in Washington, DC.

23 Aug 2010

Hospira Japan receives approval for long term use of Precedex IV sedative

Hospira Japan Co., Ltd. today announced it has received an approval for the long-term (greater than 24 hour) use of the sedative "Precedex IV™200ug" (generic name: dexmedetomidine hydrochloride). This approval follows Hospira's first launches earlier this year of Precedex in Canada and in South Korea, important milestones for Hospira as the company continues to build the molecule's global presence.

23 Aug 2010

NBA player Alonzo Mourning uses celebrity fame to fight kidney disease

In October 2000, Mourning was diagnosed with focal segmental glomerular sclerosis (FSGS), a kidney disease that causes scarring in the glomeruli, the blood vessels in the kidneys that filter the blood to make urine.

21 Aug 2010

Sebelius turns political tables on GOP governors on Medicaid; Program's expansion will help homeless

Kaiser Health News: "Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius this week sent a letter to all of America's governors telling them that if they want to continue receiving the enhanced Medicaid funds that Congress approved last week that they have to ask for the money. ... The higher matching rate was originally slated to expire at the end of 2010, but lawmakers interrupted their August recess to approve an extension of enhanced funds, albeit at a lower rate, through June 2011.

21 Aug 2010

Democrats move away from health cost pitch, focus on changing senior minds

Democrats are "dramatically shifting their attempts to defend health care legislation, abandoning claims that it will reduce costs and deficit, and instead stressing a promise to 'improve it,'" Politico reports. "The messaging shift was circulated this afternoon on a conference call and PowerPoint presentation organized by FamiliesUSA — one of the central groups in the push for the initial legislation. The call was led by a staffer for the Herndon Alliance, which includes leading labor groups and other health care allies.

21 Aug 2010

Stanford Hospital installs high-definition monitors to enhance patient care

When a patient checks in to Stanford Hospital from now on, the room wall will have an extra special something. Most hospitals have had televisions in patient rooms for decades. But few now have what Stanford offers its patients on new, 26-inch high definition monitors

21 Aug 2010

Elsevier Health Sciences and India's medical library consortium Helinet announce agreement

Elsevier Health Sciences and Helinet, India's premier medical library consortium for e-resources, have announced an agreement that will provide all medical students at Helinet's medical colleges with access to leading international and local medical content through Elsevier's electronic platforms: ScienceDirect(R) and MD Consult(R).

21 Aug 2010

AHF thanks Obama for additional $5M, but says 'It isn't nearly enough'

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the largest global AIDS organization, responded to today's announcement by the Obama Administration that it will allocate $30 million in funding to address the national AIDS Drug Assistance Program crisis that has left 3,000 Americans on waiting lists to receive lifesaving AIDS medications by saying "Thank you, but it is not nearly enough."

21 Aug 2010

Clinica of Virginia signs contracts with major insurance providers

Exmovere Holdings, Inc a biomedical engineering company, today announced that Clinica of Virginia, LLC, its wholly owned subsidiary, which now provides local patients with affordable, quality medical services has signed contracts with major insurance providers, Medicare, and Medicaid.

21 Aug 2010

WHO calls upon countries to be alert to antimicrobial resistance

Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) - the ability of micro-organisms to find ways to evade the action of the drugs used to cure the infections they cause - is increasingly recognised as a global public health issue which could hamper the control of many infectious diseases. Some bacteria have developed mechanisms which render them resistant to many of the antibiotics normally used for their treatment (multi-drug resistant bacteria), so pose particular difficulties, as there may be few or no alternative options for therapy.

21 Aug 2010

Center for Health Sciences to offer certificate program in Phlebotomy

Beginning in October, the Graduate School's new Center for Health Sciences will offer a Medical Laboratory Technician, Associate of Applied Science degree and a certificate program in Phlebotomy. The first of many programs to be offered, both curricula provide a combination of coursework and clinical experience with strong emphasis on employability skills such as problem solving, effective communication, professional conduct, and information and technology literacy.

21 Aug 2010

Turner Construction receives contract to modernize St. Mary's Hospital for Children

Turner Construction Company, the nation's largest builder of healthcare facilities, has been awarded a $72 million contract to provide pre-construction and construction management services for the modernization of St. Mary's Hospital for Children in Bayside, N.Y. The project is scheduled for completion in May 2013.

21 Aug 2010

Research Roundup: Lowering malpractice costs; Advance care planning limitations; Consumers review their own health care

Annals of Internal Medicine: Liability Claims And Costs Before And After Implementation Of A Medical Error Disclosure Program - This study focused on a "disclosure-with-offer program" launched by the University of Michigan Health System (UMHS) in 2001. "After full implementation of a disclosure-with-offer program, the average monthly rate of new claims decreased from 7.03 to 4.52 per 100,000 patient encounters.

21 Aug 2010

Angeion partners with Data Innovations to create MedGraphics BreezeConnect software interface

Angeion Corporation today announced that it has partnered with Data Innovations to create MedGraphics BreezeConnect, a software interface that provides interfacing options in one comprehensive solution. BreezeConnect is currently available in the United States and is expected to launch internationally in September.

21 Aug 2010

Allscripts completes public offering of 27,000,000 shares at $17.05 per share

Allscripts-Misys Healthcare Solutions, Inc., the leading provider of clinical software, information and connectivity solutions for physicians, today announced that certain wholly-owned subsidiaries of Misys plc, Allscripts' majority stockholder, have completed their previously announced underwritten public offering of 27,000,000 shares of Allscripts common stock at a public offering price of $17.05 per share.

21 Aug 2010