Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

CycleBeads Conception Kit for women contemplating pregnancy

A scientifically-based tool developed by researchers from Georgetown University's Institute for Reproductive Health to help women prevent pregnancy naturally, is now being used by a growing number of women to help plan pregnancy.

16 Apr 2010

Current screening methods for FOBT are often not appropriate

More than 75 percent of primary care physicians in the United States who order or perform the fecal occult blood test as a screening option for colorectal cancer perform an in-office test rather than relying on the home-based test, even though the home-based test is more accurate, a study by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has found.

16 Apr 2010

Portable x-ray and CR imaging systems installed in Africa and Central America

MinXray Inc., a world-wide leader in the supply of portable x-ray and digital imaging equipment, is pleased to announce recent installations of portable x-ray and CR imaging systems throughout Nigeria Africa and in Honduras Central America.

16 Apr 2010

Lawmaker cancels hearing on big corporations' tax deductions related to health reform

House Energy and Commerce Committee Chairman Henry Waxman, D-Calif., canceled a hearing set for next week that would have probed recent announcements by large firms that they are taking millions of dollars in health law-related write-downs, Kaiser Health News reports.

16 Apr 2010

Community colleges to have new curriculum to educate HIT workers

Community colleges will soon have the capacity and ability to educate much-needed health information technology workers. Using a new six to 12 month informatics curriculum developed at the Johns Hopkins University School of Nursing and deployed throughout the U.S., local colleges will have access to high-quality HIT educational programs, while helping their instructors supplement their own level of knowledge.

16 Apr 2010

Director of Mass. Health Connector Authority steps down

Jon Kingsdale, the executive director of the Commonwealth Health Insurance Connector Authority, the state agency that helps people in Massachusetts find health insurance, is leaving his job, Gov. Deval Patrick" announced Thursday, the Boston Herald reports.

16 Apr 2010

Growing acceptance of medical grade displays drives global growth

While the lasting effects of the economic recession will restrict the market in the short-term, growth in the world market for medical grade displays is forecast to accelerate from 2012 as the global economy improves and previously postponed hospital projects are initiated.

15 Apr 2010

Smith & Nephew to launch new line extensions to ACTICOAT antimicrobial barrier dressing portfolio

The Advanced Wound Management Division of Smith & Nephew, Inc., a subsidiary of Smith & Nephew plc will launch extensions to its ACTICOAT(TM) Silver Coated Antimicrobial Barrier Dressing portfolio at the upcoming Symposium on Advanced Wound Care Spring meeting April 17-19, 2010, in Orlando, FL. The new dressings will be highlighted at the Smith & Nephew booth, #301.

15 Apr 2010

Complete Women's Imaging selects Merge Healthcare as IT partner

Merge Healthcare today announced that it was selected by Complete Women's Imaging, P.C., a designated Breast Imaging Center of Excellence by the American College of Radiology (ACR) and the Commission on Breast Imaging, to provide a complete diagnostic imaging workflow and physician reporting solution to the Atlantic Coastal Plain region of New York.

15 Apr 2010

Texas Health, LHP form joint venture to acquire Wilson N. Jones Medical Center

Texas Health Resources, the largest health care system in North Texas in terms of patients served, and LHP Hospital Group, Inc., have formed a joint venture to acquire Wilson N. Jones Medical Center in Sherman, Texas. Texas Health will own a majority equity interest in the joint venture that owns Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital-WNJ and LHP will manage the operation of the hospital.

15 Apr 2010

First Edition: April 15, 2010

In today's headlines: The jobless benefits package, including a COBRA subsidy extension and Medicare-doctor pay fix, advances in the Senate. In the House, a committee chairman cancels a hearing on business health care complaints.

15 Apr 2010

SJHS-HC tracks potential influenza cases using SafetySurveillor solution

St. Joseph Health System - Humboldt County, a member of St. Joseph Health System based in Orange, Calif., was able to track potential influenza cases minutes after California health officials released new requirements regarding influenza reporting. The SJHS-HC hospitals achieved this using SafetySurveillor, a safety surveillance solution offered by the Premier healthcare alliance.

15 Apr 2010

EU Joint Programming initiative to tackle neurodegenerative diseases

Leading researchers from across Europe will gather today in Stockholm to develop a European-wide research strategy to tackle neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's and Parkinson's Disease.

15 Apr 2010

The Forum 2010 to focus primarily on HIT

In response to the millions of federal dollars available to healthcare providers who install electronic patient records systems in their facilities, the Colorado Rural Health Center (CRHC) and ClinicNET's "The Forum 2010" will focus primarily on Health Information Technology (HIT). The event, held in Aurora, CO, runs from April 19-21.

15 Apr 2010

Cancer patients continue to be affected by FN as a result of chemotherapy: Survey

Thirty percent of patients surveyed experienced an infection as a result of chemotherapy, 45 percent of which were associated with neutropenia or febrile neutropenia according to findings from a pan-European patient and nurse survey presented today at the 7th Annual European Oncology Nursing Society Spring Convention.

15 Apr 2010

GE and U.S. Army to evaluate deployed soldiers for TBI and PTSD symptoms

As part of GE's continuing efforts to support U.S. troops, GE Global Research, the technology development arm of the General Electric Company, is engaged in a two-year research study with the U.S. Army to evaluate soldiers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan for traumatic brain injuries (TBI) and post-traumatic stress disorders (PTSD).

15 Apr 2010

Partners HealthCare offers $40 million to control health insurance costs in Massachusetts; Neb. Gov. signs new abortion law

Partners HealthCare, whose Boston teaching hospitals have been blamed for helping to drive up medical spending, is offering $40 million toward reducing double-digit health insurance rate increases for small businesses, part of a broader package that will be unveiled today by Senate President Therese Murray.

15 Apr 2010

The nuts and bolts of reform's new policies

The New York Times: "In a new report, the Congressional Research Service says the law may have significant unintended consequences for the 'personal health insurance coverage' of senators, representatives and their staff members." Lawmakers agreed to depart from their existing health plans in order to join new health insurance exchanges, something they have made available to many of their constituents. But, while the exchanges don't start up until 2014, the law is silent on when lawmakers must ditch their current benefits.

15 Apr 2010

Phase Forward's European Users Conference to be held in Budapest, Hungary

Phase Forward, a leading provider of data management solutions for clinical trials and drug safety, will host its eighth annual European Users Conference (EUC) April 21 - 22 at the Corinthia Hotel in Budapest, Hungary.

15 Apr 2010

People with disabilities may be unable to afford Medicare Advantage plan under healthcare provisions

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act and the Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010 are the most powerful developments in decades affecting healthcare coverage for people with disabilities, according to Allsup, a nationwide provider of Social Security disability representation and Medicare plan selection services.

15 Apr 2010