Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Ontario announces increase in budget for research and innovation, OBIO applauds

Urgently needed capital should become more accessible to Ontario’s bioscience companies and help create jobs in the biotechnology sector, thanks to Ontario’s 2010 budget. An announced increase in the budget of the Ministry of Research and Innovation coupled with anticipated adjustments to existing funding programs designed to encourage research and innovation are applauded by Ontario Bioscience Industry Organization (OBIO).

27 Mar 2010

Free online seminar to help small businesses better cope with current Healthcare Reform legislation

Extensis Group, LLC, in cooperation with the Marquis Agency, will present a free online seminar or webinar on April 12th to help the region's small businesses better cope with the current turmoil and confusion surrounding the recently passed Healthcare Reform legislation.

27 Mar 2010

Agent Orange exposure: VA adds three new illnesses to list of health problems

Well over 100,000 Veterans exposed to herbicides while serving in Vietnam and other areas will have an easier path to qualify for disability pay under a proposed regulation published by the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that adds three new illnesses to the list of health problems found to be related to Agent Orange and other herbicide exposures.

27 Mar 2010

OLTCA appreciates measures supporting long term care homes in provincial budget

The Ontario Long Term Care Association (OLTCA) appreciates that today's provincial budget contains measures to support long term care homes in maintaining care and service levels to over 76,000 of Ontario's oldest and frailest citizens. The association is also looking forward to the opportunity for continued discussions with government to attempt to resolve outstanding questions to further protect the capacity of homes to provide the care and services residents need.

27 Mar 2010

WinRho SDF for ITP: Cangene announces new safety information

Cangene Corporation, in consultation with Health Canada, is informing Canadian patients and healthcare professionals of important new safety information concerning the use of WinRho SDF (Rho (D) Immune Globulin (Human)) for the treatment of immune thrombocytopenic purpura, also called immune thrombocytopenia, or ITP. WinRho SDF belongs to a group of biological medicines derived from human plasma known as immunoglobulins. It is administered in hospitals by infusion through the veins.

27 Mar 2010

HTA acquires medical office building in Sugar Land, Texas for $12.4M

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc., a self-managed, non-traded, real estate investment trust, announced the completed acquisition of a medical office building located in Sugar Land, Texas for approximately $12,400,000.

27 Mar 2010

Ford Motor donates $255,000 to fund completion of Oakwood Healthcare System's research study

Ford Motor Company announced today it is donating an additional $255,000 to fund the completion of a pioneering multi-year Oakwood Healthcare System research study into the prevention of heart disease – a leading cause of death among American women.

27 Mar 2010

Dian Donnai receives March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award for achievement in genetic sciences

A pioneering professor and investigator at the forefront of genetic services in the United Kingdom and who helped define rare genetic diseases is the 2010 recipient of the March of Dimes/Colonel Harland Sanders Award for lifetime achievement in the field of genetic sciences.

27 Mar 2010

Federal agencies' complicated task: Implementing health reform provisions

NPR: "The health care bill President Barack Obama signed this week is more than 2,400 pages long. Still, it doesn't contain many of the details about how it will work and how it will be enforced. The responsibility for explaining the bill falls to workers in the trenches at government agencies. Some of the nitty-gritty details that are missing include defining many of the terms used in the measure, and spelling out exactly how individuals would prove they have health insurance."

27 Mar 2010

Republicans prepare political health reform attack on defiant Obama

President Barack Obama told Republicans seeking a repeal of the health overhaul law to "go for it" Thursday as Republicans vowed to keep up their attacks through the November elections and beyond.

27 Mar 2010

It's over: Congress completes work on health overhaul with approval of 'fixes'

After more than a year of political wrangling, Congress finished its work on health care reform Thursday night when the House passed a Senate-changed bill of fixes to the new law.

27 Mar 2010

Emerging Healthcare Solutions completes acquisition of “Dreams” telemedicine technology

Emerging Healthcare Solutions, Inc. announced the Closing of its acquisition of the “Dreams” telemedicine technology today. The Company agreed to pay $800,000 to acquire the rights to this exciting medical communications technology.

27 Mar 2010

IHCIA made permanent as part of Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act

The Indian Health Care Improvement Act, the cornerstone legal authority for the provision of health care to American Indians and Alaska Natives, was made permanent when President Obama signed the bill on March 23, as part of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.

27 Mar 2010

Hospitals face cuts, restructuring to cope with flagging economy

"The nation's largest public hospital system plans to slash its work force—including doctors and nurses—by about 10% over two years as government aid drops and the number of uninsured patients jumps," The Wall Street Journal reports.

27 Mar 2010

Pelosi signs final health bill, sends to President Obama

On her 70th birthday, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi signed the health care reform reconciliation bill and sent it to President Obama for his signature.

27 Mar 2010

Administration officials' key health reform roles

The Hill: "Passing major healthcare reform legislation into law was worth taking a political beating, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel said Thursday… 'As [President Obama] said repeatedly, which is a sign, he was willing to spend, quote, unquote, 'the political capital' to get something done that was materially and politically, policy wise, important for the American people,' Emanuel told CNN in an interview, his first since the law passed, to air Thursday evening. 'And if you asked them, today, even -- or a week ago, pre- the bill, was it worth the political capital spent, he would say, yes'" (Fabian, 3/25).

27 Mar 2010

GOP responds to threats, vandalism over health care legislation

Politico: "Lawmakers are accusing one another of using threats of violence for political gain, turning a serious law enforcement issue into a political battleground. As the threats against members of Congress and incidents of vandalism mounted, charges of bigotry, lying, hypocrisy and incitement coursed Thursday through the Capitol and around the political universe."

26 Mar 2010

ARCA biopharma granted patent for methods of treating heart failure patients with bucindolol based on genetic testing

ARCA biopharma, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company developing genetically targeted therapies for heart failure and other cardiovascular diseases, today announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO) has issued a patent on methods of treating heart failure patients with bucindolol based on genetic testing.

26 Mar 2010

Survival improving in patients with HER2 positive metastatic breast cancer

Barcelona, Spain: Trends indicate that survival is improving in patients with metastatic breast cancer, especially in those patients whose tumours are described as being HER2 (human epidermal growth factor receptor-2) positive, a surgical oncologist will say today at the seventh European Breast Cancer Conference (EBCC7).

26 Mar 2010

NFS to implement Allscripts EHR and Practice Management solution

Allscripts announced today that North Florida Surgeons (NFS) has selected the Allscripts Electronic Health Record (EHR) and Practice Management solution to automate and connect clinical and business functions for their 31 physicians and three mid-level providers.

26 Mar 2010