Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

New book on using informatics to reduce healthcare costs to be released

A topical new book about using informatics to reduce healthcare costs edited by Stephan Kudyba, an assistant professor in the NJIT School of Management, will be released early this May. Healthcare Informatics: Improving Efficiency and Productivity addresses the incorporation of information technologies and information management by healthcare providers to increase the efficiencies of their operations to help reduce costs.

26 Mar 2010

Bevacizumab/paclitaxel/carboplatin regimen attains gold-standard status for treatment of non-small-cell lung cancer

Decision Resources, one of the world's leading research and advisory firms for pharmaceutical and healthcare issues, finds that the bevacizumab (Genentech/Roche/Chugai's Avastin)/paclitaxel (Bristol-Myers Squibb's Taxol, generics)/carboplatin (Bristol-Myers Squibb's Paraplatin, generics) regimen will remain Decision Resources' proprietary clinical gold standard for the treatment of advanced non-small-cell lung cancer through 2018.

26 Mar 2010

athenahealth, Sermo release results from Physician Sentiment Index

athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of internet-based business services to physician practices, and Sermo, the world’s largest online community for physicians today, released results from a first-of-its-kind “Physician Sentiment Index SM”.

26 Mar 2010

Ingen Technologies set to expand into government and export markets

Ingen Technologies, Inc., the leading manufacturer of in-line oxygen flow meters for respiratory medical devices, which helps companies similar to McKesson Corporation and Amedisys Inc. achieve substantial cost-savings by reducing support costs for in-home oxygen patients, recently announced that the company is set to expand into government and export markets.

26 Mar 2010

Changing drug therapy can help breast cancer patients get full benefit of tamoxifen treatment

Recently published research has shown that some breast cancer patients taking tamoxifen may not be getting the full benefit of their treatment because they have also been taking selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors, prescribed drugs that inhibit the effect of an important enzyme.

26 Mar 2010

$UCSF study: Unusual femur fractures low in patients with osteoporosis$

UCSF study: Unusual femur fractures low in patients with osteoporosis

The occurrence of an unusual type of fracture of the femur, or the thigh bone, is very low in patients with osteoporosis, including those treated with the drug family known as bisphosphonates, according to a new study led by a team of UCSF epidemiologists.

26 Mar 2010

Oculus Innovative Sciences introduces Microcyn Dermatology HydroGel in the U.S.

Oculus Innovative Sciences, Inc., a commercial medical technology company that designs, produces and markets safe and effective tissue care products based upon the Microcyn® Technology platform, today commercially introduced the Microcyn Dermatology HydroGel for the U.S. professional healthcare market.

26 Mar 2010

Mexican-American women les likely to use emergency medical services for stroke symptoms

Mexican Americans are 40 percent less likely than non-Hispanic whites to call 9-1-1 and be taken to the hospital via ambulance for stroke - resulting in medical treatment delays - according to a new study reported in Stroke: Journal of the American Heart Association.

26 Mar 2010

SAIC awarded task order by WRAMC to provide information technology services

Science Applications International Corporation today announced it has been awarded a task order by the Walter Reed Army Medical Center Directorate of Information Management to provide information technology services.

26 Mar 2010

SENSIMED Triggerfish developed to diagnose and treat patients with glaucoma

STMicroelectronics, the world's leading supplier of MEMS (Micro-Electro-Mechanical Systems) devices for consumer and portable applications, has announced that it will develop and supply a wireless MEMS sensor that acts as a transducer, antenna and mechanical support for additional read-out electronics in a breakthrough platform developed by Swiss company Sensimed AG.

26 Mar 2010

New topical drug may help treat diabetic eye disease

Early-stage human clinical trials showed that a new topical drug was safe and had biological effects in a type of diabetic eye disease, and may offer researchers a new approach to prevent and treat diabetic macular edema.

26 Mar 2010

States challenge health insurance coverage mandate as leaders decide on participation

Attorneys general in 14 states have filed lawsuits challenging the constitutionality of a health insurance coverage mandate in the new federal health law, and more may follow.

26 Mar 2010

Parties vie for political momentum after health vote

The health care debate has already become a proxy for 2010 election fights, with candidates in both parties wielding the issue, according to The Wall Street Journal: "In Kentucky, the two leading Democrats seeking an open Senate seat are battling over who has been most committed to the health-care law." Meanwhile, "[two] potential 2012 presidential candidates, Republicans Sarah Palin and Mitt Romney, both issued fund-raising appeals to their supporters, saying they would use the money to fight for the GOP position on the health-care law" (Wallsten, 3/25).

26 Mar 2010

Renowned experts discuss key statistics of health care reform at 2010 Keenan Summit

Keenan & Associates, the largest privately-held insurance brokerage and consulting firm in California, convened its sixth annual Keenan Summit on March 3, 2010, in Pasadena, Calif., and on March 4, 2010, in Berkeley. The theme for this year's summit was "Navigating Through Unprecedented Times: Today's Challenges. Tomorrow's Solutions."

26 Mar 2010

Overhaul will affect other economic sectors, not just health care

Health-overhaul legislation signed into law this week will affect not only America's health care industry, but the broader economy, too, The Christian Science Monitor reports. The overhaul could help create jobs. "But the legislation also means tax hikes, mainly on the highest-income Americans. And provisions designed to curb healthcare costs probably aren't strong enough to put a big dent in medical inflation - or federal budget deficits" (Trumbull, 3/24).

26 Mar 2010

Hana Biosciences reports net loss of $5M for fourth quarter 2009

Hana Biosciences Inc., a biopharmaceutical company focused on strengthening the foundation of cancer care, today reported financial results for the fourth quarter and year ended December 31, 2009, and provided a corporate update.

26 Mar 2010

GOP forces second house vote on health reconciliation bill

Senate Republicans found a way to force a second House vote on a health reform reconciliation bill after identifying parliamentary flaws, including one in the calculation of a student loan provision.

26 Mar 2010

New interactive Web site for veterans and military family members

Geisinger recently launched www.PAVetFamilyWeb.com. This Web site is designed to serve Pennsylvania families who are coping with military separations and multiple deployments of a service member as well as caregivers, wounded warriors, service members and military veterans.

26 Mar 2010

It's over: House passes last piece of landmark health reform, 220-207

Politico: "Congress completed its work Thursday night on the broadest social legislation in almost a half-century, as the House capped the year-long legislative saga over health reform by signing off on a package of fixes to the newly minted law. In the end, the titanic battle over remaking the American health care system drew to a close on a pair of votes drained of suspense - after the Senate approved the clean-up bill earlier Thursday. The House approved the clean-up bill, 220 to 207" (Budoff Brown, 3/25).

26 Mar 2010

ASCO, ESMO and OECI endorse WIN Symposium's initiatives on improving outcomes of cancer

The WIN Consortium, supported by its media partner Nature Publishing Group, has opened registration for the second annual WIN Symposium, to be held in the Palais des Congrès, Paris, on the 7th to 9th of July 2010. The WIN Symposium is an open and interactive forum designed to promote rapid translation of ground-breaking personalized cancer medicine discoveries to clinical practice.

25 Mar 2010