Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Health care companies assess where they stand on health reform after election

The Wall Street Journal reports that several firms reiterated support for a health care reform bill Wednesday, a day after the overhaul's viability was called into question by the victory of Republican Sen.-elect Scott Brown in Massachusetts. "PhRMA, the drug industry association, as well as companies including Pfizer Inc., Johnson & Johnson, WellPoint Inc. and Humana Inc., voiced support for an overhaul of some kind, despite objections among insurers about the efforts to date."

21 Jan 2010

Zirmed achieves EHNAC HNAP accreditation

ZirMed®, a leading national provider of revenue cycle management solutions for healthcare providers, announced yesterday it has achieved full accreditation with the Healthcare Network Accreditation Program (HNAP) from the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC). EHNAC's HNAP accreditation recognizes excellence in health data processing and transactions, and indicates compliance with industry-established standards and HIPAA regulations.

21 Jan 2010

Abaxis' new CRP assay receives FDA marketing clearance

Abaxis, Inc., a medical products company manufacturing point-of-care blood analysis systems, today announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted 510K marketing clearance of the new C-Reactive Protein (CRP) assay when used by healthcare professionals in conjunction with the Piccolo Xpress™ point-of-care analyzer.

21 Jan 2010

Pfizer and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals announce completion of European MAA validation phase for XIAFLEX

Pfizer Inc. and Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, Inc. today announced that Pfizer received notification from the European Medicines Agency that the Marketing Authorization Application (MAA) for XIAFLEX™ (collagenase clostridium histolyticum), a novel, first-in-class, biologic for the treatment of Dupuytren’s contracture (a condition resulting in the contracture of the fingers into the palm), has completed the validation phase successfully. As a result, the scientific/technical review procedure commenced on 21 January 2010.

21 Jan 2010

First Edition: January 21, 2010

Today's headlines reflect the idea that health reform stakeholders -- be it the White House, congressional Democrats or others -- are all trying to figure out how to proceed in this changed political landscape.

21 Jan 2010

FRC's statement on Massachusetts Senate election results

"President Obama's defeat yesterday is the culmination of the town halls, tea parties, and other efforts of the millions of Americans who continue speaking out against the takeover of our health care system.

21 Jan 2010

BioLife Solutions announces biologic packaging products pre-filled with GMP biopreservation media

BioLife Solutions, Inc., a leading developer, manufacturer, and marketer of biopreservation tools for cells, tissues, and organs, and OriGen Biomedical, a leading provider of biologic packaging products for research and clinical blood and cell-based therapies, today announced that the companies will introduce sterile standard and custom biologic packaging products pre-filled with BioLife's serum-free, protein-free HypoThermosol® cell and tissue storage/transport media and CryoStor™ cryopreservation media.

21 Jan 2010

First DataBank signs licensing agreement with SIS

First DataBank, a leading provider of drug databases that help drive patient safety, and Surgical Information Systems (SIS), a provider of feature-rich perioperative software solutions, announced today they have signed an agreement whereby First DataBank will license its suite of comprehensive drug information and associated developer software to Surgical Information Systems to enable the integration of new functionality for drug screening, dosing and documentation within the SIS suite of interoperable surgery solutions.

21 Jan 2010

ETMC Athens effectively handles record number of H1N1 cases

Throughout the month of September, East Texas Medical Center Athens (ETMC Athens) has seen a 42% average increase in number of patients per day and is taking it in stride. Improved efficiencies in the Emergency Department facilitated by a process improvement firm, Compirion Healthcare, have allowed the hospital to absorb the volume and see an improvement in quality.

21 Jan 2010

Congressman Chaka Fattah comments on the Massachusetts election results

"We as Democrats respect the results of yesterday's special election in one state, Massachusetts, and will shortly welcome Senator-elect Scott Brown to Washington. In the same spirit I call upon our Republican colleagues to respect the results of the 50-state election that led to the inauguration, just one year ago today, of President Barack Obama. That 50-state election of 2008 produced overwhelming majorities in both houses of Congress for the Obama program of progress, dignity and equity, especially in his advocacy for comprehensive healthcare reform.

21 Jan 2010

Phoenix Controls announces the introduction of APM2

Phoenix Controls, a Honeywell International business, today announced the introduction of the Advanced Pressure Monitor II (APM2), a device that monitors very low differential pressure between rooms.

21 Jan 2010

Engaging in incentive-based wellness program is associated with lower healthcare costs

According to a study published in the January/February issue of the American Journal of Health Promotion, a peer-reviewed journal devoted to health promotion, health plan members who participated in fitness-related activities within an incentive-based health insurance wellness program had significantly lower healthcare costs.

21 Jan 2010

Men who buy fake internet drugs for ED problems face significant health risks

Men who buy fake internet drugs for erection problems can face significant risks from potentially hazardous contents and bypassing healthcare systems could leave associated problems like diabetes and high blood pressure undiagnosed.

21 Jan 2010

ABC publishes Pycnogenol monograph

The nonprofit American Botanical Council (ABC) has just published a monograph summarizing selected scientific and clinical studies of Pycnogenol®, a patented dietary ingredient from French maritime pine bark.

21 Jan 2010

Grassley says bugs in health IT software endangering patients, other HIT news

RadioIowa reports that Iowa Sen. Chuck Grassley says hospital officials around the country are seeing bugs in new health information technology software that are putting patients at risk. "'Over the last few months, concerns have been brought to my attention including administrative complications, formatting and usability issues, errors in interoperability,' Grassley says. 'Some health care providers have said the software is producing incorrect medication dosages because it miscalculated body weights by interchanging kilograms and pounds.'" Grassley is asking 32 hospitals for statements on the problem (Kelley, 1/19).

21 Jan 2010

RMC selects Allscripts EDIS to improve access to clinical information

Allscripts announced today that Northeast Alabama Regional Medical Center (RMC) has selected the Allscripts Emergency Department Information System (EDIS) to automate emergency operations and improve access to clinical information.

21 Jan 2010

Growth of OMI equipment sales to reach $400M in 2014

In vivo optical molecular imaging (OMI) is poised to move into clinical use as one of the key tools in personalized medicine, complementing more established imaging tools such as CT and MRI. Growth of equipment sales is on track to reach $400 million in 2014 and nearly $1 billion by the end of the decade.

21 Jan 2010

Newspaper editors join in call for greater transparency in health talks

The Washington Times: The American Society of News Editors on Tuesday joined C-SPAN in calling for "more openness and transparency" on health care reform.

21 Jan 2010

Obesity in pregnant women is associated with increased risk of birth defects

In recent years, there has been a large increase in the prevalence of overweight and obese women of childbearing age, with approximately 51% of non-pregnant women ages 20 to 39 being classified as overweight or obese.

21 Jan 2010

NHC urges congress to continue work on meaningful healthcare reform

The National Health Council (NHC), an organization providing a united voice for the more than 133 million people with chronic diseases and disabilities and their family caregivers, today sent a letter to Congress urging the House and Senate to "continue working to accomplish the long-sought goal of health care reform."

21 Jan 2010