Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

The Obama health summit: More reactions, details emerge

The Associated Press/Washington Post reports on Republicans' "chilly reception Monday to President Barack Obama's invitation to discuss health care in a bipartisan, televised setting later this month, part of the White House effort to revive the stalled legislation."

8 Feb 2010

Dems may add health provisions - including COBRA subsidies and Medicare fixes - to jobs bill

Lawmakers may include a number of Medicare "fixes" in the jobs bill, now that the health overhaul bill has stalled, The Hill reports. They would include restoring Medicare provisions that expired Jan. 1 or are set to expire later this year. "Nursing homes and rehabilitation therapy providers, along with patient groups, are pushing legislation to undo a hard-dollar cap on Medicare coverage of physical, speech and occupational therapy. Hospitals are seeking to restore special payments to large rural and small urban hospitals.

8 Feb 2010

AmerisourceBergen offers rapid implementation methodology for meaningful use of EHRs

AmerisourceBergen announced a unique offering designed to help hospitals and health systems achieve meaningful use readiness for electronic health records (EHR), regardless of the technology they are using.

8 Feb 2010

QIAGEN acquires global licence for PI3K gene to develop real-time-PCR and endpoint PCR assays

QIAGEN today announced that its wholly owned subsidiary DxS has acquired the global and exclusive licence for biomarker PI3K from Johns Hopkins University to develop real-time-PCR and endpoint PCR assays.

From QIAGEN Manchester Limited 8 Feb 2010

AMRI announces fourth-quarter and full-year 2009 results

AMRI today reported financial and operating results for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2009.

8 Feb 2010

First Edition: February 8, 2010

Today's headlines highlight news regarding President Obama's planned summit on health care -- Republicans will be invited.

8 Feb 2010

Third-quarter fiscal 2010 results announced by Chindex International

Chindex International, Inc., a leading independent American provider of Western healthcare products and services in the People's Republic of China, today announced financial results for the third quarter and first nine months of fiscal year 2010.

8 Feb 2010

Increased Medicare reimbursement leads to rise in outpatient bladder cancer surgeries

Increased Medicare payments to physicians for outpatient surgeries for bladder cancer have led to a dramatic rise in the number of these procedures being performed and an overall increase in cost to the healthcare system. That is the conclusion of a new study published early online in Cancer, a peer-reviewed journal of the American Cancer Society. The findings indicate that some Medicare policies aimed at decreasing costs may instead be contributing to an increase in healthcare expenditures.

8 Feb 2010

Risk of heart attack greater in women with gout

Women with gout are at greater risk of a heart attack than men with the disease, indicates research published ahead of print in the Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases.

7 Feb 2010

Health reform big week ahead: Insurance antitrust exemption, COBRA, Obama's bipartisan meeting

While the talk in the Senate will largely be about jobs, both houses of Congress are expected to take some action on health reform.

7 Feb 2010

Quest Diagnostics to reaffirm 2010 guidance at the UBS 2010 Global Healthcare Services Conference

Quest Diagnostics Incorporated, the world's leading provider of diagnostic testing, information and services, announced that it is scheduled to speak at the UBS 2010 Global Healthcare Services Conference in New York City. The presentation is scheduled for Wednesday, February 10, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. Eastern Time.

From Quest Diagnostics 6 Feb 2010

Innovative health text messaging applications launched

Health Txts assists people in changing unhealthy behaviors by sending text messages that encourage specific self-improvement goals at the times and in the places people need it most. For example, someone may receive a message at 10pm saying "only floss the teeth you want to keep." Health Txts can be used for nearly any self-improvement goal such as reducing drinking, eating healthier or even becoming more environmentally conscious.

6 Feb 2010

EuroHOPE study: Performance evaluation of the European healthcare system

The performance of the European healthcare system will be evaluated in the EuroHOPE study (European Health Care Outcomes, Performance and Effectiveness) coordinated by the Finnish National Institute for Health and Welfare (THL) and funded by the EU.

6 Feb 2010

AMIA members lead authorship of articles on global e-health

Five articles, whose lead or senior authors are nationally known informatics leaders and members of the American Medical Informatics Association (AMIA), appear in the Feb. 2010 issue of Health Affairs and provide a glimpse into the future of health care delivery in an increasingly information-driven era of health care in the developing world.

6 Feb 2010

Valentine's Day designated as National Organ Donor Day, drive for registration

While many commemorate Valentine's Day with cards, candy and flowers, Pennsylvanians are encouraged to give the ultimate gift of love by signing up to become organ and tissue donors. With the support of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, Valentine's Day has been designated as National Organ Donor Day to raise awareness of the lives that can be touched -- potentially more than 50 at a time --through one person becoming an organ and tissue donor.

6 Feb 2010

Combination of Motrin and Robitussin drugs is safe for adults and children

A viral e-mail currently making the rounds between private accounts and public message boards warning of a danger posed by mixing over-the-counter medications Motrin and Robitussin is unfounded.

6 Feb 2010

About 8% of Americans report difficulty in accessing specialty care

Among the 36 percent of U.S. adults age 18 and older who needed to see a specialist in 2007, about 8 percent reported that getting to see one was a big problem, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality.

6 Feb 2010

Breakthrough research could lead to new potential treatments for malaria

Groundbreaking research done at Singapore's Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Biological Sciences (SBS) could lead to the development of more potent drugs or a vaccine for malaria, which is transmitted to humans by infected mosquitoes and kills up to three million people each year.

6 Feb 2010

In jobs bill, Democrats push to include extension of COBRA benefits, Medicare 'doc fix'

The New York Times reports that Democrats are trying to address some health coverage considerations in their jobs bill even as they grasp "for ideas to keep alive their health care legislation." Negotiators on the Senate Finance Committee may be close to a jobs agreement. "Democrats were also pushing to include an extension of unemployment benefits and of health care coverage for those out of work." Also under discussion was the possibility of "attaching other initiatives, including a provision to prevent a steep cut in Medicare payment rates for doctors" (Hulse and Zeleny, 2/4).

6 Feb 2010

2010 AACP Interim Meeting focuses on patient-centered, team-based care

The 2010 AACP Interim Meeting, Patient-centered, Team-based Care: Setting the Standard, will provide attendees the opportunity to contemplate a healthcare system reorganized around the needs of patients and populations.

6 Feb 2010