Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

New enhanced version of irms|PM software launched

Today, Upp Technology, a leading provider of public health solutions, announced the new enhanced version of their irms|PM (Patient Management) software product.

5 Sep 2009

Many high health costs remain mysterious, including the cost of reform

Health care's high costs are a main reason lawmakers are taking on health reform, but it's also a challenge to identify and target the many reasons care is so expensive. NPR takes a look at medical devices, like plastic tubes and scalpels, that boast surprisingly big price tags. A $2,000 dollar metal stent must be tiny and flexible, a $60 plastic catheter must bend in exactly the right way and "the market is still sorting itself out" on the appropriate price of relatively new specialty scalpels used for heart surgery (Joffe-Walt 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

Catholics for Choice supports coverage of reproductive healthcare services in healthcare policy

"Catholics believe that healthcare is a right, not a privilege. However, our vision for healthcare reform is different than the US bishops and their conservative allies, who seek to marginalize issues of reproductive health-as if people's reproductive health can be separated from their overall health. People in the United States need coverage of reproductive healthcare services, and efforts to deny this coverage based on the opinions of a small but vocal minority are unjust.

5 Sep 2009

Over 2,800 people worldwide have died from H1N1, WHO reports

The WHO on Friday announced the H1N1 (swine) flu virus has killed at least 2,837 people - the result of an continued increase in the number of H1N1 cases worldwide, not the virulence of the virus, Reuters reports. "There is no sense that the virus has mutated or changed in any sense," WHO spokesperson Gregory Hartl said during a news conference (Nebehay/MacInnis, 9/4).

5 Sep 2009

Neusoft Medical launches three of its flagship medical products

Today, Neusoft Medical Systems Co., Ltd. ("Neusoft Medical"), a wholly-owned subsidiary of China's leading IT solutions & services provider, Neusoft Corporation (600718.SH), held a press conference for its development strategy and new products, officially launching three of its flagship products to the globe, including NeuViz 16 multi-slice CT scanner, Sparkler 1.5T superconductive MRI, and NeuLife linear accelerator (LINAC) system, and the first two products also marked as the first of their kinds in China.

5 Sep 2009

Medline Industries signs agreement to acquire SunChoice

Medline Industries, Inc., the largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of medical supplies in the United States, announced today that it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire the business and assets of healthcare distributor SunChoice Europe Limited from the Southern Cross Healthcare Group.

5 Sep 2009

Nurses urge CDC to follow the recommendations for swine flu protection from the Institute of Medicine

The California Nurses Association/National Nurses Organizing Committee (CNA/NNOC) today applauds the Institute of Medicine for recommending strong patient safety protections for patients and caregivers to avoid airborne transmission during the ongoing H1N1/swine flu pandemic--and calls on the Centers for Disease Control to meet the same, stringent standards.

5 Sep 2009

RAC certification for 263 regulatory professionals

The Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS) has announced that 263 regulatory professionals achieved Regulatory Affairs Certification (RAC) during the most recent exam period. The RAC credential is administered by RAPS and is the only certification specifically for regulatory professionals in the healthcare product sector.

5 Sep 2009

Google searches for 'death panels' trigger new ad war

Weeks after Sarah Palin coined the term, "death panels" to refer to a proposal in the House health reform bill, the term is among those helping to generate the most active internet advertising spree ever linked to a public policy issue, the Los Angeles Times reports.

5 Sep 2009

Democrats consider 'trigger' option instead of immediate public plan

The White House is considering a health reform proposal that would turn to a government-run public plan only if private insurers fail to provide affordable options.

5 Sep 2009

Morning Edition: September 4, 2009

Today's headlines illustrate the following point: Everyone should enjoy the long weekend ahead, because next week Congress comes back to Washington and President Obama delivers his big health care speech -- in other words, the health policy world will be very busy.

4 Sep 2009

Mindray DS USA announces the recent appointment of its Vice President

Mindray DS USA, a Mindray Global Company, announces the recent appointment of Michael Thompson as vice president of ultrasound sales for the U.S. Thompson brings more than 20 years of medical sales, sales force management and business development to the position.

From Mindray 4 Sep 2009

Rick Barnett appointed as senior vice president by VHA to head its West Coast regional office

VHA Inc., the national health care network, has hired Rick Barnett as senior vice president of its West Coast regional office, and it has elevated John Thomas to the post of senior vice president to lead the newly formed VHA Pacific Northwest office, VHA's 17th regional office.

4 Sep 2009

State round-up: News from California, Colorado and Massachusetts

The Los Angeles Times: The California State Senate Wednesday approved a $196-million plan to tax insurance companies and capture federal dollars to keep about 700,000 children from being dropped from a governmental insurance program for the working poor. "The state Senate passed a measure to create a new tax on insurance companies and bring in federal money to rescue the decade-old Healthy Families program, which had been cut deeply in recent months as lawmakers scrambled to balance the state budget" (Bailey and Mcgreevy, 9/3).

4 Sep 2009

Real American Brands to start medical transportation business

Real American Brands, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: RLAB) announced today that the company has approved plans to pursue and operate an emergency and non-emergency health services transportation division, to be developed in close consultation with transport and medical personnel who have broad experience in the field.

4 Sep 2009

$NEI awards grant to Vivakor for developing a digital photo-refractor$

NEI awards grant to Vivakor for developing a digital photo-refractor

Vivakor, Inc. announced that the National Institutes of Health-National Eye Institute has awarded a grant to Vivakor, Inc. in Coralville, IA through the Small Business Innovation Research Awards.

4 Sep 2009

Flat fees and EMR usage vary significantly in different hospitals

HighRoads, the company providing employers – for the first time – complete control over their health care costs and compliance, today announced findings from the industry’s first medical travel request for information (RFI) for Fortune 500 employers to compare health care procedural ethics, quality and costs around the world.

4 Sep 2009

SCA collaborates with Surgical Hospital to expand its services

Surgical Hospital of Oklahoma, located in Oklahoma City, today announced that it has partnered with Surgical Care Affiliates (SCA), one of the country's largest providers of specialty surgical services.

4 Sep 2009

Google's Director of Technology commits $5M to the Sebastian Ferrero Foundation's children's hospital

Following the unimaginable loss of their son Sebastian less than two years ago, Horst and Luisa Ferrero created the Sebastian Ferrero Foundation with a mission to improve child patient safety and develop a full-service children's hospital. Today the stars have aligned for the Foundation with two significant steps forward.

4 Sep 2009

Medicare advantage rates could go up, while Part D 'exceeding expectations'

"Despite near-zero inflation and recessionary conditions, health insurers in 2010 face another year of double-digit increases in the charges they pay for hospital services, physicians, drugs, and other healthcare costs," U.S. News and World Report writes in a news column.

4 Sep 2009