Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Benefit Advocates provides healthcare benefits advocacy services for InterFlex Group

Benefit Advocates Inc. is providing comprehensive healthcare benefits advocacy services for InterFlex Group, a flexible packaging company with facilities in North America, the United Kingdom and Brazil.

29 Jan 2010

Arthritis pain relief drug ALEVE now available OTC in British Columbia

This winter, British Columbians may be inspired to increase their activity level and take part in some favourite winter pastimes. For those who have joint and arthritis pain, getting back to doing the activities they love may be more of a challenge. ALEVE(R) is the first over-the-counter naproxen sodium tablet, and is now available province-wide. With just one pill, ALEVE(R) offers convenient access to pain relief for up to 12 hours.

29 Jan 2010

Pelosi says House could pass Senate bill under two-track approach

"Laying out a possible path to approving healthcare legislation, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-San Francisco) said Wednesday that the House should pass the Senate's version and then use a process known as 'budget reconciliation' to make the changes some lawmakers are demanding," The Los Angeles Times reports.

29 Jan 2010

APF survey reveals breakthrough cancer pain causes medical and financial hardships for cancer patients

A new survey released today by the American Pain Foundation (APF) reveals that breakthrough cancer pain — sudden, temporary flares of severe pain that occur even when pain medication is used — is one of the most challenging aspects of having cancer, according to three out of four (75 percent) U.S. adults who have ever been diagnosed with cancer and experience this type of pain.

29 Jan 2010

AHRQ and American College Of Cardiology team up to study risks and benefits of ICDs

A $3.5 million research project that will study the long-term benefits and risks of implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) in patients at risk of death from ventricular fibrillation will be supported by HHS' Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality and the American College of Cardiology, the two groups announced today.

29 Jan 2010

Groups - including Catholic Bishops - press Democrats to finish health reform

CQ Politics: "Proponents of a comprehensive health care overhaul are pressing congressional Democrats to finish the measure ... Leaders of several interest groups said at a news conference Wednesday that the House should clear the Senate-passed health care bill for President Obama's signature" (1/27).

29 Jan 2010

Pelosi discusses plan to move ahead with reform

The Boston Globe: House Speaker Nancy Pelosi "told reporters this morning that the House is working on two tracks to pursue health reform. She said she hopes to announce soon a series of smaller health care bills, such as removing the antitrust exemption for insurance companies, that could pass relatively quickly." Pelosi described the current thinking as being that both chambers "would pass a series of agreed-upon changes to the Senate bill under reconciliation, and then the House would pass the Senate bill itself."

29 Jan 2010

Obama appeals for health reform despite recent setbacks

The New York Times reports that "after spending 2009 emphasizing that a health care overhaul was his top domestic priority, Mr. Obama gave it much less prominence in his [State of the Union] address. He did not mention it until more than half an hour in — a sign of how imperiled the bill has become."

29 Jan 2010

Mcdonnell says Democratic agenda, including health care effort, is too expensive

In his response to President Barack Obama's State of the Union address, Virginia Gov. Bob McDonnell said the nation cannot afford the Democratic agenda, including health care, The Associated Press/Wall Street Journal reports.

28 Jan 2010

Lawmakers prod White House to release health reform deal documents

A group of Republicans and Rep. Henry Waxman, the California Democrat who chairs the Energy and Commerce committee, are prodding the White House to release documents detailing agreements cut with industry groups in exchange for their support for health reform, The Christian Science Monitor reports. "Those agreements - never released in any detail - set markers for Congress's work on healthcare, which many lawmakers felt bound to respect." Michael Burgess, R-Texas, one of the committee members seeking the documents, speculates, "Was this a payoff to the insurance industry?"

28 Jan 2010

Federal panel awards almost $500 million to La. to replace New Orleans Charity Hospital

Ending one of the longest-running disputes left by Hurricane Katrina, a federal arbitration panel ruled Wednesday that Louisiana would receive $474.8 million — nearly all it had requested — to pay for the replacement of Charity Hospital in New Orleans, which has been closed since the storm.

28 Jan 2010

Innovative cardiac scanner allows early detection of heart conditions

The portable magnetometer is being developed at the University of Leeds, with funding from the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC) playing a key role.

28 Jan 2010

Texas Tribune: Will local docs overcome obstacles to go paperless?

American hospitals have lots of reasons to go digital, as well as a handful of motives to stick with paper.

28 Jan 2010

Oculus Innovative Sciences introduces Microcyn Solution for treatment of post-surgical wounds

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 unveiled Microcyn Solution with preservatives, at the New York Podiatric Clinical Conference & Exhibition being held in downtown Manhattan, January 29-31.

28 Jan 2010

Kensey Nash announces financial results for second quarter of fiscal year 2010

Kensey Nash Corporation, a leading medical technology company that provides innovative solutions and technologies for a wide range of medical procedures, today reported the results for its three and six months ended December 31, 2009.

28 Jan 2010

Zero LWOT metric appeared on the hospital dashboard at United Hospital Center

The week of Christmas left no one turned away from the Emergency Department at United Hospital Center in Clarksburg, West Virginia. For the first time in years, a zero LWOT (Left Without Treatment) metric appeared on the hospital dashboard.

28 Jan 2010

Baxter International reports net income of $572M for the fourth-quarter of 2009

Baxter International Inc. today reported strong performance for the fourth quarter of 2009, and provided its financial outlook for the first quarter and full-year 2010.

From Baxter International Inc. 28 Jan 2010

ZOLL Medical, HealthTrust Purchasing Group enter into purchasing agreement

ZOLL Medical Corporation, a manufacturer of medical devices and related software solutions, announced today that HealthTrust Purchasing Group, LP (HealthTrust), a leading healthcare group purchasing organization (GPO), has entered into a purchasing agreement with ZOLL for its therapeutic temperature management equipment.

28 Jan 2010

AHF to conduct HIV testing events in Texas

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour, a six-month, 48-state national cross-country HIV testing tour, will ride into San Antonio, Texas, for two days of testing events at two Walgreens location.

28 Jan 2010

Christiana Care Health System introduces COPE technology for common diagnoses

Christiana Care Health System is taking a giant leap forward toward a comprehensive Electronic Health Record with the launch of Computerized Provider Order Entry (CPOE), technology that makes it easier, more efficient and safer for doctors to order tests and medications.

28 Jan 2010