Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Bi-directional health information exchange to deal with disease outbreaks

Building upon four decades of research and real world operation of electronic medical records and health information exchange, Regenstrief Institute researchers have developed, tested and are now operating innovative technologies to allow for the bi-directional flow of evidence-based medical information between clinical sources and public health organizations.

22 Sep 2009

DataSource partners with Rural Health to help customers secure grants for EHR projects

DataSource Mobility is committed to helping healthcare customers achieve their IT goals. As part of that commitment, they have extended their capabilities by partnering with Rural Health IT Corporation (Rural Health), to provide customers with assistance in securing grant funding for EHR projects up to $1.2 million.

22 Sep 2009

Barrington Medical Imaging and Echoserve as service providers for medical imaging equipment

Barrington Medical Imaging, LLC and Echoserve, Inc. The two companies will be combined to create a nationwide, independent service provider for medical imaging equipment across multiple modalities and vendor platforms.

22 Sep 2009

AHF’s first AIDS treatment center to open in Washington, DC

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the US’ largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider, which provides medical care and/or services to more than 100,000 individuals in 21 countries worldwide, is honored to announce the September 24th grand opening of AHF’s first AIDS treatment center in Washington, DC, where the HIV rate is now reported to be 3%—higher than the rate in Lagos, Nigeria. The health care center, AHF’s first to be named in honor of Hollywood actor and longtime AIDS advocate Blair Underwood, will include a state-of-the-art, full-service HIV/AIDS treatment clinic as well as an on-site AHF Pharmacy. The facility will be known as the AHF Blair Underwood Clinic.

22 Sep 2009

HTA acquires GHS medical office building portfolio

Healthcare Trust of America, Inc., (the "REIT"), a self-managed non-traded real estate investment trust, announced the completed acquisition of a 16-building portfolio from Greenville Hospital System ("GHS") based in Greenville, South Carolina for approximately $162,820,000 on September 18, 2009.

22 Sep 2009

Congress urged to delay pending Medicaid cuts

A diverse coalition of health care industry groups has sent an urgent letter to the bipartisan leadership in Congress seeking to delay pending Medicaid cuts and to enact a more equitable formula to reimburse pharmacies for dispensing generic drugs to Medicaid beneficiaries.

22 Sep 2009

Some religious groups seek health care for illegal immigrants

NPR reports: "In the Hispanic community, there are issues in the debate over health care that spill over into the debate over immigration policy."

21 Sep 2009

Today's selection of opinions and editorials

Obama's Nontax Tax Wall Street Journal It turns out the President thinks a health-care tax is not a tax if he thinks the tax is for your own good (9/21).

21 Sep 2009

Medicare round up: News coverage of cost issues and leadership gap

"The national average for Medicare spending on such patients was $46,412, including outpatient care," the Times reports. "But in Los Angeles County, the average cost was nearly double that, $84,179, according to a Los Angeles Times review of Dartmouth data. In seeking to explain why, some researchers have concluded that doctors in areas such as Los Angeles, with more hospitals and other resources, are more likely to have patients admitted, order tests and schedule visits, largely because they can."

21 Sep 2009

Short-term psychodynamic psychotherapies for somatic symptom disorders show promise

In the current issue of Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics a meta-analysis indicates how short-term dynamic psychotherapy may be helpful in the setting of medical disease.

21 Sep 2009

Memorial Medical Center deploys Motorola's 802.11n WLAN solution to improve patient care

The Enterprise Mobility Solutions business of Motorola, Inc. (NYSE: MOT), today announced that Lowry Computer, a leading systems integrator and Motorola channel partner, has deployed its 802.11n wireless LAN (WLAN) solution at Memorial Medical Center (MMC) of Western Michigan, a community hospital located in Ludington, Mich.

21 Sep 2009

Blessing Hospital integrates AtStaff’s ClairVia Patient Acuity system with its EMR

By integrating AtStaff’s ClairVia® Patient Acuity system with its electronic medical record (EMR), Blessing Hospital of Quincy, Ill., is driving patient acuity and staffing workload directly and automatically from its existing clinical documentation -- a significant advancement in evidenced-based, outcomes-driven care.

21 Sep 2009

QualityMetric announces new tool to measure pain accurately

According to the National Centers for Health Statistics, 76.2 million Americans report problems with chronic pain; more than diabetes, heart disease, and cancer combined. The same report notes that the annual cost of chronic pain in the United States, including healthcare expenses, lost income, and productivity, is estimated to be $100 billion.

21 Sep 2009

Perrigo purchases KV Pharmaceutical's ANDA for clindamycin phosphate and benzoyl peroxide gel

Perrigo Company (Nasdaq: PRGO;TASE) today announced that it has purchased the ANDA for clindamycin phosphate (1%) and benzoyl peroxide (5%) gel from KV Pharmaceutical for $14 million in cash at closing and a $2 million milestone payment upon the completion of a successful technical transfer. This product is the AB-rated equivalent to Stiefel Laboratories' (a subsidiary of Glaxo SmithKline) Duac(R) gel, indicated for the topical treatment of inflammatory acne vulgaris.

21 Sep 2009

GE Capital deploys $1 billion in the U.S. healthcare market for the first six months of 2009

GE Capital’s Healthcare Financial Services business ended the first six months of 2009 as one of the most active capital providers in the U.S. healthcare market, deploying approximately $1 billion for more than 45 transactions. Loans were used to refinance existing debt, support working capital needs and fund growth initiatives.

21 Sep 2009

Recession is contributing to acute physical pain for Americans: Survey

A new survey from the American Pain Foundation says economic pain from the recession is contributing to acute, or short-term, physical pain for Americans. According to the survey, released today during National Pain Awareness Month, 68 percent of people who experienced acute back pain or other minor muscle strains and sprains in the past year said that the recession caused, increased or affected their pain, often because of greater stress and working harder at home and on the job.

21 Sep 2009

Maxygen completes joint venture transaction with Astellas Pharma

Maxygen, Inc. (Nasdaq:MAXY) today announced the consummation of the transactions contemplated by the previously announced joint venture agreement between Maxygen and Astellas Pharma Inc. Under the joint venture transaction, which closed on September 18, 2009, the parties established a newly-formed joint venture, Perseid Therapeutics LLC, to focus on the discovery, research and development of multiple protein pharmaceutical programs.

21 Sep 2009

First Edition: September 21, 2009

Today's headlines indicate that President Obama's weekend media blitz will set the stage for this week's health policy action.

21 Sep 2009

Open letter to shareholders from London & Pacific Healthcare

Throughout this past year, the Board of Directors, in conjunction with the management team, key investors, business partners, employees, and experienced market consultants, has explored a variety of alternatives for significantly increasing shareholder value.

21 Sep 2009

Sleep Diagnostics assests sold to Embla Systems

Covidien, a leading global provider of healthcare products, today announced that it had completed the previously announced sale of its Sleep Diagnostics assets to Embla Systems. Financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.

21 Sep 2009