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Entrust Healthcare acquires PRISMA Systems Medical Billing

Entrust Healthcare today announced it has expanded its physician billing and revenue cycle consulting services with the acquisition of PRISMA Systems Medical Billing. Entrust made today's announcement at The Medical Group Management Association (MGMA) 2010 Annual Conference in New Orleans. No financial details on the transaction were provided.

25 Oct 2010

Mergers between hospitals and insurers expected to increase

"Health system reform, in combination with economic factors and trends in play, is expected to speed consolidation of health insurers and hospitals, leaving physicians to figure out how they should adapt," American Medical News reports. "The prospect for mergers and acquisitions throughout the industry is high thanks not only to health system reform, but also more access to financing to buy up other companies.

25 Oct 2010

Catalyst Rx awarded new service contract with Wellmark

Catalyst Rx, the pharmacy benefit management (PBM) subsidiary of Catalyst Health Solutions, Inc., announced the award of a new service contract with Wellmark following a competitive bid process. Wellmark does business as Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Iowa and its subsidiaries include Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield of South Dakota and Wellmark Health Plan of Iowa, Inc. Wellmark Blue Cross and Blue Shield is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association.

25 Oct 2010

Helicos names Illumina and Life Technologies as additional defendants in lawsuit against Pacific Biosciences

Helicos BioSciences Corporation announced today that it has amended its lawsuit against Pacific Biosciences of California, Inc. for patent infringement by naming Illumina, Inc. and Life Technologies Corporation as additional defendants.

From Illumina, Inc. 25 Oct 2010

Online health records gain (a little) popularity

The Wall Street Journal: A crop of websites to help patients store medical information and monitor their health are gaining attention. "With people over 50 increasingly focused on ways to monitor and measure their health, [online personal health records, or PHRs] are drawing more attention. In addition to Microsoft Corp.'s [HealthVault], other well-known PHRs include Google Inc.'s Google Health and WebMD Health Manager from WebMD Health Corp.

25 Oct 2010

S.A.N.E. Vax requests temporary suspension of Gardasil sales as cervical cancer preventive

In a letter addressed to Dr. Margaret Hamburg, the FDA commissioner, Ms. Norma Erickson, president of S.A.N.E. Vax, Inc. stated her research team has revealed the fact that in November 2001 the VRBPAC (Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee) mistakenly allowed the vaccine manufacturer to use "CIN 2/3, AIS, or cervical cancer; i.e. CIN 2/3 or worse by histology- with virology to determine the associated HPV type- as the primary endpoint in the evaluation of a vaccine to prevent cervical cancer."

25 Oct 2010

VitalHealth and Mayo Medical Laboratories collaborate to offer EHR

VitalHealth (MGMA Booth #1560) and Mayo Medical Laboratories have entered into a collaboration to offer VitalHealth's Electronic Health Record (EHR) product, including a solution for physician office connectivity, as part of Mayo Medical Laboratories' outreach offering.

25 Oct 2010

Tips for unemployed buying health insurance

The Wall Street Journal, in a personal finance column: "With no job prospects long before they can afford to retire -- and Social Security benefits still years away -- many unemployed workers in their 50s and early 60s are struggling to pay the bills. ... Of the 14.9 million unemployed, more than 2.2 million are 55 or older, according to the U.S. Labor Department."

25 Oct 2010

Repros commences randomization in Androxal Phase II study in T2DM men with low testosterone

Repros Therapeutics Inc. today announced it has commenced randomization of subjects into its Phase II Androxal® study in the treatment of type 2 diabetes (T2DM) in men with low testosterone. Low testosterone and T2DM are co-morbid conditions in a significant number of men. The study is being conducted at nine sites across the US including both academic and private practices and will enroll up to 150 patients.

25 Oct 2010

ATMI and Austar open new Chinese manufacturing facility

ATMI, Inc. today announced that it has further extended its global biopharma manufacturing footprint with the opening of a new Chinese manufacturing facility as part of a joint venture with Austar, a Hong Kong-based comprehensive service provider to the China pharmaceutical industry.

25 Oct 2010

Dueling letters on Medicare Part D changes

Kaiser Health News staff writer Jessica Marcy reports on reactions to changes in Medicare's Part D program as open enrollment season approaches, and offers - as examples - letters from Republican lawmakers and advocacy groups (Marcy, 10/25).

25 Oct 2010

Today's Op-Eds: Confusion, compromises on health reform law

Here are a few basic facts that Americans need to keep in mind before they go to the polls, and afterward. First, most aspects of the reform do not go into effect until 2014. Second, things are indeed bad out there: The costs of medical care and insurance premiums are (still) rising, and some employers are (still) dropping coverage. But for that, you should blame the long-standing health care crisis and the current bad economy. Health reform is supposed to help with these problems (10/23).

25 Oct 2010

MSSNY names athenahealth as preferred EHR vendor

athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of web-based practice management, electronic health record (EHR), and patient communication services to medical groups, today announced that it has been named a preferred EHR vendor by the Medical Society of the State of New York (MSSNY).

25 Oct 2010

B-complex vitamins slow down mild cognitive impairment

Large doses of B-complex vitamins could reduce the rate of brain shrinkage by half in elderly people with memory problems and slow the progression of dementia.

25 Oct 2010

UMC of Göttingen purchases BSD-500 Hyperthermia System

BSD Medical Corporation announced today that the University Medical Center (UMC) of Göttingen, Germany, has purchased a BSD-500 Hyperthermia System (BSD-500). UMC was established in 1732 and is a center of scientific excellence in Europe and the most prominent medical center in Lower Saxony, Germany.

25 Oct 2010

Daily dose of whole body vibration reduces bone density loss

A daily dose of whole body vibration may help reduce the usual bone density loss that occurs with age, Medical College of Georgia researchers report.

25 Oct 2010

med fusion and HCA North Texas enter agreement for laboratory testing services

med fusion, an integrated laboratory reference testing and trial services company, announced today it has entered into an agreement with HCA North Texas to provide local reference laboratory testing services, which are currently sent outside the North Texas community. Dallas-based HCA hospitals will now have immediate, local access to hundreds of complex tests performed by med fusion.

25 Oct 2010

Vital Images Vitrea Enterprise Suite receives VMware Ready designation

Vital Images, Inc., a leading provider of advanced visualization and analysis software for healthcare providers, today announced Vitrea® Enterprise Suite (VES) has achieved VMware Ready™ status. This designation indicates that VES has passed a detailed evaluation and testing process managed by VMware and is now listed on the VMware Partner Product Catalog.

25 Oct 2010

Health law implementation hitting snags

Despite pledges to leave employer-based health plans intact, benefits consultants say some firms are considering ending or reducing coverage for their workers, The Associated Press reports, adding: "That's just not going to happen, White House officials say." But an executive for the consulting firm Deloitte said, "What we are hearing in our meetings is, 'We don't want to be the first one to drop benefits, but we would be the fast second.' We are hearing that a lot."

25 Oct 2010

Inviragen commences Phase 1 clinical trial of DENVax dengue vaccine in Colombia

Inviragen, a company developing vaccines to protect against infectious diseases worldwide, and the Program for the Study and Control of Tropical Diseases (PECET), jointly announced the initiation of a Phase 1 clinical trial of DENVax™ in Colombia. DENVax is an investigational vaccine designed to provide protection against all four dengue virus serotypes. The trial will measure the safety of DENVax as well as the immune responses induced by the vaccine in healthy adults in Rionegro, Colombia.

25 Oct 2010