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Health Policy Research Roundup: Length of hospital stays, analyses of Obama's reform proposals

Archives Of Internal Medicine: Hospital Cost Of Care, Quality Of Care, And Readmission Rates - This study compares patients treated for pneumonia and congestive heart failure (CHF) and finds that high-cost hospitals don't always deliver better care. The researchers, who based their analysis on the data from 3,146 hospitals in the 2004 to 2006 Medicare Provider Analysis and Review (MedPAR), report that "risk-adjusted costs of care for CHF and pneumonia varied widely between hospitals, although hospital cost-of-care patterns seemed stable over time and correlated across conditions."

27 Feb 2010

Neurogenesis linked to drug addiction and relapse

Researchers at UT Southwestern Medical Center hope they have begun paving a new pathway in the fight against drug dependence. Their hypothesis - that increasing the normally occurring process of making nerve cells might prevent addiction - is based on a rodent study demonstrating that blocking new growth of specific brain nerve cells increases vulnerability for cocaine addiction and relapse.

27 Feb 2010

Synta Pharmaceuticals presents preclinical and clinical data of Hsp90 inhibitor STA-9090

Synta Pharmaceuticals Corp., a biopharmaceutical company focused on discovering, developing, and commercializing small molecule drugs to treat severe medical conditions, today announced that Dr. Geoffrey I. Shapiro of Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, presented preclinical and clinical data on STA-9090, a potent second-generation Hsp90 inhibitor, at IASLC (International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer) 10th Annual Targeted Therapies of the Treatment of Lung Cancer Meeting in Santa Monica, CA.

27 Feb 2010

TPG and CPPIB affiliates complete acquisition of IMS Health

IMS Health, the world’s leading provider of market intelligence to the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, today announced the completion of its acquisition by entities created by certain affiliates of TPG Capital, L.P. and the CPP Investment Board.

27 Feb 2010

NIH awards $3M grant to VCU Massey Cancer Center to develop test to measure health literacy of cancer patients

The National Institutes of Health has awarded the Virginia Commonwealth Massey Cancer Center a National Cancer Institute grant totaling nearly $3 million to develop a standardized test to measure health literacy among cancer patients.

27 Feb 2010

Health on the Hill: After the summit

Kaiser Health News staff writer Mary Agnes Carey and the Kaiser Family Foundation's Jackie Judd discuss the health care summit between President Obama, Republicans and Democrats. The forum ended with the president laying out some areas of consensus between the two parties but many disagreements remain (Kaiser Health News).

27 Feb 2010

CPIPA selects ICA’s CareAlign technology to broaden existing reporting functions

Informatics Corporation of America (ICA), unmatched in its ability to deliver a cost-effective, proven solution that leverages complete data across clinical settings to aid decision-making and improve patient outcomes, announced that its CareAlign™ technology was selected by Tennessee-based Cumberland Pediatrics Independent Practice Association (CPIPA).

27 Feb 2010

Walgreens donates $2M to American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund

As Haiti continues its rebuilding efforts from the devastating earthquake that hit its largest city in January, Walgreens wrapped up its in-store giving campaign with customers donating nearly $2 million to the American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund.

27 Feb 2010

Micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes associated with poorer overall survival in breast cancer patients

Metastases that were 2 millimeters or less in diameter ("micrometastases") in axillary lymph nodes detected on examination of a single section of the lymph nodes were associated with poorer disease-free and overall survival in breast cancer patients, according to a new study published online February 26 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

27 Feb 2010

Federal officials focus on radiation practices at Florida clinic; Medical scan makers announce new efforts to prevent mistakes

Medicare regulations require that when patients receive some types of highly specialized cancer treatments, their radiation oncologist must be on site. But The New York Times reports that federal officials are investigating a Florida cancer clinic that billed Medicare for such treatments while the doctors were absent, sometimes on overseas trips.

27 Feb 2010

Dabigatran as effective as warfarin in preventing subsequent strokes among atrial fibrillation patients

The drug dabigatran was as effective as the currently recommended drug – warfarin – in preventing a subsequent stroke among people with atrial fibrillation and prior stroke or transient ischemic attack – and it did so with less bleeding according to late-breaking science presented at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.

27 Feb 2010

Federal officials seek to root out financial and Medicare fraud

The head of the U.S. Department of Justice's criminal division told a gathering of criminal defense lawyers on Thursday that the division was using tools 'not often seen in white collar cases' to combat financial fraud," which includes Medicare.

27 Feb 2010

President Obama, Pelosi inaccurately respond: Health bills do not fund abortion

Yesterday members of Congress attended the White House Summit on Health Care Legislation. Responding to a claim by Minority Leader John Boehner that the health care legislation will fund abortion, President Obama dismissed it as talking points and "untrue." Speaker Pelosi also inaccurately responded that the health bills do not fund abortion.

27 Feb 2010

Fact-checks of the bipartisan health care summit

News outlets fact-check the bipartisan health care summit and provide analyses of the messaging and poll numbers lawmakers used during the six-hour event.

27 Feb 2010

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour arrives in Atlanta to host free HIV testing events

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour, a six month, 48 state national cross country HIV testing tour, will arrive in Atlanta to host free HIV testing events over two days, Friday, February 26th and Saturday, February 27th.

27 Feb 2010

BestHealthcareRates.com to merge with Parasol Financial & Insurance Solutions

BestHealthcareRates.com announced a business merger with Parasol Financial & Insurance Solutions. The joint company will adopt the name Parasol and will provide an expanded portfolio of financial and insurance products, including life, Medicare and income disability coverage for individuals and groups.

27 Feb 2010

Cancer researchers assess PCI-32765 drug that targets molecular abnormalities of lymphoma cells

Cancer researchers have high hopes for a new therapy for patients with certain types of lymphoma and leukemia.

27 Feb 2010

Prevention of recurrent strokes: Antiplatelet drug cilostazol effective and safer than aspirin

The antiplatelet drug cilostazol — used in the United States to treat leg pain associated with peripheral vascular disease — was more effective and safer than aspirin at preventing recurrent strokes in a Japanese trial presented as late-breaking science at the American Stroke Association's International Stroke Conference 2010.

27 Feb 2010

Medical innovation and research: A real boon for American patients to live longer, healthier

An article in the Suislaw News recently highlighted the fact that medical innovation and research are enabling many people to live longer, healthier and more productive lives.

26 Feb 2010

Colorado city a model for low-cost, high quality care, series details

Colorado Public News/Los Angeles Times presents a series of stories about Grand Junction Colorado which delivers some of the best and lowest-cost health care in the nation.

26 Feb 2010

Medical News

Health Policy Research Roundup: Length of hospital stays, analyses of Obama's reform proposals

Neurogenesis linked to drug addiction and relapse

Synta Pharmaceuticals presents preclinical and clinical data of Hsp90 inhibitor STA-9090

TPG and CPPIB affiliates complete acquisition of IMS Health

NIH awards $3M grant to VCU Massey Cancer Center to develop test to measure health literacy of cancer patients

Health on the Hill: After the summit

CPIPA selects ICA’s CareAlign technology to broaden existing reporting functions

Walgreens donates $2M to American Red Cross Haiti Relief and Development Fund

Micrometastases in axillary lymph nodes associated with poorer overall survival in breast cancer patients

Federal officials focus on radiation practices at Florida clinic; Medical scan makers announce new efforts to prevent mistakes

Dabigatran as effective as warfarin in preventing subsequent strokes among atrial fibrillation patients

Federal officials seek to root out financial and Medicare fraud

President Obama, Pelosi inaccurately respond: Health bills do not fund abortion

Fact-checks of the bipartisan health care summit

AHF’s Magic Johnson ‘Testing America’ Tour arrives in Atlanta to host free HIV testing events

BestHealthcareRates.com to merge with Parasol Financial & Insurance Solutions

Cancer researchers assess PCI-32765 drug that targets molecular abnormalities of lymphoma cells

Prevention of recurrent strokes: Antiplatelet drug cilostazol effective and safer than aspirin

Medical innovation and research: A real boon for American patients to live longer, healthier

Colorado city a model for low-cost, high quality care, series details

Synthetic Biology and the Pursuit of Living Diagnostics

Modular, Scalable, Intelligent: How n6 Is Rethinking NGS Library Prep

Shaping the future of lab automation through AI and robotics

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