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Workers face higher costs for employer-sponsored insurance

Kaiser Health News reports that "employers struggling with the steady rise of health insurance costs -- which in 2009 increased 5 percent to an average of $13,375 for family coverage -- are passing on more of the expense to their workers through higher deductibles and co-payments, according to survey released today." The survey was by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the Health Research & Educational Trust (Galewitz and Villegas, 9/15).

16 Sep 2009

FDA clears Hansen Medical's Sensei X Robotic Catheter System

Furthering the medical robotic frontier in electrophysiology (EP), Hansen Medical, Inc. (NASDAQ: HNSN) today announced it has received U.S. Food & Drug Administration (FDA) clearance for its next generation Sensei® X Robotic Catheter System and it introduced the Artisan Extend™ Control Catheter. The company also introduced the Lynx™ Robotic Ablation Catheter, a small, flexible irrigated ablation catheter for customers in Europe.

16 Sep 2009

Study reveals effectiveness of cognitive testing by telephone in elderly individuals

Cognitive testing by telephone in elderly individuals is generally as effective as in-person testing, according to a new study by Effie M. Mitsis, PhD, Assistant Professor of Psychiatry at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and part of Mount Sinai's Alzheimer's Disease Research Center. The study will appear in the International Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.

16 Sep 2009

Breaking it down: A comparison of major health care plans in Congress

The Associated Press offers a look at the major health care plans pending in Congress, including the House Democratic bill, the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee bill, the Baucus plan and the House Republican outline, plus President Obama's proposal.

16 Sep 2009

Ganeden Biotech unveils the first quick dissolving, thin strip probiotic product

Ganeden Biotech Inc., makers of the patented probiotic strain GanedenBC30(R), today announced the launch of the first quick dissolving, thin strip probiotic product. The new thin strip product is the latest in a number of innovative probiotic-enhanced products introduced by Ganeden Biotech over the past year.

16 Sep 2009

EHNAC HNAP accreditation for Capario

Capario, a provider of revenue cycle management solutions that connect healthcare payers and providers nationwide, announced today that it has again achieved full accreditation with the Healthcare Network Accreditation Program (HNAP) from the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission (EHNAC).

16 Sep 2009

Insurers fail to keep up with speech technology, deny funding for devices that multi-task

Insurance companies push speech-impaired patients, like one New York woman with ALS, or Lou Gehrig's disease, to buy expensive computers featuring text-to-speech software by refusing to pay for alternative devices, the New York Times reports. Furthermore, they insist on blocking all other capabilities of the proprietary machines they do cover.

16 Sep 2009

PsoriasisDX Genetic Test for Psoriatic arthritis launched

The first genetic test for Psoriatic arthritis (PsA) is being launched today by PsoriasisDX, LLC, a subsidiary of molecular dermatology research and development innovator PharmaGenoma, Inc. PsA is a progressive irreversible joint disease associated with psoriasis. It is estimated that 20% to 40% of psoriasis patients will eventually develop PsA.

16 Sep 2009

GENova Biotherapeutics and Prime BioResearch sign collaboration agreement

GENova Biotherapeutics Inc. ("GENova") today announced that it has signed a collaboration agreement with Prime BioResearch, Ltd. ("Prime BioResearch") the agreement is focused on how personalized medicine can be applied to cure cancer.

16 Sep 2009

Exercise is effective for treating chronic shoulder pain

Supervised exercises are more effective than shockwave treatment to relieve chronic shoulder pain, finds a study published on bmj.com today.

16 Sep 2009

NIMH awards Genomas an SBIR Grant to develop MRI DNA biomarkers for neuropsychiatric disease

Genomas(R), a biomedical company advancing DNA-Guided medicine, today announced the award of a 3-year Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant totaling $1.4 Million. The grant, entitled MRI DNA Biomarkers for Neuropsychiatric Disease, was awarded by the National Institute of Mental Health.

16 Sep 2009

Today's Op-Ed selections: Medicare, Medicaid and the Constitution

My patient had just been the recipient of a rare and highly valued medical commodity, a treatment that is as quantifiable in its effects as the milligrams of a medication or the number of stitches in a wound: Time (Daphne Miller, 9/15).

16 Sep 2009

Generic drugs create significant cost savings

Generic drugs and mail-order systems can save health plans money since brand name drugs generally cost 50 percent to 70 percent more than generics.

16 Sep 2009

HITECH Act bonus guarantee program from athenahealth

athenahealth, Inc., a leading provider of Internet-based business services to physician practices, today announced it has launched a program guaranteeing that physicians who use its EHR service, athenaClinicalsSM, will receive a HITECH Act bonus payment under the 2011 program year.

16 Sep 2009

NIAID awards Sanaria an SBIR Grant for expediting its malaria vaccine manufacturing process

Sanaria Inc. has received additional support from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) of the National Institutes of Health in the form of a Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Grant. The award for two years is $1.99 million. Subject to satisfactory progress by Sanaria, continued funding for a third year will bring the total to nearly $3 million.

16 Sep 2009

AS&E receives order for cargo X-ray inspection systems

American Science and Engineering, Inc. (AS&E®) (NASDAQ: ASEI), a leading worldwide supplier of innovative X-ray detection solutions, announced today that it has received an $18.8 million order for cargo X-ray inspection systems from an unnamed government agency to screen cargo and vehicles for explosive threats and contraband at border crossings.

16 Sep 2009

Also in Global Health News: PNG, Nepal outbreaks; Taliban Oks polio vaccination; Technology helps in developing countries; Satellite images for malaria control

VOA News examines the ongoing struggle for Papua New Guinea's health system to treat thousands of people infected by the "simultaneous outbreaks of influenza, dysentery and cholera that have killed about 120 people." The article includes information about the difficulties heath officials are having in assessing the various outbreaks and concerns of medical workers that conditions may soon worsen (Mercer, 9/14).

16 Sep 2009