Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

Premier Purchasing Partners offers agreements for bulk oxygen

...

18 Sep 2009

U.S. healthcare system fraught with racial inequalities

Racial inequalities in health care access and quality added more than $50 billion a year in direct U.S. health care costs over a four-year period according to a study released today by the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a Washington-based think tank.

18 Sep 2009

Sanofi-Aventis acquires Merck's interest in Merial for a cash consideration of $4 billion

Sanofi-aventis (EURONEXT: SAN and NYSE: SNY) and Merck & Co., Inc. (NYSE: MRK) today announced that the acquisition by sanofi-aventis of Merck’s 50 percent interest in Merial Limited (Merial) has been completed.

18 Sep 2009

Health care leaders urge Congress to act on meaningful health reforms

More than 400 of the nation's most respected health care leaders today issued a joint Open Letter to Congress declaring that the health care system is in crisis and is unsustainable and calling on Congress to act now on meaningful reforms. They state that Congress has a moral and ethical obligation to improve healthcare for all our citizens now.

18 Sep 2009

National Health Partners to provide cross-border healthcare program

National Health Partners, Inc. (National Health) (OTCBB:NHPR), a leading provider of unique discount healthcare membership programs, announced today that it has entered into an agreement with a major international healthcare company in furtherance of its goal of creating a cross-border healthcare program.

18 Sep 2009

NACHC and WGU partner to offer a new online bachelor's degree program in nursing

The National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC) and Western Governors University, www.wgu.edu, will partner to provide clinical training opportunities as part of WGU's new competency-based bachelor's degree program leading to initial RN licensure.

18 Sep 2009

CCS Advantage program's performance measures validated by Milliman

MedAssurant, Inc., a leading provider of data-driven healthcare solutions, announced today that Milliman, Inc., has validated the calculations of several performance measures for MedAssurant’s CCS Advantage program, and confirmed the calculated values of medical cost for Medicare patients with chronic illness in the study population.

18 Sep 2009

Study compares annual healthcare costs of diabetic and non-diabetic individuals

Risk factors for metabolic syndrome, such as obesity, high blood pressure, and elevated blood lipid levels, can increase a person's healthcare costs nearly 1.6-fold, or about $2,000 per year. For each additional risk factor those costs rise an average of 24%, according to an illuminating article in a recent issue of Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders, a peer-reviewed journal published by Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.

18 Sep 2009

Diabetic nerve pain: Most bothersome complication of diabetes

In a new online survey, eighty-five percent of people who experience diabetic nerve pain said that their pain was one of the top three most bothersome complications of their diabetes. Despite the fact that people with diabetic nerve pain recognize the condition's impact on their lives and eighty-four percent of those surveyed said they have discussed the condition with a healthcare provider, just slightly less than half of respondents (49 percent) were treating their pain.

18 Sep 2009

NIDDK awards $1.2 million grant to Bolder BioTechnology for long-acting EPO analog program

Bolder BioTechnology, Inc. announced today that it has been awarded a $1.2 million Phase II Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) grant, entitled "Long-Acting EPO Analog for Treating Anemia Associated with Chronic Kidney Disease," from the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) of The National Institutes of Health (NIH). Receipt of the entire grant award is contingent upon the achievement of certain research milestones.

18 Sep 2009

Summa Health System responds to healthcare reform

As the health insurance reform debate continues in Washington, D.C. and around the country, Summa Health System provides the following response to the latest developments in the debate and the potential impact on Summa. As a system, Summa continues to inform the debate by sharing its perspective on various policy changes and urges adoption of policies that would impact its patients' health in a positive way, including efforts to expand affordable health insurance to those without coverage.

18 Sep 2009

Young adults need quality and affordable health coverage

HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius today released a new report, Young Americans and Health Insurance Reform: Giving Young Americans the Security and Stability They Need. The report highlights the vulnerability young adults face in the current health care system and the urgent need for health insurance reform.

18 Sep 2009

Early detection of Alzheimer's can prevent disease progression

More than 5.3 million Americans are living with Alzheimer's, and every 71 seconds someone in America develops the disease.

18 Sep 2009

Merge Healthcare launches FusionWeb application software

Continuing its technology leadership in image-enabling the healthcare enterprise, Merge Healthcare, today announced the release of FusionWeb™, a revolutionary zero-client software platform that enables secure

18 Sep 2009

Consumer Watchdog urges California Attorney General to investigate insurers' employee programs

As the House Subcommittee on Domestic Policy reconvenes hearings today on the bureaucratic abuse of insured patients by for-profit insurance companies, Consumer Watchdog called on the nation's two largest insurers to answer questions about their use of employees to lobby Congress on company time.

18 Sep 2009

Calypso Medical raises funds for commercial expansion

Calypso Medical Technologies, Inc., a developer of real-time localization technology used for the precise tracking of tumor targets, today announced the completion of a $50 million round of venture capital financing, led by Skyline Ventures and Frazier Healthcare Ventures.

18 Sep 2009

LifeWise Health Plan expands individual health-plan benefits

LifeWise Health Plan of Washington is announcing the expansion of individual health-plan benefits to provide consumers with more choices and greater coverage.

18 Sep 2009

Plans could change how Medicare pays doctors, hospitals

Sen. Max Baucus' health proposal includes achieving cost savings, in part, by reconfiguring the way doctors and hospitals are paid for their services, The Wall Street Journal reports.

18 Sep 2009

AFA welcomes inclusion of cognitive impairment screening in healthcare reform proposal

The Alzheimer's Foundation of America (AFA) today applauded Senate Finance Committee Chairman Max Baucus (D-MT) and Senator Tom Carper (D-DE), who spearheaded the provision, for including cognitive impairment screening for Medicare beneficiaries in Baucus' healthcare reform proposal, "America's Healthy Future Act of 2009."

18 Sep 2009

Study reveals that caregivers are unable to diagnose the pain levels affecting nursing home residents

Relatives and healthcare staff find it hard to diagnose pain levels in nursing home residents accurately, especially if they are cognitively impaired with illnesses such as dementia or unable to speak, according to a study in September issue of the Journal of Clinical Nursing.

18 Sep 2009