Healthcare News and Research

Latest Healthcare News and Research

CHRISTUS Health strikes partnership with Elsevier for implementing CDS solutions at 25 hospitals

Elsevier has announced that Dallas-based CHRISTUS Health, one of the top 10 Catholic health systems in the U.S., will install five of Elsevier's online clinical decision support (CDS) solutions to meet the diverse and evolving clinical decision support needs of its physicians, nurses and pharmacists.

10 Aug 2009

Advocate Health Care leads Thomson Reuters' list of top 10 U.S. hospitals

Thomson Reuters today released an unprecedented study identifying the top 10 U.S. health systems based on their hospitals' clinical performance.

10 Aug 2009

Schwarzenegger’s ‘catastrophic’ AIDS funding cuts to be protested Tuesday

AIDS Healthcare Foundation (AHF), the nation’s largest non-profit HIV/AIDS healthcare provider, is joining a broad-based coalition of AIDS advocates and patients to protest draconian budget cuts that were blue lined out of the budget by California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and that will jeopardize the public health by eliminating the vast majority of funding for AIDS prevention, care and treatment.

9 Aug 2009

Cost-effectiveness of Cetuximab in metastatic colorectal cancer

From a health-care system perspective, it may be more efficient to use the drug cetuximab only in colorectal cancer patients whose tumors have a wild-type KRAS gene, according to a study published online August 7 in the Journal of the National Cancer Institute.

9 Aug 2009

Understanding emotional reactions for negative services

Service quality beliefs are usually positively related to customer satisfaction - the higher the perceived service quality, the higher the customer's satisfaction. However, an article published in the August issue of the Journal of Service Research finds this relationship may be more complicated in "negative service environments" (i.e., services that consumers would prefer not to have to use), such as health screening, diagnostic tests, or even auto repair.

9 Aug 2009

Watson recalls one lot of Fentanyl transdermal system

Watson Pharmaceuticals has announced that one lot of 100 mcg/hr Fentanyl Transdermal System patches sold in the United States is being voluntarily recalled from wholesalers and pharmacies.

9 Aug 2009

Merge Healthcare to acquire Confirma

In order to combine forces on expanding CAD technology, Merge Healthcare Incorporated, a leading health IT solutions provider, and Confirma, Inc., the largest privately-held developer of computer assisted detection (CAD) software for medical imaging, announce that they have entered into a definitive agreement for Merge to acquire Confirma in an all-stock transaction. This acquisition brings Confirma’s patented and proven technologies to Merge’s multiple market channels and international markets, and provides a mechanism to expand adoption of this important technology.

9 Aug 2009

State Governments join push for health IT

State governments around the country are working to facilitate, and in some cases, enhance, Washington's stimulus-funded incentives for doctors and hospitals that adopt new health information technology.

7 Aug 2009

Socioeconomic status plays no role in brain's continued ability to function with age

New UCLA research suggests that for seniors age 70 and older, socioeconomic status does not play a major role in the brain's continued ability to function. However, seniors who have never been married and widowers seem to perform more poorly as they age.

7 Aug 2009

Mental health care costs soar

A new report finds mental health care costs are exploding, according to U.S. News & World Report.

7 Aug 2009

Opposition campaigns and protests stalk Democrats

rotests about health reform continue to roil lawmakers meetings with constituents across the country."

7 Aug 2009

Merck shareholders overwhelmingly approve merger with Schering-Plough

Merck & Co. today announced that its shareholders voted overwhelmingly to approve the proposed merger with Schering-Plough. The preliminary tabulation indicates that more than 99% of the company’s outstanding shares voted in favor of the transaction. Merck today held its special shareholder meeting in Bridgewater, New Jersey to vote on the proposed merger.

7 Aug 2009

Two significant advances in treating lung cancer

Dr. Glen Weiss of the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen) and Scottsdale Healthcare this week announced two significant advances in treating lung cancer at an international cancer research conference.

7 Aug 2009

President criticizes 'deceptive' reform opponents, urges public support for health bills

President Barack Obama is asking supporters of health overhaul proposals to show up at rallies, knock on doors and participate in community events.

7 Aug 2009

Guided care reduces cost of health care for seniors with chronic conditions

The nation's sickest and most expensive patients need fewer health care resources and cost insurers less when they are closely supported by a nurse-physician primary care team that tracks their health and offers regular support, according to a study by researchers at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health.

7 Aug 2009

Netmotion Wireless boosts mobile productivity for Bell Ambulance

NetMotion Wireless has announced that it has been selected by Bell Ambulance to enable seamless roaming and data connectivity for its mobile emergency medical technicians (EMTs) and paramedics.

7 Aug 2009

Pending health care reform should not distract from making medical technology investments

In spite of the tremendous attention being paid this summer to health care reform, it is critical that investments in medical technology startups not go into a “holding pattern,” but continue unabated. So says ONSET Ventures partner Rob Kuhling.

6 Aug 2009

West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency awards overpayment project to HMS

HMS today announced that it had been awarded a contract by the West Virginia Public Employees Insurance Agency (WV PEIA) to perform provider credit balance reviews. The West Virginia Children's Health Insurance Program and AccessWV, the State's high-risk insurance coverage, will be joining with PEIA for these activities.

6 Aug 2009

Parties trade barbs, refine messages over health care reform town hall events

Protesters at Democratic health care reform events during the Congressional recess are sparking controversy between Democrats and Republicans who are accusing each other of wrongdoing in the protests, ABC News reports.

6 Aug 2009

Senators move closer to centrist health reform bill

Lawmakers working on a bipartisan health care reform bill in the Senate Wednesday signed on some centrist Democrats who believe they could support the reform and sell it to constituents back home over the recess, The New York Times reports.

6 Aug 2009