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FHCRC selects SciQuest to enhance its ERP system and improve on cost-efficiency

Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center, a world-renowned research and treatment institution in Seattle, has selected SciQuest, Inc., a leading provider of on-demand strategic procurement and supplier enablement solutions, to enhance its enterprise resource planning system and improve on cost-efficiency.

25 Jun 2010

Workers in small businesses more likely to have high premium for employer-sponsored health plans: AHRQ

Nearly 13 percent of workers with employer-sponsored health plans who worked in firms with 10 or fewer employees had premiums of $7,200 or more a year for single-coverage plans in 2008, according to the latest News and Numbers from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality. This amount is much higher than the $4,704 average, national premium for employer-sponsored single-coverage health plans in 2008.

25 Jun 2010

Electronic medical records a national priority, but adoption lags

When optometrist Meera Sutaria opened up shop last year in Brambleton, Va., she had an electronic medical record in place, setting her at the "forefront of a national agenda to better utilize information technology in the health care industry," The Washington Post reports.

25 Jun 2010

Researchers say ear tubes are safe for children with cochlear implants

Children who are being treated for hearing loss with cochlear implants can safely have ear tubes installed to help clear up infections, say researchers at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB).

25 Jun 2010

Congressional hearing explores Medicare payment issues, including permanent 'doc fix'

A House Energy and Commerce Committee hearing Wednesday ostensibly about a recent Medicare Payment Advisory Commission report veered to discussion of the so-called "doc fix." The panel's chairman, Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., called the ongoing efforts to delay the 21 percent cut in Medicare physician payments "the elephant in the room" and added that the "Democrats and Republicans in the House and Senate, as well as the physician community, need to work together to develop a permanent fix to this problem that has vexed all of us for far too long.

25 Jun 2010

ACF, HRSA accept applications for Tribal Maternal, Infant and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant Program

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families, in partnership with the Health Resources and Services Administration, is accepting applications for fiscal year 2010 for the Tribal Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting Grant Program.

25 Jun 2010

Efforts to make medicine cheaper, more efficient underway

One of Minnesota's largest providers of supportive housing for seniors will begin testing telemedicine and sensor technology to help frail seniors stay healthier and delay institutional care under an $8 million grant announced Wednesday. It will be the largest project of its kind in the nation, involving about 1,600 clients in 40 rural cities.

25 Jun 2010

UNICEF and Kiwanis team up to protect mothers and babies from tetanus

Kiwanis International and UNICEF have joined forces to save the lives of babies and their mothers by eliminating maternal/neonatal tetanus (MNT), a disease that kills an estimated 60,000 newborns and 30,000 mothers each year.

25 Jun 2010

Researchers develop new assay test for bladder cancer

Researchers from the Danish Cancer Society and the Herlev University Hospital of Copenhagen have developed a novel assay to test for multiple tumor markers in bladder cancer.

25 Jun 2010

Automated calls can increase colon cancer screening rates by 30%: Study

Simple, automated telephone reminders can increase colon cancer screening rates by 30 percent, according to a Kaiser Permanente Center for Health Research study funded by the National Cancer Institute that appears in the July print edition of Medical Care.

25 Jun 2010

Abbott's new FreeStyle test strips receive FDA clearance

Following the recent clearance of its FreeStyle Lite® blood glucose test strips, Abbott (NYSE: ABT) today announced that it has also received 510(k) clearance from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for its new FreeStyle blood glucose test strips.

25 Jun 2010

Medicare to use new fraud identification tool

Gov Info Security: "The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is the first agency to use a new fraud mapping tool that ultimately will be used throughout the federal government.

25 Jun 2010

Latino population less likely to receive basic preventive tests, says study

"Prevention" is the new buzzword for health professionals and the new emphasis for containing future health care costs. Yet Latinos, who currently represent about 15 percent of the U.S. population, have the lowest level of preventive care of all racial and ethnic groups in the nation.

25 Jun 2010

Scientists report potential toxicity of nanoparticles in consumer products

Scientists are reporting that particle size affects the toxicity of zinc oxide, a material widely used in sunscreens. Particles smaller than 100 nanometers are slightly more toxic to colon cells than conventional zinc oxide. Solid zinc oxide was more toxic than equivalent amounts of soluble zinc, and direct particle to cell contact was required to cause cell death.

25 Jun 2010

Study: Low BP levels are unhealthy for CKD patients

Recent guidelines by The National Kidney Foundation Disease Outcomes Quality Initiative (NKF KDOQI)1 call for lower target blood pressure levels in patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

25 Jun 2010

MDG targets still attainable despite setbacks from global economic situation, U.N. report says

Efforts to curb poverty worldwide have been slowed by the global economic situation, but the developing world is still on track to reach the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of halving the number of people living on less than $1 per day by 2015 - according to an annual U.N. report (.pdf) on the MDGs, which this year shows a "mixed picture" on reaching all eight targets - the Associated Press reports (Lederer, 6/23).

25 Jun 2010

Standard CRP test ineffective for detecting inflammatory bowel disease: Study

C-reactive protein (CRP) is used to assess disease activity in diverse inflammatory disorders including inflammatory bowel disease (IBD). However, in IBD, a significant number of patients present with low CRP levels despite clinically active disease.

25 Jun 2010

Conn. AG launches probe of CVS prescription plan termination threat

Richard Blumenthal, the Connecticut attorney general and a candidate for the U.S. Senate, announced an investigation of CVS Caremark after the corporation threatened to terminate a discount prescription drug program, Dow Jones Newswires/The Wall Street Journal reports.

25 Jun 2010

Researchers call for new psychological support for people living with disfigurement

Disfigurement can be a challenging and distressing experience for many of the 1 million people in the UK who have a visible difference of any kind.

25 Jun 2010

CDP treatment can reduce pain and swelling in CVI patients

For patients with painful swelling of the legs caused by chronic venous insufficiency (CVI), a combination treatment approach called "complete decongestive physiotherapy" improves symptoms, walking ability, and quality of life, reports a study in Topics in Geriatric Rehabilitation.

25 Jun 2010