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Radiation therapy company TomoTherapy has signed a purchasing agreement with healthcare group purchasing organization Amerinet.
Surveillance colonoscopy is cost-effective for patients at high risk for developing colorectal cancer, but aggressive surveillance is costly and less effective for low-risk patients, according to a study published online June 21 in Gastroenterology.
The assessment of U.S. 50-top hospitals, annually ranked by U.S. News & World Report, are based on subjective interpretations, rather than quality. These subjective reputations have very little association to objective quality measures among the top 50 hospitals, according to a recent study published in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
Kaiser Permanente has received 22 grants worth more than $54 million from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) through the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009.
Routine use of EHRs may improve the quality of care provided in community-based primary care practices more than other common strategies intended to raise the quality of medical care, according to study findings published Oct. 6 in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
A partnership between the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla., and GE Healthcare has enabled the facility to add capacity for new operating room (OR) procedures.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has announced the results from three value-based purchasing (VBP) demonstrations, one for large physician practices, one for small and solo physician practices and one for hospitals. The agency simultaneously commissioned the launch of three additional VBP demonstrations.
According to a new report from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the insurance industry practice of denying coverage to individuals with pre-existing medical conditions means more people are having trouble getting, and affording, health insurance.
Computer-aided detection (CAD) developer iCAD reported a sharp decline in revenue and income for its fiscal 2009 second quarter, which ended June 30.
Cancer Treatment Centers of America, a network of U.S. hospitals providing cancer treatment, has upgraded its entire technology infrastructure to Hewlett Packard (HP) ProLiant servers.
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Biotronics3D has worked with the Institute of Cancer Research to develop and launch new software, 3D Net Perfusion, designed to improve the accuracy of MRI scan analysis.
The global electrocardiography (ECG) market is expected to reach $157.9 million in 2015 with an annual growth rate of 3.7 percent, compared with a market valued at $122.2 million in 2008, according to estimates from market research firm GlobalData.
Reps. Artur Davis, D-Ala., Steve Israel, D-N.Y., and Mary Jo Kilroy, D-Ohio, have introduced bill HR 2872 to establish a national demonstration project to improve the quality and cost effectiveness of cancer care for Medicare beneficiaries.
The Canada Foundation for Innovation has granted CAD $737,000 ($650,000, U.S.) to Barry McLellan, MD, president and CEO of Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, to develop the Integrated Breast Cancer Research Biomatrix--a data warehouse to integrate imaging, pathological, molecular and clinical data from breast cancer patients.
The Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions, led by Chairman Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., introduced legislation this week advocating for more government involvement in healthcare coverage. The bill is certain to launch a drawn-out debate over the current delivery direction of healthcare in the United States when it is introduced on the Senate floor in July.
The use of grid technologies and dynamic service deployment may alleviate concerns of data privacy that arise in multi-institutional collaborations, according to study results presented this morning at the 2009 Society for Imaging Informatics in Medicine (SIIM) conference in Charlotte, N.C.
A perspective in the May 27 New England Journal of Medicine stated that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' (CMS) recent decision to deny coverage of CT colonography (CTC) for cancer screening reflects an evidence-based approach that acknowledges "the crucial importance of age-specific data on clinical effectiveness, as well as cost-effectiveness in the population for which the CMS is responsible."
IBM has teamed with University of North Carolina Health Care (UNCHC) to develop new treatments for diseases, such as diabetes, cystic fibrosis and cancer, using IBM software and hardware to support the Carolina Data Warehouse for Health.
iCAD, a provider of advanced image analysis and workflow solutions to identify cancer, is seeking 510(k) clearance from the FDA for its VeraLook computer-aided detection (CAD) for CT colonography (CTC), or virtual colonoscopy.
The H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center & Research Institute in Tampa, Fla., will utilize Definiens technology in the analysis of lung cancer CT images for the purpose of developing more accurate prognosis and prediction models for response to specific lung cancer therapies.
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“We’re beginning a revolution the way information is collected, managed, used and purposed for patients in the U.S. healthcare system,” said David Blumenthal, MD, chair of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT, in opening remarks at an audioconference training session on meaningful use and EHR certification last week.
In Part 1 of our closer look at the final rules for meaningful use and EHR certification standards, CMIO’s Jeff Byers spoke with David Blumenthal, MD, chair of the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT. In Part 2, CMIOs weigh in with mixed reviews.
The framework for meaningful use is “something that had to be done and has been started intelligently,” John P. Glaser, PhD, vice president and CIO of Partners HealthCare System told CMIO. However, the challenges of becoming meaningful users and optimizing health information exchange will require unprecedented levels of communication within organizations and among healthcare systems, he said.
The contractual obligations in the notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) on modifications to the HIPAA privacy, security and enforcement rules under the HITECH Act for business associates and downstream entities are game changers, according to Amy S. Leopard, JD, from Walter and Haverfield, during a webinar sponsored by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society (HIMSS).
Standardizing performance measures, with the help of health IT, will make it possible to collect the right data at the right time to support performance measurement, clinical decision support, clinical research and quality improvement, said Janet M. Corrigan, PhD, president and CEO of the National Quality Forum (NQF) during a webinar hosted by the forum on June 17.