Study Says Second Opinions Matter in Breast Cancer Pathology
May 8th 2015The Roswell Park pathology team reviewed 500 breast core biopsy cases provided by referring institutions in a single calendar year and found that 8% of the cases had a major discordance and 13% had a minor discordance, especially with respect to interpreting biomarkers that determine prognosis and therapeutic options.
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Study Points to Improved PFS in Prostate Cancer Patients on Statin Therapy
May 7th 2015The study conducted by researchers at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, and published in JAMA Oncology, found a siginificant increase in progression-free survival in men who initiated statin therapy along with androgen deprivation for their prostate cancer.
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No Progress in Florida Hospital Aid Talks, as Deadline Looms
May 7th 2015Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell yesterday rejected Governor Rick Scott's proposal to extend the current funding mechanism, which this year brought $1.3 billion in federal funds to hospitals that care for high numbers of uninsured patients.
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Improving Healthcare Delivery Through Successful Interventions
May 7th 2015Researchers at Yale found that targeting nominated friends who were key influencers sparked the highest level of adoption for a nutritional program that was a part of their study. Adoption of the program was 12.2% higher through the influencers.
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Study Evaluates Intervention to Reduce ER Visits by Low Income and Medicaid Patients
May 6th 2015A study conducted at the University of Maryland School of Public Health, published in the journal Health Affairs, evaluated the results of an intervention to connect low-income uninsured and Medicaid patients to a reliable source of primary healthcare.
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Surgery for Terminally Ill Cancer Patients Remains Prevalent
May 6th 2015Although 30-day morbidity and mortality all declined incrementally for terminally ill cancer patients undergoing surgical intervention from 2006-2010, the number of surgeries remains high, according to a study from University of California, Davis Health System.
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Pharma Seeks Early Price Discussions With Payers
May 5th 2015The pharmaceutical industry has learnt its lesson from the pushback that Gilead faced over the price of its hepatitis C drug, Sovaldi. The lack of a price discussion prior to the introduction of the regimen washed-out the excitement over a "cure" for the disease.
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Hospital Closures Do Not Adversely Affect Patient Health
May 5th 2015A hospital closure can send tremors through a city or town, leaving residents fearful about how they will be cared for in emergencies and serious illnesses. But a new study found that when hospitals shut down, death rates and other markers of quality generally do not worsen.
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UnitedHealth to Roll Out Extensive Telemedicine Project
May 5th 2015UnitedHealth's UnitedHealthcare subsidiary will initiate the "virtual care doctor's visits" to nearly 1 million health plan members in self-funded plans by the end of May. By Jan. 1, 2016, 20 million members in UnitedHealth's fully insured plans will have access to the network.
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Outcomes and Quality of Care in Stroke Patients Not Influenced by EHRs
May 5th 2015A study published in in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology found that maintaining electronic health records for ischemic stroke patients did not improve health outcomes or care quality in the 1236 hospitals evaluated between 2007 and 2010.
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Pioneer ACOs Reduce Spending by $385 Million in 2 Years
May 5th 2015The Pioneer ACO Model successfully reported smaller increases in total Medicare expenditures and reductions in health service utilization, for savings of approximately $385 million during the first 2 years compared with general Medicare fee-for-service.
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Medicaid Expansion Brings Almost 12 Million Into Ranks of Insured, CMS Reports
May 5th 2015The number of Americans finding coverage through Medicaid expansion equals those who signed up for private insurance on the exchanges, according to new data. Montana has just passed legislation to become the 29th state to expand Medicaid.
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