Transitioning to ICD-10: a battle?

Without an adequate number of physicians to drive revenue and handle the needs of patients, hospitals and physician groups must carry out strategies to offset the financial risks associated with healthcare reform and the ICD-10 transition.[read more]

Telemedicine: the new house call

Virtual house calls are feasible and well-received among people with Parkinson’s disease, according to a telemedicine case study published today. Dr. Ray Dorsey, a neurologist at University of Rochester Medical Center, led a project that offered free telemedicine visits to 50 Parkinson’s disease patients.[read more]

Siemens Ultrasound

It’s not every day that you can sit down with a company CEO at a huge annual meeting/trade show like the RSNA in Chicago, so when Jeffrey Bundy, CEO of Ultrasound for Siemens Healthcare offered to drop by, I was very pleased. He had something to show off, of course, but it is no idle boasting.[read more]

chemotherapy (Phil and Pam/Flickr)

Efforts to overcome the unusual ability of cancer cells to dodge the body’s immune response have reached an inflection point this year. And, at least according to some experts, commercial interest in cancer immunotherapies has gone through the roof.[read more]

Clinical researchers (shutterstock)

Pfizer Inc. updated its clinical trial data access policy yesterday, and will soon begin to share data and results with study participants. The pharmaceutical giant also said it will offer researchers access to anonymous patient-level data from trials of already approved products.[read more]

mammograms

Among the many trends and buzzwords floating around RSNA 2013, one of the key areas that seems to be popping up everywhere is “tomosynthesis,” which is 3D imaging using X-Ray technology. Yesterday, Carestream presented “Stationary Chest Tomosynthesis System using Distributed CNT X-ray Source Array."[read more]

Peter Seitz and the SOMATOM Force

Exploring the Siemens “booth” at the annual meeting of the Radiological Society of North America is a bit like coming aboard the Starship Enterprise -- a vast vessel with a crew to match. There I found Peter Seitz, ready to show me the spanking new SOMATOM Force, the next generation in Dual Source computed tomography (CT).[read more]

nursing shortage myths (HikingArtist.com)

If there were a real nursing shortage you’d expect employers to be talking about it, yet I almost never hear a hospital clamoring for more nurses to be trained. Contrast that with the situation in high technology where employers are constantly beating the drum for more STEM (Science Technology Engineering Math) graduates.[read more]

23andMe

On November 22, the FDA issued a warning letter to 23 & Me requesting the company to halt marketing of the $99 genetic testing kit because it does not have marketing clearance for certain claims of the product. There's a question as to why the agency finally issued a warning letter after almost six years since the company started to sell the testing kit.[read more]

Seniors and Obamacare

ObamaCare has accelerated Medicare’s crisis. It is increasingly clear that Obamacare needs to be repealed and replace with alternative reforms. The opportunity to reform Medicare alongside it might be an added benefit.[read more]

Artis One

Perhaps due to the 510(k) pending regulatory status -- we always want what we cannot immediately have -- the Artis One Angiography System attracted a lot of attention at the Siemens booth at the RSNA annual meeting in Chicago. This new system is currently under review by the FDA and its availability in the U.S. is unknown.[read more]

how to win at healthcare marketing

The overwhelming deluge of information spewing from the Internet—on any and every imaginable topic—implies that “more is better.” There’s value hidden somewhere in that digital torrent. But information overload is a disadvantage and a barrier to meaningful content. More isn’t always better.[read more]