Oregon-based radioisotope technology company Northwest Medical Isotopes (NWMI) announced late last week that there are plans to construct a facility for radioisotope production at the University of Missouri-owned Discovery Ridge Research Park in Columbia, Mo. Read more here.
A majority of companies will shift from employer-based health coverage to plans sold on the federal marketplace by 2020, according to a new investor report by Standard & Poor Capital IQ, reports McClatchy DC. The report--based on S&P's 500 companies--found that such a change would save a total of $689 billion through 2025. Read more here.
Although hospitals and health systems continue to forge ahead with mergers and acquisitions in an effort to reduce costs and improve care, if history is an indicator, most of these partnerships will fail… Read more here.
A Medicare panel determined that there is not enough evidence to justify annual CT scans to detect early lung cancer in heavy smokers. The CMS's nine-member Medicare Evidence Development and Coverage Advisory Committee voted Wednesday against paying for the screening tool. Read more here.
You hear about it on the radio, on TV and see it in the health system newsletter. Your facility has bought in or is close to sending out an RFP. The buzz is all about digital breast tomosynthesis (DBT). Experts weigh in on its prowess, performance and power in cutting recalls. Is it ready for [...]
Age catches up with us all at some point. For the Baby Boomers, that point is arriving year after year, with 10,000 Americans turning 65 every day from now until 2030. It’s no secret our elderly population will grow to levels never before seen in the U.S. Meanwhile, the obesity epidemic rages on and other [...]
SPECT emerged as the winner in a head-to-head comparison of cost outcomes for patients evaluated for coronary artery disease (CAD) after a two-year follow-up. The cost of subsequent invasive procedures made rivals PET and coronary computed tomography angiography (CTA) more expensive. Read more here.
Breast cancer screening programs in Switzerland should be wound down, as screening does not clearly produce more benefits than harms, according to an editorial by two members of the Swiss Medical Board published on 16 April in the New England Journal of Medicine. Read more here.
For the evaluation of patients with suspected CAD, the costs of single-photo emission CT were significantly lower than that of PET or coronary CTA, according to new data from the SPARC registry. At 2 years, patients who underwent PET had higher costs and mortality compared with SPECT, and patients who underwent coronary CTA had higher [...]
Healthcare lobbyists say they’re close to winning repeal of the medical device tax in ObamaCare. Republicans and some Democrats in the House are pushing to eliminate the 2.3 percent excise tax in legislation as Washington has approached year-end talks to get the government running again and lift the debt ceiling. Read more here.