Dossia introduces innovative health management system for employees
Posted on July 17th, 2011
Dossia, a leading Personal Health Record System provider, today announced the launch of the Dossia Health Manager, an innovative health management system. The Dossia solution makes individuals’ health data actionable with customized applications that are brought together on a single intelligent platform in order to deliver unprecedented personalization to better support wellness and healthcare decision-making. The Dossia System further integrates game and social dynamics, incentives and messaging to foster sustained user engagement and behavior change, thereby offering long-term value to employers, employees and their families.
Tags: Health Management, Health Management System, Management System, System
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Study examines acute effects of low-dose alcohol on cardiac performance
Posted on July 15th, 2011
Few studies have examined the acute effects of alcohol on myocardial or heart function. While moderate-to-high blood concentrations of alcohol acutely impair conventional echocardiographic measures of left ventricular performance, the effects of low concentrations are unclear. An examination of the acute effects of low blood concentrations of alcohol on the left and right ventricles, which collectively pump blood to the entire body, has found that low doses of alcohol can have very different effects on LV and right ventricular function.
Results will be published in the October 2011 issue of Alcoholism: Clinical & Experimental Research and are currently available at Early View.
Tags: Acute Effects, Alcohol
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Record number of abortion restrictions enacted
Posted on July 13th, 2011
A report by the Guttmacher Institute identifies 162 new laws passed by states this year. Meanwhile, conservatives are pointing to another report by an anti-abortion group that alleges misconduct by Planned Parenthood.
FDA grants Novian Health IDE approval for Novilase ILT System to treat breast cancer
Posted on July 12th, 2011
Novian Health, developer of Novilase® Breast Therapy, announced that the US Food and Drug Administration has granted investigational device exemption approval for the company to start a multi-center study of its Novilase® Interstitial Laser Therapy System. Novian developed the ILT System for the ablation of small malignant breast tumors. Novilase has previously received FDA 510 clearance for the treatment of breast fibroadenomas.
“It will be another boon for patients when this therapy can be applied to cancerous breast tumors.”
Novilase ILT uses parametrically controlled heating to ablate tumors. The p
Tags: Breast, Novian Health
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How IPAB (independent panels) will hurt Medicare patients
Posted on July 12th, 2011
In his testimony to the House Committee on Energy and Commerce, Subcommittee on Health (embargoed until delivery Wednesday, July 13, 2011, 9:00 a.m.), Scott Gottlieb, MD focuses on the 15-member Independent Payment Advisory Board (IPAB) created by the 2010 health reform law to oversee Medicare payment rates and recommend spending reductions in the program as of 2014.
In particular, Gottlieb highlights:
IPABs lack of transparency and openness to public notice and comment;
The future use of widespread reimbursement cuts and lower price schedules to solve Medicares fiscal crisis all of which will undoubtedly result in hindering medical innovation;and
The likelihood that IPAB will give the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) more authority in choosing which medical products and services CMS will cover, when the agency has little competency to make such judgments
As a solution, Gottlieb suggests premium support, modernizing benefits in traditional Medicare, and paying for better health outcomes.
You may also be interested in recent remarks by AEI Resident Fellow Tom Miller explaining how IPAB will eliminate innovation and remove incentives to save money and increase efficiency.
Gottlieb and Miller are available for interviews and can be contacted at or or through their research assistant / 202.862.7183.
For other media inquiries, or to reserve AEIs ISDN facilities for radio interviews, please e-mail Veronique Rodman at or Jesse Blumenthal at .
First Edition: July 14, 2011
Posted on July 11th, 2011
Today’s headlines include reports about how tempers are flaring in the midst of debt-ceiling negotiations, and how failure to reach an agreement could lead to tough choices about which of the nation’sobligations will be left unpaid.
Florida Health Insurance Companies Owe Big Time
Posted on July 10th, 2011
Florida health insurance companies overstated how much money they spent on patient care and owe the state health officials a lot of money. Some experts are estimating they owe Florida about $3.1 million in refunds for the government’s health care plan for children. This information came out in a recent federal report and is quite staggering.
The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration pays private health insurance companies through a joint state and federal program to offer health insurance coverage to families who do not qualify for Medicaid, but struggle to pay for personal health insurance. Insurers are required by law to spend at least 85% on medical services and if it pays less it must refund the state 50% of the shortfall. Com Full Post…
Tags: Health Insurance, Health Insurance Companies, Insurance Companies, Owe
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