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Connecticut children's hospital to build new outpatient cancer center

Fri, 19 Mar 2010 11:57:00 GMT

Leaders at Connecticut Children’s Medical Center announced plans for a new, $5 million outpatient center to give its cancer and blood disorders program the space to match its increased demand.

Patients bear brunt as cancer care spending hits $90 billion

Wed, 17 Mar 2010 11:58:00 GMT

The cost of cancer treatment is skyrocketing both for individual patients and the nation, a new analysis shows. From 1990 to 2008, spending on cancer care soared to more than $90 billion from $27 billion.

Use of surgical robots on rise in South Florida operating rooms

Tue, 16 Mar 2010 11:59:00 GMT

At South Miami Hospital, 19 surgeons are on track to perform more than 1,000 robotic surgeries this year. Since its program began in 2007, hospital executives say it has become one of the world's busiest centers for surgeries using the robots. The officials say the hospital ranks fifth in the combined total of gynecologic, prostate, thoracic, bariatric, colorectal, and heart surgeries performed with robots.

Heart test may be overused

Thu, 11 Mar 2010 11:24:00 GMT

The coronary angiogram, a widely used test to detect blockages in the heart's arteries, often turns up little or no evidence of disease, a new study found, suggesting that patients are frequently exposed unnecessarily to the risks and costs of the invasive examination.

With warning, a hip device is withdrawn

Wed, 10 Mar 2010 11:12:00 GMT

Just months after saying it was phasing out an artificial hip implant because of slowing sales, a unit of Johnson & Johnson has warned doctors that the device appears to have a high early failure rate in some patients.

Cosmetic surgery fell in 2009

Tue, 09 Mar 2010 11:37:00 GMT

The number of cosmetic-surgery procedures in the U.S. sagged for the second year in a row in 2009, according to an annual survey released by a plastic surgeons' association.

Making Women's Health Work

Mon, 08 Mar 2010 17:31:00 GMT

Women's health is becoming more expansive and multidisciplinary, but there's no one-size-fits-all approach to success.

Education should accompany prostate screening, new guidelines say

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:58:00 GMT

New guidelines for prostate cancer screening emphasize that physicians should better educate men about both the risks and benefits of using the PSA test for screening.

Concerns over metal on metal hip implants

Thu, 04 Mar 2010 11:14:00 GMT

Some of the nation's leading orthopedic surgeons have reduced or stopped use of a popular category of artificial hips amid concerns that the devices are causing severe tissue and bone damage in some patients, often requiring replacement surgery within a year or two.

Cutting the risk from CT scans

Tue, 02 Mar 2010 11:11:00 GMT

A nationwide push is underway to lower radiation exposure from CT scans, amid growing concern about the risks of cancer linked to the high-powered imaging technology, the Wall Street Journal Health Blog reports.

Radiation bills raise question of supervision

Fri, 26 Feb 2010 11:08:00 GMT

A case in Florida points to some of the rising concerns about safety procedures and oversight involving increasingly complex computer-controlled radiotherapy and diagnostic equipment.

Radiation errors reported in Missouri

Thu, 25 Feb 2010 11:25:00 GMT

A hospital in Missouri announced that it had overradiated 76 patients during a five-year period because powerful new radiation equipment had been set up incorrectly even with a representative of the manufacturer watching as it was done.

iPhone app tells wait time in ER at the Hospital of Central Connecticut

Tue, 23 Feb 2010 12:01:00 GMT

The Hospital of Central Connecticut, which has campuses in New Britain and Southington, has launched a free iPhone application that will tell patients how long the wait is at both of its emergency rooms.

HCA's joint venture agrees to buy cardiac care hospital in Texas

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 12:07:00 GMT

A multi-hospital regional healthcare system partly owned by hospital chain HCA Inc. said it has agreed to acquire Heart Hospital of Austin (TX), a cardiac care hospital.

Massachusetts General Hospital death spurs review of patient monitors

Mon, 22 Feb 2010 11:33:00 GMT

A Massachusetts General Hospital patient died last month after the alarm on a heart monitor was inadvertently left off, delaying the response of nurses and doctors to the patient's medical crisis, the Boston Globe reports.

Health insurers often balk at weight-loss surgery in Texas

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:51:00 GMT

North Texas is a hotbed for weight-loss surgeries, yet many candidates for the procedure complain it's still too difficult to get health insurers to pay, the Dallas Morning News reports.

Hybrid heart procedures are gaining ground

Thu, 18 Feb 2010 11:47:00 GMT

Some doctors say hybrid heart procedures, which can be done on one day or in stages over several weeks, offer the best of two approaches to heart treatment.

Doctor-patient divide on mammograms

Tue, 16 Feb 2010 12:14:00 GMT

An editorial the Annals of Internal Medicine, the medical journal that first published new mammogram screening guidelines last November, suggests that a divide has emerged between doctors and patients, with doctors more inclined to accept the new recommendations and the patients wanting to stick to early and annual screening.

Results unproven, robotic surgery wins converts

Mon, 15 Feb 2010 12:10:00 GMT

One large national study, which compared outcomes among Medicare patients, indicated that surgery with a robot might lead to fewer in-hospital complications, but that it might also lead to more impotence and incontinence.

Sacramento-based Sutter Health cuts ties with longtime radiology partner

Thu, 11 Feb 2010 12:11:00 GMT

Sutter Health is cutting ties with its decades-long partner, Radiological Associates of Sacramento, from its capital hospitals and plans to expand its own imaging services.