Officials at Atlanta-based Grady Memorial Hospital are moving forward with plans to revamp the facility's outpatient pharmacy, investing $2.6 million in a robot worker that they say will reduce wait times. Grady officials this month approved the purchase of the robot, which can stock 720 drugs and process 550 prescriptions an hour. The robot is expected to be running by November. The hospital is also shifting some of the pharmacy pickup sites to a building about two blocks from the hospital.
A global shortage of medical isotopes is expected to get worse in two weeks as supplies run down after nuclear reactor closings. The Petten nuclear reactor in the Netherlands closed for scheduled maintenance. Together with a Canadian reactor in Chalk River, Ontario, that was shut down in May because of a leak, the idled reactors account for two-thirds of the world's supply of molybdenum-99. In response to the shutdown of the Canadian reactor, the Society of Nuclear Medicine reported in June that 91% of 375 surveyed members had been affected, with 60% of doctors postponing procedures and 31% canceling some.
Royal Philips has announced that it has reached an agreement to acquire the assets of InnerCool Therapies Inc. InnerCool, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cardium Therapeutics, Inc., will be acquired in an asset purchase transaction for $11.25 million, as well as the transfer of approximately $1.5 million in trade payables.
The House Ways and Means Committee has provided several provisions into its healthcare legislation that could significantly smooth the path for telehealth practice. Rep. Mike Thompson (D-CA) said the panel approved several proposals that would eliminate some of the key hurdles the technology faces.
Three community hospitals have formed the not-for-profit Vermont Hospital Shared Service Network. The presidents and boards of trustees of Copley Hospital in Morrisville, Gifford Medical Center in Randolph, and Porter Medical Center in Middlebury created VEHSSN to enhance collaboration and the development of shared services among the three not-for-profit, rural Community Access Hospitals.
Johns Hopkins University will debut a new master's degree in health informatics in fall 2009. The one-year program at the medical school will train students on how to develop information systems used in hospitals, clinics, and public health settings.