Brentwood, TN-based Woolsthorpe Technologies has developed a portable device designed to take the needles and blood out of testing for heart problems. The FloWave 1000 monitor saves money and is easy to use compared to other devices on the market nationally, said Woolsthorpe representatives. Potential users of its product include anesthesiologists, cardiologists and internists.
Healthways Inc., a Nashville-based provider of disease management services, has announced that CIGNA has agreed to extend a contract under which the company provides disease management support for programs that serve more than 1.2 million CIGNA members. Through the programs, CIGNA enrollees that have chronic diseases and persistent conditions receive help managing their illnesses, avoiding unnecessary hospitalization, and slowing or stopping progression of their disease.
Robert Simon, MD, the oft-criticized interim chief of the troubled Cook County, IL, public health system, has submitted his resignation. Simon took the brunt of criticism for the implementation of $85 million in budget cuts that slashed the Bureau of Health Services' clinic system, dramatically slowed some routine care and demoralized public healthcare workers. Simon later said that while the layoffs were difficult, it achieved goals including making budget cuts while maintaining essential services and not closing any of the county's three hospitals.
Northern Illinois University has won state approval to build a proton-therapy cancer-treatment center in West Chicago, and is now criticizing Central DuPage Hospital's plan to build another. NIU officials say Central Dupage's plan is motivated by greed and the facility is not needed. If both are approved, the centers would be six miles apart.
CVS Corp. has asked Massachusetts health authorities to allow it to open medical clinics inside 10 drug stores in the eastern part of the state. The company anticipates having 25 to 30 MinuteClinics in Massachusetts before the end of the year, and eventually more than 100 in the state. In January, state regulators adopted rules to allow in-store clinics in Massachusetts, saying that the facilities would ease the burden on overwhelmed emergency rooms and primary care practices.
With a government plan for a healthcare overhaul nearing completion in China, analysts say now may be a good time to invest in some Chinese healthcare companies. One major issue for the government is affordability. According to the Health Ministry, China's average personal out-of-pocket payments rose to 52 percent of total healthcare spending in 2005 from 20 percent in 1978. The plan is aimed at "expanding the coverage of basic healthcare services to both urban and rural residents, so as to provide them with safe, effective, convenient and cheap public health and basic medical services," Health Minister Chen Zhu said in 2007.
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley and Prince George's County Executive Jack B. Johnson are expected to announce that they have reached a two-year deal to stabilize the county's hospital system. Under the arrangement, an independent authority would be created to conduct a public process to find an owner for Prince George's Hospital Center and four other county health facilities. The county and the state would provide funding to ensure the hospital system remains open while the process is underway.
Jon Vice, president and chief executive of the Wisconsin-based Children's Hospital and Health System, has announced he will step down once a search for a successor is completed. The healthcare system's board has formed a committee to oversee a national search for the next chief executive. Vice was promoted to chief executive of Children's in 1984, and led the healthcare system's transformation into one of the largest children's hospitals in the country.
Humana is launching a complex-care management program for chronically ill Medicare members in several states. The program will attempt to prevent unnecessary trips to the hospital by making sure seniors have the right medications, transportation to appointments, and safety measures such as grab bars and ramps in their homes. Care management will be provided by a telephonic and field-based team of social workers, nurses, health coaches and Humana managers.
With Iowa Health's $118 million hospital and Mercy Medical Center's $100 million facility under construction in West Des Moines, leaders hope they can attract more healthcare development to the area's already strong medical foundation. Joseph LeValley, Mercy's senior vice president of planning, said population growth and shifts are driving growth in the healthcare industry. The Des Moines area alone is expected to have 115,000 more people during the next 15 years, he said.
