TOP STORIES
The Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services put $2.8 billion at risk between January and April of last year by not tracking subsidies paid to insurers under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
In a report issued from the Human Health and Services Office of Inspector General, CMS admitted it used an interim process for the first four months of the PPACA and said it still lacks a permanent process to track and verify PPACA subsidies.
When Investment Rhymes with Canada
Canada has a proud history of achievement in the areas of science and technology, and the field of biomanufacturing and life sciences is no exception.
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries entered a partnership with Microchips Biotech. Teva will make an upfront payment of $35 million in the form of an equity investment and technology access fee.
The partnership will explore the application of microchip-based drug delivery technology to Teva’s medicines in hopes to improve clinical outcomes for patients on chronic drug therapies. The microchip arrays can store hundreds of therapeutic doses of a drug from months to years, but releases each dose at precise times.
LIFE SCIENCES
Cynvenio Biosystems partnered with Cure Forward to leverage Cynvenio’s liquid biopsy test meant to find tumor cells in blood samples.
A collaboration of the local health authority of the Yaroslavl region of Russia and Novartis decreased deaths caused by strokes by almost 30 percent, decreased heart attacks by 12 percent and lowered hospitalization due to high blood pressure by 16 percent.
A new study explains that the Cancer Genome Atlas defined a genomics-based classification scheme for cutaneous melanoma.
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
UC Irvine Medical Center became the latest hospital to be hit by a data breach, this one affecting nearly 5,000 patients. An employee without authority accessed information including patient names, dates of birth, addresses, diagnoses, medical tests and prescriptions. The staffer also looked up patients’ employment status and health plan information at some time between June 2011 to March 2015.
Joe White, former CFO of Shelby Regional Medical Center in Texas, was sentenced to 23 months in federal prison for healthcare fraud.
The National Patient Safety Foundation released a new set of guidelines for keeping track of medical errors.
TECH
E-prescribing is on the rise. In 2014, more than half of physicians and 95 percent of pharmacies processed 1.2 billion electronic prescriptions on the Surescripts network, the country’s largest e-prescribing network, officials reported. That number includes 67 percent of all new prescriptions.
Sikka Software raised $10.5 million in a Series C round to expand its business. OrbiMed led the round but other investors who took part who participated in previous financing rounds included Sierra Ventures and ATA Ventures.
The US FDA issued regulatory warnings and seized unapproved, illegal prescription medicines and medical devices provided from more than 1,050 websites.
New York University cognitive neuroscientists found that the bone structure, not facial expressions, of people’s faces influences the perceptions others have of them.
POLITICS
The House of Representatives voted to repeal an Obamacare tax on medical devices.
A LITTLE EXTRA
A London graphic designer attempts to create empathy and raise awareness for people who have dyslexia with the design of a new typeface.
The Morning Read provides a 24-hour wrap up of everything else healthcare’s innovators need to know about the business of medicine (and beyond). The author of The Read published it but all full-time MedCity News journalists contribute to its content.
Photo: Flickr user American Life League
