Some AstraZeneca shareholders are pushing big changes in the company’s leadership team, including a new CEO. Possible replacements for CEO David Brennan include finance director Simon Lowth and global commercial vice-president Tony Zook.
Scientists are using part of a molecule found in large quantities on the surface of cancer cells in a new vaccine that helps the immune system detect the abnormal cells. Vaxil Biotheraputics and researchers at Tel Aviv University report that “ImMucin generated a robust and specific immune response in all patients which was observed after only 2-4 doses of the vaccine out of a maximum of 12 doses.” The researchers are planning clinical trials to determine if the vaccine can be effective against a range of different cancers.
Changes in Nurse Staffing Answer Clinician Demands
The ongoing nursing shortage facilitates high turnover rates since nurses know they won’t have difficulties finding new jobs. In order to retain and attract staff, it’s in a facility’s best interest to understand what nurses want.
Health and Human Services is hoping that a new rule proposed Monday will solve claims processing problems, including improper routing of transactions, rejected transactions due to insurance identification errors and difficulty in determining patient eligibility. The new rule would create an “other entity” identifier for groups that are not health plans, healthcare providers, or individuals but need to be labeled in billing transactions.
Read the rule here.
A Colorado group has suggested three options for adding mental health data to health information exchanges. The methods include allowing the patient to opt-in to sharing data, limiting access to the data to certain providers, or permitting the patient to maintain complete control of the information by creating a personal health record. Read the entire report from the Colorado Regional Health Information Organization here.
A small pilot program in Washington DC is testing the effect of texting on diabetes patients in a Medicaid managed care organization. The texts will include everything from appointment reminders to interactive quizzes.