An English company says it will begin selling a disposable, portable DNA-reading device by the end of the year. Oxford Nanopore Technologies’s product sequences DNA by reading the chemical bases in a DNA molecule directly. They plan to sell the smaller version for $900.
The government may not be dramatically less efficient than private enterprise, at least when it comes to paying for knee replacement surgery.
A study from the Health Care Incentives Institute shows that Medicare pays about $6,400 less for hospital care than commercial insurance companies do.
Forest Labs and Gedeon Richter announced that their new antipsychotic drug has performed well in two Phase III studies for schizophrenia. Cariprazine was compared in Abilify in fixed and flex doses. Dr. Marco Taglietti, president of the Forest Research Institute, said the companies will file the NDA for treatment of schizophrenia and bipolar mania with this new drug. The drug has also done well in late-stage treatments for bipolar patients.
How Lantern Delivers ROI Through Smarter Healthcare Navigation
Dickon Waterfield discusses why Lantern's navigation works.
A comparison of drug studies conducted by businesses and non-profits suggests that the sponsor of the test has little effect on the results. Dr. Nasim Khan, of the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences in Little Rock, compared past research into rheumatoid arthritis. The new report shows 37 of 49 drug trials paid for by manufacturers had positive results. When the government or a foundation provided the research funds, 11 of 16 trials found the studied drug to be effective.
The CEO of SRSoft says that in addition to understanding client needs and building great software, vendors now have to negotiate the political world of health care reform to be successful. Evan Steele said his company spent two years figuring out Meaningful Use and now they are trying to bring their clients up to speed. Steele said that the Meaningful Use requirements focus too much on primary care physicians and many specialists don’t know how the rules apply to their work.