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(Commonwealth Fund: New York City) -- As health care quality and patient safety concerns rise, the latest Commonwealth Fund health care opinion leaders survey finds leaders united behind several key reform measures: more than half (56 percent) support the creation of a new public-private…
(NCQA: Washington) -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance recently updated its online Quality Compass, the nation’s most widely used database of health-plan performance. Quality Compass includes NCQA accreditation, Health Plan Employer and Data Information Set (HEDIS) clinical quality, and…
(NCQA: Washington) -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance, in collaboration with Pfizer Inc., recently released a new publication profiling strategies and recommendations for improving the quality of care through wellness and prevention initiatives.Quality Profiles: The Leadership Series—…
(University of Virginia: Charlottesville, Virginia) -- University of Virginia Engineering School Associate Professor William F. Walker and Research Associate Francesco Viola have developed a new tool—an advanced imaging algorithm—that is transforming the way we see things. Together with graduate…
The National Quality Forum is seeking nominations for members of a steering committee for the initial phase of a project to endorse voluntary consensus standards on the quality of emergency care. All nominations must be submitted by 6:00 p.m. ET, Aug. 10, 2007.Emergency care is an integral part…
(Systech: Cranbury, New Jersey) -- Systech International Inc., a provider of packaging execution systems (PES) to the pharmaceutical industry, has introduced enhanced features to its plant-level server application, Systech Guardian. In addition to serialized product tracking (SPT)…
(Productivity Press: New York) -- Why does the United States rank 36th of all industrialized nations in health care? Perhaps the rampant inefficiencies of the system can help explain this dismal placement. There are bright spots, however. Innovative health care organizations, having recognized…
(NCQA: Washington) -- The National Committee for Quality Assurance, in collaboration with Pfizer Inc., recently released a new publication profiling strategies and recommendations for improving the quality of care through wellness and prevention initiatives.Quality Profiles: The Leadership…
(University of Leeds: Leeds, England) -- The Skin Research Centre at the University of Leeds, which has led the way in the treatment of acne, eczema, and other skin conditions, is the only university skin microbiology laboratory in the United Kindom to receive the international quality…
(NIST:Gaithersburg, Maryland) -- Researchers at the National Institute of Standards and Technology are developing state-of-the-art measuring techniques, similar to those used in making aerospace components fit together precisely, that soon could improve success…
(ClearCount Medical Solutions: Pittsburgh) -- The patented SmartSponge System, built by ClearCount Medical Solutions of Pittsburgh and based on radio frequency identification (RFID) has received Food and Drug Administration 510(k) clearance.“We are optimistic the SmartSponge System will…
(A2LA: Frederick, Maryland) -- The American Association for Laboratory Accreditation began adding medical laboratories to its accreditation offerings on June 1, 2007. “We see strong demand for an internationally recognized accreditation program in the medical laboratory industry,” says…
(DHHS: Washington) -- Health and Human Services Secretary Mike Leavitt recently announced that the United States will participate in an international effort to encourage more rapid development and worldwide adoption of standard clinical terminology for electronic health records. The…
(NCQA: Washington) -- Women are significantly less likely than men to have their LDL cholesterol controlled to recommended levels, according to a new study by the National Committee for Quality Assurance. The study, published in the May/June edition of Women’s Health Issues,…
(Standard Register: Dayton, Ohio) -- For the third consecutive year, Standard Register was named a 2006 Platinum Supplier by MedAssets Supply Chain Systems, a St. Louis-based group purchasing and supply chain services company. The award was recently presented at the 2007 MedAssets…
(FDA: Washington) -- The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced the entry of a Consent Decree of Permanent Injunction against PharmaFab Inc., its subsidiary, PFab LP, and two company officials, Mark Tengler, PharmaFab’s president, and Russ McMahen, PFab’s vice president of…
(Natus: San Carlos, California) -- Natus Medical Inc. recently announced that it was awarded a 2007 Medical Design Excellence Award for its Olympic Cool-Cap head-cooling product for newborn brain injury. The award will be presented to Natus at a ceremony to be held June 13, 2007, in New York City.…
(FDA: Washington) -- U.S. Food and Drug Administration investigators and U.S. marshals recently seized all implantable medical devices from Shelhigh Inc., Union, New Jersey, after finding significant deficiencies in the company’s manufacturing processes. The deficiencies may compromise…
(TAGSYS: Cambridge, Massachusetts) -- TAGSYS, a provider of item-level radio frequency identification (RFID) infrastructure, has announced its unprecedented RFID “Six Sigma Performance Program” for pharmaceutical manufacturers. Six Sigma is a quality-of-service performance guarantee of…
(ITI Global: Milford, Ohio) – Hitachi Medical Corp. has received from its parent organization, Hitachi Ltd., the 2006 Innovation Award recognizing the most innovative product and process developed for the year. Hitachi Medical received the award for the multimodality console product…
(Food and Drug Administration: Rockville, Maryland) The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has unveiled a new Web page that will keep the public informed about the status of post-approval patient studies for certain recently approved medical devices. “FDA is committed to improving its medical…
(Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., Vancouver) -- Angiotech Pharmaceuticals Inc., global specialty pharmaceutical and medical device company, recently announced the appointment of Victor Diaz as senior vice president, global manufacturing and supply chain management.“With his significant…
(Pilgrim Software, Tampa, Florida) -- Pilgrim Software, a provider of enterprise compliance and quality management software solutions, has been named 2007 North American Enterprise Compliance & Quality Management (ECQM) Company of the Year within the life sciences industry by Frost…
(Sparta Systems Inc.; Holmdel, New Jersey) Sparta Systems Inc., the maker of TrackWise, and an enterprise quality and compliance process management software provider, has released the Beta version of the TrackWise eMDR Submission Manager software. The add-on software enables medical…
Five pharmaceutical manufacturing facilities scattered around the globe recently received Facility of the Year awards for significantly advancing the industry’s efforts to produce higher-quality medicines at lower costs. The winners are: Cook Pharmica—Facility of the Year for Facility…