| GE Healthcare Acquires Image Diagnost International GMBH
GE Healthcare, a unit of General Electric Company (NYSE:GE), announced it has acquired Image Diagnost International GmbH, a provider of information technology (IT) systems used in the diagnosis of breast cancer. Image Diagnost's software offering will expand GE Healthcare's capabilities in breast cancer detection, offering clinicians and national screening services one of the most comprehensive ranges of systems available.
Image Diagnost develops integrated software solutions for mammography workflow and image processing. Digital mammography, first commercialized by GE Healthcare in 1999, brings significant benefits to the diagnosis of breast cancer such as improved cancer detection rates for women with dense breast tissue and ease of use. As the number of hospitals, clinics and screening services using digital mammography increases, there is a significant and growing demand for integrated software solutions to facilitate reporting, storage, sharing and transmission of mammography data.
NHS privatisation: the ‘sicko’ firms who are after your GP surgery
Multinational firms have got their eyes on your local doctors surgery. The companies that have plundered health service budgets, forcing the NHS to buy their private services, now want to extend their reach. After the government invited the private sector to provide GPs, some of the biggest names in US health insurance are being joined by other multi-nationals, like the Virgin group, in an attempt to muscle in get contracts. GPs from across Tower Hamlets, in east London, were joined by patients in a 150-strong protest on Thursday of last week against a decision by the local primary care trust (PCT) to hand the St Pauls Way medical centre to Atos Healthcare. Atos Healthcare is a subsidiary of a French-based computer firm with only a limited experience of healthcare, much of which has been gained helping institutions "manage absenteeism".
Hospitals add art to lift spirits
Art is transforming drab, lifeless health care and workplace spaces into healing environments filled with beauty, sophistication and joy, and the trend has brought national attention to leaders like the University of Michigan and Detroit Receiving Hospital. .
Geriatrician Care Guards Against Risk of Inappropriate Meds
FRIDAY, Jan. 25 (HealthDay News) -- Elderly Americans taking prescription medications face a lower risk for being given an inappropriate drug or dosage if they receive care from a geriatrician, new research reveals. The finding is based on a large, national review of mostly male veterans who sought care at VA facilities across the United States. The analysis indicates that roughly one in four vets were inappropriately prescribed medications, while those few who had visited with a geriatrician in the past year had reduced exposure to such critical mistakes. "Geriatric care seems to help protect patients who are receiving prescription medications," said study author Mary Jo V. Pugh, a research health scientist with the South Texas Veterans Health Care System, and an assistant professor at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio.
Michigan Congressmen Dingell, Kildee endorse Clinton for president
LANSING, Mich. - Hillary Rodham Clinton picked up endorsements Wednesday from two veteran Michigan congressmen, adding to her cache of potential superdelegates should Michigan and Florida prevail in their effort to be counted at the Democratic National Convention in August. Democrats John Dingell and Dale Kildee said Clinton has the experience and skills to become president. The lawmakers were uncommitted in Michigan's primary last month. Dingell, first elected in 1955, is longest serving member of either party in the House. As chairman of the House Energy and Committee, he was a key ally of the former first lady in her unsuccessful 1994 effort to pass health care reform legislation. In making his endorsement, Dingell said he's impressed by the energy and enthusiasm Illinois Sen.
Law firms: Even generalists get very specific
Few local firms specialized in patent law when C. Earl Hovey and Roy Hamilton opened their practice downtown in 1929, only four weeks before the stock market crash.</p><p>More than 75 years later, <strong>Hovey Williams </strong>is still handling patents, copyrights and other cases in the expanding field of intellectual property law.</p><p>Many of the area's largest firms engage in general law practice, with staff attorneys who develop expertise in corporate finance, health care, employment and other specialties.</p><p>Kansas City-based <strong>Stinson Morrison Hecker </strong>recently created a climate change practice group to address increasing interest at the state and federal levels on climate change legislation.</p><p>Other practices focus on specific industries, such as banking or construction, and provide services for both corporations and individuals.</p><p>But only a handful of greater Kansas City's larger firms concentrate in only one area of legal practice.</p><p><strong>Gilmore & Bell </strong>in Kansas City focuses exclusively on public finance, serving as counsel for municipal transactions and economic development projects.</p><p><strong>Franke Schultz & Mullen </strong>in Kansas City limits its practice to civil litigation, primarily defending cases for large insurers, including <strong>AIG</strong>, <strong>Mutual Doctors Mutual </strong>and <strong>Lloyd's of London</strong>.</p><p>The field is virtually recession-proof, because when people are injured they're going to file claims and lawsuits for money regardless of the economy, said John Schultz, a founder and partner.</p><p>An increasing number of law firms are adding intellectual property as a specialty.</p><p>The field continues to grow because companies are seeking more patents for new inventions, especially in the high-tech areas of electronics, chemistry and biology.</p><p>Hovey attorneys have to understand a variety of technical subspecialties to converse effectively with their inventor clients, which include <strong>Garmin</strong><strong>International </strong>and <strong>Bushnell Outdoor Products</strong>, said Tom Luebbering, a partner at Hovey.</p><p>“We're able to focus on this work only and offer some expertise that a client may not find elsewhere,” he said.
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