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The costs of heart disease in the United States will triple between now and 2030 to more than $800 billion a year, a report commissioned by the American Heart Association predicted Monday.
Treating high blood pressure will be the most expensive part of the cost, rising to $389 billion by 2030, the report projects, with overall heart disease rising by 10 percent by then.
NovaMed Inc., a Chicago-based operator of ambulatory surgery centers, said Friday that it has agreed to be acquired for $214 million by a Florida company called Surgery Center Holdings Inc.
Surgery Center, based in Tampa, is an affiliate of a Miami-based private equity firm, HIG Capital. The price includes assumption of $105 million in debt. Get the full story »
Americans may becoming more comfortable with the health care overhaul law.
An unofficial online poll of participants in a Tribune Web chat Thursday showed that two-thirds, or 66 percent, like the legislation better now than when it was first passed by Congress and signed into law last spring by President Barack Obama. Get the full story »
U.S. health officials are investigating an increase rise in reports of a type of seizure after vaccination with a Sanofi-Aventis SA flu vaccine, the Food and Drug Administration said on Thursday. Get the full story »
Johnson & Johnson, already under fire for a string of product recalls, has another public relations issue on its hands after its o.b. tampons temporarily disappeared from stores and little was said about what happened. Get the full story »
Five New England residents and five national health care advocacy groups are suing the federal government, saying Medicare benefits are being cut improperly after their conditions are determined to be chronic. Get the full story »
U.S. health reviewers are concerned that clinicians may not be able to properly interpret brain scans using Eli Lilly & Co.’s imaging agent for Alzheimer’s and that the tests may be of limited use in assessing the degenerative disease.
The radioactive dye is intended for use with positron emission tomography, or PET, scans that help detect the presence of beta-amyloid plaques linked to Alzheimer’s disease. Get the full story »
From MyNorthwest.com | A gastric bypass surgery kit made by Chicago-based Medline Inc. was put up for sale on Amazon.com for $264. “It was a mistake that it was on Amazon,” said Medline spokesman John Marks. “This is purely for hospital use by doctors and surgeons, and it is not for sale to consumers.” But that didn’t stop reviewers from having some fun with it.Get the full story>>
Provident Hospital. (Tribune file)
Ambulance runs to cash-strapped Provident Hospital’s emergency room are about to be halted as part of an effort by Cook County officials to cut the facility’s budget.
Beginning Saturday, the hospital at 500 E. 51st St. will no longer accept ambulance runs to the emergency room. Instead, patients will be taken to any of the six hospitals within a 5-mile radius of Provident, county health system spokesman Lucio Guerrero said. But the hospital will continue to treat people who walk into the emergency room, he said. Get the full story »
Abbott Laboratories’ said its experimental dissolvable heart stent has received approval in Europe, a key milestone in the development of the next-generation heart device for patients in the U.S. and around the world.
The North Chicago-based drug and medical device giant said it is the first-ever government regulatory approval of an absorbable stent. Get the full story »
A key health-care technology trade show whose departure helped trigger the overhaul of McCormick Place operations announced this morning that it is returning to the Chicago convention hall in 2015 and 2019.
The state-mandated reforms at McCormick Place were cited by the Healthcare Information and Management Systems Society as key factors in deciding to put Chicago back in its meeting schedule.
The changes could translate into cost savings of at least 25 percent, said H. Stephen Lieber, the group’s president and CEO. The estimate was based on talks with representatives from other trade shows that have taken place at the complex since the overhaul began last summer, he said. Get the full story »
An effort by Republicans in the U.S. House of Representatives to repeal the health care law enacted last year would add to already huge federal budget deficits, the Congressional Budget Office warned on Thursday. Get the full story »
Illinois lawmakers are considering a major overhaul of the program that provides medical care to the poor, part of an effort to control costs during a budget crisis and build support for a tax increase.
The legislation would emphasize HMO-style “managed care” and reduce the use of costly institutions for people with physical and mental disabilities. It would require the state to pay Medicaid bills sooner, reducing late-payment penalties. It also would take steps to ensure ineligible people don’t sign up for medical care. Get the full story »
A panel that will make recommendations on how Illinois implements the national health care law is delaying its report to Gov. Pat Quinn by one month. Spokesman Mike Claffey says the Health Care Reform Implementation Council now plans to submit a report to Quinn on Jan. 31. The original target was Dec. 31. Get the full story »
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois has dropped a plan to require health plan subscribers to get prior approval before getting access to a broad range of outpatient mental health services, amid intense criticism.
Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois upset mental health providers and their patients throughout the state in recent weeks with a requirement that preferred provider organization, PPO, health plan subscribers first call the insurer to get prior approval before being able to get most outpatient mental health counseling, psychotherapy or other outpatient medical health services. Get the full story »
