BURLINGTON, VT–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  Marathon Health today announced that Averitt Express, a leading provider of freight transportation and supply chain management, will offer onsite health services to its associates at its corporate campus in Cookeville, TN. 

The Averitt clinic is scheduled to open in early October 2010.

Marathon Health will implement and manage the onsite health clinic for Averitt associates, spouses, and dependents over the age of six. Available services include acute and primary care, wellness and health promotion, health coaching, disease management, medication dispensing, and the Marathon eHealth Portal technology to support the delivery of care and coaching.

The opening of an onsite health clinic is a logical next step for Averitt’s health benefit strategy according to Averitt consultant Jeff Lynch, Summit Financial Group. “Over the past five years, we have systematically introduced wellness/prevention into the medical plan design, workplace policies, and employment policies. Balancing the cost pressures related to healthcare with a sincere desire to provide high-quality health benefits is a challenge for Averitt. The answer is providing Averitt associates with access to a full range of health services at work; this is a win-win for Averitt and its associates.”

“Our associates’ overall health is very important to us, and we strive to provide the appropriate tools to help them achieve the best health possible,” said Scott Wolf, Averitt vice president, corporate services. “We are very excited about how the onsite clinic will contribute to the overall health and wellbeing of our team.”

The foundation for Marathon Health services is health risk identification and mitigation. This total population health risk management approach addresses the health needs of the entire population, helping the healthy maintain good health, and helping those with costly and debilitating chronic disease to manage conditions.

“We are proud to partner with Averitt and to contribute to their vision of health and wellbeing for Averitt associates and their families,” said Jeff Shea, Marathon Health vice president.

About Averitt Express

Established in 1971, Averitt Express is a leading provider of freight transportation and supply chain management with international reach to more than 100 countries. The company specializes in delivering customized solutions with a single source of accountability for service offerings that include cross border/domestic offshore, dedicated, expedited, intermodal, international ocean/air, local customization, less-than-truckload, PortSide™, transportation management, truckload (dry van, flatbed, refrigerated, brokerage), warehousing and value-added services, including a centralized call center, strict performance metrics and an ongoing focus on green/sustainability efforts. Averitt’s technology offerings include a full suite of web-based shipping tools, electronic data interchange (EDI) and transportation and operations management systems. For more information, please call 1-800-AVERITT (283-7488) or visit http://www.averittexpress.com.

About Marathon Health

Marathon Health of Colchester, VT, offers a proven solution for helping employers reduce the total cost of healthcare. The Marathon Health approach integrates the best practices of onsite primary care, health assessment with risk identification, coaching and advocacy, and disease management for high cost chronic conditions. Marathon Health supports its unique model with an eHealth Portal delivering medical content, interactive diet and fitness tools, a personal health record, and an electronic medical record to manage care. For more information, please visit www.marathon-health.com.

NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  Healthnostics, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: HNSS), a medical and biotechnology analytics company, announced that in addition to its recent investment in a medical manufacturing company, it has invested in the repurchase of 90 million shares of its common stock in a private transaction, thereby reducing the actual issued and outstanding shares to 305,857,509. Of this total, the approximately 39 million shares which are not closely held are traded in the public market. These shares constitute the public float.

Both the investment in an ongoing acquisition and the investment in the repurchase of shares will have the immediate effect of increasing shareholder equity through significantly enhanced earnings per share.

About Healthnostics

Healthnostics, Inc. is a medical and biotechnology analytics company that provides comprehensive patient clinical monitoring and risk management systems to acute care hospitals and utilizes its Internet portals to deliver medical and biotechnology resource information to industry professionals as well as to the general public. Healthnostics’ major products include: MedGuardian, a patient care monitoring and risk management system for hospitals that is fully Web-based; and through the MedBioWeb subsidiary, MedBioWorld™, one of the largest professional medical and biotechnology directory resource and reference portal sites on the Internet, and FamilyMedicalNet, a companion consumer healthcare information portal.

For further information please visit Healthnostics www.healthnostics.com, MedBioWorld www.medbioworld.com, and FamilyMedicalNet www.familymedicalnet.com.

And visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Healthnostics.

This press release may contain certain statements that are not descriptions of historical information, but are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements refer to matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements reflect management’s current views and are based on certain assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from the assumptions currently anticipated.

WINNIPEG, MANITOBA–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) – DiaMedica Inc. (TSX VENTURE:DMA) (“DiaMedica” or the “Company”), is pleased to announce the completion today of its $2.26 million short form prospectus offering of units (the “Offering”) and its previously announced acquisition (the “Acquisition”) of Sanomune Inc., a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on neurological disorders (“Sanomune”). 

The Offering

Pursuant to the completion of the Offering, DiaMedica has issued a total of 5,650,000 units (each a “Unit“) at a price of $0.40 per Unit for aggregate gross proceeds of $2.26 million. Each Unit is comprised of one common share in the capital of the Company (each a “Common Share“) and one Common Share purchase warrant (each a “Warrant“), with each Warrant entitling the holder thereof to acquire a further Common Share until the second anniversary of the closing of the Offering. The expiry date of the Warrants is subject to acceleration if the volume-weighted average trading price of the Common Shares on the TSX Venture Exchange (the “TSX-V“) exceeds $0.75 per share for a period of 10 consecutive trading days. 

The Offering was led by Bolder Investment Partners, Ltd., as agent (“Bolder”). In connection with the completion of the Offering, Bolder exercised its agent’s option to increase the size of the Offering by 13%, or 650,000 Units. 

The net proceeds of the Offering will be used to fund DiaMedica’s ongoing research and development programs, including planned pre-clinical trials for our lead products, and for general working capital purposes. 

As compensation for its services as agent, Bolder received a cash commission of $226,000, and received broker warrants to acquire up to 565,000 Common Shares exercisable at the price of $0.40 per share at any time on or prior to June 30, 2011.

The Acquisition

Pursuant to the completion of the Sanomune Acquisition, DiaMedica has issued a total of 12,807,377 Common Shares to Sanomune shareholders as consideration for all of the issued and outstanding shares of Sanomune.

“With the completion of this financing and the strategic acquisition of Sanomune, we have brought together two of Canada’s Top 10™ Life Sciences Companies,” stated Mr. Rick Pauls, President and Chief Executive Officer of DiaMedica. “This acquisition allows us to take advantage of a unique opportunity to strengthen our patent portfolio and expand into neurological and autoimmune disorders targeted by our lead program, DM-99/199, which has demonstrated neural protection (protects brain cells) and neural cell proliferation (creates brain cells)”.

As a result of the Acquisition, in addition to Sanomune’s lead compound, SAN-61, DiaMedica also acquires a panel of monoclonal antibodies that trigger the inhibition of glycogen synthase kinase 3 beta (GSK-3ß). GSK-3ß plays an important role as a regulatory switch for numerous cell-signaling pathways and has been linked to diabetes, cancer, infectious diseases and a variety of neurological disorders. It is anticipated that the monoclonal antibody program will compliment DiaMedica’s DM-99/199 program, which has also been shown to have GSK-3ß inhibiting properties.

As announced in its April 20, 2010 press release, DiaMedica obtained the required minority shareholder approval (the “Minority Approval”) for the Acquisition under Multilateral Instrument 61-101 – Protection of Minority Security Holders in Special Transactions (“MI 61-101”), by securing written consents to the transaction from shareholders representing approximately 65% of the Common Shares held by parties eligible to vote for approval of the transaction under Part 8 of MI 61-101. This is in excess of the simple majority requirement (i.e., 50%+1) set out in MI 61-101 for such Minority Approval. 

In addition to the related parties described in DiaMedica’s February 18, 2010 press release regarding the Acquisition (each a “Related Party” and collectively, the “Related Parties”), Common Shares held by two investment funds, Manitoba Science & Technology Fund (“MST”) and Crocus Investment Fund (“CIF”) were also excluded for the purposes of obtaining Minority Approval for the Acquisition. MST and CIF each hold approximately 24.75% of the voting common shares of Genesys Ventures Inc., a Related Party, and are therefore each “a related party of an interested party” as described in MI 61-101. Immediately prior to the completion of the Acquisition and the Offering, the Related Parties, in the aggregate, beneficially owned, or exercised control or direction over, a total of 5,493,523 Common Shares, or 28.60% of the total issued and outstanding Common Shares. To the knowledge of the Company, based on public filings by each of MST and CIF, immediately prior to the completion of the Acquisition and the Offering, MST and CIF held, in the aggregate, a total of 3,065,764 Common Shares, or 15.96% of the total issued and outstanding Common Shares.

Management Changes

DiaMedica further announces the appointment of Mr. Pauls to the full-time position of President and Chief Executive Officer and the appointment of Dr. Mark Williams to Vice-President, Research. Dr. Stephen Waters has resigned from his interim role as Executive Vice-President and Interim Chief Scientific Officer.

Mr. Pauls, who has been an active board member since 2005, and is currently the Chairman of the Board of DiaMedica, has served as the acting President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company since July 2009. Mr. Pauls was previously the Managing Director of CentreStone Ventures Inc., a life sciences venture capital fund which he was involved with from inception. While with CentreStone, Mr. Pauls led investments in Orasi Medical Inc., winner of the Red Herring Global 100; LED Medical Inc., winner of Red Herring Canada 50 award in the Health category; as well as DiaMedica and Sanomune, both named among Canada’s Top 10™ Life Sciences Companies. Prior to his role with CentreStone, Mr. Pauls was employed by Centara Corporation, another early stage venture capital fund.

“We would like to express our gratitude to Dr. Stephen Waters for his valuable contributions to our strategic planning efforts and we look forward to working with him as a consultant,” continued Mr. Pauls. “The Board of Directors of DiaMedica joins me in thanking Dr. Waters for his efforts, and we wish him continued success in his future endeavors”.

In conjunction with these management changes, the Board of Directors has approved a grant of 457,500 stock options to certain directors, executives and employees under the terms of the Company’s stock option plan. The options have an exercise price of $0.42 per share and are exercisable for a period of 5 years. This grant of such options is subject to acceptance by the TSX-V.

Please visit DiaMedica’s new company website at www.diamedica.com.

About DiaMedica and Sanomune

DiaMedica is a biopharmaceutical company, focused on developing novel treatments for diabetes and neurological disorders. The Company’s diabetes program is based on a critical liver nerve signaling mechanism involved in enhancing insulin sensitivity after meal consumption. Two of DiaMedica’s products have demonstrated human efficacy in lowering blood sugar levels in diabetics based on this novel nerve signaling mechanism.

As a result of the Sanomune Acquisition, DiaMedica plans to expand its DM-199 program into neurological and autoimmune disorders. Sanomune has demonstrated that its lead compound, SAN-61, a naturally occurring protein, confers neural protection (protects brain cells) and triggers neural stem cell proliferation (creates brain cells) for the treatment of numerous neurological disorders including Alzheimer’s disease. DiaMedica has also acquired from Sanomune a panel of monoclonal antibodies targeting diabetes, neurological disorders and cancers through the inhibition of GSK-3ß.

Both DiaMedica and Sanomune were recognized as one of Canada’s Top 10™ Life Sciences Companies in 2008/2009. DiaMedica is listed on the TSX Venture Exchange under the trading symbol “DMA”.

For further information please visit www.diamedica.com.

Caution Regarding Forward-Looking Information

Certain statements contained in this press release constitute forward-looking information within the meaning of applicable Canadian provincial securities legislation (collectively, the “forward-looking statements“). These forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, DiaMedica’s objectives, goals, targets, strategies, intentions, plans, beliefs, estimates and outlook, and can, in some cases, be identified by the use of words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “may” and other similar expressions. In addition, any statements that refer to expectations, projections or other characterizations of future events or circumstances are forward-looking statements. Specifically, this press release contains forward-looking statements regarding matters such as, but not limited to, the anticipated use of proceeds from the Offering, management’s assessment of DiaMedica’s future plans, information with respect to the advancement of DiaMedica’s research and development programs, and DiaMedica’s other estimates and expectations.
These statements reflect management’s current beliefs and are based on information currently available to management. Certain material factors or assumptions are applied in making forward-looking statements, and actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from these expectations include, among other things: uncertainties and risks related to our research and development programs, the availability of additional financing, risks and uncertainties relating to the anticipated use of proceeds, changes in debt and equity markets, uncertainties related to clinical trials and product development, rapid technological change, uncertainties related to forecasts, competition, potential product liability, additional financing requirements and access to capital, unproven markets, the cost and supply of raw materials, management of growth, effects of insurers’ willingness to pay for products, risks related to regulatory matters and risks related to intellectual property matters. Additional information about these factors and about the material factors or assumptions underlying such forward-looking statements may be found in the body of this news release, as well as under the heading “Risk Factors” contained in DiaMedica’s 2009 annual information form. DiaMedica cautions that the foregoing list of important factors that may affect future results is not exhaustive. When relying on DiaMedica’s forward-looking statements to make decisions with respect to DiaMedica, investors and others should carefully consider the foregoing factors and other uncertainties and potential events. Such forward-looking statements are based on a number of estimates and assumptions which may prove to be incorrect, including, but not limited to, assumptions regarding the availability of additional financing for research and development companies, and general business and economic conditions. These risks and uncertainties should be considered carefully and investors and others should not place undue reliance on the forward-looking statements. Although the forward-looking statements contained in this press release are based upon what management believes to be reasonable assumptions, DiaMedica cannot provide assurance that actual results will be consistent with these forward-looking statements. DiaMedica undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statement. Additional risk factors, factors which could cause actual results to differ materially from expectations, and assumptions relating specifically to our acquisition of Sanomune may be found in our press releases dated February 18, 2010 and April 20, 2010.

MADISON, WI–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO), maker of highly integrated radiation therapy solutions, announced today that Peking Union Medical College Hospital has selected the TomoTherapy^® treatment system to advance its cancer care capabilities. Located in Beijing, the teaching hospital is one of the most prestigious healthcare facilities in China and a leader in radiation oncology that treats more than 200 patients per day. Peking Union will become the first Ministry of Health system-based general hospital in Beijing to offer TomoTherapy technology.

“After comparing a number of radiation therapy options, we chose a TomoTherapy treatment system in order to provide the most integrated, advanced treatment platform in the world,” said Dr. Fuquan Zhang, chairman of Radiation Oncology at Peking Union Medical College Hospital. “We expect that TomoTherapy will provide advantages compared to traditional delivery methodologies, and that the simple operational platform will help increase throughput for many complex cases, while helping reduce the chance for mistakes. In other words, TomoTherapy is an efficient and advanced system that meets our demanding clinical environment.”

The TomoTherapy treatment system will be used to treat the hospital’s most challenging cases, starting with head, neck and gynecological cancers. The system’s unique helical IMRT capability enables clinicians to deliver highly conformal dose distributions to complex tumors. Additionally, the integrated CT image guidance offered by the TomoTherapy platform allows for precise patient positioning based on internal anatomy at time of treatment. This feature helps increase treatment delivery accuracy and ensure that radiation exposure to surrounding organs and tissue is minimized.

“Peking Union Medical College Hospital has a strong reputation throughout China for its radiation oncology services. With the addition of the TomoTherapy platform, clinicians there can advance their treatment capabilities with IG-IMRT, allowing them to better address more complex cases,” said Paul Baumgart, general manager of TomoTherapy’s Asia-Pacific Operations. “The introduction of TomoTherapy technology at Peking Union will provide a great showcase of the platform’s capabilities for the Chinese market, and is evidence of the growing demand for our solution in Asia.”

The TomoTherapy treatment system was sold to Peking Union Medical College Hospital by the company’s Chinese distributor TomoKnife. The system is expected to be installed later this year.

About TomoTherapy Incorporated
TomoTherapy Incorporated develops, markets and sells advanced radiation therapy solutions that can be used to treat a wide variety of cancers, from the most common to the most complex. The ring gantry-based TomoTherapy^® platform combines integrated CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to deliver sophisticated radiation treatments with speed and precision while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. TomoTherapy’s suite of solutions include its flagship Hi·Art® treatment system, which has been used to deliver more than three million CT-guided, helical intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment fractions; the TomoHD^™ treatment system, designed to enable cancer centers to treat a broader patient population with a single device; and the TomoMobile^™ relocatable radiation therapy solution, designed to improve access and availability of state-of-the-art cancer care. TomoTherapy’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TOMO. To learn more about TomoTherapy, please visit TomoTherapy.com.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this release regarding future products or product capabilities, events, expectations and other similar matters, including but not limited to statements using the terms “expect,” “expected,” “should” or “will” constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements contained in this press release are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those anticipated, including but not limited to factors such as our ability to integrate acquired assets, ability to protect intellectual property, risks of interruption due to events beyond the company’s control, and the other risks listed from time to time in TomoTherapy’s filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, which by this reference are incorporated herein. These forward-looking statements represent TomoTherapy’s judgments as of the date of this press release. TomoTherapy assumes no obligation to update or revise the forward-looking statements in this release because of new information, future events or otherwise.

©2010 TomoTherapy Incorporated. All rights reserved. TomoTherapy, Tomo, TomoDirect, TomoMobile, TomoHD, the TomoTherapy logo and Hi·Art are among trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of TomoTherapy Incorporated in the United States and other countries.

CALGARY, AB–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  Celebrities are accustomed to getting the latest and greatest products from Gifting Services. Sometimes it is a clever gadget or a miracle skin cream. Sometimes they are amused, impressed or even shocked. On occasion they are left in awe of an innovative product that is becomes an instant “must have.” This season’s newest must have item is the Advanced Whitening Toothbrush from World White Smiles. When celebs think of tooth whitening they imagine the bright LED lights from the dentist’s office. World White Smiles took those lights and put them into a toothbrush! This is the James Bond of toothbrush technology. “How did they do this?” asked Nicole Scherzinger. Celebs had a consistently similar response to Debi Mazar who said, “This is genius.” A few of the other celebs who received the products were Jodi Sweetin, AnnaLynne McCord, Patti Labelle, Snooki and Chris Bauer.

Perfect white teeth are the soul of your smile. This patented LED Light Toothbrush is a revolutionary dental care system that not only cleans the teeth but also prevents many forms of gum disease.

Features/Benefits

• Reduces bleeding gums
• Leaves teeth feeling smoother longer
• Scientifically proven to kill the photosensitive bacteria of the mouth and gums — the bacteria that causes gingivitis and other more severe forms of periodontal disease, and even kills thrush on contact
• Whitens naturally — Does not utilize harsh chemicals to whiten teeth
• Enhances the whitening capabilities of any whitening toothpaste
• Increases saliva production — Which protects teeth and gums from periodontal disease by keeping the mouth more alkaline
• Prevents halitosis

Some bacteria are photosensitive and when activated by visible light, induce a photodynamic reaction that kills them within seconds.

Deeply cleaning
Photodynamic energy can activate active oxygen ion in toothpaste and rapidly spread to teeth surrounding and every inch of space and edge where the common tooth brush is hard to reach. Clean and whiten each tooth completely. The innovative manual toothbrush is similar in outward appearance to conventional toothbrushes but that’s where the similarity ends. No toothbrush currently on the market can stand up to the superior performance of the LED Light Toothbrush. Electric toothbrushes can only brush the plaque off the tooth surface and nothing more. You can benefit from using this innovative technology today by brushing with this revolutionary toothbrush.

Natural design
Round-head brush is grinded by adopting advanced technology to nurse your teeth and gums. The handle designed by using Ergonomics can be held comfortably and controlled freely.

Battery
One AAA battery. It can be used for three months if teeth are brushed twice each day and for three minutes each time. It is safe and reliable. Photodynamic energy belongs to low energy light that is safe for gums or oral.

Affordable
We offer free Teeth Whitening Toothpaste while supplies last, you pay only a small shipping and handling fee as needed. Dentists recommend changing your toothbrush every 3-6 months.

BETHESDA, MD and FORT WAYNE, IN–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  GetWellNetwork, Inc. today announced a successful collaboration with EXTENSION, INC. to enable patients at Norton Brownsboro Hospital in Louisville, Ky. to send messages directly to their attending nurse as well as to automate new patient care workflows that enable the hospital to provide better service and care more efficiently. Norton Brownsboro is one of five hospitals in the Norton Healthcare system, the Louisville area’s leading health provider.

The integration to EXTENSION® keeps the GetWellNetwork system connected to the right nurse and staff member, enabling nursing workflows that keep nurses informed and connected to their patients at all times — via the Cisco wireless device. The integration is accomplished through a new systems interface developed by GetWellNetwork using the HL7 protocol. 

EXTENSION specializes in solutions that turn Cisco Unified Communications into a clinical workflow tool by automating notifications using text messages, phone calls, and emails. It also allows nurses to acknowledge the notification directly from his/her phone and escalate the issue when needed. Through this integration effort, the GetWellNetwork system now sends alerts that inform nurses when patients have not completed important education videos or other service requests.

“The GetWellNetwork system provides us with valuable input from our patients but we needed an automated way for that information to be delivered to the handheld Cisco phones that are assigned to each of our staff on a given day,” said Doug Winkelhake, President, Norton Brownsboro Hospital. “We appreciate how quickly GetWellNetwork and EXTENSION came together to help us make patient experience and quality of care much better and more efficient.”

“By working with EXTENSION, we’re able to send actionable patient information right to the attending nurse and staff at Norton Brownsboro Hospital,” said Robin Cavanaugh, CTO, GetWellNetwork, Inc. “This integration effort is also noteworthy because it is standards-based, which means that we can implement this for any of our client hospitals who want to take the next level of patient engagement.”

“This solution was created in a way that leverages the existing process for how nurses and other staff members receive and react to other types of alerts sent by EXTENSION,” said Josh Mahler, COO, EXTENSION, INC. “By incorporating these new alerts into the existing process, minimal training was required.”

About EXTENSION, INC.
EXTENSION, INC. is based in Fort Wayne, IN and is the developer of the EXTENSION® Solution Suite (ESS). EXTENSION tightly integrates any HL7-based or web services-based medical application with Cisco Advanced Unified Communications, using standards-based protocols. EXTENSION recently earned the ‘Cisco Collaboration Partner of the Year for the US/Canada’ award at the 2010 Cisco Partner Summit. For more on EXTENSION visit www.OpenTheRedBox.com.

About GetWellNetwork
GetWellNetwork, Inc. uses the bedside TV to entertain, educate and empower hospital patients and caregivers to be more actively engaged in their care. This patient-centered approach improves both satisfaction and outcomes for patients and hospitals. GetWellNetwork is the leader in interactive patient care solutions and exclusively endorsed by the American Hospital Association. More information about GetWellNetwork can be found at www.GetWellNetwork.com.

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SANTA ANA, CA–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  SixLog Corporation, an Astro Pak company providing on-site biological decontamination and sterilization services, today announced it will be demonstrating its revolutionary iHP™ (ionized Hydrogen Peroxide) room disinfection/sterilization technology at the annual conference for APIC (Association for Professionals in Infection Control), July 12-14 at booth #2235 at the New Orleans Convention Center in New Orleans, Louisiana.

SixLog’s featured system uses iHP™ technology, the next-generation of hydrogen peroxide fogging systems. It is faster, more effective, and safer than alternatives. Originally developed for the US Department of Defense to combat biological warfare, this breakthrough technology is now available for commercial use. iHP™ has proven efficacy in a multitude of industries including Life Sciences and Pharmaceutical, and SixLog now offers its service to the healthcare industry to address the ongoing challenges resulting from a nationwide goal of preventing healthcare-associated infections (HAIs).

“I am very excited to be able to offer our room disinfection/sterilization service to the healthcare industry,” says Vanessa Valdez, general manager of SixLog. “iHP™ is a proven sterilant that not only kills all microorganisms, but their spores as well, eradicating any possible reproduction of pathogenic organisms leading to nosocomial infections. We offer fully integrated, customized solutions to meet infection prevention needs at an affordable price. iHP™ can easily augment any hospital’s terminal cleaning protocol to provide a more robust result.”

SixLog’s room disinfection/sterilization service utilizing iHP™ technology solves critical infection control challenges in the healthcare industry and is particularly effective against common “super bugs” such as MRSA, C. difficile, VRE and multi-drug resistant (MDR) Acinetobacter. iHP™ does not damage sensitive electronics and dissolves into just water and oxygen making it safe for staff, patients and visitors as well as the environment. A few examples of iHP™ room disinfection/sterilization applications include:

• Emergency and patient rooms
• Intensive care units
• Surgical suites
• Tissue culture labs
• Bone marrow transplant suites
• Blood banks
• Sputum induction areas

For more information about SixLog’s iHP™ technology or to view it in action, please visit SixLog at booth #2235 at APIC 2010 July 12-14 at the New Orleans Convention Center, or contact us at [email protected] or 877-4SIXLOG (474-9564).

About SixLog Corporation

SixLog provides on-site biological decontamination for equipment, rooms, entire buildings, and modes of transportation such as ambulances, trains, and cruise ships. Its proprietary iHP™ (ionized Hydrogen Peroxide) decontamination technology is utilized across a variety of industries including Life Sciences, Pharmaceutical, Healthcare, First Responders, Transportation, and Public Facilities. SixLog is privately held with headquarters in Santa Ana, CA. For more information, please visit www.sixlogcorp.com.

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SPRINGFIELD, OH–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE Amex: ADK), an Ohio-based long-term care, home care and management company, has priced a public offering of 1,714,286 shares of its common stock at $3.50 per share. AdCare expects to receive net proceeds of approximately $5.5 million from the sale of the common stock. AdCare has granted a 30-day option to the underwriter to purchase up to an additional 15% or 257,143 shares to cover over-allotments. The offering is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on Friday, July 2, 2010.

AdCare plans to use the net proceeds of the offering for acquisition purposes, working capital and general corporate purposes. C.K. Cooper & Company is acting as the sole manager for the public offering.

The offering is being made pursuant to a shelf registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 4, 2010, which became effective on June 23, 2010. The offering will be made by a prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus, copies of which have been filed with the SEC.

Copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus may be obtained from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or from C.K. Cooper & Company, 18300 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 700, Irvine, California 92612, Attention: Hue Lapham/Syndicate Department, or [email protected], or via fax +1-949-477-9211.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Any such offer may be made only pursuant to the company’s prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus for the offering and only in states in which the offering is registered or exempt from registration and by broker-dealers authorized to do so. The securities offered by the prospectus involve a high degree of risk.

About AdCare Health Systems
AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE Amex: ADK) develops, owns and manages assisted living facilities, nursing homes and retirement communities and provides home healthcare services. Prior to becoming a publicly traded company in November of 2006, AdCare operated as a private company for 18 years. AdCare’s 900 employees provide high-quality care, management services and other services for patients and residents residing in 19 facilities, seven of which are assisted living facilities, 11 skilled nursing centers and one independent senior living community. The company owns eight of those facilities. In the ever-expanding marketplace of long-term care, AdCare’s mission is to provide quality healthcare services to the elderly. For more information about AdCare, visit www.adcarehealth.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal law. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to management, and involve known and unknown risks, results, performance or achievements of the company which may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such factors are identified in the public filings made by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include the company’s ability to secure lines of credit and/or an acquisition credit facility, find suitable acquisition properties at favorable terms, changes in the health care industry because of political and economic influences, changes in regulations governing the industry, changes in reimbursement levels including those under the Medicare and Medicaid programs and changes in the competitive marketplace. There can be no assurance that such factors or other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements.

LOS ANGELES, CA–(Marketwire – June 30, 2010) –  MMRGlobal, Inc. (OTCBB: MMRF) (www.mmrglobal.com) today gave guidance in the form of projected sales, portions of which may be recognized as deferred revenue (“Sales”). For the 12 months ending December 31, 2010 the Company expects Sales of $2.7 million or 350 percent over 2009. Based on the knowledge of management today, the Company also projects Sales of $28 million for the 12 months ending December 31, 2011 or an increase of over 800 percent. Sales for the first six months of 2010 are expected to exceed the first six months of 2009 by more than 20 percent not including any revenues from International Licensing in 2010. This demonstrates that the Company’s core Sales are growing at a pace of over 100 percent after excluding the licensing revenues the Company reported last year. These projections do not include revenues from Chartis in 2010 which may occur, or any revenues from new affinity sales, China, India, integration to wireless devices, clinical trials, biotech assets or revenue that may be recognized through acquisitions.

According to Ingrid Safranek, Chief Financial Officer, “With the launch of MMRPro, the Company is taking the proactive step of early-adopting Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2009-13, Revenue Recognition (Topic 605) Multiple-Deliverable Revenue Arrangements. This allows the Company to consistently record revenue on these sales up to and through the Company’s mandatory adoption date of January 1, 2011. Additionally, this new ASU is closer to the FASB’s proposed alignment with International Financial Reporting Standards. Adoption of this new standard results in revenue being reported earlier than under the old accounting rules.”

“Management has taken what we believe to be a cautious approach to our guidance by carefully evaluating our sales and marketing agreements, distribution channels and long lead times for time-to-market, which the Company has experienced in the past,” added Safranek.

The Company has modeled patient upgrades internally as follows: Patient upgrades will come from MMRPatientView through MMRPro sales from resellers and distributors, and National Payment Providers (“NPP”). The Company projects that the average MMRPro user will have 2.5 physicians, each with 2,000 active patient charts, or 5,000 patients per MMRPro placement. The Company projects that doctors will upgrade an average of two patients per month to MMRPatientView (www.mmrpatientvideos.com ),which should continue to increase year-over-year as the public becomes more aware of the importance of having a personal health record (“PHR”) and the government mandates the use of PHRs in healthcare reform. Physicians receive 35 percent of all revenue from patient upgrades, which the Company believes can result in substantially more income to doctors than the $44,000 in government stimulus programs. Kodak distributors and resellers and NPP receive an additional 15 percent as long as their MMRPro sale is active which should be no less than three years.

According to Robert H. Lorsch, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of MMRGlobal, “In addition to the Company’s core business, we foresee incremental growth from the effects of an acquisition strategy by adding business units that sell complementary products and services to MMRPro customers, and from our targeted expansion into the Pacific Rim with Kodak, and India with Nihilent. As part of the acquisition strategy, the Company could introduce a full-blown Electronic Medical Records product after meaningful use criteria are finalized. We continue to work with GRSworldwide on opportunities to introduce the Company’s products and services to the clinical trials market. Also, it is impossible to predict revenues, if any, which could come from the Company’s pre-merger Favrille biotech assets. While the Company continues to explore opportunities involving those assets, we remain focused on our core business, which is the development and marketing of professional and consumer-based health information technology products and services.”

Last Sunday, on June 27^th, the Company ran a 30-second commercial during the 37th Annual Daytime Emmy Awards primetime television special. The Company converted more than 20 percent of all visitors to its website to an e-mail address and more than 5 percent to paid accounts despite a 30-day free trial. MMR will continue to exploit its commercial advertising on the Web and in direct marketing materials through its agreement with E-Mail Frequency.

The Company is in the process of translating its consumer websites into seven foreign languages in support of its Chartis agreement and believes that once completed, this could result in additional licensing and/or direct international marketing opportunities. To learn more about MMR Global, Inc. and its products, visit www.mymedicalrecords.com, www.mmrpro.com and view our product videos at www.mmrtheater.com.

About MMRGlobal, Inc.
MMR Global, Inc., through its wholly-owned operating subsidiary, MyMedicalRecords, Inc. (“MMR”), provides secure and easy-to-use online Personal Health Records (“PHRs”) and electronic safe deposit box storage solutions (www.myesafedepositbox.com), serving consumers, healthcare professionals, employers, insurance companies, financial institutions, and professional organizations and affinity groups. MyMedicalRecords enables individuals and families to access their medical records and other important documents, such as birth certificates, passports, insurance policies and wills, anytime from anywhere using the Internet. The MyMedicalRecords Personal Health Record is built on proprietary, patented technologies to allow documents, images and voicemail messages to be transmitted and stored in the system using a variety of methods, including fax, phone, or file upload without relying on any specific electronic medical record platform to populate a user’s account. The Company’s professional offering, MMRPro, is designed to give physicians’ offices an easy and cost-effective solution to digitizing paper-based medical records and sharing them with patients in real time through an integrated patient portal. MMR is an Independent Software Vendor Partner with Kodak to deliver an integrated turnkey EMR solution for healthcare professionals. MMR is also an integrated service provider on Google Health.

Forward-Looking Statements
Statements in this press release that are not strictly historical in nature constitute “forward-looking statements.” Such forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the Company’s actual results to be materially different from historical results or from any results expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. These factors include, but are not limited to, the risk the Company’s products are not adopted or viewed favorably by the healthcare community, risks related to the current uncertainty and instability in financial and lending markets, timing and volume of sales and installations, length of sales cycles and the installation process, market acceptance of new product introductions, ability to establish and maintain strategic relationships, ability to identify and integrate acquisitions, relationships with licensees, competitive product offerings and promotions, compliance with and changes in government laws and regulations and future changes and initiatives in the healthcare industry, undetected errors in our products, risks related to third party vendors, risks related to obtaining and integrating third-party licensed technology, acceptance of the Company’s marketing and promotional campaigns, risks related to a security breach by third parties, maintaining, developing and defending our intellectual property rights including those pertaining to our biotechnology assets, uncertainties associated with doing business internationally across borders and territories, and additional risks discussed in the Company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Additionally, we are a developing early-stage company and many variables can affect revenues and/or projections, including factors out of our control. The Company is providing this information as of the date of this release and, except as required by law, does not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements contained in this release as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. 

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SPRINGFIELD, OH–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE Amex: ADK), an Ohio-based long-term care, home care and management company, intends to offer shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. C.K. Cooper & Company is acting as the sole manager for the public offering.

AdCare plans to use the net proceeds of the offering for acquisition purposes, working capital and general corporate purposes.

AdCare previously filed a registration statement, together with the accompanying base prospectus, with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) on May 4, 2010, which became effective on June 23, 2010. Investors are advised to carefully consider the investment objectives, risks and expenses of AdCare before investing. The base prospectus contains certain information about AdCare and should be read carefully before investing. A prospectus supplement describing the particular terms of the offering will be filed with the SEC and will form a part of the effective registration statement. When available, copies of the prospectus supplement and accompanying base prospectus may be obtained from the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov or from C.K. Cooper & Company, 18300 Von Karman Avenue, Suite 700, Irvine, California 92612, Attention: Hue Lapham/Syndicate Department, or [email protected], or via fax +1-949-477-9211.

This press release does not constitute an offer to sell or solicitation of an offer to buy any securities. Any such offer may be made only pursuant to the company’s prospectus for the offering and only in states in which the offering is registered or exempt from registration and by broker-dealers authorized to do so. The securities offered by the prospectus involve a high degree of risk.

About AdCare Health Systems
AdCare Health Systems, Inc. (NYSE Amex: ADK) develops, owns and manages assisted living facilities, nursing homes and retirement communities and provides home healthcare services. Prior to becoming a publicly traded company in November of 2006, AdCare operated as a private company for 18 years. AdCare’s 900 employees provide high-quality care, management services and other services for patients and residents residing in 19 facilities, seven of which are assisted living facilities, 11 skilled nursing centers and one independent senior living community. The company owns eight of those facilities. In the ever-expanding marketplace of long-term care, AdCare’s mission is to provide quality healthcare services to the elderly. For more information about AdCare, visit www.adcarehealth.com.

Safe Harbor Statement
Statements contained in this press release that are not historical facts may be forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal law. Such forward-looking statements reflect management’s beliefs and assumptions and are based on information currently available to management, and involve known and unknown risks, results, performance or achievements of the company which may differ materially from those expressed or implied in such statements. Such factors are identified in the public filings made by the company with the Securities and Exchange Commission and include the company’s ability to secure lines of credit and/or an acquisition credit facility, find suitable acquisition properties at favorable terms, changes in the health care industry because of political and economic influences, changes in regulations governing the industry, changes in reimbursement levels including those under the Medicare and Medicaid programs and changes in the competitive marketplace. There can be no assurance that such factors or other factors will not affect the accuracy of such forward-looking statements.

MADISON, WI–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO), maker of advanced radiation therapy solutions for cancer care, announced today that it has signed an equipment supply group purchasing agreement with Premier Purchasing Partners, L.P., the group purchasing unit of Premier, Inc. The agreement provides TomoTherapy greater reach into Premier’s not-for-profit hospitals and health centers, which includes 2,300 U.S. hospitals and more than 67,000 other healthcare facilities, while enabling Premier members to access special pricing and terms for innovative radiation oncology solutions and establishing a streamlined purchasing solution for them.

TomoTherapy’s radiation therapy solutions enable high treatment quality for a broad patient population, with capabilities to treat cancers throughout the body.

“We are pleased to be partnering with Premier, the leading group purchasing organization serving not-for-profit healthcare institutions,” said Fred Robertson, TomoTherapy CEO. “In addition to providing TomoTherapy expanded reach through Premier’s network, this agreement will offer Premier’s members better access to highly precise cancer treatment solutions.”

About Premier Healthcare Alliance
Premier is a performance improvement alliance of more than 2,300 U.S. hospitals and 67,000-plus other healthcare sites working together to achieve high quality, cost-effective care. Owned by not-for-profit hospitals, Premier maintains the nation’s most comprehensive repository of clinical, financial and outcomes information and operates a leading healthcare purchasing network. A world leader in helping deliver measurable improvements in care, Premier works with the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services and the United Kingdom’s National Health Service North West to improve hospital performance. Headquartered in Charlotte, N.C., Premier also has offices in San Diego, Philadelphia and Washington. http://www.premierinc.com.

About TomoTherapy Incorporated
TomoTherapy Incorporated develops, markets and sells advanced radiation therapy solutions that can be used to treat a wide variety of cancers, from the most common to the most complex. The ring gantry-based TomoTherapy® platform combines integrated CT imaging with conformal radiation therapy to deliver sophisticated radiation treatments with speed and precision while reducing radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue. TomoTherapy’s suite of solutions include its flagship Hi·Art® treatment system, which has been used to deliver more than three million CT-guided, helical intensity-modulated radiation therapy (IMRT) treatment fractions; the TomoHD™ treatment system, designed to enable cancer centers to treat a broader patient population with a single device; and the TomoMobile™ relocatable radiation therapy solution, designed to improve access and availability of state-of-the-art cancer care. TomoTherapy’s stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol TOMO. To learn more about TomoTherapy, please visit TomoTherapy.com.

©2010 TomoTherapy Incorporated. All rights reserved. TomoTherapy, Tomo, TomoDirect, TQA, the TomoTherapy logo and Hi·Art are among trademarks, service marks or registered trademarks of TomoTherapy Incorporated in the United States and other countries.

NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  Neostem (NYSE Amex: NBS) was cleared for manufacturing penicillin and cephalosporin powder for injection at its new manufacturing facility by China’s State Food and Drug Administration. The news helped convince WBB Securities to upgrade the company from ‘sell’ to ‘hold’.

WBB Securities initially extended coverage on Neostem on June 3, 2010 with a ‘sell’ recommendation, however, it should be noted that the investment banking firm began touting four other stem cell companies in late April. The fact that Neostem raised $5 million in cash through a placement in late June had no bearing on the investment banker’s outlook, however, after the Chinese State Food and Drug Administration cleared the way to begin selling drugs manufactured at Neostem’s new, state-of-the-art facility in China, WBB Securities analysts had second thoughts and upgraded the company’s shares.

Neostem announced Tuesday morning that two of its manufacturing lines were up and running at its China pharmaceutical manufacturing unit which would increase production capacity by more than 50%. With that country’s State FDA giving the green light to manufacture penicillin and cephalosporin powder for injection, sales forecasts are expected to show substantial gains.

Based on sales results for 2009 and the new manufacturing plant’s increased capacity, sales could increase by more than $20 million.

Neostem founder and CEO, Dr. Robin Smith, noted that Eyre was one step closer to becoming “one of the largest antibiotic producers in Eastern China.”

Note to Editors: “News Features” are stories provided to publishers copyright-free for print or online display at no charge. All we ask is that publishers include our byline (AXcess News) as the source, or if online, link to our Web Site: http://www.axcessnews.com. If you are interested in displaying our news on a regular basis, please contact our editorial department at: 775-461-0362 or by email at: [email protected].

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LAS VEGAS, NV–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  VisualMED Clinical Solutions Corp. (The “Company”) (PINKSHEETS: VMCS) (FRANKFURT: VA6) announces that it has received in the past three weeks firm orders for its Clinical Information System from independent private medical facilities worth an aggregate amount of 2.6 million.

The deals are multi-year rental agreements that will see the deployment of the Company’s signature smart Electronic Health Record, with full CPOE, decision support and medical alerts, over the next 3 months. A significant part of the implementation support and help desk will be outsourced for greater speed and efficiency.

Starting in April the Company has been receiving increasing requests for quotes as medical facilities seek to meet the 2011 deadline for the first and largest disbursement to physicians under ARRA provisions. The key for physicians to secure these payments is meeting the meaningful use criteria which can only be demonstrated by using a true intelligent CPOE such as the ones VisualMED has been offering for many years.

“Thanks to the new reforms our time has come,” says Chairman Gerard Dab. “We are now becoming a mainstream product line that helps physicians meet new regulatory standards. Providers have only five years to implement systems that offer meaningful use before they face punitive measures, and there is a shortage of expertise in the marketplace to do so.” 

VisualMED appears to be benefiting from the new regulatory environment created by the Healthcare Information Technology provisions of the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA), which has earmarked close to $40 Billion to promote the widespread adoption of systems that correspond to federal norms of meaningful use, such as those owned and marketed by the Company since 2006.

Medical institutions are under increasing pressure to adopt such technologies. There is an industry-wide rush to identify systems that can help physicians qualify for federal ARRA reimbursement grants. This has led to an increased demand for products and services from companies that can deliver the rich medical content and suitable interoperability required.

The Company continues to work with its network of licensees and will seek to expand its network of strategic alliances. It expects to be profitable for a second consecutive year and has continued to contain operating costs.

ABOUT VISUALMED

VisualMED markets smart EHR with Clinical Information Systems (CIS) and Computerized Physician Order Entry that meet the new regulatory environment ushered in by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 and the Health Reform Act of 2010.

We offer a powerful technology platform both scalable and interoperable, developed at a cost of some forty million dollars and tested over many years in tertiary care and ambulatory environments.

Our solutions help medical facilities reduce mortality and morbidity due to medical errors, increase provider efficiency and bring down operating costs. Their key clinical components are a core solution in the new agenda to promote greater patient safety and reduce risks due to medication errors.

Detailed information on our company and its products is available on our web site at www.visualmedsolutions.com

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

Except for historical information provided herein, this press release may contain information and statements of a forward-looking nature concerning the future performance of the Company. These statements are based on suppositions and uncertainties as well as on management’s best possible evaluation of future events. Such factors may include, without excluding other considerations, fluctuations in quarterly results, evolution in customer demand for the Company’s products and services, the impact of price pressures exerted by competitors, and general market trends or economic changes. As a result, readers are advised that actual results may differ from expected results.

WEST HARTFORD, CT–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  ORLive, the vision of improving health, presents a personalized partial knee replacement surgery. Presented by ConforMIS, the surgery will be broadcast live from University of Wuerzburg Orthopedic Center for Musculoskeletal Research.

This week ORLive also invites you take part in the latest installment of the Virtual Brain Tumor Board, and to watch and learn from our library of spine surgery videos.

NEW ON ORLIVE

LIVE SURGERY — German Language Broadcast to Europe, Featuring ConforMIS iUni^® G2 Patient Specific Partial Knee Replacement System
Live June 29, 2010, 11:00 AM EDT

Live from the University of Wuerzburg Orthopedic Center for Musculoskeletal Research, a live partial knee replacement surgery using the ConforMIS iUni^® G2 system. The broadcast will feature Dr. Wolfgang Fitz of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Dr. Ulrich Nöth and Dr. Maximilian Rudert, both of the University of Wuerzburg Orthopedic Center for Musculoskeletal Research, presenting and performing the surgery. Learn more about this broadcast, presented entirely in German, at http://www.orlive.com/conformis-inc-/videos/n-chste-generation-patienten-spezifischer-knieoberfl-chenersatz-mit-conformis-iuni-sup-/sup-g2-17-00-uhr-mez-1.

Viewers will be able to interact and ask questions via the ORLive website. Learn more about this program, and request a reminder on ORLive.com.

ORLIVE REFERRALS — Week of June 28, 2010
Each week ORLive highlights on-demand videos for our membership and visitors.

Spine Health Referral: XLIF^® Procedure from Tampa General Hospital

CME Referral: Complex Cases in Cardiovascular Anesthesiology

Viewer’s Referral: Revision Knee Surgery Featuring the Zimmer^® NexGen^® LCCK System, from Zimmer

HIGHLIGHTS

NOW ON-DEMAND — Advances in Treating Pediatric Epilepsy
Now Available On-Demand

If a child’s seizures can’t be controlled with medications, surgery may be the solution. See how the Neurosurgical team at NewYork-Presbyterian Phyllis & David Komansky Center for Children’s Health is making advancements in epilepsy. Hosted by Philip Stieg, MD, PhD, and featuring Jeffrey Greenfield, MD, PhD, Samual Weinstein, MD, and Theodore Schwartz, MD, this program goes in depth into the latest surgical advancements and options for patients.

Viewers of this video are invited to interact with the surgeons via the ORLive website, and to join the community and receive regular updates from the NewYork-Presbyterian Phyllis & David Komansky Center for Children’s Health on pediatric epilepsy.

LIVE PROGRAM: Minimally Invasive Heart Surgery: Robot Assisted Mitral Valve Repair
Now Available On-Demand

Baptist Health South Florida will take center stage when viewers watch as cardiac surgeon Dr. Lynn Seto uses the da Vinci Robotic Surgical System to perform a mitral valve repair.

The webcast will be moderated by television personality Diane Magnum. She will moderate commentary by Dr. Seto and cardiologists Dr. Paul Seigel and Dr. Romeo Majano, who will explain the benefits of having valve repair surgery. Additionally, the patient who was operated on in late May will share his experience about his diagnosis and recovery. Viewers also can choose to watch the procedure in Spanish.

SUPPLEMENTAL CONTENT — VOX ORLive
This procedure is also featured in an episode of VOX ORLive, an audio podcast featuring the latest advancements in medicine, surgery, and medical technology.

About ORLive
ORLive is the leading provider of video communication channels to the healthcare community. Working collaboratively with hospitals and device manufacturers, ORLive produces and distributes customized, interactive, video programs that demonstrate the latest advances in medicine, surgical techniques and product innovations. The ORLive broadcasting network provides an intimate look at over 650 live and on-demand surgeries to a global audience, streaming over 50,000 hours of programming each month. The ORLive network can be found on-line at www.ORLive.com.

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ORLANDO, FL–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  Five-year results of the Action to Control Cardiovascular Risk in Diabetes (ACCORD) study confirm that neither more intensive lowering of blood glucose (sugar) levels, more intensive lowering of blood pressure, nor treatment of blood lipids with a fibrate and a statin drug reduce cardiovascular risk in people with established type 2 diabetes who are at severely high risk for cardiovascular events. However, the study did find improvements to microvascular conditions, such as progression of diabetic eye disease (retinopathy), visual acuity, and renal and nerve function. The landmark study is sponsored by the federal government through the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

Speaking at the American Diabetes Association’s 70th Scientific Sessions^®, the ACCORD Study Group cautioned that any potential benefits must be weighed against the increased risk of mortality and episodes of seriously low blood glucose that were seen to accompany intensive lowering of blood glucose levels — which in ACCORD was focused on achieving normal A1C levels in the study population. They emphasized that both the positive and negative results of the study apply only to this population of middle-aged or older people with type 2 diabetes for an average of 10 years, who also had a history of cardiovascular disease (CVD) or at least two risk factors for CVD.

“These results underscore the importance of patient-centered care that stresses individual treatment choices made in consultation with a physician,” said Denise Simons-Morton, MD, Ph.D, Director of the Division for the Application of Research Discoveries at the NIH’s National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI), the primary sponsor of the study. “Within this group, it’s important for patients and doctors to decide the highest priority for the patient,” she said. “Is improved eye health worth a higher risk of death and low blood sugar episodes? That’s a question only a fully informed patient can answer.”

The ACCORD researchers set out to investigate whether cardiovascular risk in people with type 2 diabetes could be reduced using one of the following strategies, each compared with standard treatment: intensive lowering of blood glucose to near-normal levels (target A1C less than 6%), intensive lowering of blood pressure to near-normal levels, or treatment of blood lipids with a combination of fibrate and statin drugs. It also looked at how each of these treatments would affect other outcomes such as mortality and microvascular outcomes (e.g., eye, kidney and nerve complications). 

NHLBI prematurely halted the intensive blood-glucose lowering strategy after 3.5 years, in February 2008, due to safety concerns caused by an unexpected higher incidence of death in the intensive glucose lowering treatment group compared with the standard treatment group. Patients in the intensive treatment arm of the study were transitioned into the standard treatment arm for the remainder of the trial’s five years, which has now concluded.

Intensively Lowering Blood Glucose: Increased Mortality and No Cardio Benefit, But Possible Benefits to Eyes, Kidneys and Nerves

Results of intensive glucose lowering on microvascular outcomes were published today in the Lancet and presented at a symposium at the American Diabetes Association’s 70^th Scientific Sessions in Orlando.

The study examined patients who underwent intensive glucose-lowering treatment for 3.5 years (increased medication aimed at lowering A1C levels to less than 6 percent) and were then given standard treatments (aimed at achieving A1C levels of 7.0-7.9%) for the remaining 1.5 years, compared with standard treatment for the duration of the study. The intensively treated patients did not see a reduced incidence of cardiovascular disease.

In addition, the groups did not differ in overall measures of microvascular health, for example, in the progression rates to kidney failure, major vision loss, or advanced peripheral neuropathy, a common nerve problem in diabetes that usually begins as tingling or numbness in the feet. However, there were some microvascular improvements noted, such as a reduced incidence of albuminuria (protein in the urine, a marker of kidney disease) in the intensive group, compared to those receiving standard treatment, along with fewer cataract extractions during the study period. Visual acuity (sharpness of vision) and nerve function scores were also better for the intensive group than for the standard-treatment group, suggesting that intensive lowering of blood glucose may also help prevent eye and nerve damage.

“Patients who develop macroalbuminuria are prone to renal failure and cardiovascular events,” said Faramarz Ismail-Beigi, MD, Ph.D, of Case Western Reserve University and the lead researcher on this portion of the study. “Less protein in the urine is a very good sign.”

Though the visual acuity tests were somewhat subjective, Ismail-Beigi said, they could indicate that intensive glucose lowering helps to prevent eye damage.

Intensively Lowering Blood Glucose, Treating Lipids: Slows Retinopathy Progression

That finding is further supported by a substudy of ACCORD chaired by Emily Chew, MD, chief of the Clinical Trials Branch of the Division of Epidemiology and Clinical Applications at the NIH’s National Eye Institute (NEI). Results of the study were published online in the New England Journal of Medicine today. Chew and her colleagues investigated whether each treatment arm of the ACCORD trial — blood glucose, blood pressure, and blood lipids — would reduce the progression of diabetic eye disease (or retinopathy) in a subset of about 3,000 ACCORD study participants, compared to that treatment’s standard approach. Disease progression was identified through retinal photographs that indicated blood vessel changes or by the need for laser or vitrectomy surgery to treat abnormal blood vessels.

The study found that people in the intensive blood glucose lowering arm, as well as those who received a combination of a fibrate and a statin for blood lipids, experienced slower progression in diabetic retinopathy than those in each standard treatment arm. Those who were in the intensive blood pressure lowering arm did not see a reduction in eye disease progression when compared to people receiving standard blood pressure control.

Compared with standard blood glucose control, intensive control decreased the progression of diabetic retinopathy by about one-third, from 10.4 percent to 7.3 percent, over four years. Participants in the intensive control group had a median blood glucose level of 6.4 percent hemoglobin A1C — a level close to values in people without diabetes. The standard blood glucose control group maintained a median level of 7.5 percent.

In addition, compared with simvastatin treatment alone, combination lipid therapy with fenofibrate plus simvastatin also reduced disease progression by about one-third, from 10.2 percent to 6.5 percent, over four years. No prior clinical trial has shown that the combination of fenofibrate and simvastatin reduces diabetic eye disease progression.

Contrary to predictions, there was no difference in diabetic retinopathy progression among participants treated to an intensive systolic blood pressure (the top number in a blood pressure reading) target of less than 120 mm Hg, compared with those treated to a standard target of less than 140 mm Hg.

“The results of the ACCORD Eye Study indicate that intensive blood sugar control and combination fibrate plus statin treatment of lipids independently reduce diabetic retinopathy progression,” Chew said. “However, patients and their doctors should work together to develop an individual treatment plan, taking into account the potential risks of intensive glucose treatment.”

Combination Lipid Treatment: No Cardio Benefits Overall, But Subgroup May See Reduced Risk

Combination lipid therapy with a statin plus a fibrate did not help lower cardiovascular risks overall, but the results did suggest that a subgroup of the study — those with high triglycerides and low HDL (the so-called “good” cholesterol) — may benefit by such treatment.

In this subpopulation of the investigation, which included about 15 percent of the 5,518 people studied in the ACCORD Lipid Trial, those who had triglyceride levels of more than 200 and HDL levels below 34 saw a reduced incidence of cardiovascular events of 30 percent. These findings are supported by similar findings of subgroup populations in several large previously published clinical studies.

“If it were an isolated finding in our study I’d be less enthusiastic,” said Henry Ginsberg, MD, Irving Professor of Medicine and Director of the Irving Institute for Clinical and Translational Research at Columbia University. “But this finding is in line with subgroup analyses in several other trials.”

A second subgroup analysis of this arm of the study found that women and men respond differently to combination lipid therapy, Ginsberg said. Though overall the study found no cardiovascular benefits for the study population, when broken down by gender, the results showed men experienced a 20 percent reduction in cardiovascular events, while women experienced a 38 percent increase in cardiovascular events.

However, when examined for statistical significance, “the data for men showed a strong indication that they benefitted, while the data for women were not as conclusive,” Ginsberg said. “This raises possibilities that need to be further examined.”

These results were published in the April 29, 2010, issue of the New England Journal of Medicine.

Intensively Lowering Blood Pressure: No Cardio Benefits, But Suggested Reduction in Stroke

Results from the intensive blood pressure control arm of the study were also published in April in the New England Journal of Medicine. In this treatment arm, participants lowered blood pressure levels to “normal” levels of less than 120 mm Hg, to see if doing so would reduce major cardiovascular events, compared with standard treatment of levels less than 140 mm Hg. No significant reduction in overall CVD events was found.

The study did find a significant (41 percent) reduction in stroke, which was consistent with other BP-lowering clinical trials. However, because this was not the primary focus of the study, and because the overall rate of stroke was low, the researchers are hesitant to recommend a strategy of lowering blood pressure to this degree without further study.

“Older patients with known cardiovascular disease, higher blood pressure to begin with, and African Americans may benefit from such a treatment plan,” said William Cushman, MD, of the Memphis Veterans Affairs Medical Center, “but we’re going to have to do further analyses.”

The NHLBI is the primary sponsor of ACCORD, with additional funding and scientific expertise contributed by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. Other components of the NIH — including the National Institute of Aging — as well as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, support substudies. The following companies provided study medications, equipment, or supplies: Abbott Laboratories, Amylin Pharmaceutical, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals LP, Bayer HealthCare LLC, Closer Healthcare Inc., GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals, King Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Merck & Co., Inc., Novartis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Novo Nordisk, Inc., Omron Healthcare, Inc., Sanofi-Aventis U.S., and Takeda Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

The American Diabetes Association is leading the fight to stop diabetes and its deadly consequences and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The Association funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. Founded in 1940, our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. For more information please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.

Symposium, June 29, 10:15 a.m.

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NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  Interactivation Health Networks, parent company of the Newborn Channel and Patient Channel, the nation’s most comprehensive in-hospital TV networks, today announced the appointment of Chana Stern as Account Executive, Ad Sales, for both channels.

Formerly with Everwell TV, Chana joins Interactivation with over 10 years experience in the Out-of-Home media space. A seasoned executive, Chana will provide agencies with an additional point of contact for advertisers seeking expertise in point of care, place based media, as demand for both networks continues to grow.

“Demand for digital out-of-home video advertising, particularly as it relates to hospitals as a fourth screen location, has grown significantly over the past year,” said Suzanne Fleming SVP of Sales at Interactivation Health Networks. “Chana’s familiarity with both place based media advertising and the health industry at large will be key assets for us as we continue to meet the needs of our growing list of advertisers.”

Newborn Channel and Patient Channel provide marketers with unparalleled access to their target consumers in a highly trusted environment. 

About Interactivation Health Networks
The Patient Channel and The Newborn Channel are the most comprehensive in-hospital TV networks. Delivered directly to patient rooms and waiting areas, the Channels provide viewers with original, award-winning health programs and advertisers with the unique ability to integrate brand messaging with content that is compelling and endorsed by healthcare professionals. The Newborn Channel broadcasts baby care and postpartum programming for new parents, reaching 60% of new moms. The Patient Channel features both condition-specific and preventative health programming to empower and inform patients. The channels are currently available in over 2,700 hospitals nationwide.

ROCKVILLE, MD–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  MarketResearch.com has announced the addition of Kalorama Information’s new report “Long Term Care Market: Nursing Homes, Home Care, Hospice Care, and Assisted Living,” to their collection of Home Healthcare market reports. For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?ProductID=2578516

Kalorama Information publishes its third edition of this detailed report on the long term care industry at a time of growth but also change and concern for the long term care industry. The economy has challenged the business strategies of key players, while the recent healthcare legislation introduces changes that may affect revenues. These twin challenges are addressed in The Long-Term Care Market: Nursing Homes, Home Care, Hospice Care, and Assisted Living The report provides an in-depth examination of the market for long-term care today. The following segments are broken out in detail: This report covers the most important segments of the long term care industry, each of which provide medical care and/or assistance with the activities of daily living (ADLs) on an ongoing basis:

• Nursing care;
• Home Care;
• Hospice Care;
• Assisted Living.

Excluded are markets that address temporary care needs such as physical or mental rehabilitation. Residential living programs and facilities that do not generally provide care such as retirement communities.

For each of the segments of long term care the report provides:

• Market Size and Forecast
• Number of Facilities/Providers and Growth Trends
• Patient Statistics
• Forms of Payment and Reimbursement Levels
• Trends Affecting the Marketplace
• Competitors and Competitive Analysis

Sales estimates for each market segment represent U.S. revenues and are expressed in current dollars. Estimates are provided for the historic 2005 to 2009 period and forecasts are provided through 2015.

As part of the report’s analysis of the state of the industry, the report covers the Recent Healthcare Reform and its Impact on Nursing Homes and the Effects of the Economy. Other issues and trends discussed in the report include:

• Medicare & Health Care Reform
• Patient Dumping
• Quality of Care
• Federal Quality Improvement Initiatives
• State Quality Improvement Initiatives
• Legal Actions
• Safety
• Aging of the Population
• Marital and Living Arrangements
• Geographic Concentrations
• Certification and Accreditation
• Fees and Payment
• Long Term Care Insurance
• Cost of Coverage and Affordability
• Staffing and Human Resources
• Building of New Facilities 

Historical information for this report was gathered from a wide variety of published sources including company reports and filings, government documents, legal filings, trade journals, newspapers and business press, analysts’ reports and other sources. Interviews with company representatives were conducted to capture the perspectives from industry participants’ point of view and assess trends, and form the basis of the forecasting and competitive analysis.

As part of its coverage of the industry, the following long term care companies were profiled in this report:

• Apria Healthcare Group Inc./ Blackstone Group
• Brookdale Senior Living
• Emeritus Corporation
• Extendicare, Inc.
• Genesis Healthcare
• Golden Living
• Manor Care, Inc.
• Sun Healthcare Group Inc.
• Sunrise Senior Living Inc.

For more information, visit http://www.marketresearch.com/product/display.asp?ProductID=2578516.

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BOCA RATON, FL–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) – Banyan Corporation (PINKSHEETS: BNYN) announced that its board of directors has agreed to the formation of a new operating unit of the company called “America’s Dentist.”

This operating division will focus on the multi-billion dollar dental industry and is establishing itself to provide marketing, finance, practice management and branding to the dental community. The company feels that it will be able to bring significant value added to a broad array of dental practices.

Banyan Corporation believes it can leverage off its significant experience with Chiropractic USA, as well as with its existing operations in its diagnostic imaging business, to move into the dental arena.

About Banyan Corporation:

Banyan Corporation is a publicly traded holding company focused on investing in and building a network of operating subsidiaries engaged in various innovative businesses. Currently the company’s subsidiaries, Premier Medical Group, Inc. and affiliated companies, provide diagnostic testing services to physicians nationwide.

This Press Release contains or incorporates by reference forward-looking statements including certain information with respect to plans and strategies of Banyan Corporation. For this purpose, any statements contained herein or incorporated herein by references that are not statements of historical fact may be deemed forward-looking statements. Without limiting the foregoing, the words “believes,” “suggests,” “anticipates,” “plans,” “expects,” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. There are a number of events or actual results of Banyan Corporation operations that could differ materially from those indicated by such forward-looking statements.

DALLAS, TX–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) – As a result of the health care reform law that was recently passed, organizations that process health care claims must take action to comply with the new regulation. To assist organizations, SOURCECORP, Incorporated, a premier business process outsourcing company, has released a new white paper, “Is Your Claims Processing Destined for Success in the Face of Government-Driven Change?” This complimentary document explains some of the law’s requirements and demonstrates why outsourcing is an efficient and cost-savvy way for organizations to adhere to the new standards.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is expected to cause an increase in enrollments, which will lead to growth in claims processing and customer service assistance. Payer companies and organizations must also convert to HIPAA 5010 standards and enact changes in medical coding from ICD-9 to ICD-10 as of October 1, 2013. In order to meet these mandates, these organizations will need to upgrade their software systems and implement other new processes.

There are many benefits of outsourcing the administrative burden that will come with the predicted surge in enrollment. Utilizing a subcontracting model will lower the operational cost of processing claims and responding to customer needs, and reduce the cost associated with the technology that must be used in order to comply with the law. It also helps ensure that organizations will meet the terms of the legislation, giving companies expert advice on this new platform.

Outsourcing will help organizations meet the demands of the rapid increase in enrollment, as well as the costs to manage additional insured customers. While HIPAA implementation and migration to ICD-10 codes are not required until 2013, the Department of Health and Human Services is expecting providers to complete testing by the end of this year.

To execute new HIPAA standards and code changes, most companies will have to update their infrastructure and expend the resources to evaluate and test new software systems. By subcontracting, organizations can eliminate the need for an additional capital expense and make sure the systems are implemented correctly.

Another benefit of outsourcing is that organizations will not need additional space to house equipment or provide additional staff to run the systems. Instead, health care payer companies can optimize their space for revenue-generating activities instead of storing bulky equipment and hosting mailroom operations.

Outsourcing will enable companies to speed up and efficiently process new enrollments and serve customers. Staff members will be able to focus more on customer care rather than tedious administrative tasks. In addition, employees of companies that subcontract can maintain accuracy despite spikes in enrollment and claim processing. Administrative expenses and time can be reduced by nearly 50 percent as a result of hiring a company that specializes in claims processing to meet the new health care reform guidelines.

John Nixon, Senior Vice President of Business Development for SOURCECORP’s BPS division, stated, “Outsourcing to SOURCECORP has helped many companies save on per claim capture costs by an average of $1.2 million to $4.5 million annually. Best of all, we can help ensure that a company will avoid penalties that can be issued from not implementing systems correctly, and from not deploying a new system on time.”

For a complimentary white paper on migrating to the new health care reform standards, visit www.sourcecorp.com/newsroom/white-papers.aspx

About SOURCECORP®
SOURCECORP, Incorporated provides business process outsourcing solutions and specialized high value consulting services to clients throughout the United Sates. SOURCECORP focuses on business processes in information-intensive industries including commercial, financial, government, healthcare, and legal. Headquartered in Dallas, the company serves clients throughout the United States through a network of locations in the U.S., Mexico, Philippines and India.

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CHARLOTTE, NC–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  Patient Care Technology Systems (PCTS), a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), today announced the availability of an upgrade to its software for tracking patients, staff and equipment. The new release of Amelior Tracker 2.8 features multiple improved user interfaces with enhanced search and identification tools to help healthcare staff locate resources as efficiently as possible.

Some key software enhancements include advanced “Map View” configuration options such as popup balloons that enable users to customize the contents and the number of items displayed for each entity when in hover-mode. This allows for a quick view of the details of each entity in its location including: name, serial number, workflow status (clean, in use, dirty), asset type and hospital ID to name a few. Users will also be able to view the actual number of entities in a specific location, rather than just a dot indicating that there is a piece of equipment nearby. Another key feature is a new RTLS Component Health Monitoring module that will enable the user to more effectively and efficiently monitor the status and functionality of the RTLS equipment deployed. Other enhancements include improved zone tree displays, application to use globalization settings to configure date formatting, a textbox available for quick tag id search, and a powerful new keyword search feature that dynamically searches over all attributes of an entity.

Amelior Tracker 2.8 advanced utilization reports help drive purchasing, rental and allocation decisions by analyzing whether the facility is making the best use of the assets it has. The PCTS workflow engine receives and interprets data from the RTLS system applying client-specific business rules to assess status and provide feedback that is critical to drive business processes and asset workflow. These reports provide managers, administrators and process improvement teams with movement, interaction and flow data that assists in spotting trends and identifying situations that may require corrective action, thus providing real-time business intelligence to our clients.

The Amelior Tracker® solution is part of the Amelior Enterprise Visibility and Workflow Automation Suite™ which comprises department to facility-wide software solutions and services designed to more efficiently and safely orchestrate patient care through the real-time visualization of patient flow. Hospitals can scale their implementations by the entities they wish to track (movable medical equipment, patients, staff), purpose (temperature monitoring, asset management, patient flow, infection control) and by the scope of hospital workflow (acute care, inpatient floors, outpatient services, enterprise-wide). 

Amelior Tracker is interoperable with all major locating technologies including active-RFID, infrared, ultrasound, ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi and ZigBee. PCTS also works closely with a network of successful locating hardware partners and provides consulting services so the best locating technology or technologies are chosen to match the client’s particular needs. In addition, the Amelior Interface Gateway™ supports the exchange of data between an Amelior tracking or documentation solution and virtually any hospital information system. Key functions include sending/receiving, data transformation, transaction logging, administration/monitoring and notifications. These platforms work together to offer extensive performance and workflow advantages to the healthcare industry.

“Recent enhancements to our Amelior Tracker software allows us to continue to provide an improved system that requires less time spent locating resources needed to support patient flow and improve staff workflow,” says Chad Sallee, vice president of information technology at PCTS. “The real-time identification and visualization of asset location can help eliminate redundant equipment purchases and leases, improve equipment utilization and preventative maintenance, and track assets as part of infection control protocols.”

About Patient Care Technology Systems

Patient Care Technology Systems, a subsidiary of Consulier Engineering, Inc. (NASDAQ: CSLR), helps health care providers to improve patient flow, increase capacity and improve patient and staff safety by visualizing the real-time location and status of people and equipment throughout their facility. PCTS solutions have supported over 2 million patient visits annually and have shown a proven return on investment in high turnover, high-acuity units such as the emergency department and perioperative suites. The Amelior Enterprise Visibility and Workflow Automation Suite™ is interoperable with all leading locating technologies, including active-RFID, infrared, ultrasound, ultra-wideband, Wi-Fi and ZigBee. PCTS customers have been recognized nationally for improvements in efficiency and clinical excellence. For more information, visit www.pcts.com. 

This press release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of federal securities laws. PCTS and CSLR caution you that any statements contained in this press release which are not strictly historical statements constitute forward-looking statements. Such forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those related to PCTS’s and CSLR’s expectations regarding continued business growth. These statements are neither promises nor guarantees, and involve risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from such forward-looking statements, (copies of which may be obtained at the SEC’s website at: http://www.sec.gov) — could impact the forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Readers should not place undue reliance on any such forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date they are made. PCTS and CSLR disclaim any obligation to publicly update or revise any such statements to reflect any change in PCTS and CSLR’s expectations, or in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements may be based, or that may affect the likelihood that actual results will differ from those set forth in the forward-looking statements.

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NEW YORK, NY–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  Healthnostics, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: HNSS), a medical and biotechnology analytics company, has initiated its acquisition strategy with cash investments in a medical manufacturing company.

The Company will continue to provide additional details as its acquisition strategy continues to unfold.

“We have now moved from the planning stage to the implementation stage of our acquisition strategy, which means that the positive impact on our sales and earnings will come sooner than originally planned,” said Alan Grofe, President.

About Healthnostics

Healthnostics, Inc. is a medical and biotechnology analytics company that provides comprehensive patient clinical monitoring and risk management systems to acute care hospitals and utilizes its Internet portals to deliver medical and biotechnology resource information to industry professionals as well as to the general public. Healthnostics’ major products include: MedGuardian, a patient care monitoring and risk management system for hospitals that is fully Web-based; and through the MedBioWeb subsidiary, MedBioWorld™, one of the largest professional medical and biotechnology directory resource and reference portal sites on the Internet, and FamilyMedicalNet, a companion consumer healthcare information portal.

For further information please visit Healthnostics www.healthnostics.com, MedBioWorld www.medbioworld.com, and FamilyMedicalNet www.familymedicalnet.com.

And visit us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/Healthnostics.

This press release may contain certain statements that are not descriptions of historical information, but are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Exchange Act of 1934. These forward-looking statements refer to matters that involve risks and uncertainties. Such statements reflect management’s current views and are based on certain assumptions. Actual results could differ materially from the assumptions currently anticipated.

FAIRFAX, VA–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  Avaya Government Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of Avaya, today announced the company’s participation in the recently-released study to modernize the healthcare system used by the Department of Veterans Affairs (V.A.). The V.A. relies heavily on this system to ensure America’s Veterans receive the treatment they require. Called the “VistA Modernization Report – Legacy to Leadership,” it is focused on improving the V.A.’s VistA (V.A. Health Information Systems and Technology Architecture) healthcare network.

The V.A. has seen an uptake in the demands of its healthcare system; which must serve nearly eight million veterans, 153 V.A. hospitals and 768 outpatient clinics. VistA is the integrated health information system — recognized as one of the best in the nation — that supports the V.A. in its work.

“The V.A. relies on the best doctors and medical technology,” said Joel Hackney, president, Avaya Government Solutions. “We are honored to be chosen to contribute to the success of this study and help the V.A. make its next-generation, information network the best available. We support the work of the VistA study participants and thank them for their unique contributions in helping define the next-generation Healthcare IT vision.”

“Providing for those who have served this great nation is more than our mandate, it is our passion,” said the Honorable Roger Baker, assistant secretary for Information and Technology and Chief Information Officer, Veterans Affairs. “The VistA study provides critical insight from the leaders in industry as to how we can do this better, more effectively and more comprehensively. This is planned to enable us to employ our resources with laser precision, eliminating waste in terms of time to service and completely eliminating every unused or underused resource.”

Included in the recommendations of the VistA study is the need to migrate the design of the information system of the Veterans Affairs to an open, plug-and-play architecture so that the most modern and “built for purpose” components that enhance functionality can be incorporated. In addition, by moving to an open-standards approach, the VistA system can utilize the best technology from standards-compliant vendors as well as other open source communities that will provide the best, most innovative products in the future.

The VistA study was spearheaded by the American Council for Technology (ACT) – Industry Advisory Council (IAC), which promotes government and industry collaboration. It was managed by the V.A. and Andy Robinson, IAC executive vice chair, for the IAC Executive Committee. Ed Meagher, chair of the IAC VistA Modernization Working Group, led the working group of healthcare and IT professionals from 34 companies for the six-month study, which included co-chair of the VistA Modernization & Architecture subcommittee, Srinath Godavarthi, technical director, Avaya Government Solutions.

Enterprise network modernization is critical for all healthcare entities. HIPPA compliance has mandated that all such systems be ultra-secure in their totality with no margin for error. Avaya is focused on serving the needs of both the Civil Government and Federal Government as well as the Healthcare industry.

About Avaya Government Solutions
Avaya Government Solutions is a network-centric integrator, providing the services expertise, mission-critical systems and secure communications that empower government to ensure the security, livelihood, and well being of its citizens. Headquartered in Fairfax, Va., Avaya Government Solutions offers a one-stop shop for solutions designed to improve workforce productivity, reduce operating costs, and streamline inter-agency communications. Please visit www.Avayagov.com for more information.

About Avaya
Avaya is a global leader in enterprise communications systems. The company provides unified communications, contact centers, data solutions, and related services directly and through its channel partners to leading businesses and organizations around the world. Enterprises of all sizes depend on Avaya for state-of-the-art communications that improve efficiency, collaboration, customer service and competitiveness. For more information please visit www.avaya.com.

ORLANDO, FL–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  A community-based lifestyle intervention program, modeled after one used in a landmark government funded diabetes-prevention study, can help participants in a group setting achieve weight loss and blood glucose reductions comparable to those achieved with individual counseling from health professionals, according to data presented by researchers at the American Diabetes Association’s 70th Scientific Sessions®.

In the Healthy Living Partnerships to Prevent Diabetes (HELP PD) study, participants were divided into two groups: a lifestyle weight loss group, which received six months of weekly behavioral weight loss sessions in a group setting, followed by monthly follow-up meetings, at which they were encouraged to change eating behaviors and exercise up to 180 minutes per week; and a usual care group, which received two visits with a dietitian and a quarterly newsletter with tips for lifestyle changes. The group weight loss sessions were delivered by lay community health workers trained and supervised by dietitians at the Wake Forest Diabetes Care Center in Winston-Salem, North Carolina.

The study found that those in the lifestyle intervention group achieved and maintained significantly greater weight loss (an average of 7.3 percent of body weight) than those in the regular care group (who achieved an average loss of just 1.3 percent of body weight) after 12 months. The lifestyle intervention group also reduced blood glucose levels by an average of over 4 mg/dl, from 105.8 mg/dl to 101.2 mg/dl, after 12 months, compared to an average drop of less than 2 mg/dl (to 104 mg/dl) for the regular care group. The results for the lifestyle group mirrored those achieved over three years by participants in the landmark National Institutes of Health-sponsored Diabetes Prevention Program, in which individuals with glucose levels in the pre-diabetic range were able to reverse the course of their disease by losing 5-7% of body weight and exercising 150 minutes per week, in addition to receiving individual counseling sessions with trained behavioralists. In the Diabetes Prevention Program, the weight loss program led to a 58% reduction in the development of diabetes, from about 11% a year to about 5% a year.

“In the Diabetes Prevention Program, professional behavioral specialists worked with participants with pre-diabetes in one-on-one sessions. We trained some of our patients with diabetes to work as lay community health workers with groups of participants with pre-diabetes, so we really didn’t expect to see quite as good a weight loss result as we did, but we were very pleased to see it,” said David Goff, MD, Chair of the Department of Epidemiology and Prevention at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, and lead researcher on the study. “Given that our weight loss results look as good as the DPP, this approach shows great promise for preventing diabetes. It’s a very translatable intervention to deliver in public health settings. We think this approach could be replicated at Diabetes Care Centers across the country.”

There are more than 3,000 such centers in the United States, with on-site physicians, diabetes educators and facilities that can be used for delivering the type of group intervention employed in this study. However, the intervention can be delivered in any setting where community health workers have access to a room large enough for about a dozen people to meet, a television, a DVD player, and a scale, Dr. Goff said.

The HELP PD model relies upon DVDs developed by the research team that give participants information about healthy eating, proper stretching and exercise tips, how to eat “mindfully” (i.e. not out of boredom or habitually in front of the television) and other lifestyle-related topics. Dr. Goff said that training community health workers to coach participants on how to set goals, solve problems and use the information in the DVDs could be accomplished by others interested in starting such a program in their own community. Reimbursement for these programs is a barrier.

Study participants will be followed for an additional five years to see whether individuals can maintain weight loss and blood glucose reductions independently, or if they need continued group counseling to do so. The study is being funded by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health.

HELP PD is one of numerous community-centered intervention models being developed based upon a program used during the DPP. Several different programs, tested in a variety of community settings, will be discussed and presented during the Association’s 70^th Scientific Sessions, including the Group Lifestyle Balance Program, which helped significantly reduce diabetes risk factors through group settings at a primary care practice in California and also through DVDs that could be viewed at home (105-OR). This program was also successful when delivered by diabetes educators (417-PP). Another focused on Arab Americans in the Detroit, Michigan area, who successfully reached weight loss and physical activity goals through a program culturally modified to suit Middle Eastern diet and values (110-OR). And African Americans recruited during Sunday services at 42 churches in Georgia and Connecticut showed promising initial weight loss and a high willingness to participate in a church-based, culturally adapted lifestyle change program, according to preliminary data (109-OR).

The American Diabetes Association is leading the fight to stop diabetes and its deadly consequences and fighting for those affected by diabetes. The Association funds research to prevent, cure and manage diabetes; delivers services to hundreds of communities; provides objective and credible information; and gives voice to those denied their rights because of diabetes. Founded in 1940, our mission is to prevent and cure diabetes and to improve the lives of all people affected by diabetes. For more information please call the American Diabetes Association at 1-800-DIABETES (1-800-342-2383) or visit www.diabetes.org. Information from both these sources is available in English and Spanish.

Oral Presentation, Tuesday, June 29, 8:25 a.m.

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KANSAS CITY, MO–(Marketwire – June 29, 2010) –  U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius and other national leaders are coming together on July 6, 2010 for a first-of-its-kind town hall-style meeting with the goal of accelerating the discovery and development of new cancer drugs.

The event will bring together other senior government officials and thought leaders from industry, venture capital, academia, venture philanthropy and non-profit sectors to spur innovation and move discoveries more quickly from the laboratory to the clinic, where they can benefit patients battling cancer. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, and Richard Gephardt, former U.S. House Majority Leader and Chairman of the Council for American Medical Innovation, are among those who will participate.

Reflecting the growing shift away from the model of large pharmaceutical companies developing drugs internally from start to finish, the town hall is titled, “The New Role of Academia in Drug Discovery and Development.” It is being sponsored by Friends of Cancer Research and the University of Kansas Cancer Center, with support from the Kansas Bioscience Authority, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Council for American Medical Innovation.

Where: The Kauffman Foundation Conference Center, 4801 Rockhill Road, Kansas City, Mo., 64110

When: July 6, 2010, 7:45 a.m. – 3:45 p.m. CDT

Many key participants and organizational leadership will be available for press prior to the conference.

Press Contacts:
Friends of Cancer Research: Ryan Hohman, [email protected] or 717-333-6248

The University of Kansas Cancer Center: Marci Nielsen, [email protected], 913-961-0759 or Stephanie Sharp, [email protected], 913-579-4376

Kansas Bioscience Authority: Chad Bettes, [email protected] or 913-397-8300

Kauffman Foundation: Barb Pruitt, [email protected] or 816-932-1288

Council for American Medical Innovation: Sean Donahue, [email protected] or 202-347-7947

About Friends of Cancer Research

Friends of Cancer Research (Friends) is a cancer research think tank based in the Washington, D.C. area. Working with the entire cancer research and advocacy community, Friends pioneers innovative public-private partnerships, organizes critical policy forums, educates the public, and brings together key stakeholders to overcome the barriers standing between patients and the most promising cancer treatments.

About The University of Kansas Cancer Center

At The University of Kansas Cancer Center, we are more than an academic cancer center; we are a unique community-based cancer research and care partnership focused on one mission: eliminating the burden of cancer. The University of Kansas Cancer Center is transforming cancer research and clinical care by linking our innovative approach to drug discovery, delivery and development to our nationally accredited patient care program.

About the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation

The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a private nonpartisan foundation that works to harness the power of entrepreneurship and innovation to grow economies and improve human welfare. 

About the Council for American Medical Innovation

The United States faces serious challenges to maintaining its leadership position in innovation. The Council for American Medical Innovation is bringing together leaders in research, medicine, public health, academia, education, labor, investment, and business, who are working in partnership toward a national policy agenda aimed at preserving U.S. leadership in medical innovation. American medical innovators create millions of high-paying jobs, and their discoveries are integral in the fight to cure cancer and other illnesses. The Council for American Medical Innovation views leadership in medical innovation as a key part of America’s economic recovery, future prosperity and health.

About the Kansas Bioscience Authority

The KBA is a $581 million initiative that is advancing Kansas’ national bioscience leadership by building world-class research capacity; fostering the formation and growth of bioscience startups; supporting expansion of the state’s bioscience clusters; and facilitating industrial expansion and attraction.

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