The Connecticut Technology Council (CTC) and Marcum LLP announced HealthPlanOne has been named to the Marcum Tech Top 40 (TT40) list of fastest growing technology companies in Connecticut for the fifth consecutive year. The recognition is based both on total revenue and revenue growth over the past four years. HealthPlanOne will be honored alongside 39 other companies at an awards ceremony October 2 at the Oakdale Theatre in Wallingford.

According to HealthPocket, HealthPocket found that among 2015 Obamacare metal plans whose rate filings have been made public, platinum plans incurred the lowest average out-of-pocket costs for the five common specialty drugs used in the study.

Using publicly released 2015 rate filings in 9 states, HealthPocket analyzed health plan costs for five common specialty drugs. Specialty drugs have been a growing concern for consumers given their high costs and shortage of generic alternatives. They treat complex medical conditions, can cost thousands per prescription, and are used for a broad variety of conditions like arthritis, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis.

HealthPocket found that among 2015 Obamacare metal plans whose rate filings have been made public, platinum plans incurred the lowest average out-of-pocket costs for the five common specialty drugs used in the study. The average out-of-pocket specialty drug costs for platinum plans were 64% lower than gold plans, 74% lower than silver plans, and 78% lower than bronze plans. Even though platinum plans have the highest premiums among the four categories of Obamacare health plans, their reduced co-payments and lower caps on annual out-of-pocket costs can translate into lower overall costs for people taking specialty drugs. 2015 Platinum Plans Are Best Buy for Consumers Using Expensive Specialty Drugs

Marc Serchia, 56, is waiting on a miracle, and if the doctors are correct he doesn’t have much more time. At the age of 39, Marc suffered a massive heart attack, faced a 5-hour surgery to repair blocked arteries, and died on the surgical table six separate times. Unbelievably, he survived, but with a severely damaged heart. Doctors wouldn’t put him near the top of the heart transplant list because they didn’t think he’d live to find a match. Defying the odds, Marc has lived 17 years by eating healthy, making daily changes, and his sheer will to survive.

The damage to his heart is extensive. A normal, healthy heart has an ejection fraction — how much the heart compresses to circulate oxygenated blood to the body — between 50-70%. In September 2013, Marc’s ejection fraction was 13%, and doctors were — and still are — amazed he is still standing. [Read more…]

US News & World Report is out with their rankings of the best hospitals according to their own survey. For the first time, the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota, claimed the No. 1 spot, followed by Massachusetts General Hospital and Johns Hopkins Hospital. Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center is No. 1 in cancer and the Cleveland Clinic is 1st in cardiology & heart surgery.

The 2014-15 Honor Roll

1. Mayo Clinic, Rochester, Minnesota
2. Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston
3. Johns Hopkins Hospital, Baltimore
4. Cleveland Clinic
5. UCLA Medical Center, Los Angeles
6. New York-Presbyterian University Hospital of Columbia and Cornell, New York
7. Hospitals of the University of Pennsylvania-Penn Presbyterian, Philadelphia
8. UCSF Medical Center, San Francisco
9. Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Boston
10. Northwestern Memorial Hospital, Chicago
11. University of Washington Medical Center, Seattle
12. (tie) Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, Los Angeles
12. (tie) UPMC-University of Pittsburgh Medical Center
14. Duke University Hospital, Durham, North Carolina ?
15. NYU Langone Medical Center, New York
16. Mount Sinai Hospital, New York
17. Barnes-Jewish Hospital/Washington University, St. Louis [Read more…]

The CDC (Centers for Disease Control) is confirming that a man is being treated for Middle East Respiratory Syndrome at Dr. P. Phillips Hospital in Orlando, Florida. This is the second case that has been confirmed in the United States, another case has been confirmed in Indiana.

CDC officials told Click Orlando that the patient was working in a facility in Saudi Arabia that was caring for another MERS patient. Apparently he contracted the disease while caring for another Middle East Respiratory Syndrome patient in Saudi Arabia.

In a USA Today article, “CDC officials cautioned that while the patient felt the symptoms of the MERS virus while traveling from Saudi Arabia, it was not known if the patient was infectious at that time.”

There have been 538 lab-confirmed cases of MERS-CoV worldwide, including 145 deaths attributed to it; the majority of those cases occurred in Saudi Arabia according to the CDC.

Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) is viral respiratory illness first reported in Saudi Arabia in 2012. It is caused by a coronavirus called MERS-CoV. Most people who have been confirmed to have MERS-CoV infection developed severe acute respiratory illness. They had fever, cough, and shortness of breath. More than 30% of these people died.

Image of map showing countries in Arabian Penninsula with and without confirmed MERs as detailed on this page.So far, all the cases have been linked to countries in the Arabian Peninsula. This virus has spread from ill people to others through close contact, such as caring for or living with an infected person. However, there is no evidence of sustained spreading in community settings.

Amgen (NASDAQ: AMGN) and AstraZeneca recently announced that the Phase 3 AMAGINE-1TM study evaluating brodalumab in patients with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis met all primary and secondary endpoints for both evaluated doses. Brodalumab is the only investigational treatment in development that binds to the interleukin-17 (IL-17) receptor and inhibits inflammatory signaling by blocking the binding of several IL-17 ligands to the receptor. Primary endpoints were patients achieving at least a 75 percent improvement from baseline in disease severity at week 12, as measured by the Psoriasis Area Severity Index (PASI 75), and patients achieving clear or almost clear skin at week 12 according to the static Physician Global Assessment (sPGA 0 or 1).

A significantly higher proportion of patients treated with brodalumab achieved a PASI 75 response (primary endpoint), as well as PASI 90 and PASI 100 responses at week 12 (secondary endpoints) compared to placebo. Results showed that 83.3 percent of patients in the 210 mg group and 60.3 percent of patients in the 140 mg group achieved PASI 75 responses compared to placebo (2.7 percent). Results also showed that 70.3 percent of patients in the 210 mg group and 42.5 percent of patients in the 140 mg group achieved PASI 90 responses compared to placebo (0.9 percent). Further, 41.9 percent of patients in the 210 mg group and 23.3 percent of patients in the 140 mg group achieved PASI 100 responses compared to placebo (0.5 percent). Of the 661 patients enrolled in this study, 46 percent reported prior biologic use and 28.7 percent weighed more than 100 kilograms (kg) at baseline (mean weight for the study population was 90.8 kg).

A PASI score is a measure of psoriatic plaque redness, scaling and thickness and the extent of involvement in each region of the body. Treatment efficacy is often measured by the reduction of PASI from baseline (i.e., a 75 percent reduction is known as PASI 75, a 90 percent reduction is known as PASI 90 and PASI 100 is total clearance of skin disease).

The most common adverse events that occurred during the placebo-controlled period in the brodalumab group (more than 5 percent of participants) were nasopharyngitis, upper respiratory tract infection and headache. Serious adverse events occurred in 1.8 percent of patients in the 210 mg group and 2.7 percent of patients in the 140 mg group compared to 1.4 percent for placebo during the placebo-controlled period.

Eisai Inc. will add more than 200 new contract sales representatives to its Metabolic Business Unit, bringing the total sales force for BELVIQ® to approximately 600, triple the size from when the FDA-approved prescription therapy for chronic weight management became available in June 2013. This expansion, which becomes effective on July 1, 2014, will allow Eisai to reach approximately 90,000 physicians.

The increase in sales representatives follows Eisai’s recent launch of a national television advertising campaign which encourages those who continue to struggle with their weight to speak to their doctor about the potential of BELVIQ, when combined with diet and increased activity, to help them lose weight and keep it off. (To view the advertisement for BELVIQ, visit http://www.multivu.com/mnr/7161051-eisai-launches-national-television-campaign-belviq-lorcaserin-hcl-civ)

In honor of National Women’s Health Week (May 11-17), Women’s Health Magazine, the fastest-growing international women’s lifestyle and wellness magazine, is teaming up with the Emmy®-winning daytime syndicated series, The Doctors (check local listings), to encourage women across the country to make their health a priority and bring vital information to the masses during this important week.

To promote the week-long initiative, the May issue of Women’s Health, on sale now, features a four-page spread highlighting instant health upgrades with exclusive advice from The Doctors co-hosts Travis Stork, M.D., Rachael Ross, M.D., Ph,D., Jennifer Berman, M.D., Jennifer Ashton, M.D. and Ian Smith, M.D. In the “45 Instant Health Upgrades” article, the experts discuss ways to improve one’s physical and mental health in all aspects of their life, including sexual health, relationships, nutrition, sleep, oral care, stress and fitness.

In conjunction with the May issue feature, The Doctors will include daily segments from May 12-16, during which the show hosts and Women’s Health editors will reveal health and wellness upgrades to showcase more ways to take advantage of National Women’s Health Week.

CSL Limited (ASX:CSL), parent company of CSL Behring which is based in King of Prussia, PA, recently opened the CSL Behring Biotechnology Manufacturing Facility in Melbourne, Australia. The new facility, located adjacent to the site’s manufacturing plant for plasma products, is the centerpiece of CSL’s $250 million expansion at its Broadmeadows site and will play an increasingly important role in the company’s global operations, particularly in the late-stage development of new types of hemophilia products. It is one of the largest and most advanced facilities of its kind in the world and will produce novel recombinant therapies on a large scale for international clinical trials. [Read more…]

More than 15 million American adults and five million children over the age of five suffer from high discomfort or exhibit needle-phobic behavior when faced with getting a blood draw or injection, according to results from a new study, with the overwhelming majority of those studied – 75 percent adults and 91 percent children – naming “pain” as the component they most feared.

Clinically known as blenophobia, the condition is defined as a fear of needles, and includes the fear of pain felt during injections and blood draws. Pain associated with needle sticks leads directly to fear and anxiety, according to the study. The phobia presents a widespread public health challenge since a patient’s behavior is often influenced by their fears – and in extreme cases – affects their ability to receive necessary medical care.

“Blood tests are one of the most important diagnostic tools modern medicine has at its disposal, but if patients are reluctant, or even actively avoid blood draws, then we need to find ways to alleviate the pain and discomfort or other causes keeping them from getting these procedures,” said Mark Dursztman, M.D., Clinical Assistant Professor of Medicine, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and Assistant Attending Physician, The New York Presbyterian Hospital, Cornell Campus. “The fear of needles and needle stick pain is a real and significant health problem, one that needs to be addressed.” [Read more…]

There are several companies who will have their representatives present at the 32nd annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference. J.P. Morgan’s 32nd Annual Healthcare Conference will be held January 13-16, 2014 in San Francisco, California.

Endo Health Solutions (Nasdaq: ENDP) announced that Rajiv De Silva, President and Chief Executive Officer, will present a corporate overview at the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Monday, January 13, 2014 at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time.

Express Scripts Holding Company (Nasdaq: ESRX) announced that it will present at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on January 15, 2014 at 8:00 a.m. Pacific Time (11:00 a.m. Eastern Time) at the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco, CA.

Concord Medical Services Holdings Limited (“Concord Medical” or the “Company”) (NYSE: CCM), a leading specialty hospital management solution provider and operator of the largest network of radiotherapy and diagnostic imaging centers in China and the parent of Chang’an Hospital, announced that the Company will present at the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, to be held January 13-16, 2014 at the Westin St. Francis Hotel in San Francisco. Management is scheduled to present at 11:30 a.m. local time on Wednesday, January 15, 2014, and is available to meet with institutional investors at the conference.

Haemonetics Corporation (NYSE: HAE) announced that Brian Concannon, President & CEO, will present at the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Health Care Conference in San Francisco on Wednesday, January 15, 2014 at 10:00 am Pacific time / 1:00 pm Eastern time.

Mylan Inc. (Nasdaq: MYL), one of the world’s leading generic and specialty pharmaceutical companies, announced that the Company will present at the J.P. Morgan 32nd Annual Healthcare Conference on Tuesday Jan. 14, 2014, in San Francisco.

Boston Scientific Corporation (NYSE: BSX) is scheduled to participate in the 32nd Annual J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference on Tuesday, January 14, 2014 in San Francisco. Mike Mahoney, president and chief executive officer, will make a presentation about the company beginning at approximately 9:00 a.m. PT. Following the presentation, Dan Brennan, executive vice president and chief financial officer, and Keith Dawkins, M.D., executive vice president and global chief medical officer, will join Mr. Mahoney in a question and answer session.

WebMD Health Corp. (NASDAQ: WBMD), the leading source of health information, has acquired Avado, Inc., a developer of cloud-based patient relationship management (PRM) tools and technologies that enable better communication between consumers and health care professionals.

WebMD’s connectivity platform is enabling physicians that use its Medscape mobile app to securely send health education and instructions on thousands of conditions, procedures and drugs to their patients who use WebMD’s mobile app.

“Avado’s innovative technology and tools will complement, and further accelerate WebMD’s efforts to connect patients with their healthcare providers, which is an important first step toward making connected care a reality,” said Bill Pence, WebMD’s Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer.

Avado is a StartUp Health Company founded in 2010 by serial entrepreneurs Dave Chase, Bassam Saliba and John Yii. Avado’s investors include The Partnership Fund for New York City and several health tech entrepreneurs and investors. The Avado technology has been tested in physician offices and medical centers and this technology will become an important building block of WebMD’s patient-provider connectivity offering.

Avado’s founders Dave Chase and Bassam Saliba will continue with the company and report to Pence. Chase, Saliba and Avado’s engineering talent will remain based in Seattle, WA, and work closely with WebMD’s New York-based connectivity product team.

InspireMD, Inc. (“InspireMD” or the “Company”) (NYSE MKT: NSPR), a leader in embolic protection stents, recently announced new 12-month results from the MASTER (MGuard for Acute ST Elevation Reperfusion) trial demonstrating that the MGuard outperformed bare metal and drug eluting stents in all-cause mortality in ST segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) patients. Results from the trial were presented at the Transcatheter Cardiovascular Therapeutics (TCT) Conference in San Francisco earlier.

Additionally, the Company will be holding an evening symposium tomorrow, October 30 th, starting at 6:30 pm PT. Dr. Gregg Stone, Dr. Ori Ben-Yehuda and Dr. Jose Henriques will lead the symposium and will be joined by a panel of medical experts.

The MGuard utilizes the Company’s proprietary MicroNet™ technology, which is a circular knitted mesh that wraps around the stent to protect patients from plaque debris flowing downstream upon deployment. This advanced technology allows the MGuard to specifically address the unmet need for STEMI patients, and save the life of those who suffer from heart attacks.

“It is very reassuring to see that the 12-month follow up data is consistent with the acute results presented at TCT last year, especially the data that shows the mortality benefit trend of using this unique technology,” stated Prof. Dariusz Dudek, Physician-in-Chief, 2nd Department of Clinical Cardiology and Cardiovascular Interventions at the University Hospital in Krakow. “These positive results should give clinicians the confidence to use MGuard technology as a first line of defense against distal embolization for their STEMI patients.”

The MASTER trial enrolled a total of 433 patients with STEMI presenting within 12 hours of symptom onset undergoing percutaneous coronary intervention were randomized at 50 sites in 9 countries to the MGuard EPS (n = 217) or commercially available bare metal or drug-eluting stents (n = 216).

Morgan & Morgan is investigating whether or not Ariad Pharmaceuticals Inc. (“Ariad” or the “Company”) (ARIA) and certain of its officers violated the federal securities laws when making statements to investors regarding its experimental drug Iclusig.

On October 9, 2013, the Company updated the data from its PACE trial of Iclusig and revealed that the drug was shown to cause a higher rate of blood clots and heart-related side effects than previously disclosed. As a result, the FDA placed a hold on new patient enrollment for Iclusig testing, and the Company advised patients currently receiving the drug to lower their dosage.

Following this news, shares of Ariad fell $11.31, almost 66%, to close at $5.83 per share on October 9, 2013.

Health Plan News will post updates to this story if warranted.

ICU Eyewear, a pioneer in sustainable and fashionable eyewear, is now a corporate sponsor of the Seva Foundation in concordance with World Sight Day on Oct. 10 th, 2013. ICU’s support of the Seva Foundation will provide aid to two programs, including the SIPI Program and Seva’s Eye Care Initiative, furthering the Seva Foundation’s mission to eliminate preventable blindness and visual impairment.

As part of the SIPI program domestically, ICU is providing 600 pairs of eyeglasses and sunglasses to impoverished Native American communities in New Mexico. The SIPI, or Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, works with Seva and will train 25 American Indians, most of which are women, to be top tier vision technicians and licensed opticians. This training is at no cost to the participants and benefits the high demand in impoverished American Indian communities in or near the Albuquerque area.

ICU Eyewear, founded by Patricia Kesten in 1997, has become a globally recognized leader in reading eyewear and sunglasses. ICU Eyewear designs have revolutionized the reading glass industry with fun styles, bright colors and unique patterns at affordable prices for the everyday customer.

B. Braun Medical Inc. (B.Braun) will launch Contiplex® C, its revolutionary, one-step, echogenic catheter-over-needle system and unveil Contiplex Echo, its echogenic, styleted catheter, both designed for Continuous Peripheral Nerve Blocks (CPNB) at the American Society of Anesthesiologists (ASA) annual meeting in San Francisco, California, October 12 th-14th. As the market leader in regional anesthesia, B.Braun is committed to providing products and services to meet the changing needs within the acute pain management field.

Contiplex C is an innovative catheter-over-needle system for CPNB and practitioners seeking to transition from single shot to continuous techniques. The catheter tip can be purposely directed to an exact location, without the need to thread. Once the catheter tip is in the desired location, the needle is removed in one easy step, and the catheter is already placed. Its catheter-over-needle design helps reduce leakage because the catheter sits tightly within the puncture site.

Contiplex Echo is a new styleted catheter, featuring flat coil technology to enhance echogenicity. Its rigid body is designed to facilitate controlled threading with the aid of a stylet. Contiplex Echo will be available in both open and closed tip (multi-port) configurations along with the Contiplex Tuohy Ultra needle to provide echogenicity from both needle and catheter during CPNB placement.

Attendees are encouraged to visit B.Braun’s booth #1917 at ASA to experience hands-on demonstrations of these and other exciting regional anesthesia products, infusion pumps, CAPS® pre-filled sterile admixtures, and anesthesia IV administration sets from B.Braun. Visit www.bbraunASA.com for videos and further information.

Akeso Care Management®, Inc. (ACM®), announced today that it has been awarded Health Utilization Management Accreditation by URAC, a Washington, DC-based health care accrediting organization that establishes quality standards for the health care industry. [Read more…]

America’s changing healthcare industry is beginning to reshape the non-physician healthcare work force, with certain jobs evaporating while others are blooming, according to results of the 2013 Staff Salary Survey by Physicians Practice , America’s Leading Practice Management Magazine. [Read more…]

GlaxoSmithKline is set to open its new double LEED® platinum certified facility in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard Corporate Center this Saturday, ushering in a new era of how people work in Philadelphia.

The 208,000 square foot building at Five Crescent Drive represents an $80 million investment by Liberty Property/Synterra, and an investment of approximately $70 million by GSK. GSK has signed a 15.5-year lease at the building, which includes a four-story central atrium, a monumental stairway, a coffee shop, cafeteria, fitness center, meeting centers and a large multi-purpose room. [Read more…]

Human beings have been laughing for as long as we have been human. In fact, recent evidence suggests that apes and other animals also laugh in their own way. And although humor is experienced across all ages and cultures, scientists are still not in agreement about the root causes of humor and laughter. For more in-depth information about humor and laughter, please check this out: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Humor_(positive_psychology)#Humor_and_Health

Health and laughter
There is widespread agreement among scientists that humor in general, and laughter in particular, are very good for us. In fact, laughter provides a number of very powerful physical and emotional health benefits. [Read more…]

Most people think of a treadmill as an exercise device. In reality treadmills were invented over 4,000 years ago and used animal and human power to perform labor intensive tasks like drawing water and grinding grain. For an overview of the history of treadmills: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Treadmill

Strangely enough, treadmills were also used in prisons as punishment. Inmates were made to walk on a large vertical wheel like a paddle wheel. They’d walk in drudgery for up to eight hours per day, which equated to climbing 10,000 vertical feet or more. To learn more: http://www.uh.edu/engines/epi374.htm [Read more…]

MetroHealth System has signed a multi-year agreement with Press Ganey to provide improvement solutions for its medical center, rehabilitation hospital, outpatient surgery center and network of 16 health centers.

More than 500 primary care and specialty care physicians practice within MetroHealth. Each year, MetroHealth provides nearly one million inpatient and outpatient visits, with revenue of more than $700 million. MetroHealth’s network of health centers incorporates a patient-centered medical home team-care approach to optimize patient outcomes through chronic disease management. The system’s major medical center is a leader in trauma, emergency and critical care; women’s and children’s services, including high-risk obstetrical care and neonatal intensive care; comprehensive medical and surgical subspecialties; heart and vascular care; cancer care; senior health; stroke and rehabilitative health care services.

Press Ganey and MetroHealth will be able to identify areas of opportunity and implement targeted action plans to enhance the patient experience. MetroHealth is one of the largest, most comprehensive providers in Northeast Ohio, serving the greater Cleveland community for more than 175 years.

The Emirates Group comprised of Emirates airline and dnata, which has multiple business interests in the aviation, travel, tourism and leisure industries (Emirates Group), chose ESKADENIA Software Medical Insurance System to run the medical operations of more than 104,000 employees with their dependants.

The Emirates Group chose ESKADENIA’s Medical System due to its powerful claims audit tools and efficient network management that gives full details on the medical providers (Doctors, Pharmacies, Laboratories, and Hospitals) used by the Group.

ESKADENIA’s Medical Insurance System was customized to handle its employees’ medical claims in the most efficient and comprehensive manner. The Emirates employees can access their medical profile online and monitor their benefits, limits and utilization. In addition, they can submit claims directly from the web, request for medical approvals, and appeal for rejected claims.

It is worth to mention that ESKADENIA Medical Insurance system works for both individuals and groups, also it complies with governmental regulations, which makes it an easy to- use tool for the recording and manipulation of insurance policy production, medical networks, claims, policy renewals, and reinsurance operations.

Anthera Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: ANTH) today announced that it intends to offer and sell shares of its common stock in an underwritten public offering. The Company expects to grant the underwriters a 30-day option to purchase up to an additional 15% of the shares of common stock offered in the public offering. The Company intends to use the net proceeds from the offering for general corporate purposes. The offering is subject to market and other conditions, and there can be no assurance as to whether or when the offering may be completed, or as to the actual size or terms of the offering.

Jefferies & Company, Inc. is acting as sole book-running manager in the offering and Leerink Swann LLC is acting as co-manager.

Uroplasty, Inc. (NASDAQ: UPI), a medical device company that develops, manufactures and markets innovative proprietary products to treat voiding dysfunctions, today reported financial results for the third quarter of fiscal 2013 ended December 31, 2012. The Company also announced the completion of a purchase agreement for both Urgent PC and Macroplastique with KP Select, Inc., which provides contract management services for all Kaiser Permanente and affiliated health care facilities.

Fiscal Nine Months 2013 Financial Results

For the nine-month period ended December 31, 2012, sales grew 13% to $16.9 million, reflecting a 25% increase in U.S. sales and an 11% decrease in sales outside the U.S. In the U.S., sales of Urgent PC increased 45% to $8.0 million and Macroplastique sales increased 1% to $4.3 million. At December 31, 2012, cash, cash equivalents and cash investments totaled $15.6 million

KP Select Purchase Agreement and Additional Expanded Coverage

The recently-completed purchase agreement with KP Select, Inc. for sales of Urgent PC and Macroplastique to Kaiser Permanente is a three-year contract and begins on March 1, 2013. Kaiser Permanente provides services to more than nine million members in 10 states through 37 hospitals and 611 medical offices and clinics, though not all locations treat urinary incontinence.

The Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York today approved Montefiore Medical Center’s bid to acquire the facilities of New York Westchester Square Medical Center (NYWSMC), a Bronx, N.Y., neighborhood hospital that has operated under Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection for nearly seven years.

The new facility will be renamed Montefiore Westchester Square. The plan is to have a full-service emergency department, an ambulatory surgery center and, over time, comprehensive primary and specialty care services.

A federal lawsuit filed by prominent Delaware Valley cardiologist Nicholas L. DePace, M.D., sparked a multi-year investigation by the United States Department of Justice and the New Jersey Attorney General’s Office that has resulted in New-Jersey based Cooper Health System, and Cooper University Hospital paying $12,600,000 to settle Medicare and Medicaid fraud allegations.

According to Dr. DePace’s Complaint, since 2004, Cooper funneled illegal kickbacks to referring physicians through an advisory board known as the Cooper Heart Institute Advisory Board (“CHIAB”). Cooper established the CHIAB in 2004, with the stated purpose of utilizing prominent New Jersey physicians to advise the Cooper Heart Institute regarding innovative technologies, new management strategies, community needs, and appropriate educational and research initiatives.

In reality, the CHIAB was a sham, in which Cooper paid physicians with high-volume medical practices upwards of $18,500 each to do little more than watch four lectures per year hosted at an elegant banquet facility. These lectures consisted mostly of marketing presentation on cardiac care at Cooper. Additional lectures included generic subjects that were irrelevant to the stated mission of the CHIAB, including a 2008 lecture entitled: “The Healthcare Plans of the Two Presidential Candidates.”

In the spring of 2007, Cooper invited Dr. DePace to join the CHIAB. After attending his first CHIAB lecture, Dr. DePace quickly realized that the CHIAB was a thinly-veiled kickback scheme. Dr. DePace observed that the other CHIAB members were family physicians with high-volume practices. These physicians were all in the position to direct millions of dollars in patient care to Cooper.

Dr. DePace also observed that the CHIAB physicians were paid $18,500 for doing nothing more than sitting and listening to marketing presentations and lectures on irrelevant topics. The physicians did not discuss the lecture topics, and were not required to perform any additional work in exchange for the payments from Cooper.

In exchange for Cooper’s kickback payments, CHIAB physicians referred their patients to the Cooper Heart Institute for expensive in-patient and out-patient cardiac services. At least one CHIAB member admitted to Dr. DePace that, when making referrals, he knew that Cooper, through the CHIAB, “butters his bread.”

The settlement with the United States, and the State of New Jersey, announced today, will require Cooper to pay the United States $10,000,000 and the State of New Jersey $2,600,000. The settlement is one of the largest against a hospital for operating a kickback scheme, and is one of the largest recoveries for the State of New Jersey under its recently passed state False Claims Act. Cooper denies that it is liable for violating federal or state laws.

The American Center for Law and Justice (ACLJ), a pro-life legal organization that focuses on constitutional law, today filed its fourth direct challenge to the mandate of the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on the basis that the mandate violates the religious beliefs of business owners. The lawsuit was filed today in the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and contends that the HHS mandate violates constitutional and statutory rights by requiring two Ohio companies and their owners to purchase health insurance for employees that include coverage for contraception, sterilization and abortion-inducing drugs.

The lawsuit, posted here: http://c0391070.cdn2.cloudfiles.rackspacecloud.com/pdf/complaint-declaratory-injunctive-relief-freshway-v-hhs.pdf, argues that the HHS mandate violates the First Amendment, the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, and the Administrative Procedure Act.

The lawsuit contends the HHS mandate forces the owners to “violate their religious beliefs and moral values” or face crippling fines and penalties. For the two companies combined, the fines and penalties would total nearly $40,000 a day, amounting to $14.4 million annually, which the owners contend will be “ruinous” for their businesses.

The Quality Adjusted Life Years (QALY) approach to deciding which treatments are available on health services – used by the UK and generating much interest across Europe – is dangerously flawed and should be abandoned, according a European Commission funded research project.

HTA agencies are charged with recommending whether new treatments are publicly funded. NICE uses QALY – an economic theory which mathematically weighs number of life years by quality of life provided by different treatments. Based on this calculation, decisions are made about whether treatments are offered by the National Health Service. In the UK, if the incremental cost per QALY (= cost for one additional year in perfect health) is below £30,000, the treatment is usually made available. Many European countries are currently considering replicating the NICE model.

The research surveyed 1,300 respondents in Belgium, France, Italy and the UK, and is the largest investigation into QALYs ever undertaken.

ESKADENIA Software has successfully deployed its comprehensive package of General Insurance and Financial Insurance Systems at the short-term insurance operation of Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited in short period of time.

ESKADENIA Insurance Management Systems are designed to reduce operational cost, speed up work, maintain historical data and ensure a high level of security at Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited; The systems support real-time integration with the financial modules of ESKADENIA® Business Manager, including the General Ledger, Accounts Payable, Accounts Receivable, and Cash Management Systems to maintain Botswana’s needed financial information and accounts updates.

The ESKADENIA Insurance Software package (General, Financial, Approval System, Notification Engine, Management Information System, & ESKA Insures for Agents & Brokers) provide a collaborative environment for information management across Botswana Insurance Holdings’ departments and allows users to capture up-to-the-minute information whenever required.

The software package also, provides Botswana Insurance‘s users with advanced up-to-date reports and statistics to analyse operational performance and make proper management decisions.

Developed on Microsoft .Net Objected Oriented technology and using Oracle Database, the web-based systems, securely accessed from wherever an Internet service is available, which allows Botswana Insurance Holdings Limited employees to define insurance products, manage production, and run daily insurance transactions in an efficient and simple manner. Through the systems’ location-independent interface, the company can efficiently handle greater volumes of operations and smoothly manage work processes.

John Haenen, the CEO of BIHL Sure! commented that “ESKA® Insures provided us with the best platform for our business, we were impressed by the collaborative way in which ESKADENIA Software handled the deployment of our system – on time, on budget, and faultlessly functional at first switch-on.”

“We are proud to be selected as their technology partner by the largest financial service Group in Botswana – BIHL Sure! and to consolidate our position in the African Insurance market. The systems were deployed in record time indicating our ability to provide advanced and stable products to customers and the market “said Nael Salah, Managing Director of ESKADENIA Software.

About BIHL Sure!
The Company is a wholly-owned subsidiary of the BIHL Group, which is in turn a subsidiary of Sanlam, the largest insurance group in Africa with revenues exceeding US$5 billion. It writes some 38 lines of business in client-definable packages, or on custom designed forms for complex risks. The market in which it operates requires interaction with brokers, tied agents and bulk on-sellers such as banks. Systems are required to cater for all of these channels as well as the emerging direct market that demands access via the internet or smartphone. One of the Company’s leading strategies is to provide high standards of customer care 24/7/365, driven primarily by its electronic platforms. For this reason the relationship with its systems supplier is regarded as strategic and mission critical.

About ESKADENIA Software
ESKADENIA® Software is a CMMI® level 3 certified company that is active in the design, development and deployment of a range of software products in the Telecommunications, Insurance, Enterprise, Education, and Internet application areas. The company is based in Jordan and has sales activities in Europe, the Middle East and Africa; more than 85% of its sales are exported to the global market. ESKADENIA Software is a product and market-oriented organisation that assists enterprises and promotes businesses by use of highly effective IT strategies, solutions and tools. ESKADENIA Software strongly believes that a company’s achievement is based on the success of its Human Resources and the commitment to quality and excellence that each one holds strong to. ESKADENIA endeavours as a team to maintain quality and customer respect, build up perseverance, and foster innovation.