Hospitals and Health Systems News

RESTON, VA–(Marketwire – July 22, 2010) –  Santeon Group, Inc. (OTCBB: UBCI) today announced an additional $100,000 contract with the State of Maryland for the latest management process optimization. This represents a continuation of Santeon’s much larger multi-year contract with Maryland for continuous process improvement support through its Business Process Management Suite XIP.

The two new services streamline State operations involved in Healthcare and reduce costs while improving productivity and fraudulent claims:

1. Tracking services provided to patients, verifying specific services are available to patients while also monitoring potential fraud. Also auditors can verify if patients have other insurance that takes seniority for payment of services or if that patient has been previously billed for the service in addition to KDP/BCC. Prior to Santeon’s eCMS process management system, letters were manually typed and mailed to patients, an antiquated solution that was not only costly but time consuming as well.

2. Maryland Health Insurance Plan (MHIP) sends Breast and Cervical a single monthly invoice for paying insurance premiums to selected groups of individuals. The enhanced workflow will determine the types of patients receiving MHIP, and will allow for reviews before and after. In addition, a trail of changes is kept so that BCCDT can provide auditing reports.

Santeon’s CEO Ash Rofail said, “We’re excited to be able to provide cutting edge process management solutions to the State of Maryland. With the successful and timely delivery of this recent enhancement, we expect to leverage significant opportunities for additional revenues from our healthcare division, especially in light of recent federal Healthcare legislation.”

About Santeon Group, Inc.

Santeon Group is a technology company Headquartered in Northern Virginia with offices strategically located in San Diego, Los Angeles, London, Cairo and Dubai. Santeon offers products and services in Healthcare, Energy, Media and Agile Development. Santeon Group provides technically superior end-point process management solutions, streamlining traditional management processes, improving efficiencies and productivity, while reducing the costs of these solutions. For more information please visit the web site at http://www.santeon.com/.

Safe Harbor Statement

This press release contains statements that may constitute forward-looking statements, including the company’s ability to complete a business acquisition. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions and involve a number of uncertainties and risks that could cause actual results to differ materially from those currently expected. For additional information about UBCI’s future business and financial results, refer to UBCI’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2009. UBCI undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statements that may be made from time to time by or on behalf of the company, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.

FISHKILL, NY–(Marketwire – July 22, 2010) –  Nano Mask, Inc. (PINKSHEETS: NANM) today announced that it has entered into a manufacturing agreement with a well established Canadian company that will produce Nano Mask’s own proprietarily labeled multi amino acid enzyme cleaning products for the International and United States hospital markets. Nano Mask launched the distribution of this product suite on July 13, 2010 through a network of distributors and manufacturers’ representatives in the United States and internationally.

The Canadian manufacturer has developed a full line of enzyme based and chemical based medical specialty detergents for the demanding cleaning of medical instruments, laboratory glassware, endoscopes and hospital carts. These specialty detergents have become the preferred Multi-Enzyme Based Hospital instrument Pre-Soak and Cleaning Solution in the Canadian hospital market. Nano Mask’s initial products include:

• Nano-Zyme, a Multi Enzyme Based Hospital Instrument Pre-Soak and Cleaning Solution that is a non foaming formulation that does not cause eye, nose, throat, skin or lung irritation as do the current products being used today.

• Nano-Zyme Ortho Plus, a one step pre-soak enzymatic cleaning product specifically designed to emulsify and remove stubborn fats, oils, blood tissue, bone grease and lubricants on Orthopedic and Arthroscopic Instruments.

• Nano-Med Care, a Multi Enzyme Based Pre Clean enzyme gel formulated as a transport gel to initiate the cleaning process at point of use in operating rooms, endoscopy suites, labs and central processing areas.

• Nano-Odor Away, a Clear, Natural and Non Toxic liquid that eliminates odors from colostomy appliances and irrigation units, use of which eliminates the need to use masking agents and caustic chemicals.

“We are excited to launch this line of new green products for the hospital market in the U.S. and internationally,” said Edward J. Suydam, President and CEO, Nano Mask. “The reception from our distributors has been very strong and we expect to broaden our distribution capabilities — especially in international markets — over the coming months.”

Mr. Suydam added, “We entered this venture in an effort to create another source of revenues to complement the orders that we have generated from our distribution of Wein respirators while we continue to work on the completion of our own, proprietary NanoMask™ respirator.”

Separately, the company announced that it was continuing to make progress in bringing its S.E.C. filings up to date.

About Nano Mask, Inc.

http://nanomaskinc.com/

Nano Mask, Inc. is the inventor of the NanoMask, a disposable anti-microbial facemask currently under development and is a distributor of Wein Products’ line of disposable respirators and the new line of hospital detergent products.
Forward-looking Statement

This release may contain statements that are forward-looking. Such statements are made based upon current expectations that are subject to risk and uncertainty. Specifically, any unforeseen delays in distribution may affect the planned timeline for initiating actual sales of the product. NMI does not undertake to update forward-looking statements in this news release to reflect actual results of and changes in assumptions or changes in other factors affecting such forward-looking information. The actual future plans and results of the company could differ significantly from such forward-looking statements.

MUNDELEIN, IL–(Marketwire – July 21, 2010) –  Medline Industries Inc., the nation’s largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare supplies, announced today the signing of a cost management prime vendor agreement with the AROK Purchasing Coalition, a VHA supply network comprised of nearly 50 acute care facilities in Arkansas and Oklahoma. The five-year agreement is anticipated to save AROK an estimated $20-$25 million over the term of the contract.

Medline is expected to generate more than $500 million in medical and surgical product sales from the partnership over the term of the agreement. 

AROK was formed to help VHA member hospitals in Arkansas and Oklahoma increase efficiencies and reduce expenses by aggregating supply and services expenditures. 

As part of the agreement, Medline will provide its broad array of Medline brand medical and surgical products, including surgical procedure trays, patient care products, disposable protective gowns, exam gloves and bandages. Medline will drive cost savings to AROK members by delivering products direct to the healthcare facilities from two of Medline’s distribution centers located in Oklahoma City and Memphis, Tenn.

Medline will also deliver cost savings by reducing distribution fees on other national brand products and product standardization. In addition, Medline will provide enhanced reporting capabilities and offer comprehensive product utilization, education and practical solutions to help the facility control costs and improve patient care. 

About AROK
The AROK Purchasing Coalition is a VHA Supply Network. Twenty-one VHA health care organizations, representing nearly 50 hospitals in Arkansas and Oklahoma officially joined together in June 2008 to increase efficiencies and reduce expenses by aggregating supply and services expenditures. Combined annual supply purchases of the purchasing coalition represent in excess of $600 million. As a limited liability corporation, the AROK Purchasing Coalition is recognized as a single VHA member entity and as a large integrated delivery system by the supplier and distributor community. VHA operates the purchasing coalition at the direction of the members.

About Medline Industries, Inc. 
Medline, the nation’s largest privately held manufacturer and distributor of healthcare products, manufactures and distributes more than 100,000 products to hospitals, extended-care facilities, surgery centers, home care dealers and agencies. Headquartered in Mundelein, Ill., Medline has more than 900 dedicated sales representatives nationwide to support its broad product line and cost management services.

Over the past five years, Medline has been the fastest-growing distributor of medical and surgical supplies in the U.S., serving as the primary distributor to over 450 major hospitals and healthcare systems. As a leading distributor, Medline offers a comprehensive array of consulting and management services encompassing the supply chain and logistics, utilization and standardization, business tools and enhanced reporting capabilities and on-staff clinicians.

Medline has a growing network of 32 distribution centers around the country, as well as an expanding, dedicated transportation fleet with over 200 vehicles in a variety of sizes to fit customers’ specific delivery needs. The fleet is equipped with the latest navigation devices for enhanced order tracking and communication.

About VHA
VHA Inc., based in Irving, Texas, is a national network of not-for-profit health care organizations that work together to drive maximum savings in the supply chain arena, set new levels of clinical performance and identify and implement best practices to improve operational efficiency and clinical outcomes. Formed in 1977, through its 16 regional offices, VHA serves more than 1,400 hospitals and more than 25,500+ non-acute care providers nationwide. VHA was ranked by Modern Healthcare as the 7th best place to work in health care in 2009.

PRINCETON, NJ–(Marketwire – July 21, 2010) – In a recent USA Today article, medical tourism is getting a huge boost from American based employers and insurers who encourage employees to consider domestic medical travel. Therefore, instead of seeking out medical travel or affordable healthcare alternatives overseas such as Thailand or India, employees are being directed to regional facilities that offer high-quality care and lower prices. “The move is reducing healthcare costs by 20% to 40%, with the difference often covering travel expenses,” says David Goldstein, President of Health Options Worldwide (HOW), an online medical tourism company.

“When people hear the words ‘medical tourism,’ they automatically think overseas,” explained Goldstein, “But low-cost healthcare can be found in this country, even if it involves some travel.” Employers who offer domestic medical travel programs can save healthcare money by negotiating a single rate. This rate can include surgical and anesthesia fees and all medical care performed up until discharge.

Large corporations like Lowe’s, the home improvement retailer, already have such programs in place. A self-insured employer, Lowe’s struck a deal with a cardio care clinic where they send their employees for open-heart surgeries, valve repairs and pacemakers. In the future, they may add orthopedic surgeries to their program. Other large employers may soon follow suit with similar agreements with healthcare providers. Some companies provide financial incentives to medical travelers like waived deductions, copayment reductions and paid travel expenses.

“If this concept catches on, especially with large employers, it could help decrease healthcare costs and improve the quality of medical care by creating a competitive marketplace,” says Goldstein. Hospitals dictate costs and affect health insurance premiums. “However, it’s very sobering to see how much medical costs and quality can vary between hospitals and regions,” said Goldstein.

However, the focus should still be on quality along with financial balance, advises Goldstein. “With tempting financial incentives, employees may be forced to choose cost instead of quality, and the choice will be taken out of their hands,” explained Goldstein. Still the savings are hard to beat, especially when there are fewer complications from procedures that are done with high quality providers. Follow-up care, like physical therapy, is done locally and covered under the employee’s regular insurance plan.

Programs like these could spur the domestic healthcare marketplace to respond with even lower costs in order to lure patients to their centers. Insurance companies are hesitant to offer domestic medical travel incentives because it creates ill will with local healthcare providers, who then lower their costs in response. “This is why employers, healthcare providers and insurance companies will have no choice but to embrace this trend,” said Goldstein.

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ROCKVILLE, MD and SEOUL, KOREA–(Marketwire – July 21, 2010) – The emergence and spread of drug-resistant mycobacterium tuberculosis (TB) threatens global TB control efforts, and there is an urgent need for new diagnostic tests that rapidly identify drug sensitivity profiles of TB strains. To help address these concerns, Seegene today introduced Anyplex™ MDR-TB Screening Test, the first real-time PCR molecular diagnostic capable of simultaneous detection of TB and genetic mutations leading to multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB) within four hours.

Seegene Anyplex™ MDR-TB Test will be introduced at the 2010 Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), booth #1800.

According to the World Health Organization (WHO), TB strains that are resistant to all major anti-TB drugs have been documented in every country by the non-governmental organization recent survey. A particularly dangerous form of drug-resistant TB is multi-drug resistant TB (MDR-TB), which is defined as the disease caused by TB bacilli resistant to, among others, the two most powerful anti-TB drugs, isoniazid (INH) and rifampicin (Rif).The rate for successful MDR-TB treatment is extremely low and the progress of the disease is faster than normal TB, resulting in 40-50% of mortality rate. Rates of MDR-TB are troublingly high in some countries, especially in the former Soviet Union, and threaten TB infectious disease control efforts. WHO estimates that more than 440,000 people are infected with MDR-TB.

Using Anyplex^™ MDR-TB Screening Test, healthcare workers will be able to quickly determine whether or not a patient is infected with a strain of TB that is resistant to INH and Rif. The Anyplex^™ MDR-TB is a real-time detection test of M. tuberculosis that quickly and comprehensively determines the levels of targets in a patient’s various sample types, and identifies mutations of drug resistant genes to better inform a diagnosis.

Because genetic mutations that lead to antibiotic resistance are minute and sit close together, so far conventional PCR or conventional real-time PCR tests are not able to discriminate these mutations accurately within the same test procedure. In contrast, the Anyplex MDR-TB test can detect the mutations of drug resistant genes to Rif (rpoB: D516V/Y, H526D/Y, S531L) and INH (katG: S315T (2 cases); inhA promoter: -15(C/T)). The unprecedented speed and accuracy of the Anyplex MDR-TB Tests will enable doctors and clinicians to quickly provide an appropriate treatment to prevent the spread of MDR-TB.

Seegene’s new MDR-TB test takes TB diagnostics to a new level. Current TB test methods are hindered by speed (culture typically required 2-8 weeks for results), low sensitivity (acid-fast bacilli smear microscopy produced results in 24 hours but at the cost of missing a significant portion of TB cases) and low specificity (culture and microscopy methods not being able to efficiently differentiate between M. tuberculosis and non-tuberculosis mycobacteria). Furthermore, none of these approaches are able to rapidly and efficiently identify a patient’s resistance to the major drugs for treating TB — INH and Rif. Even if sequencing and Line Probe Assay are available to test drug resistance, the procedures are quite complicated and time-consuming.

“Making a fast and accurate diagnosis of the type of TB infection a patient may have is the most important step to curing a patient. Because MDR-TB is difficult to treat, preventing its spread throughout the population is essential. The Anyplex^™ MDR-TB Test is a powerful new tool that healthcare workers can use to rapidly determine MDR-TB infections, which will both help stop it from spreading and allow health care professionals to set a course of alternative medications for infected patients,” said Jong-Yoon Chun, chief executive officer of Seegene.

Anyplex^™ MDR-TB Test will not be available in the USA until regulatory clearance.

About Seegene

Seegene, Inc. is the leading biotechnology company developing, manufacturing and marketing innovative molecular diagnostic products. The company’s proprietary technologies in both PCR and Real-time PCR named ACP™, DPO™, and READ™, set a new solution for high-throughput and simultaneous multi-pathogen detection called “multiplex PCR”. The novel Real-time PCR technology, READ™, overcomes the limitations of conventional Real-time PCR, providing dramatic improvement in sensitivity and specificity. Seegene holds three novel Molecular diagnostic platforms: Seeplex^®  system adapting DPO™ Technology, Anyplex™ and Magicplex™ systems that are Real-time PCR detection platforms adapting DPO™ and READ™ technologies. Seegene’s products detect multi-pathogens with great reliability and throughput, ultimately providing the most economical basis for saving time, labor and cost. Seegene’s mission is to maintain leadership in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases, genetics, pharmacogenetics, and oncology using the innovative proprietary technologies.

For more information please visit www.seegene.com or call +301-762-9066.

EINDHOVEN, THE NETHERLANDS and GLOSTRUP, DENMARK–(Marketwire – July 21, 2010) – Royal Philips Electronics (NYSE: PHG)(AEX: PHI) and Dako, a Danish company specializing in tissue-based cancer diagnostics, today announced that they have signed an agreement to integrate a selection of Dako’s image analysis applications into Philips’ future digital pathology solutions.

“Anatomic pathology is an essential element of virtually every cancer diagnosis and the demand for it is ever-increasing. Our goal is to develop integrated digital solutions that enhance the operational efficiency and productivity of pathology departments, as well as increasing diagnostic confidence,” says Bob van Gemen, General Manager of Philips Digital Pathology. “I am convinced that our partnership with Dako, with its leading market position and expert knowledge in detecting and quantifying specific biomarkers in cancer tissue, will significantly accelerate our clinical applications development program.”

“We are very pleased to announce this collaboration with Philips, a leading company in the healthcare industry that is committed to entering the digital pathology market,” says Lars Holmkvist, CEO of Dako. “By joining forces with Philips, we will be able to deliver highly competitive diagnostic tools based on Philips’ extensive clinical expertise and technology know-how and Dako’s expertise in advanced staining and image analysis in order to benefit pathology laboratories, pathologists and ultimately patients.”

Currently, anatomic pathology workflows to examine tissue samples are based on the microscope, through which pathologists examine tissue sections mounted on glass slides and treated with different stains. The staining enhances the contrast between, or reveals the presence of, cellular and molecular components such as cell nuclei or specific proteins. Accurate interpretation of the results is critical to the diagnosis and staging of each individual patient’s disease and requires a great deal of skill and experience. Digitizing the images that pathologists normally view through a microscope may enable the introduction of objective and quantitative image analysis tools.

Dr. Clive Taylor, MD, PhD, Professor at University of Southern California, USA, and a renowned expert in pathology, expresses about the collaboration: “Digital pathology has been long in gestation, in comparison to radiology, where images also are the currency of practice, and where image acquisition, transfer, interpretation and storage is almost entirely digital. In part, this lag is because acquisition of histopathology images is dependent upon a 100 year old technique of ’tissue fixation’, sectioning and staining. In part, it is because, somewhat surprisingly, fully digitized histopathology images are much larger than CT files, and difficult to manage and analyze. Progress has been slow because there has been no single institution, or company, that embraces both of these areas. It is exciting that collaborations like that between Dako and Philips are now bringing diverse but appropriate expertise to bear on implementing a full digital pathology program.”

A fast pathology slide scanner and an associated image management system form the basis of Philips’ proposed integrated solutions for digitizing pathology workflows. The Philips-Dako collaboration will initially focus on leveraging Dako’s image analysis software for tissue-based breast cancer diagnosis using its reagents for staining HER2, Estrogen Receptor (ER), Progesterone Receptor (PR), p53 and Ki-67 proteins. The detection and quantification of these proteins in biopsy tissue are highly relevant for the classification of breast cancers and the selection of appropriate therapy. Philips and Dako will also explore the possibility of extending the collaboration to include image analysis software for immunohistology-based prostate and colon cancer diagnostics.

About Royal Philips Electronics
Royal Philips Electronics of the Netherlands (NYSE: PHG)(AEX: PHI) is a diversified health and well-being company, focused on improving people’s lives through timely innovations. As a world leader in healthcare, lifestyle and lighting, Philips integrates technologies and design into people-centric solutions, based on fundamental customer insights and the brand promise of “sense and simplicity”. Headquartered in the Netherlands, Philips employs more than 116,000 employees in more than 60 countries worldwide. With sales of EUR 23 billion in 2009, the company is a market leader in cardiac care, acute care and home healthcare, energy efficient lighting solutions and new lighting applications, as well as lifestyle products for personal well-being and pleasure with strong leadership positions in flat TV, male shaving and grooming, portable entertainment and oral healthcare. News from Philips is located at www.philips.com/newscenter.

About Dako
Dako, based in Denmark, is a global leader in tissue-based cancer diagnostics. Hospital and research laboratories worldwide use Dako’s know-how, reagents, instruments and software to make precise diagnoses and determine the most effective treatment for patients suffering from cancer. Employing more than 1000 people and being present in more than 80 countries, Dako covers essentially all of the anatomic pathology markets globally. Dako is owned by a private equity fund, EQT. www.dako.com

MELVILLE, NY–(Marketwire – July 21, 2010) –  FONAR Corporation (NASDAQ: FONR), The Inventor of MR Scanning™ announces new breakthrough results for the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI. The medical journal “Brain Injury” (July 2010:24(7-8):988-994) has just released the exciting results of a study of 1200 neck pain patients. The study was published by 10 authors from distinguished universities in the U.S. and around the world (University of Oregon, University of Aarhus, Denmark, University of Aberdeen, Scotland, Columbia University, Portland State University) of their results from the scans of 1200 patients. Their study reported that 150% more whiplash patients (Table II – % CTE Trauma Patients) had demonstrable radiographic pathology when scanned upright than when they were scanned lying down (recumbent). Their investigation also reported that “patients with a history of motor vehicle crash-associated neck pain have a substantially higher frequency of cerebellar tonsillar ectopia (CTE)* of 1mm or more than non-traumatic subjects” when examined by the FONAR UPRIGHT® MRI. The authors were Michael D. Freeman, Scott Rosa, David Harshfield, Francis Smith, Robert Bennett, Christopher J. Centeno, Ezriel Kornel, Ake Nystrom, Dan Heffez and Sean S. Kohles.

As the authors reported, the frequency of these fallen cerebellar tonsils (CTE)* was found “4 times more often” in neck pain patients who had experienced whiplash trauma versus neck pain patients that had not experienced recent trauma, when the FONAR UPRIGHT® MRI scanner was used.

The authors further reported, “CTE (tonsil ectopia) was found 2.5 times more often in the upright trauma vs. the recumbent group” if the patients were scanned in the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI. In sum the anatomic origin of the patient’s whiplash symptoms was successfully visualized 2.5 times more frequently when the patient was scanned upright in the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI than when he/she was scanned lying down in the conventional recumbent-only MRI.

The upright MRI examination, therefore, now makes it possible to provide definitive radiographic evidence and image characterization of the pathology giving rise to a patient’s whiplash symptoms so that it can be medically treated. For the first time, definitive anatomic evidence of the injuries sustained by whiplash victims in a motor vehicle accident can be provided. Currently, as the authors point out, some claim that patient whiplash pain is “non-pathologic chronic pain” engendered by “psychosocial factors such as litigation.” The newly published results from the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI establish that this is not correct.

The July 2010 published report of 1200 neck pain patients that were examined in both the recumbent position in a conventional MRI and upright in the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI establishes a “new standard of care” for victims of automotive whiplash injuries wherein the patients’ injuries can now be anatomically visualized and specifically defined so that the most expedient medical treatment can be provided.

Overall, the pathologic anatomy responsible for the patient’s whiplash symptoms was successfully identified in 23.3% of whiplash trauma patients (Table II, Brain Injury, July 2010: 24 (7-8):998) when the patient was scanned upright in the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI. The cause of the patient’s symptoms was identified after a whiplash injury only 9.3% of the time (Table II) when the patient was lying down in a conventional recumbent-only MRI, a difference of 2 1/2 times or 150%.

Raymond V. Damadian, M.D., president and founder of FONAR said, “it has been published(1) that there are approximately 3,000,000 REAR IMPACT(2) crash related (or CAD(3)) INJURIES(2) in the U.S. annually. Accordingly, the publication by M.D. Freeman and co-authors in the July 2010 issue of “Brain Injury” has established that of the 3,000,000 motor vehicle CAD injuries occurring annually in the U.S. 700,000 (23.3%) would exhibit cranio-cervical anatomic changes associated with their symptoms when examined upright in the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI, while only 279,000 would have their pathology detected by a conventional lie-down MRI. At the rate of 3,000,000 CAD whiplash injuries per year, 420,000 patients each year would have the pathology responsible for their symptoms go undetected if they were examined solely in a conventional recumbent-only MRI.”

Dr. Damadian further stressed, “the sudden rise in the incidence of patients suffering from the Chiari syndrome (cerebellar tonsil ectopia) is a fairly recent occurrence that needs to be addressed by both the medical and automotive professions. As Galasko et. al. from the University of Manchester, Salford, U.K., reported regarding the change in the incidence of whiplash disorders following the 1982 enactment of seat-belt legislation in the U.K. (J. Musculoskeletal Pain, Vol 8. (1/2) pgs 15-27), the incidence of whiplash associated disorders (WAD) rose “far in excess of general road traffic accident cases,” and as they also reported, “rose at an alarming rate”.

“Consequently,” Dr. Damadian stated, “it is very important that the approximately 3,000,000 people per year in the U.S. involved in the rear end auto collisions that give rise to whiplash injuries, receive an UPRIGHT® MRI examination soon after the accident. This will assure that a cerebellar tonsil ectopia has not resulted from the accident so that they can be protected going forward, and protected before they become symptomatic. If found to have CTE, they can then be warned by their physicians to exercise especial caution whenever driving and to have devices like the head restraint impact suppressor cushions installed (add On Head Rest, www.addonheadrest.com) to prevent the whiplash reaction from occurring again in the event of a collision. 

“A real concern,” added Dr. Damadian, ” is that a subsequent auto-accident for a patient who had developed tonsil ectopia from a prior auto accident, but did not develop symptoms from the ectopia, can subsequently develop symptoms from even a MINOR subsequent accident. Wan, et. al. (Wan, M. J., Nomura, H., Tator, C. H. Neurosurg. 2008; 63: 748-753.), described a symptomatic “conversion” of previously asymptomatic Chiari Type 1 following MINOR(2) head and neck trauma” (Freeman, M. D. et. al. Brain Injury, July 2010: 24 (7-8):989.

Considering that long term studies have shown that some patients suffered frequent residual symptoms 17 years after the accident, mostly comprising neck pain, radiating pain and headaches, (Eur. Spine J. 2002; 11:227-34), this publication in “Brain Injury” clearly demonstrates the need and the superiority of the FONAR UPRIGHT® Multi-Position™ MRI for imaging patients involved in motor vehicle crashes that sustain whiplash injuries.

* Cerebellar tonsillar ectopia (CTE) constitutes downward displacement of the cerebellum of the brain into the opening in the bottom of the skull, the foramen magnum, through which the spinal cord exits the skull. The downward displacement can result in compression of the medulla of the brain, fourth ventricle and cerebellar vermis, giving rise to neck pain, chronic recurrent occipital headaches, upper extremity weakness and “drop attacks”. While afflicting a low percentage of Chiari 1 patients, such patients can be subject to instantaneous unpredictable losses of consciousness known as “drop attacks” in which the standing patient, without warning, suddenly collapses to the floor.

(1) Foreman, S. M., Croft, A. C. (eds) third edition. Whiplash injuries: The cervical acceleration/deceleration syndrome. Baltimore: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins, 2001, Pg. 359.

(2) Capitalization added.

(3) Cervical Acceleration/Deceleration syndrome aka “whiplash”.

To obtain a copy of the article published in the peer-reviewed journal, “Brain Injury,” please contact FONAR at 631-694-2929×451 or by email at [email protected]. You may also use a search engine such as Google and search for the journal article entitled “A case-control study of cerebellar tonsillar ectopia (Chiari) and head/neck trauma (whiplash).

For investor and other information visit: www.fonar.com.

UPRIGHT® and STAND-UP® are registered trademarks and The Inventor of MR Scanning™, Full Range of Motion™, pMRI™, Dynamic™, Multi-Position™, True Flow™, The Proof is in the Picture™, Spondylography™ Spondylometry™ and Upright Radiology™ are trademarks of FONAR Corporation.

This release may include forward-looking statements from the company that may or may not materialize. Additional information on factors that could potentially affect the company’s financial results may be found in the company’s filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

WEST HARTFORD, CT–(Marketwire – July 20, 2010) –  ORLive, the vision of improving health, presents a live thoracoscopic maze procedure to cure atrial fibrillation from PinnacleHealth. In addition to this live procedure, ORLive invites you to take part in the latest installment of the Virtual Brain Tumor Board, and to watch and learn from this month’s featured channel of no-visible-scar surgeries.

NEW ON ORLIVE

LIVE SURGERY VIDEO – Total Thoracoscopic Maze
Live Wednesday July 21, 2010, 7:00 PM EDT

The total thoracoscopic maze is a surgical procedure intended to permanently cure atrial fibrillation. This minimally invasive, beating heart procedure will be performed by Dr. Mubashir Mumtaz, Chief of Cardiothoracic Surgery at PinnacleHealth. 

Viewers are invited to interact with the surgical team by submitting questions via the ORLive website. To learn more about this broadcast and to sign up for an e-mail reminder go to ORLive.com.

ORLIVE REFERRALS – Week of July 19, 2010
Each week ORLive highlights on-demand videos for our membership and visitors. 

No Visible Scar Surgery Referral: Laparo-Endoscopic Single-Site (LESS) Procedure from Tampa General Hospital

CME Referral: Minimally Invasive Endoscopic Pituitary Surgery from Thomas Jefferson University Hospital

Viewer’s Referral: Whipple Procedure for Pancreatic Cancer from University of Maryland Medical Center

HIGHLIGHTS

NOW ON-DEMAND – The Anterior Supine Approach to Total Hip Arthroplasty
Now Available On-Demand

ORLive and Zimmer present a Total Hip Arthroplasty featuring the Continuum Acetabular System and the Fitmore Hip Stem. The surgery was originally presented live and was performed by Dr. Jonathan Yerasimides, University of Louisville Department of Orthopaedics, Louisville, KY and is moderated by Dr. Hari Bezwada, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine Department of Orthopaedic Surgery, Philadelphia, PA. This video presents the entire surgical procedure, and provides an opportunity for firsthand insight of the safe and effective implantation and surgical procedure involved with the Continuum Acetabular System and the Fitmore Hip Stem.

This surgery video is available to members of the ORLive community, and members are still able to interact and ask questions via the ORLive website. Learn more about this broadcast at ORLive.com, and be ready to view this exciting procedure by activating your free membership to ORLive today.

PREVIEW – Prenatal Pediatrics
Premieres Tuesday, July 27, 12 PM EDT

Managing a high risk pregnancy can be difficult. NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital provides the maternal, fetal and pediatric expertise to care for high-risk pregnancies. NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital was one of only eight hospitals in the country ranked in each medical specialty measured by U.S. News & World Report, with distinct leadership in neonatology and pediatric cardiac surgery.

Watch the best in Prenatal Pediatrics July 27th at Noon.

Viewers of this video are invited to interact with the team via the ORLive website, and to join the community and receive regular updates from the NewYork-Presbyterian Morgan Stanley Children’s Hospital Center for Neonatal Pediatrics.

SUPPLEMENTAL CONTENT – VOX ORLive
Explore robotic assisted mitral valve surgery with cardiac surgeon Dr. Lynn Seto in the current 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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DENVER, CO–(Marketwire – July 20, 2010) – Though statistics vary, most clinicians and dietitians agree — eating disorders are on the rise. To address this growing epidemic and discuss innovative treatment strategies, leading eating disorders professionals will gather in Denver August 13-14, 2010, at the 2^nd Annual Rocky Mountain Eating Disorders Conference. 

Held at the Denver Marriott City Center in Denver, Colo., the conference is hosted by Eating Recovery Center, a national center for eating disorders recovery providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia and bulimia. CEUs are now available for several disciplines.

For the second consecutive year, the conference will focus on new treatment trends for anorexia nervosa, bulimia nervosa and EDNOS; as well as innovative strategies for addressing the complexities of these disorders. 

“Collaboration within the eating disorders community ultimately leads to better outcomes for our patients,” said Kenneth L. Weiner, MD, CEDS, founding partner and medical director of Eating Recovery Center. “At the Rocky Mountain Eating Disorders Conference, individuals have the opportunity to learn best practices and treatment innovations from some of the leading minds in the field.”

Here is a brief sampling of sessions and speakers:

• Key Ingredients for Creating a Center of Excellence: A Primer for Building a Successful Program, Kenneth L. Weiner, MD, CEDS
• Escaping the Wilderness: Recovery from Anorexia, Emmett R. Bishop, Jr., MD, CEDS
• Medical Complications of Anorexia Nervosa and Bulimia, Philip Mehler, MD, FACP, CEDS
• The Willing and Able: Understanding the Adolescent Brain in the Treatment of Eating Disorders, Ovidio Bermudez, MD, FAAP, FSAM, FAED, CEDS
• New Models of Family Therapy in the Treatment of Eating Disorders, Craig Johnson, PhD, FAED, CEDS
• The Mindful Therapist, Carolyn Costin, MA, Med, MFT, CEDS

Registration is $150 and includes all sessions, dinner on Friday night, continental breakfast and lunch on Saturday, as well as refreshment breaks. Single-day registration is $75. Student-discounted registration is $100 and $50 for single-day attendance. Space is limited and registration prior to the event is recommended.

For more information or to register for the 2^nd Annual Rocky Mountain Eating Disorders Conference, visit Eating Recovery Center’s website or call 877-218-1344.

About Eating Recovery Center
Eating Recovery Center is a national center for eating disorders recovery, providing comprehensive treatment for anorexia and bulimia at the foot of the Rockies in beautiful Denver, Colorado. Facilities include a licensed behavioral hospital treating adults, an outpatient office, and an adolescent facility scheduled to open in November 2010. Our integrated program offers patients from across the country a continuum of care that includes inpatient, residential, partial hospitalization, intensive outpatient and outpatient services. Our compassionate team of professionals collaborates with treating professionals and loved ones to cultivate lasting behavioral change. For more information please contact us at 877-218-1344 or [email protected] or confidentially chat live on our website at www.EatingRecoveryCenter.com.

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ROCKVILLE, MD and SEOUL, KOREA–(Marketwire – July 20, 2010) – Seegene today announced the availability of Magicplex™ Sepsis, a new multi-pathogen screening test capable of quick and accurate identification of over 90 leading sepsis-causing pathogens. Magicplex Sepsis provides a novel and fast-acting diagnostic technique for hospitals to simultaneously verify a complex range of targets that indicate sepsis, the leading cause of death in non-coronary intensive care units worldwide. Seegene’s Magicplex Sepsis will be introduced at the 2010 Annual Meeting and Clinical Lab Expo of the American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC), booth # 1800.

Sepsis is a deadly disease that leaves no clear track back to initial indications, which could include gram-positive bacteria, gram-negative bacteria or fungi. The results are devastating: the annual incidence rate of sepsis has increased 91.3 percent over the last 10 years, and every hour 25 people in the United States die from severe sepsis. One of every three patients who develop severe sepsis will die within a month. Severe sepsis, the leading cause of death in the non-coronary intensive care unit, takes more lives than breast, colorectal, pancreatic, and prostate cancers combined.

The medical challenge to be overcome is to determine the correct treatment of sepsis within the first hours of the onset of the disease. Currently physicians and clinicians have little option but to run several available molecular diagnostic tests that offer little confidence that the results will definitely identify the presence of sepsis in a patient. The alternative to these relatively quick tests is a multiple-phase blood culture test, which is a time-consuming process, or current multiplex PCR with limited range of pathogen targets and poor test specificity. 

Seegene’s Magicplex Sepsis Test is a sharp break from this mold. Magicplex Sepsis is a real-time detection test that quickly and comprehensively determines the levels of suspected targets in a patient’s blood sample, and identifies drug resistant genes to better inform a diagnosis. The speed, accuracy and price of the Magicplex Sepsis Test will enable doctors and clinicians to quickly provide an appropriate treatment to head off the deadly disease.

The Magicplex Sepsis Test simultaneously screens for over 90 sepsis-causing pathogens: over 70 Gram (+) (30 Staphylococcus, 40 Streptococcus, 3 Enterococcus); 12 Gram (-); 6 Fungi; and 3 antibiotic resistant genes (mecA, vanA, vanB) can also be discriminated. The Magicplex Sepsis Test requires less than 1ml of patient’s whole blood and provides test results within three hours (after extraction). The test’s unique performance is a function of separate screening and identification steps. For example, when screening for over 90 sepsis-causing pathogens, the identification of exact pathogens can be carried out without starting from blood collection. 30 different pathogens are organized in different panels for identification and it only takes 40 minutes to detect.

“The Magicplex Sepsis Test will be the new gold standard for performing accurate, rapid and cost-effective sepsis diagnosis,” said Jong-Yoon Chun, chief executive officer of Seegene. “In treating sepsis, time and accuracy are demanded. Every hour of delay in giving patients the correct antibiotics results in an 8% increase in the mortality rate.”

“For doctors and clinicians performing faster diagnosis than by blood culture is a dream come true. By enabling doctors to make accurate diagnosis faster, Magicplex Sepsis can lead to improved patient outcomes in health care settings worldwide,” said Hong-Soo Kim, MD, Department of Internal Medicine, Institute of Gastroenterology, Soonchunhyang University College of Medicine, Korea.

Magicplex tests are based on Seegene’s proprietary READ™ technology, which combines the advantages of multiplex in a real-time system. The result is a molecular diagnostic testing system that provides higher specificity and sensitivity over currently available PCR systems.

The READ technology of Magicplex tests is a departure from probe- and primer-based PCR methods to produce false-free detection. Magicplex test works in a simple two-step process: first specifically amplifying the DNA sequence of target pathogens, then simply reading those signals using any real-time PCR instrument.

Magicplex Sepsis Test will not be available in the USA until regulatory clearance.

About Seegene

Seegene, Inc. is the leading biotechnology company developing, manufacturing and marketing innovative molecular diagnostic products. The company’s proprietary technologies in both PCR and Real-time PCR named ACP™, DPO™, and READ™, set a new solution for high-throughput and simultaneous multi-pathogen detection called “multiplex PCR.” The novel Real-time PCR technology, READ™, overcomes the limitations of conventional Real-time PCR, providing dramatic improvement in sensitivity and specificity. Seegene holds three novel Molecular diagnostic platforms: Seeplex^®  system adapting DPO™ Technology, Anyplex™ and Magicplex™ systems that are Real-time PCR detection platforms adapting DPO™ and READ™ technologies. Seegene’s products detect multi-pathogens with great reliability and throughput, ultimately providing the most economical basis for saving time, labor and cost. Seegene’s mission is to maintain leadership in molecular diagnostics for infectious diseases, genetics, pharmacogenetics, and oncology using the innovative proprietary technologies.

For more information please visit www.seegene.com or call +301-762-9066.

WORTHINGTON, OH–(Marketwire – July 20, 2010) –  American Health Holding, Inc., a multi-URAC accredited medical management service provider, today announced the expansion of its Disease Management (DM) program to provide more program options to help clients contain costs while assisting individuals managing a chronic condition.

“We heard our customers’ request for a DM program that addresses those most in need of health management intervention,” states Paul Lavin, American Health’s President. “We felt our new High Risk Disease Management program was a solution. While American Health’s Comprehensive DM program targets approximately 20% of a client’s population, the new High-Risk program reaches the 5.5% who are at the highest risk for incurring large health care claims.”

In March 2009, American Health launched its new Population Health Management (PHM) program. Comprised of both DM and Lifestyle/Wellness components, PHM takes aim at helping benefit providers address rapidly rising health care costs while assisting individuals in achieving optimal health. At the start of the program, DM addressed seven chronic conditions for which evidence-based guidelines are established to impact health and measure improvement: asthma, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, congestive heart failure, coronary artery disease, diabetes, hyperlipidemia, and hypertension.

“In addition to introducing our high-risk program, we have added chronic pain as the eighth condition that we manage,” notes Anne Klie, Director of Product Development and Marketing. “We recognized that by using our proven behavioral assessment and modification tools we can make a difference in the lives of people suffering from low back pain and osteo- and rheumatoid arthritis.”

Earlier this year, American Health’s participant satisfaction survey revealed that 100% of first-year participants would be likely to recommend the program. “We are pleased with our preliminary outcomes, and we look forward to continue enhancing the program experience for our members,” adds Lavin.

About American Health Holding, Inc.
American Health Holding is a single-source provider of medical management services that supports millions of members across the health care continuum. The multi-URAC accredited organization has been helping clients to maximize cost savings while ensuring the quality and appropriateness of care since 1993. American Health provides a level of flexibility that supports integrated solutions for creating healthy outcomes. For more information about American Health visit the Web site: www.AmericanHealthHolding.com.

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HOUSTON, TX–(Marketwire – July 19, 2010) – Leading the charge in minimally invasive treatments for common hand and upper extremity conditions and injuries plaguing both men and women in society today, hand and upper extremity specialist, Dr. Evan Collins approves the use of new minimally invasive XIAFLEX® in the treatment of his patients suffering from Dupuytren’s Contracture.

The new injectable treatment first introduced in Europe recently received FDA approval for use in the United States and is now offered by a small group of specially trained orthopedic specialists. Dr. Collins, who was among the first to introduce the Percutaneous Needle Fasciotomy, also known as needle aponeurotomy (NA), in the treatment of Dupuytren’s Contracture nearly two years ago will offer the new XIAFLEX® treatment at The Methodist Hospital – Texas Medical Center.

XIAFLEX® is the first FDA-approved non surgical treatment for Dupuytren’s Contracture, enzymatically disrupting collagen when injected directly into a Dupuytren’s cord. Collagen disruption results in improved range of motion.

“There has been a great deal of work done in recent years to address the debilitating effects of Dupuytren’s Disease. This is among the first non surgical injection procedures approved by the FDA in the United States. We hope to restore range of motion to patients suffering from severe Dupuytren’s contractures, without the risks and recovery time of even the most advanced surgical procedures currently used to address them,” said Dr. Collins.

“Many people choose to live with the condition, which can dramatically affect even the most basic daily activities, because they are not comfortable with the treatments we have had to date. This non surgical approach may be a more appealing option for them,” Collins added.

Dupuytren’s disease is a progressive condition which causes the fibrous tissue of the palmar fascia (cords) to shorten and thicken. Eventually this will result in nodules causing fingers to contract, distorting the hand and reducing hand function. 

A Weill Cornell assistant professor and former Chief of Hand & Upper Extremity at Baylor College of Medicine, Dr. Evan Collins is awarded some of the highest nationally recorded patient satisfaction scores. He is featured among H Texas and Texas Monthly magazines’ recognized doctor’s listings and internationally renowned for his research in common hand and wrist conditions, tendinopathies, carpal tunnel syndrome, osteoarthritis and other debilitating joint conditions. 

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DALLAS, TEXAS–(Marketwire – July 19, 2010) – The following corrects and replaces the release sent on July 19, 2010 at 6:00 am ET. The phone number stated in the contact information and last paragraph of the release should have read “(214) 613-3133” instead of “(806) 553-6166”.

Odyssey and VistaCare Hospice in Texas can help you learn more about the type of care required in the final stages of life. 

“People appreciate the care hospice provides,” said Dr. Luis Gonzales, M.D., a National Medical Director for Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice. “Over 98% of family members tell us they would recommend hospice in Texas to others, and oftentimes our patients and families tell us they wish they’d been told about hospice in Texas sooner. Despite this, there are a lot of misconceptions among people who have not experienced the support hospice in Texas provides.”

One of the major misconceptions is that hospice is a location where one goes to live out the very last days of their life.

But in fact, hospice in Texas is a philosophy of care, and not a specific location at which to receive it. According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), 69% of hospice patients receive care in what they consider their home. The remainder are cared for in a hospice inpatient facility or hospital. Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice in Texas provide care wherever the patient’s home may be – a house, assisted living community, nursing home, or even during a brief hospital stay.

“The reality is that most people – medical professionals or otherwise – often equate hospice with death, but the truth is that hospice in Texas is about life” said Dr. Gonzales. “This lack of understanding can lead to a large number of people who are served by hospice in Texas for only a few days. Unfortunately, in these cases the patient and their loved ones don’t receive all of the benefits hospice offers.” Hospice is designed by Medicare to be a 6 month benefit, with the ability to provide care beyond that time for persons who remain eligible. Hospice in Texas is about quality of life.

Hospice in Texas provides compassionate, patient-centered care that offers medical expertise, comfort and support for those nearing the end of life, while also offering assistance for their loved ones. Hospice in Texas is delivered by a team of professionals who are experienced and committed to providing specialized care to persons seeking comfort, relief from symptoms, and gentle guidance.

Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice provide personalized care based on the needs of each patient and family. As one of the most experienced providers of hospice in Texas and throughout the United States, Odyssey and VistaCare offers CareBeyond, clinical programs for persons coping with specific illnesses. Developed by multidisciplinary team members, Odyssey and VistaCare hospice in Texas recognizes that patients with lung disease, for example, are treated differently, and have very different needs from, dementia patients. Using evidence based clinical practices, CareBeyond offers additional, specialized care to meet unique needs. 

Those who are approaching the end of life typically fear dying in pain, dying alone and are concerned about their loved ones. Hospice in Texas helps with each of these concerns. At Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice in Texas, our team of professionals is committed to serving patient and caregiver needs, whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual. Hospice is there when care and support are needed most.

With the early involvement of hospice, pain and symptoms are managed quickly so that people are comfortable. Only then can they work on other important aspects of their life. When chosen earlier, hospice in Texas provides greater benefits that are received for a longer period of time, including the opportunity for reflection and closure.

Hospice in Texas also provides bereavement care for up to 13-months for surviving family members. Care may include phone calls, newsletters, memorial services, connection to community resources and support. 

If you would like to receive more detailed, local information about hospice in Texas, please click here for information pertaining to hospice in Houston, or here for more information regarding hospice in Dallas. Odyssey & VistaCare also have hospice locations, providing in-home and/or inpatient treatment, throughout Texas. 

To learn more about hospice in Texas, please visit http://local.odsyhealth.com, or call (214) 613-3133.

TAMPA, FL–(Marketwire – July 19, 2010) – Sage North America Healthcare Division, providing practice management software and services to more than 80,000 physicians in North America, today announced several tools it is providing to practices, clients and members of the healthcare community to help them navigate the final Stage 1 meaningful use rules recently announced under the 2009 HITECH Act.

The final rule details the requirements physicians must satisfy to be eligible for financial incentives for the adoption and meaningful use of healthcare information technology under the HITECH Act.

“With the Stage 1 finalized rules, time is of the essence as healthcare providers race against the clock to prepare for and comply with the criteria,” said Betty Otter-Nickerson, President of Sage Healthcare. “With more than three decades of experience in this industry, we continue to be a knowledgeable and trusted source of information for our clients.”

The Health Information Technology for Economic and Clinical Health (HITECH) Act was created to promote the adoption and meaningful use of health information technology and includes more than $20 billion to aid in the development of a robust IT infrastructure for healthcare and to assist providers and other entities in adopting and using health IT.

Along with the Stage 1 meaningful use rules, a separate final rule was published establishing comprehensive guidelines that vendors’ products must meet for functionality, interoperability and security. Along with a third final rule released in June establishing a temporary certification program for testing and certification of vendor systems, the critical pieces are all in place to implement Stage 1 of the three-stage federal EHR incentive program designed to improve healthcare outcomes and patient care.

Tools of Success: Sage Meaningful Use White Paper, e-Consults and Webinar
Otter-Nickerson said she and Sage are aware of the confusion and questions surrounding meaningful use, the financial incentives, and how EHRs will drive efficiency and cost savings in today’s healthcare economy. To that end, Sage has developed several tools to help physicians and practices navigate the meaningful use landscape.

“We are dedicated to serving physicians and their practices, and we remain true to our mission of helping small and midsized ambulatory physician practices fulfill their ambitions, both with regard to using technology and to succeeding in a changing healthcare economy,” said Otter-Nickerson.

For physicians and practices seeking information about meaningful use rules, Sage North America Healthcare Division will host a one-hour public webinar on meaningful use and the final rule, featuring a 30-minute question and answer session. This free event, “Understanding Meaningful Use,” will take place Aug. 10, 2010, from noon to 1 p.m. EST. For more information or to register, visit www.SageHealth.com/MUFinalRule.

Webinar speakers will include Betty Otter-Nickerson, President, Sage Healthcare Division; Michael Burger, Sage Senior Director of Clinical Product Management; and Brenda Pawlak, Senior Manager of Health Policy at Manatt Health Solutions.

In addition, Sage is making a free white paper available to anyone interested in meaningful use. The white paper details how meaningful use may or may not affect practices differently and includes information about incentives and what it means to meaningfully use EHRs in the current healthsphere. The white paper will be available at the Sage Meaningful Use webinar.

Sage will also host several “e-consults” — web-based informational sessions for practice managers and physicians interested in learning more about meaningful use, the rules, and technology and electronic records in the practice space. For more information, please visit www.sagenorthamerica.com

“Now that the final rule has been released, we will continue to support and offer guidance in response to the needs of our clients and physicians while offering the market’s most competitive products,” said Otter-Nickerson.

Meaningful Use Webinar details:
Date: Tuesday, August 10
Time: Noon to 1 pm EST
Title: Understanding the “Meaningful Use” Final Rule
Cost: Free of charge
Registration URL: www.SageHealth.com/MUFinalRule
Moderator: Elizabeth W. Woodcock, MBA, FACMPE, CPC
Speakers:
Betty Otter-Nickerson, President, Sage Healthcare Division
Michael Burger, Sage Senior Director of Clinical Product Management
Brenda Pawlak, Manatt Health Solutions, Senior Manager of Health Policy

View Sage Healthcare Division YouTube interviews.

View Sage Healthcare Division information.

About Sage North America
Sage North America is part of The Sage Group plc, a leading global supplier of business management software and services. Sage North America employs 4,000 people and supports 3.1 million small and midsized business customers including more than 80,000 physicians. The Sage Group plc, formed in 1981, was floated on the London Stock Exchange in 1989 and now employs 13,100 people and supports 6.2 million customers worldwide. For more information, please visit the website at www.sagenorthamerica.com.

© 2010 Sage Software, Inc. All rights reserved. Sage, Sage Software, Sage logos and the Sage product and service names mentioned herein are registered trademarks or trademarks of Sage Software, Inc. or its affiliated entities. All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.

DALLAS, TEXAS–(Marketwire – July 19, 2010) – Odyssey and VistaCare Hospice in Texas can help you learn more about the type of care required in the final stages of life. 

“People appreciate the care hospice provides,” said Dr. Luis Gonzales, M.D., a National Medical Director for Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice. “Over 98% of family members tell us they would recommend hospice in Texas to others, and oftentimes our patients and families tell us they wish they’d been told about hospice in Texas sooner. Despite this, there are a lot of misconceptions among people who have not experienced the support hospice in Texas provides.”

One of the major misconceptions is that hospice is a location where one goes to live out the very last days of their life.

But in fact, hospice in Texas is a philosophy of care, and not a specific location at which to receive it. According to the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization (NHPCO), 69% of hospice patients receive care in what they consider their home. The remainder are cared for in a hospice inpatient facility or hospital. Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice in Texas provide care wherever the patient’s home may be – a house, assisted living community, nursing home, or even during a brief hospital stay.

“The reality is that most people – medical professionals or otherwise – often equate hospice with death, but the truth is that hospice in Texas is about life” said Dr. Gonzales. “This lack of understanding can lead to a large number of people who are served by hospice in Texas for only a few days. Unfortunately, in these cases the patient and their loved ones don’t receive all of the benefits hospice offers.” Hospice is designed by Medicare to be a 6 month benefit, with the ability to provide care beyond that time for persons who remain eligible. Hospice in Texas is about quality of life.

Hospice in Texas provides compassionate, patient-centered care that offers medical expertise, comfort and support for those nearing the end of life, while also offering assistance for their loved ones. Hospice in Texas is delivered by a team of professionals who are experienced and committed to providing specialized care to persons seeking comfort, relief from symptoms, and gentle guidance.

Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice provide personalized care based on the needs of each patient and family. As one of the most experienced providers of hospice in Texas and throughout the United States, Odyssey and VistaCare offers CareBeyond, clinical programs for persons coping with specific illnesses. Developed by multidisciplinary team members, Odyssey and VistaCare hospice in Texas recognizes that patients with lung disease, for example, are treated differently, and have very different needs from, dementia patients. Using evidence based clinical practices, CareBeyond offers additional, specialized care to meet unique needs. 

Those who are approaching the end of life typically fear dying in pain, dying alone and are concerned about their loved ones. Hospice in Texas helps with each of these concerns. At Odyssey Hospice and VistaCare Hospice in Texas, our team of professionals is committed to serving patient and caregiver needs, whether they are physical, emotional or spiritual. Hospice is there when care and support are needed most.

With the early involvement of hospice, pain and symptoms are managed quickly so that people are comfortable. Only then can they work on other important aspects of their life. When chosen earlier, hospice in Texas provides greater benefits that are received for a longer period of time, including the opportunity for reflection and closure.

Hospice in Texas also provides bereavement care for up to 13-months for surviving family members. Care may include phone calls, newsletters, memorial services, connection to community resources and support. 

If you would like to receive more detailed, local information about hospice in Texas, please click here for information pertaining to hospice in Houston, or here for more information regarding hospice in Dallas. Odyssey & VistaCare also have hospice locations, providing in-home and/or inpatient treatment, throughout Texas. 

To learn more about hospice in Texas, please visit http://local.odsyhealth.com, or call (806) 553-6166.

MADISON, WI–(Marketwire – July 16, 2010) – TomoTherapy Incorporated (NASDAQ: TOMO) maker of advanced, integrated radiation therapy solutions for cancer care, today announced that James Cook University Hospital (JCUH) in Middlesbrough, England began treating cancer patients with the TomoTherapy^® Hi·Art^® treatment system last month. The TomoTherapy treatment system, which enables delivery of state-of-the-art CT image-guided intensity modulated radiotherapy (IG-IMRT), reinforces the hospital’s leadership in cancer care for the people of the North East of England. 

Among the first people to be treated was a 55-year-old female patient from Middlesbrough with breast cancer and an unusual chest anatomy. “We could not have treated this woman on a conventional linear accelerator treatment machine, nor with surgery, so it’s extremely satisfying to know we can now offer this quality of treatment to a wider range of patients,” said Karen Pilling, the superintendent radiographer in charge of the TomoTherapy system at JCUH. “The start-up from training through to treating our first patients has been very smooth and easy, and we are benefiting from the reduced set-up time required by the TomoTherapy treatment system. With integrated CT image guidance we are able to see the treatment plan with isodose contours overlaid onto the daily CT images, giving us extra reassurance that the treatment is the most accurate possible.” 

The TomoTherapy treatment system delivers radiation therapy in continuous helical rotations around the patient’s body. By enabling precise IMRT, the system allows clinicians to conform treatment to the shape of the tumor while helping to reduce radiation exposure to surrounding healthy tissue and critical structures. In addition, TomoTherapy technology allows the radiotherapy staff to directly CT image the soft tissues and tumour immediately prior to treatment, and make any necessary adjustments, thereby ensuring greater accuracy for high precision techniques where internal anatomy might change throughout the course of treatment.

Dr. Peter Dunlop, clinical oncologist and clinical director of the James Cook oncology service, outlining his reasons for choosing the TomoTherapy platform stated, “We felt it was extremely important to have fully integrated image guidance and intensity modulation, and we believe TomoTherapy provides that most effectively. It produces the best conformality available. The design of the system is such that there are no junctions, no matching fields, minimized risk of dose calculation mistakes, no uncontrolled hotspots, no gantry collisions and no more electron mode errors. For patients, the megavoltage CT (MVCT) set-ups ensure that we are accurately targeting their tumours. We have found the operation is smooth and treatments are comfortable for patients because they are often quicker than with conventional IMRT, especially in complex head and neck cases.”

Christopher Walker, head of Radiotherapy Physics at James Cook, responsible for all technical and medical physics aspects of this advanced technology, stated, “Procurement of the TomoTherapy system has provided Middlesbrough with an ‘off the shelf’ technical solution to the challenges faced in delivering high quality radiotherapy. The TomoTherapy solution has allowed us to leapfrog to a position of excellence in cancer care in the U.K. The system has a small physical footprint coupled with a reduced radiation shielding requirement compared to conventional machines. We were able to install it in a pre-existing treatment room, which was considered obsolete by present day conventional radiotherapy standards. As a result, TomoTherapy technology has allowed us to provide additional treatment capacity without the need for an expensive new build whilst maximising the efficiency of the existing facility. Installation and acceptance testing passed quickly and seamlessly allowing the physics team to concentrate on the clinical commissioning process. This process was reduced to a relatively simple validation exercise as all the beam data required for patient treatment planning was already pre-loaded in to the dedicated planning computer. The collaborative approach presented by TomoTherapy has allowed us to rapidly introduce advanced treatment methodologies in a safe and controlled way. The whole process was greatly enhanced by the support and training offered to us both by TomoTherapy and Oncology Systems Limited.”

James Cook University Hospital, as a publicly funded National Health Service hospital, has firmly embraced this radiotherapy technology as the most advanced treatment in its arsenal and as a cost-effective approach for treating technically complex cases.

“At an extremely difficult economic time, particularly within the public sector, James Cook has above all, upheld its belief in the unsurpassed quality of treatment brought by TomoTherapy,” says Julie Mead, director and clinical advisor at Oncology Systems Ltd. “The whole oncology team, with support from the Trust Management, has worked hard to secure this new technology for the people of the North East of England. Now with its TomoTherapy system in place, James Cook has become a leader in the UK NHS with the ability to offer world class radiotherapy for its patients.”

TomoTherapy technology is developed and manufactured by TomoTherapy Inc. and is supplied in the U.K. by Oncology Systems Limited, based in Shrewsbury, England.

About James Cook University Hospital 
Based in the north east of England, JCUH is an NHS Foundation Trust and large district general hospital. The hospital was opened in October 2003 and has a capacity of 1,007 beds. It incorporates the full range of all acute and elective medical and surgical specialties including cardiac surgery, cardiology, renal medicine / haemodialysis, neurosurgery, vascular surgery and the regional spinal injuries unit. The radiotherapy and oncology service delivers an integrated service to a population of approximately one million, extending through Teesside, South Durham and North Yorkshire.

About Oncology Systems Limited 
Oncology Systems Limited (OSL), is a privately owned limited company based in Shrewsbury, England. OSL is an exclusive supplier of radiation therapy technology to the UK and Ireland. It distributes TomoTherapy^® cancer treatment technology to the UK’s NHS and private radiotherapy facilities, and to both public and private providers in the Republic of Ireland.

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.

SOUTH SAN FRANCISCO, CA–(Marketwire – July 15, 2010) –   Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: SNSS) today announced that the European Patent Office (EPO) has granted a European patent covering combinations of the Company’s lead drug candidate, voreloxin, with cytarabine. Cytarabine is the standard-of-care treatment for Acute Myeloid Leukemia (AML), and the therapy used in combination with voreloxin in a fully enrolled Phase 2 trial in patients with relapsed and/or refractory AML. Sunesis has also announced plans to initiate a multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of voreloxin in combination with cytarabine in a relapsed/refractory AML patient population in the second half of this year. European Patent No. 1 729 770 B1, titled “SNS-595 [voreloxin] and Methods of Using the Same,” following completion of the patent validation process, will provide patent coverage for such combination products in 30 member states of the European Patent Convention, including the major European markets, through 2025. Corresponding patent applications are pending in major markets throughout the world including Australia, Canada, Japan and the United States. 

“This patent is an important new addition to our intellectual property estate, as it covers the combination of voreloxin and cytarabine, the contemplated initial market application,” stated Daniel Swisher, Chief Executive Officer of Sunesis. “We are pursuing a sophisticated and deliberate strategy to provide exclusive coverage in the voreloxin patent estate out to 2030. Beyond our granted patents, we have filed patent applications covering formulations, combination uses, dosing, manufacturing processes and composition of matter claims. We look forward to the successful prosecution of these patent applications in multiple territories around the world.”

About Voreloxin

Voreloxin is a first-in-class anticancer quinolone derivative, or AQD, a class of compounds that has not been used previously for the treatment of cancer. Voreloxin both intercalates DNA and inhibits topoisomerase II, resulting in replication-dependent, site-selective DNA damage, G2 arrest and apoptosis. Voreloxin is currently being evaluated in a fully enrolled single agent Phase 2 clinical trial (known as the REVEAL-1 trial) in previously untreated elderly AML patients and in a fully enrolled Phase 2 clinical trial combining voreloxin with cytarabine for the treatment of patients with relapsed/refractory AML. A Phase 2 single agent clinical trial in platinum-resistant ovarian cancer has also completed enrollment. Sunesis plans to initiate a multinational, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of voreloxin in combination with cytarabine in a relapsed/refractory AML patient population in the second half of this year.

About Acute Myeloid Leukemia

AML is a rapidly progressing cancer of the blood characterized by the uncontrolled proliferation of immature blast cells in the bone marrow. The National Cancer Institute estimated that nearly 13,000 new cases of AML were diagnosed and approximately 9,000 deaths from AML occurred in the U.S. in 2009. Additionally, it is estimated that prevalence of AML is approximately 25,000 in the U.S. AML is generally a disease of older adults, and the median age of a patient diagnosed with AML is about 67 years. AML patients with relapsed or refractory disease and newly diagnosed AML patients over 60 years of age with poor prognostic risk factors typically die within one year, resulting in an acute need for new treatment options for these patients.

About Sunesis Pharmaceuticals

Sunesis is a biopharmaceutical company focused on the development and commercialization of new oncology therapeutics for the treatment of solid and hematologic cancers. Sunesis has built a highly experienced cancer drug development organization committed to advancing its lead product candidate, voreloxin, in multiple indications to improve the lives of people with cancer. For additional information on Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, please visit http://www.sunesis.com.

This press release contains forward-looking statements, including without limitation statements related to the prosecution of patent applications and Sunesis’ plans to initiate a pivotal Phase 3 clinical trial of voreloxin in the second half of this year. Words such as “evaluate,” “planned,” “will,” “look forward” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are based upon Sunesis’ current expectations. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties. Sunesis’ actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in such forward-looking statements as a result of these risks and uncertainties, which include without limitation, risks related to Sunesis’ need for additional funding to fully finance the planned voreloxin pivotal trial, the risk that Sunesis’ development activities for voreloxin could be halted or significantly delayed for various reasons, the risk that Sunesis’ clinical studies for voreloxin may not demonstrate safety or efficacy or lead to regulatory approval, the risk that data to date and trends may not be predictive of future data or results, the risk that Sunesis’ nonclinical studies and clinical studies may not satisfy the requirements of the FDA or other regulatory agencies, risks related to the conduct of Sunesis’ clinical trials, risks related to the manufacturing of voreloxin, and the risk that Sunesis’ proprietary rights may not adequately protect voreloxin. These and other risk factors are discussed under “Risk Factors” and elsewhere in Sunesis’ Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the quarter ended March 31, 2010 and other filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. Sunesis expressly disclaims any obligation or undertaking to release publicly any updates or revisions to any forward-looking statements contained herein to reflect any change in the company’s expectations with regard thereto or any change in events, conditions or circumstances on which any such statements are based.

SUNESIS and the logo are trademarks of Sunesis Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

TORRANCE, CA–(Marketwire – July 14, 2010) –  Dr. Ramin Mirhashemi, MD, FACOG, of Gynecological Oncology Associates realized he needed to have an online presence and branding for his practice. With the help of Aurora Information Technology, his website GYNLA.com is the ultimate medical resource for his patients. Dr. Mirhashemi is an expert in robotic surgery, which he performs to treat gynecologic cancers including uterine, ovarian, cervical, and vaginal cancers, as well as fibroids, endometriosis, ovarian tumors and pelvic prolapse (robotic sacrocolpopexy, robotic hysterectomy and robotic myomectomy).

The domain name, GYNLA.com, was devised to encompass the practice and the region served. A fun and bright website design with an animated banner incorporating the fresh, new logo on the home page houses a wealth of information on topics in Dr. Mirhashemi’s overall gynecological expertise, including gynecologic oncology and robotic surgery. Mirhashemi developed techniques to perform these surgeries through robotic laparoscopic techniques. The robotic procedure is more accurate and minimally invasive, due to smaller incisions. Patients experience less pain and usually recover in about 1 week.

Dr. Mirhashemi, who has the largest experience in robotic surgery for gynecologic conditions “west of the Mississippi,” is a subject matter expert who has published over 60 journal articles, research articles and book chapters in regards to women’s health. Mirhashemi attended Medical School at the University of Southern California and completed his internship and residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital/Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard Medical School. He received his fellowship in Gynecologic Oncology at the University of Miami. To his credit, he is a former Associate Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the UCLA School of Medicine, and the University of Miami School of Medicine, as well as the Director of the Familial Breast and Ovarian Cancer Genetic Center at the University of Miami School of Medicine.

Because Dr. Mirhashemi is dedicated to improving women’s health via comprehensive gynecology, gynecologic oncology, and urogynecologic services, his mission for the website was to provide as much information as possible regarding the most common female medical conditions as well as treatment options. Mirhashemi believes in the efficiency of state-of-the-art robotic surgery in gynecology. “Because large abdominal incisions are not needed with the da Vinci robot that is used in robotic surgery, my patients recover much faster than with traditional open surgery, that requires these larger incisions,” explained Mirhashemi. “With robotic surgery, most of patients are discharged within 24 hours of their operations, with fewer complications.”

The site provides patient information such as physician/practice background, patient testimonials and hospital affiliations. In order to constantly improve the patient experience, the site features an online patient questionnaire that captures patient feedback on their experience with the practice. “My practice is patient-focused and their cure and satisfaction go hand-in-hand,” explained Dr. Mirhashemi. “If we’ve managed to do both successfully, and provide the value-add of medical information and education, then we’ve done our job well.”

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