Medical blog » still

Device firm's revenue still flowing

admin — Wed, 04 Feb 2009 08:47:02 +0000

Revenue in the men’s health division barely budged, growing 0.8 percent to $89 million, partly because of slowing growth of erectile restoration (penile prosthesis) products. The company “was seeing some economic impact on [these] procedures, as men who have in some cases lived with the problem for years elected to delay treatment due to either copays or the lengthy recovery period,” wrote Brooks West, an analyst with Craig-Hallum in Minneapolis. He has a buy rating on the stock.
But there appeared to be strong demand for products such as urinary sphincters and slings, which are aimed at combating male incontinence, a loss of urine control common in older men, many of whom have undergone prostate surgery. The company already has a strong position in the $110 million industry, controlling roughly 95 percent of the market, according to the Craig-Hallum report.
Likewise, the company’s women’s health business reported strong demand for products treating female incontinence and vaginal prolapse, a condition in which organs fall out of their normal position. Sales in that business grew 7.8 percent, to $45 million, in the quarter.
One reason incontinence products have weathered the recession is that incontinence makes it difficult for people — who are often forced to wear diapers and pads — to lead normal lives, and they are less likely to postpone treatment. Also, the procedures treating the condition are generally less expensive than those treating erectile dysfunction.
Thomas Kouchoukos, an analyst at Stifel Nicolaus in Minneapolis who has a hold rating on the stock, said overall fourth-quarter results will likely show that the business has stabilized, although he expects revenue growth in 2009 to “remain tepid.”
But Mark Heggestad, American Medical Systems’ chief financial officer, said there will always be a demand for new med-tech products treating an underserved patient population — despite the economy. He points to the recent launch of its Elevate product, which treats vaginal prolapse. Sales during the fourth quarter grew at a healthy double-digit pace.
“It just goes to show that getting the right product to the right people who need it can be a very powerful thing,” Heggestad said.

Flu still out there, health officials warn

admin — Sun, 01 Feb 2009 00:07:55 +0000

he flu may be making a slow start in some states this brutally cold winter, but Bay State health officials say the bug isn’t being squashed, especially since the number of reported cases has more than doubled since 2007.
According to statistics provided by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, 841 positive cases of flu were reported from 2007 to 2008, a sharp increase from the 325 reported cases from 2006 to 2007.
DPH spokesman John Jacob said a number of factors were responsible for the Bay State flu hike.
“People are not getting the vaccine they should or the particular vaccine available that year may not have been as effective in treating that particular strain,” Jacob said. “Some years, the influenza strain can be particularly potent, resulting in more people seeking treatment,” he said.
So far in 2009, widespread flu has only been reported in Virginia and New Jersey, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
However CDC data shows the flu tends to ramp up in February. Fourteen states are reporting what CDC calls “regional activity,” meaning flu is making people sick, just not as many statewide as usual.

Flu still out there, health officials warn

admin — Tue, 27 Jan 2009 04:55:22 +0000

Injured police still in hospital

admin — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 10:35:19 +0000

Two policemen are still in hospital with serious injuries after a collision between a Mitsubishi Evolution and a police car early on Saturday morning.
A 28-year-old man from Great Yarmouth has been released on bail after he was arrested on suspicion of drink driving and failing to stop for police.
The Mitsubishi failed to stop for police in Belvedere Road, Lowestoft.
Four men were injured after it was followed and collided with a marked police car in Tom Crisp Way.
Two passengers from the Mitsubishi have been released from James Paget Hospital in Gorleston in Norfolk and are not facing charges.
The man from Great Yarmouth has been bailed to return to Lowestoft Police Station on 7 March.
The Police Independent Complaints Commission is carrying out an investigation which is routine when people have been injured while being followed.

Members are still using their fitness clubs, but fewer are joining

admin — Thu, 25 Dec 2008 08:00:43 +0000

It tops resolutions each new year: Getting in shape. But this year, with the economy sputtering, some local gyms are signing up fewer new members. Other gyms report that existing members are scaling back on such perks as personal trainers and rental lockers.
“We are definitely feeling the pinch as far as new members coming through the door,” said Dominick Finochiaro, general manager of Gold’s Gym in Medford.
At Revolution Fitness in Boston, members are curbing their tanning and personal training sessions and bringing their own towels and workout bags rather than paying for towel service and lockers, among other amenities, said Patrick Catoe, who helps oversee club membership.
“The gym is a necessity for a lot of people, but they are not doing the extra protein shakes,” Catoe said.
In an age when working out is considered by many a vital lifestyle component, not an optional indulgence, gyms report no large-scale membership cancellations. But they are bracing for a potentially tough year as current members look to reduce costs, as well as pounds.
Revolution is now offering half-hour sessions with a personal trainer, in addition to the more expensive hour-long sessions, said Mike D’Angelo, a trainer at the gym. The shorter classes cost between $45 to $60, in contrast to hour-long sessions, which cost $80 to $100.
But few of his clients have quit training altogether, he said.
“People are buckling down, but they are focusing on things that they can control – like their health,” D’Angelo said.
Likewise, Back Bay Yoga Studio has expanded its number of $5 classes, which are about $10 less than other classes. The club is advertising the classes widely, to members and nonmembers.
“Times are tough and one of the first things to go is yoga because it’s not gas, it’s not rent, it’s not food,” said Gabriel Feld, a yoga instructor at Back Bay Yoga. “We want everyone to be able to access yoga. We don’t want money to get in the way.”
Meanwhile, attendance has spiked at some gyms, as members seek to combat mounting stress and anxiety over the economic downturn. Others don’t want to fritter away paid memberships.
“It used to be that people would sign up and then not come,” said Michael Reyes, a trainer at the Ring Boxing Club in Boston, near the Brookline border. “Now they are coming. It’s like people want to make sure they use their dollars and not just let them go.”
Dave Morganti, general manager at MG Fitness in Medford, said there are also those who have not been seen in weeks and months. Those members, he said, are depressed about job losses and can’t motivate to leave their homes.
“People deal with adversity differently,” Morganti said.
At Workout World in Medford, the most economically strapped have sought out memberships. Rome Walker, the gym manager, said that in recent months, people have flashed welfare cards when applying to be members.
Walker said he explained that the cards cannot be used as a form of payment. The applicants agreed to pay cash instead.
“I’d never seen that before,” he said. “It really threw me.”
.

Looking for work? Health care is still a healthy business

admin — Sun, 30 Nov 2008 21:24:07 +0000

Jeff Bledsoe’s arms were bandaged and covered with bruises, but he just considers that part of the learning process.
The 53-year-old Brisbane, Calif., resident, who retired after 19 years as a computer programmer, was studying for a new career in phlebotomy, or blood drawing, by taking a two-week intensive class followed by clinical training.
“There’s not really much in my field right now, so I’ve decided to do something different,” Bledsoe said.
Risk analyst Jason Galang, 28, worked nearly six years at Charles Schwab before being laid off in November. Galang started a four-week course, also in phlebotomy, in January. He was drawn to the profession in part because it doesn’t require a lot of training.
“I always saw health care as more rewarding — you’re helping people in need,” said Galang, who has a business degree from San Francisco State University. “I also saw health care as more stable, especially compared to what I was doing.”
Bledsoe and Galang are part of a growing group of workers who are changing careers and moving into one of the few job sectors that is actually hiring: health care.
While the federal government reported that nearly 2 million jobs were lost during the last four months of 2008, health care continued to hire more workers than any other sector. The industry added more than 30,000 jobs in December, for a total of 372,000 in 2008.
Many of those December gains — more than 14,000 — were in ambulatory health care services: doctors’ offices, dental practices, labs and other outpatient care services. Hospitals added nearly 12,000 jobs, and about 5,500 were created in residential care and nursing homes.
Workers in greatest demand are phlebotomists, medical assistants, laboratory and pharmacy technicians — positions important to the industry but which often require just a high school diploma and weeks or months of training.
Known as allied health professions, these represent most of the jobs in health care aside from doctors, registered nurses, pharmacists and dentists. Salaries for these jobs vary depending on training, demand and setting, but phlebotomists typically make about $20 an hour and medical assistants can earn from $14 to more than $20.
“We’ve seen an increase across the board in applicants, and we’ve certainly seen more qualified applicants,” said Linda Squires Grohe, dean of City College of San Francisco’s School of Health and Physical Education. “We have more students than we have positions.”
The logjam of students at schools like City College, which provides training for a wide array of allied health jobs, has spawned the growth of private schools like the Bay Area Medical Academy in San Francisco, which started offering classed in 2005 and provides training for phlebotomists, medical assistants and electrocardiogram technicians.
These schools tend to be more expensive than public schools, but often have flexible hours and no waiting list. The Bay Area Medical Academy charges $1,100 for a 60-hour EKG certification course and $2,250 for phlebotomy licensing. An 11-month course for medical assistants, which includes phlebotomy and EKG certification, costs $7,000.
The school’s founder, Simonida Cvejic, said she’s seen a 30 percent increase in applicants over the past year, which she attributes largely to the changing economy. She’s seen a lot of students like Bledsoe and Galang who are switching careers, either by choice or necessity.
Health experts warn that getting trained for an allied health career isn’t a surefire path to a job since hospitals and clinics are coming under growing strain due to the economy.

NEW State still has flu shots for kids and teens

admin — Mon, 24 Nov 2008 10:42:08 +0000

The state still has lots of flu vaccine for kids and teens.
For help finding an immunization clinic in your area, call the Family Health Hotline at 1-800-322-2588.
Flu season unusually peaks between January and March, state health officials say, so it’s not too late to get a shot.
Annual flu shots are recommended for all children between 6 months and 18 years. Last year, two children died from the flu in the state.
It’s especially important for families with babies under 6 months to get vaccinated so they don’t spread the flu to babies too young for the shot.
Clinics charge a nominal fee to administer the shot while the vaccine is free.

Czech ex-president Havel better, still in hospital

admin — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 12:51:11 +0000

PRAGUE, Jan 23 (Reuters) – The health of former Czech President Vaclav Havel, in hospital with serious lung problems, has improved in recent days but it is still unclear when he will be discharged, doctors said on Friday.
They said the 72-year old former anti-communist dissident and playwright no longer needed the oxygen mask he used after throat surgery and an inflammation in his chronically ill lungs last week.
“The health of ex-President Havel continues to improve so we decided not to use non-invasive ventilation like in previous days,” said Martina Pelichovska, a senior physician at an intensive care unit of the Prague Motol Hospital.
She said he was able to get up from his bed and walk around.
The former chain smoker lost half of a lung to cancer in 1997 and has chronic bronchitis.
Havel’s health suffered during years spent in communist jails and he has come close to death several times since the 1990s.
He was elected Czechoslovak president in the bloodless 1989 Velvet Revolution, which ended four decades of communist rule.
After Czechoslovakia split into two countries in 1993 he became president of the Czech Republic and led the central European state for another decade, leading it into the NATO alliance and the European Union.
Since stepping down, Havel has devoted time to supporting human rights activists around the world. He has also returned to writing. A new play, “Leaving”, was staged last year. (Reporting by Jana Mlcochova; editing by Philippa Fletcher)

Mac: downtown health centre still a go

admin — Sun, 09 Nov 2008 15:32:58 +0000

(Dec 10, 2008)
Even though the public school board is planning to build elsewhere, McMaster’s plan for a downtown health centre is as firm as ever — perhaps even firmer — says the dean of the university’s medical school.
“Our agenda has not changed one bit,” said John Kelton, a university vice-president and dean of the Michael G. DeGroote School of Medicine. “Our big vision is to build a family health centre, and we want it in downtown Hamilton.”
Kelton is also optimistic that the next month to two months could bring new funding from the provincial and federal governments as they try to stimulate the economy with infrastructure projects.
“We may be very well positioned even to increase the opportunity,” Kelton said.
McMaster wants to train family doctors and other clinicians at a new health centre, and had been planning to make it part of a complex with the Hamilton-Wentworth District School Board on the site of the board’s current headquarters at 100 Main St. W.
The project was to be a three-way deal between the board, the university and the city, and was to have opened in 2011.
The board would have built a new headquarters on the site, the university would have built a family-practice teaching unit serving as many as 75,000 patients annually, and the city would have leased space for public health offices from McMaster. This week the public board changed course, opting instead to abandon the joint project.
It now seems likely the board will pursue a new building on the Mountain.
Under the Ministry of Education’s funding rules, the only practical way for the board to do that appears to be to sell the downtown property.
McMaster would be interested in making a deal with the school board, Kelton said — a deal that would likely see McMaster and the city working together to keep the public-health component and could see the school board leasing space from the university, which from McMaster’s perspective would be simpler.
“I don’t see this as a setback, quite frankly. I see this as a changing opportunity,” Kelton said.
Increased enrolment at McMaster’s medical school means more graduates will be looking for residency spaces, and the university and the province are eager to keep them in Ontario.
New spaces in St. Catharines, Kitchener and Burlington are buying some time, but Kelton is concerned that residents are missing the opportunity for team training in a health centre with midwives, nurse practitioners, physician assistants and therapists.
“That’s what is causing us to continue saying, ‘No matter what, we’re going to put this in Hamilton,’” Kelton said.
That, in turn, would create opportunities to work with the public health department, making that aspect of the partnership especially attractive to the school.

Medicare Spending Still Varies Widely by Region

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 05:28:07 +0000

spending continues to vary widely across the country, with some cities like Miami and Dallas experiencing much faster growth in costs than places like San Francisco and Pittsburgh, according to a new analysis by Dartmouth researchers.
In their analysis, to be published Thursday in the
, the researchers say that addressing the wide variations in the cost of care for the elderly will be critical to any overhaul of the nation’s health care system envisioned by the Congress and the Obama administration.
. In areas where there are plenty of hospital beds and sophisticated imaging equipment available, doctors generally spend more on their patients.
“The incentives are there for growth,” said Dr. Elliott Fisher, the director of the Center of Health Policy Research at the Dartmouth Institute for Health Policy and Clinical Practice and one of the work’s authors.
While the specific dynamics of the local markets vary, he said, the current payment method fuels spending by encouraging hospitals and doctors to try to expand their services. He said any attempt to rein in health care costs, as
has repeatedly vowed to do, needs to address how doctors and hospitals are paid, where they are rewarded on the basis of the volume of services they perform.
A former Bush administration health official agreed. “As long as Medicare pays for volume and intensity, that’s what you’re going to get,” said Dr.
, a health policy specialist at the
who oversaw the Medicare program during part of the previous administration.
Some areas, like Miami, where many doctors schedule monthly appointments for heart disease patients, are experiencing the fastest rise in health care costs. Medicare spending there rose 5 percent a year from 1992 to 2006, compared with 2.4 percent in San Francisco, according to the Dartmouth group. Medicare spent about $16,000 per enrollee in Miami in 2006, compared with about half as much in San Francisco. The figures are adjusted for inflation.
“This new research only reinforces the importance of enacting comprehensive health reform this year,” said an aide to Senator
, the Montana Democrat who is a central figure in the discussions of an overhaul to the current system.
Both Dr. Fisher and Dr. McClellan advocate a new payment method that would reward doctors for providing better care and allows them to share in any savings they generate by keeping patients out of the hospital or choosing not to order another test. Medicare has had some success with some experiments along these lines, said Dr. McClellan, who also cite a few places like North Carolina where private insurers are joining forces with the state to try new approaches to payments.
The Obama administration has already signaled its interest in attacking the variations in spending as a way of controlling costs and potentially shifting resources, say some policy specialists. “It is a virtual certainty within the next two years,” said Uwe E. Reinhardt, a Princeton economist who specializes in health care. “We will address these variations,” he said, including possibly proposing regional limits on spending to try to address the areas with the highest costs.
The Dartmouth researchers estimate that if the federal government could find a way of making sure the entire nation saw its health care bill increase no more quickly than in a city like San Francisco, it could eventually save tens of billions of dollars.
The findings, Dr. Fisher said, also suggest the country could potentially absorb the additional costs of insuring the 46 million people who are currently without coverage without necessarily experiencing a significant spike in spending to handle the increased demands of new patients.
“There’s plenty of capacity to support them,” he said.