News

Summaries of open source, health care, or health IT news and information from various sources on the web selected by Open Health News (OHNews) staff. Links are provided to the original news or information source, e.g. news article, web site, journal,blog, video, etc.

See the following -

Pharma Not So Big On Cloud For Clinical Trials

Chris Anderson | Government Health IT | December 26, 2012

Big pharma is notoriously slow-footed when it comes to changing its business model. Some would argue it is a major reason why so many pharmaceutical companies are struggling as their blockbuster drugs go off patent. In short, there is an institutionalized caution to embracing the kind of change moving to the cloud presents.

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Pharma, Data Veteran Stephen Friend Bites At Apple’s Health Offer

Alex Lash | Xconomy | June 23, 2016

Consumer tech giant Apple, which has spent considerable effort positioning its products as health and fitness helpers, has just hired someone who knows Big Pharma and Big Data. Stephen Friend, a veteran of drug R&D and, more recently, a nonprofit effort to foster more collaborative biomedical research and more data sharing, is joining Apple in an unspecified capacity. The news emerged today from Sage Bionetworks, the Seattle nonprofit that Friend founded after leaving drug giant Merck, where he was a senior research executive for eight years...

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Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Research using Agile Software

Andy Oram | EMR & EHR | January 18, 2016

Medical research should not be in a crisis. More people than ever before want its products, and have the money to pay for them. More people than ever want to work in the field as well, and they’re uncannily brilliant and creative. It should be a golden era. So the myriad of problems faced by this industry–sources of revenue slipping away from pharma companies, a shift of investment away from cutting-edge biomedical firms, prices of new drugs going through the roof–must lie with the development processes used in the industry...

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Pharmaceutical Giant 'Plotted to Destroy Cancer Drugs to Drive Price Up 4,000%

Katie Forster | Independent | April 15, 2017

Leaked internal emails appear to show employees at one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies calling for “celebration” over price hikes of cancer drugs, an investigation has revealed. Staff at Aspen Pharmacare reportedly plotted to destroy stocks of life-saving medicines during a price dispute with the Spanish health service in 2014. After purchasing five different cancer drugs from British firm GlaxoSmithKline (GSK), the company tried to sell the medicines in Europe for up to 40 times their previous price, reported The Times...

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Pharmacies See Business Case For Blue Button

Anthony Brino | Government Health IT | February 11, 2014

Following newly guaranteed patient access to their lab tests, the country’s largest pharmacies are promising to adopt a simple consumer health technology tool: the Blue Button personal health record. Read More »

Pharmacists Told To Work In PHCs Too

Staff Writer | The New Indian Express | June 3, 2013

Urging qualified pharmacists to take greater roles in the healthcare sector, former president A P J Abdul Kalam on Sunday said they must be given a chance to serve at public health centres (PHCs) and community health centres (CHCs). Read More »

Phase II Trials Of TB Drug Through Open Source Drug Discovery Programme To Begin Soon

Joseph Alexander | Pharmabiz.com | July 22, 2013

The search for a new tuberculosis drug after many decades and first time through a unique model of open drug discovery programme may finally bear fruits in near future, with India all set for the launch of the phase II clinical trial of the drug candidate. Read More »

Phase2 Announces The Release Of Open Atrium 2: The Next Generation Of Open Source Collaboration Software

Press Release | Phase2, Open Atrium 2 | October 24, 2013

Phase2, the digital content strategy and technology experts, announced today the launch of Open Atrium 2, a uniquely powerful and flexible open source collaboration software that revolutionizes the way in which organizations securely connect with their project teams... Read More »

Philadelphia Goes To Space

Ali Llewellyn and Andrew Thompson | open.NASA | January 22, 2013

Did you know that the International Space Apps Challenge has a Global Mainstage – kind of like a mission control for intergalactic space collaborations? Last year we were based in San Francisco, and this year we are excited to announce that the 2013 Global Mainstage will be in Philadelphia! Read More »

Philip Seymour Hoffman’s Death Points To Broader Opioid Drug Epidemic

Joel Achenbach | Washington Post | February 7, 2014

The death last Sunday of ­Oscar-winning actor Philip ­Seymour Hoffman at age 46 ­focused media attention on the nationwide surge in heroin use and overdoses. But the very real heroin epidemic is framed by an even more dramatic increase since the beginning of the century in overdoses from pharmaceutical drugs known as opioids. Read More »

Philippines National Telehealth Center Leverages Innovative Open Solutions to Provide Equitable Access to Quality Healthcare

Priyankar Bhunia | Open Gov Asia | March 21, 2017

OpenGov had the opportunity to speak to Dr. Portia Grace Fernandez-Marcelo, Director of the UP (University of Philippines) Manila-National Telehealth Center (NTHC) about using ICT to provide equitable access to quality healthcare for all, specially in isolated and disadvantaged communities. NTHC is one of the pioneers in the Philippines developing cost-effective ICT tools and innovations for improving healthcare and deploying solutions in communities where they are required most urgently...

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Phoenix VA Program Gives ASU Nursing Students Career Experience

Joshua Delauder | Downtown Devil | December 5, 2013

Students at ASU’s College of Nursing and Health Innovation say the Phoenix Veterans Affairs program at the school has provided them with valuable practical skills. Read More »

Photos: This Solar Powered Wheelchair Gives The Disabled A Chance To Swim In The Ocean

Rachel Feltman | Quartz | August 9, 2013

A solar-powered chair is allowing the wheelchair-bound a chance to swim, unaided, in the Greek sea. But without additional government assistance to promote the device’s upkeep and accessibility, it has suffered from vandalism and proven difficult for wheelchair-goers to get to. Read More »

PHR App Wins Latest Blue Button Innovation Challenge

Jennifer Bresnick | EHR Intelligence | February 5, 2014

An app to help cancer patients collect, view, and share their personal health data won first prize at the ONC’s Blue Button Innovation Challenge held in the Boston area late last month.  The ArmMe app allows users to visualize their journey through diagnosis and treatment while connecting them with their physicians and providing social networking with other cancer patients. [...] Read More »

Physician Burnout Is A Public Health Crisis: A Message To Our Fellow Health Care CEOs

John Noseworthy, James Madara, Delos Cosgrove, Mitchell Edgeworth, Ed Ellison, Sarah Krevans, Paul Rothman, Kevin Sowers, Steven Strongwater, David Torchiana, and Dean Harrison | Health Affairs Blog | March 28, 2017

The Quadruple Aim recognizes that a healthy, energized, engaged, and resilient physician workforce is essential to achieving national health goals of higher quality, more affordable care and better health for the populations we serve. Yet in a recent study of U.S. physicians, more than half reported experiencing at least one symptom of burnout—a substantial increase over previous years—indicating that burnout among physicians is becoming a national health crisis. Leadership is needed to address the root causes of this problem and reposition the health care workforce for the future. The authors of this paper—the CEOs of our respective institutions—are committing to do just that...

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