Humana Inc. (NYSE: HUM) announced today that Jonathan Lord, M.D., Humana’s senior vice president and chief innovation officer, has been named chief executive officer of Navigenics, Inc., a Foster City, Calif.-based personal genomics company that uses DNA testing and analysis to determine an individual’s genetic predisposition for various health conditions with the goal of improving health outcomes in individuals across the population. more»

Pittsburgh, Pa. and Chicago, Il., April 5, 2009 — dbMotion, a leading provider of health interoperability and intelligence solutions, and Allscripts, the clear leader in software, services, information, and connectivity solutions for physicians and hospitals, today agreed to create tightly integrated connectivity solutions that allow physician communities to see a more holistic view of their patient’s clinical record and to collaborate with providers throughout their community. more»

NEW YORK, NY — April 3, 2009— ActiveHealth Management (ActiveHealth®) today announced that it has rolled out an innovative solution that couples its disease management (DM) program with a value-based insurance design (VBID) incentive. When individuals with chronic conditions engage in disease management nurse coaching, they are eligible for reduced co-payments on their medications. The new program, currently in place at a large, national employer, is designed to improve clinical outcomes by encouraging targeted individuals to participate in nurse coaching and removing a financial barrier to medication compliance. more»

INDIANAPOLIS, April 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- The Government Accountability Office (GAO) today announced the appointment of Charles Kennedy, M.D., vice president for Health Information Technology, WellPoint, Inc. (NYSE: WLP), to the Health Information Technology Policy Committee, a new advisory body established by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act. GAO, the investigative arm of Congress, helps meet legislators' needs for timely and reliable information on a wide range of government activities. more»

SAN FRANCISCO, March 30, 2009 — McKesson today announced the availability of its Advanced Diagnostics Management (ADM) solution that intelligently connects payors, clinical laboratories and providers to help physicians order the most appropriate tests for the right cost at the point of care. ADM expands the RelayHealth network to allow providers to gain electronic access to labs’ test catalogs and health plans’ rules for eligibility, automatic pre-authorization, network coverage, and price estimation. more»

WASHINGTON, D.C., March 24, 2009 — Aetna (NYSE: AET) Chairman and CEO Ronald A. Williams today appeared before the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor & Pensions Committee to outline the critical components of needed health care reform and to signal Aetna's readiness to work with Members of Congress to create and implement practical solutions. more»

Initiated in 2008, Deloitte’s longitudinal study of health care consumers is designed to provide a comprehensive view of health care consumerism in the United States, a view that goes beyond the conventional boundaries of what health and health care are commonly thought to encompass. more»

In the world of technology, inventors are hailed as heroes. Yet it is more subtle forms of innovation that typically determine the impact of a technology in the marketplace and on society. Clever engineering, smart business models and favorable economics are the key ingredients of widespread adoption and commercial success. more»

NEW YORK, NY, February 19, 2009 — Today, The Alliance for a Healthier Generation, a joint initiative of the American Heart Association and the William J. Clinton Foundation, announced the formation of the Alliance Healthcare Initiative, a collaborative effort with national medical associations, leading insurers and employers to offer comprehensive health benefits to children and families for the prevention, assessment, and treatment of childhood obesity. more»

New York - The economic stimulus bill before Congress is certain to include billions of dollars to bring electronic record keeping to the healthcare industry, moving patients' records and doctors' prescriptions out of the era of carbon-paper triplicates and undecipherable handwriting. more»

NEW YORK, NY — January 6, 2009— ActiveHealth Management (ActiveHealth®), today announced new portability options for members with the ActivePHR personal health record. Members who have ActivePHR through their employer or health plan will now be able to transfer their health information to the consumer version of ActivePHR or to Microsoft® HealthVault™, a Web-based consumer health platform. These new options allow members to create a lifelong record of their valuable health information even if they change jobs or health plans. more»

NEW YORK, NY — December 8, 2008— ActiveHealth Management (ActiveHealth®) today announced that it will be expanding its clinical alert offerings to include patient safety alerts based on FDA safety alerts. Communicated through the ActivePHRSM personal health record, the patient safety alerts will inform members about potential problems with a medication, including risks associated with combining certain drugs, and encourage them to contact their doctor if certain symptoms occur. more»

At a medical conference in New Orleans, Intel announced that it will conduct pilots of its new telemedicine technology at several health care organizations, the Wall Street Journal reports. more»

Presidential Elect Barak Obama's "No. 2 Priority," the health care system is expected to be a costly reform. When coupled with the $700 billion committed to rescuing banks, President Obama may find the burden of these two conflicting expenditures a major setback in completing health care reform in his first term. Paul H. Keckley, Ph.D., offers his insights into these issues and more on the upcoming administration’s challenges in enacting health care reform. more»

Improving quality and bargain prices are luring U.S. patients to developing countries for increasingly sophisticated procedures. more»

Healthcare financial leaders discuss the impact the crisis in the financial markets is having on hospitals’ ability to access capital. John Bigalke, vice chairman and U.S. national industry leader, Health Sciences & Government, Deloitte LLP, discusses the impact of the current economic situation. more»

Amid the current crisis in the financial markets, one question weighs on the minds of most Americans: Will the unprecedented actions the U.S. federal government has taken to try to stabilize the nation’s economy be effective? Even as Congress enacted the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, the reaction of the financial markets to the failure of some of the largest U.S. financial institutions was sending shock waves throughout the nation and the world. No one can predict whether the measures implemented will successfully resolve the nation’s financial crisis. What is certain is that hospitals will feel the effects of tightening credit more»

45.7 million Americans are currently without health insurance; Analysis by Paul Keckley of Deloitte's Center for Health Solutions more»

Aetna has decided to become the first health plan to offer its members access to Microsoft's personal health record technology. It will roll out Microsoft's HealthVault in November, offering access not only to patients but also physicians, if the patient gives them permission. What makes this interesting is that it involves a switch from Aetna's existing PHR, which is already available to the company's six million members. more»