Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about healthcare.
Is the cost savings worth the risk? Two-thirds of same-day surgery centers in Illinois were cited for infection-control violations in the past year. These violations — many of which involved shortcuts in sterilization measures — call into question the safety of surgery centers, a growing segment of the healthcare industry that accounts for more than 6 million surgeries annually.
Although they perform routine procedures at a lower cost than hospitals, surgery centers generally have fewer staff members and quicker turnarounds, leaving more room for shortcuts and unsafe practices. No disease outbreaks have been linked to the centers, but federal regulators are aiming to bring safety practices in surgery centers in line with requirements enforced in hospitals.
Seattle as a healthcare hub? Don Rule reports the story of how Seattle set out to become a leader in biotechnology and ended up instead, guided by the University of Washington, becoming a global health leader.
A booming industry: medical tourism. Medical tourism will draw an anticipated 550,000 Americans — particularly those who are uninsured or under-insured — to international hospitals this year for medical care at that is cheaper than in the U.S. Medical tourism is becoming increasingly mainstream for Americans, growing 30 to 35 percent per year recently, particularly in Korea and Columbia.
Words of wisdom… A Portfolio.com survey for entrepreneurs, analysts and researchers yielded the following advice for entrepreneurs: don’t worry about the stock market.
FBI investigates flu company. Lifescience company NexBio‘s San Diego office was raided by the FBI on Thursday in conjunction with an unspecified criminal investigation. NexBio’s lead product is Fludase, a flu-like illness therapy that is in is in clinical development.
