Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

Medtronic Inc. has begun what’s expected to be a 1,000-patient study of a catheter-based system that it hopes will become a less-invasive–and highly lucrative–alternative to open heart surgery for valve replacement.Medtronic’s CoreValve system allows a replacement heart valve to be placed in a patient’s body via a catheter inserted in the femoral artery, which is [...]

The Ohio House of Representatives has overwhelmingly passed a proposal that authorizes registered nurses to determine and pronounce death.Under current state law, only physicians have the authority to pronounce death. That’s a potential problem, given the well-chronicled physician shortage that exists in the U.S., which is more acute in rural areas. Giving nurses this authority [...]

Akron Children’s Hospital has promoted its interim chief financial officer to the full-time role.Michael Trainer had served as the hospital’s interim CFO for the previous five months. He joined Akron Children’s in 2008 as a vice president, responsible for financial reporting and other related matters, according to a statement from the hospital.A certified public accountant, [...]

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of health care:A controversial new type of health insurance in Oregon: Five Oregon health insurers are set to begin selling a new type of “carrot-and-stick” insurance plan that’s aimed at pushing employees towards more proven treatments and away from tests and surgeries that are deemed [...]

Device maker r4 Vascular will this week begin selling a new catheter that features a novel coating designed to prevent clotting.The Duraspan catheter is intended for use by patients undergoing hemodialysis, a medical procedure in which a machine removes and cleans a patient’s blood then returns it to the body. A catheter is a thin, [...]

Shares of BioSante Pharmaceuticals rose 10 percent after the company reported positive results from a clinical study of a leukemia vaccine.The Phase 2 trial showed that BioSante’s GVAX vaccine “may be able to reduce or eliminate” the last remaining cancer cells in patients who are suffering from chronic [...]

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of health care:What makes an innovator? Professors from Harvard University and Brigham Young University spent six years searching for answers to that question. After interviews with thousands of executives, including plenty of big names like Michael Dell and Jeff Bezos of Amazon, the researchers concluded [...]

A trade group representing Ohio physicians supports proposed legislation that would require health insurance plans to cover colorectal cancer screenings for at-risk patients.The Ohio State Medical Association’s backing of the proposal puts it at odds with the Ohio Association of Health Plans, a trade group representing the state’s insurers, which opposes the legislation.Under the proposal, [...]

Device giant Medtronic Inc. is selling a new spinal-reconstruction system in the United States.The company’s Vertex Select Reconstruction System contains spinal implants and a set of instruments for performing surgical procedures, according to a statement from Medtronic. The system is intended for use with patients suffering from a variety of ailments, including degenerative disc disease, [...]

Highlights of the important and the interesting from the world of health care:What’s the most promising VC-backed health company? Of the 10,000 venture-backed private companies in the U.S., VentureSource has taken a stab at picking the Top 50 most promising ones. First some criteria: These private companies must have raised an equity round within the [...]