November 9, 2007 - The National Mammography Quality Assurance Advisory Committee advised that the FDA lift the current exemption of stereotactic breast biopsy from the MQSA regulations at a meeting held Nov. 5.

November 10, 2007 - The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) recently released its final rule establishing the ASC payment rates that will apply to services provided in 2008. This rule finalizes the ASC payment rates for ASCs and HOPDs proposed in August 2007. It also establishes the first payments determined using the new ASC Medicare payment system CMS finalized in August.

November 9, 2007 - To address concerns about patient safety and the shortage of registered nurses in the U.S., the nation’s leading organization of nursing said Nov. 7 technologies ranging from communications devices to high-tech patient monitors need to be designed with an eye toward saving nursing time and reducing the need for “work arounds.”

November 9, 2007 - Baxter Healthcare Corp. today said it received FDA 510(k) clearance for its needleless V-Link Luer-activated device (LAD), an IV connector containing a VitalShield antimicrobial coating.

November 9, 2007 - Recent surveys from Centers for Disease Control and the Association for Professionals in Infection Control and Epidemiology (APIC) have raised awareness of the threat of hospital and community acquired infections including Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA), and the APIC recommends six simple steps to help protect against infections and stop the spread of MRSA in healthcare and community.

In the community environment:

November 9, 2007 - The National Association of EMS Educators (NAEMSE) issued guidance Nov. 8 to all its members advocating carbon monoxide screenings for patients presenting with any of the signs of carbon monoxide poisoning, and advocated enhanced carbon monoxide training programs.

November 9, 2007 - Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals announced that the company has been awarded a three-year contract renewal by HealthTrust Purchasing Group, LP (HealthTrust), to make Magnevist (gadopentetate dimeglumine) Injection available to members of the HealthTrust network.

Magnevist is used to enhance certain MRI procedures, and reportedly has the broadest range of FDA approved indications of any MRI contrast agent for adult and pediatric patients.

November 9, 2007 - NeuroLogica Corp. announced that its CereTom portable CT scanner was successfully used during the separation surgery of Omani conjoined twins, Safa and Marwah, at King Abdulaziz Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

November 9, 2007 - Matrox Graphics announced that Cedara Software is using Matrox 10-bit MED Series display controller boards to develop a 10-bit version of the Cedara I-ReadMammo 6.2 mammography software.

Cedara's work-in-progress 10-bit I-ReadMammo application will reportedly be able to display images with up to 1,024 simultaneous levels of gray, when combined with a Matrox 10-bit board and 10-bit displays. This feature aims to provide medical professionals with a more detailed image for more accurate diagnoses.

November 9, 2007 - Carestream Health and Collaborative Medical Technology Corporation (CMTC) have entered into an agreement that enables CMTC to begin selling Carestream Health’s line of CARESTREAM PACS and Information Management Solutions in the U.S., effective immediately.

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