A partnership announced Tuesday between Philips Healthcare and Edwards Lifesciences will integrate Edwards' oximetry catheter and sensor technology with Philips IntelliVue patient monitors.

The everolimus-eluting stent is better than the second-generation paclitaxel-eluting stent (Taxus Liberte, Boston Scientific) in unselected patients undergoing PCI in terms of safety and efficacy, concluded the COMPARE trial that was published Jan. 7 in Lancet. Based on these findings, the authors suggest that paclitaxel-eluting stents should no longer be used in everyday clinical practice.

Reduced disc height and greater lumbar asymmetry and curvature can be attributed to common backpack loads for school-aged children, said a study published in the January edition of Spine.

Bioheart has entered a distribution agreement with Restoration Medical, McRay Medical, Alamo Scientific and Morey Medical to initiate its home heart failure monitoring system, the BG 3370 Home Monitoring Service, to chronically ill patients throughout the U.S.

There is "significant potential" for healthcare system integration markets across Western Europe, according to an analysis from market research firm Frost & Sullivan.

Asheville Radiology Associates, a N.C. radiology practice, has inked a new contract with imaging IT solutions provider, Amicas.

Ambulatory EMR software will enable approximately 85 percent of healthcare providers to meet the Health IT Policy Committees proposed 2011 meaningful use standards, according to a report issued by KLAS, a healthcare market research firm.

U.S. hospitals are only halfway to qualifying for Department of Health and Human Services' (HHS) draft rules, which could equate to EHR incentive payments for up-to-date hospitals, according to a survey released this week by IT company Computer Sciences (CSC) Healthcare Group.