The RAND Corporation has linked the rapid growth in U.S. healthcare costs with job losses and lower output among industries that commonly provide workers with health insurance, according to a study published online July 13 in Health Services Research.

The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) has reported that VistA Imaging, the medical and healthcare imaging system used in VA medical centers, attained more than one billion stored images in January.

Abbott today settled all outstanding intellectual property litigation with Medtronic. Under the terms of the settlement, Medtronic will pay Abbott $400 million and $42 million to evYsio Medical Devices, based in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Researchers at the University of Alberta's Cross Cancer Institute are developing a new technology that integrates linear accelerators, or linacs, and MRI systems. The group will discuss their findings at the 2009 American Association of Physicists in Medicine (AAPM), which takes place this week in Anaheim, Calif.

The eHealth Initiative tracked the successes and failures of U.S. organizations that were working on a health information exchange (HIE), and found that 150 initiatives responded to and qualified for inclusion in 2009.

Biotronics3D has worked with the Institute of Cancer Research to develop and launch new software, 3D Net Perfusion, designed to improve the accuracy of MRI scan analysis.

There is comparable accuracy in 3T and 1.5T MRI systems in the diagnosis of meniscal tear, according to the August issue of the American Journal of Roentgenology.

Philips Healthcare has signed an eight-year iSite PACS expansion deal with OrthoCarolina, an orthopedic practice comprised of 16 locations in the Charlotte, N.C. region.