SARASOTA, Fla., April 4, 2013 -- MedFocusCapital Partners, Inc., an innovator in the eye care industry, announces See.Hear.Live.Better!, an alliance of healthcare service providers backed by leading product manufacturers, all focused on improving the quality of life through vision, hearing and lifestyle services.

PHILADELPHIA, April 3, 2013 -- The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) and Pfizer, Inc., are joining forces with the goal of translating biomedical discoveries into novel treatments. CHOP is announcing its participation in the Centers for Therapeutic Innovation (CTI) network, a novel collaboration model built by Pfizer that brings academic researchers together with Pfizer scientists to expedite the pace of innovation.

When it comes to healthcare, is Kaiser Permanente the wave of the future? The all-in-one hospital system epitomizes well-coordinated patient care and is ahead of the curve in embracing cutting-edge health IT, but can the system ultimately lower costs?

Boston, April 2, 2013 -- Recognizing that Accountable Care can only succeed if consumers take responsibility for their health, Healthrageous, Inc., has unveiled the concept of Accountable Health. Unlike Accountable Care that focuses on provider behavior, Accountable Health is consumer-centric.  Accountable Health occurs when a consumer takes responsibility for modifying their lifestyle in ways that prevent or improve the management of a chronic condition, increase adherence to medication or comply with care plans that lead to optimal clinical outcomes.  Healthrageous is a leader in digital health self-management.

BROOKFIELD, Wis. – April 1, 2013 – Honeywell (NYSE: HON) HomMed, a global leader in telehealth and remote patient care, today announced its LifeStream Leaders Advantage Program, designed to support healthcare providers as they implement, market and grow their telehealth programs. 

ST. LOUIS, April 2, 2013 -- Centene Corporation (NYSE: CNC) announced today that on April 1, 2013, it completed the purchase of Specialty Therapeutic Care Holdings, Inc. (d/b/a AcariaHealth), one of the nation's largest, independent, comprehensive specialty pharmacy companies, from Enhanced Equity Funds. The transaction was financed through a combination of approximately 1.7 million shares of Centene common stock, cash on hand as well as up to $15.3 million of Centene common stock from an equity offering related to funding the escrow account. 

At the close of the CMIO Leadership Forum: Transforming Healthcare Through Evidence-based Medicine, we invited five luminaries to build on the abundant discussions and dive deeper into the quality of the evidence in medicine, the lack of evidence in many cases, the struggle to engage physicians and patients, and strategies for integrating evidence-based medicine (EBM) into clinical practice. 

An increasing number of factors thwart efforts to bring new technologies to patients suffering from cardiovascular disease. In the minds of physician researchers and industry leaders, regulatory barriers, less financial return on investment and government impediments interfere with innovation. However, if innovators can adapt and evolve to a more global healthcare ecosystem, a silver lining may materialize.