(Cary, N.C. & Columbia, S.C.) The Carolinas Center for Medical Excellence (CCME) is pleased to announce its support of American Heart Month, a national observance annually held in February to raise awareness of the risk factors and prevention of cardiovascular disease (CVD). In the United States, one in three adults lives with some form CVD, which includes heart disease and stroke. In North Carolina, CVD causes 31 percent of all deaths every year according to “The Burden of Cardiovascular Disease in North Carolina–July 2010 Update.” Heart disease and stroke are the second and fourth leading causes of death for men and women in the state. In South Carolina, CVD is the leading cause of death according to the Healthy People Living in Healthy Communities 2009 Report, the annual report of the South Carolina Department of Health and Environmental Control. (more…)

(Raleigh, N.C.) Valencell, an innovator in mobile health and fitness technology integrated into audio headset earbuds, today announced it will demonstrate its enhanced V-LINC® sensor technology at the 2012 International CES. Valencell’s V-LINC® solution continuously measures more real-time biometric data, with higher accuracy, in virtually any environment, than any other health and fitness sensor technology on the market. (more…)

(Durham, N.C.) A Duke study aimed to identify which individuals are most likely to suffer dangerous blood clots despite regular aspirin therapy is about to head overseas. The parallel study soon to begin on patients of Chinese descent is a joint venture of the Duke Institute for Genome Sciences & Policy (IGSP) and the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School in Singapore. (more…)

(Washington, D.C.) More than $296 million was awarded to states for ensuring more children have health coverage, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced today. The performance bonus payments are funded under the Children’s Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act, one of the first pieces of legislation signed into law by President Obama in 2009. To qualify for these bonus payments, states must surpass a specified Medicaid enrollment target. They also must adopt procedures that improve access to Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), making it easier for eligible children to enroll and retain coverage. (more…)

(Needham, Mass. & Chapel Hill, N.C.) OMG®’s Business Architecture Special Interest Group and the Business Architecture Guild present “Business Architecture: Taking it to the Next Level,” a one-day special event on March 21, 2012 in Reston, VA. Information and registration information may be found at http://www.omg.org/ba-pr. This one-day only event, cosponsored by OMG’s Business Architecture Special Interest Group (BASIG) and the Business Architecture Guild, will bring together practitioners and industry leaders to discuss business architecture best practices and deployment strategies. One of the featured speakers will be Steve Dean, Blue Cross / Blue Shield of North Carolina, presenting on Healthcare Transformation with Business Architecture. (more…)

(Morrisville, N.C.) Polyglot Systems, Inc. has partnered with HEALTHeLINK™, a clinical information exchange and non-profit provider of health information technology to healthcare providers across western New York; and a grantee under the US Dept. of Health and Human Services’ Beacon Community Cooperative Agreement Program. HEALTHeLINK will use Polyglot’s Meducation® technology to improve medication adherence among patients across an eight county region. (more…)

(Holly Springs, N.C. & Washington, D.C.) The first U.S. facility to use a faster and more flexible technology to make influenza vaccine was dedicated on December 12, 2011, as part of an initiative that could provide vaccine supplies sooner in an influenza pandemic. The plant in Holly Springs, N.C., can create vaccine using cultured animal cells instead of the conventional process of using fertilized eggs. The facility is a public-private partnership of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, and Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. of Cambridge, Mass. This partnership will be maintained under contract for at least 25 years. (more…)

(Cary, N.C.) The CEOs of national hospitals and health care centers are leading by example when it comes to promoting workplace wellness and encouraging healthier behavior. (more…)

(Winston-Salem, N.C.) Researchers at Wake Forest Baptist Medical Center and the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) are teaming up for a research project aimed at advancing the treatment of military personnel suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). (more…)

(Durham, N.C.) Long gone are the days when companies could use a healthcare provider’s annual salary to calculate fair-market value (FMV) for their consulting services, according to a new study by Cutting Edge Information. The precision that companies must have when calculating FMV requires an intricate combination of physician qualifications and benchmarking data. (more…)

(Charlotte, N.C.) Adventist Health System, the largest not-for-profit Protestant healthcare provider in the nation, will help support care delivery across 10 states with clinical data from the Premier healthcare alliance. Serving more than 4 million patients and 7,700-plus licensed beds across 43 campuses, the health system will use QualityAdvisor™ to integrate and compare information from Premier’s outcomes database, the nation’s largest compilation of inpatient data with nearly 20 percent of all U.S. hospital discharges. (more…)

(Cary, N.C.) The Triangle’s innovative leader in the comprehensive diagnosis and treatment of sleep disorders, Parkway SleepHealth Centers, is proud to announce it has been chosen as the exclusive regional distributor for Provent, a popular new clinically proven treatment for obstructive sleep apnea. Hailed as a breakthrough alternative to CPAP (continuous positive airway pressure), a common and effective — yet somewhat unpopular — treatment for sleep apnea, Provent therapy uses a proprietary MicroValve design to build a positive pressure in the airway when patients exhale, keeping it consistently open. The Provent device is comprised of a small, discreet strip attaching over the nostrils with a hypoallergenic adhesive and is disposable. (more…)