Stacy Lawrence

SAN FRANCISCO—The annual BIO conference of the Biotechnology Industry Organization made a splash here, on the streets as well as in the expo hall. The event gathered more than 16,000 attendees and, by some counts, several hundred protestors. The crowd picketing the BIO 2004 conference made it very clear that the public has many concerns […]

SAN FRANCISCO—Genomics research has unearthed a wide range of approaches that drug companies can use to treat diseases. Now, the big question for these companies is how to choose the right genes to go after in drug development. Finding ways to optimize this discovery process was the subject of a Tuesday panel at BIO, a […]

The threat of bioterrorism has become a looming national concern. But after an initial furor of activity and government spending in the immediate wake of terrorist events of recent years, the efforts to collect adequate information to prevent a widespread bioterrorist event are coming under increasing scrutiny. According to two recently released reports, the technology […]

Originally signed into law in 1996, the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (HIPAA) was initially intended to be phased-in gradually over the following few years. The legislation is supposed to facilitate a transition into secure, electronic patient health insurance claims. Still, about eight years later nearly all the relevant parties in the health care […]

Dr. David Brailer, the newly appointed national health IT coordinator, is already attempting to rally physicians, health care organizations, government agencies, insurers and information technology providers to move more quickly and effectively toward the implementation of electronic medical records in the United States. A consultant to the administration for the past several months, Brailer is […]

The life sciences are one of the fastest growing industry segments for IBM. In an effort to further explore the software needs of biological researchers, the company is releasing Thursday several publicly available life sciences software tools. All of this software is available for preview and free download at AlphaWorks, a division of IBM that […]

One of the largest health plans in the United States, WellPoint Health Networks Inc., is moving ahead with its implementation of electronic prescriptions. The adoption of e-prescribing by WellPoint may well encourage more health plans to adopt the technology. Originally announced in October, the company is expected to merge later this year with health care […]

The federal budget for research and development will grow from $126.5 billion this fiscal year to $141.6 billion in 2009, according to an analysis published today by the American Association for the Advancement of Science of President Bushs budget proposal for fiscal year 2005. After adjusting for inflation, thats an overall increase of 3 percent […]

More than 70 countries are already in the process of implementing electronic medical records. Among them are the United Kingdom and Canada, which are planning to roll out electronic medical record systems by 2010. The United Kingdom already has committed $11 billion to transitioning patient records to an electronic system. During the past several months, […]

As many as 400,000 deaths annually in the United States are estimated to be caused by physician error, making it the second highest cause of death according to the American Association of the Advancement of Science. Physician error is largely due to decision-making with an incomplete case history. Implementing electronic record-keeping for patients is one […]

At first glance, WebMD Corp. boasts one phenomenal corporate comeback story. Based on the 1999 merger of two consumer-oriented health information and services companies, Healtheon Inc. and WebMD, the company has since become the largest provider of transaction services between health-care providers and insurers. By shifting rapidly from a consumer to a corporate focus, the […]

The latest information technology to enhance the process of life sciences research and health care management was showcased at this weeks Bio-IT World Conference and Expo in Boston. A number of new products were introduced on the tradeshow floor and Bio-IT World also honored a handful of the most innovative and useful information technologies that […]