original post on empr.com Eli Lilly and Company announced that the FDA has approved Cyramza (ramucirumab) 10mg/mL injection, for the treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic,gastric cancer or gastro-esophageal junction (GEJ) adenocarcinoma, with disease progression on or after prior fluoropyrimidine- or platinum-containing chemotherapy. Cyramza, the first FDA-approved treatment for patients in this setting, is a human… Read More »

original post on The New York Times Saying they can no longer ignore the rising prices of health care, some of the most influential medical groups in the nation are recommending that doctors weigh the costs, not just the effectiveness of treatments, as they make decisions about patient care. The shift, little noticed outside the… Read More »

Revolutionizing Healthcare Cost Analysis with NetworkDx Database NetworktDx gives Health Care Payors and Reinsurers web access for contract analyses.   Lynnfield MA, April 16, 2014:  One of the most frequent struggles that any healthcare payor faces is PPO contract analysis. The larger the network, the more labor intensive the contract review process. With the Affordable… Read More »

Advanced Medical Strategies, 4/18/2014, www.mdstrat.com and www.phiagroup.com Lynnfield MA — Two powerhouse healthcare cost containment firms, The Phia Group, LLC, and Advanced Medical Strategies, have combined to create NetworkDx, a new, patent pending software as a service (SAAS) subscription-based offering that provides healthcare payors comprehensive analysis of the provisions in PPO contracts. One of the… Read More »

  California hospitals overcharged Medicare by $367 million, audit says originally posted on bizjournals.com   California hospitals and other providers overcharged Medicare by nearly $367 million in 2012, according to an audit report prepared for the federal Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services on fiscal 2012 results. More than 90 percent of that waste came… Read More »

  Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor Tyrosine Kinase Inhibitors vs Conventional Chemotherapy in Non–Small Cell Lung Cancer Harboring Wild-Type Epidermal Growth Factor Receptor – A Meta-analysis originally posted on the JAMA Network Importance  Current guidelines recommend both epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) tyrosine kinase inhibitors (TKIs) and cytotoxic chemotherapy drugs as standard treatment options for patients… Read More »

Blockbuster drug Nexavar fails a liver cancer test The blockbuster cancer drug Nexavar, co-developed by South San Francisco’s Onyx Pharmaceuticals Inc., failed a late-stage clinical trial in a subset of liver cancer patients. Onyx, a subsidiary of Amgen Inc. (NASDAQ: AMGN) since a $10.5 billion buyout in October, and partner Bayer HealthCare Pharmaceuticals Inc. said… Read More »

Susana Campos, MD, MPH reviewing Tewari KS et al. N Engl J Med 2014 Feb 20. Adding bevacizumab to chemotherapy significantly improved overall survival. Several cytotoxic regimens are often employed in the management of patients with advanced cervical cancer. Regrettably, advanced cervical cancer does not have a sustained response to chemotherapy. Bevacizumab has single-agent activity in heavily pretreated, recurrent… Read More »

Council of Surgical Spine Societies to Aetna: Cages for Cervical Spinal Fusion Not Investigational   Written by  Laura Miller | Friday, 10 January 2014 11:50   The Council of Surgical Spine Societies recently penned a letter to Aetna commenting on the insurer’s back pain and invasive procedures policy. The letter was sent in December 2013 for the Jan. 9,… Read More »

Advanced Medical Strategies experiences rapid subscriber growth for PredictDx   PredictDx gives Health Care Payors, Carriers and Reinsurers unprecedented web access to clinical and financial details of 150+ diagnoses Advanced Medical Strategies has changed the way carriers, reinsurers, MGU’s, TPA’s, and Brokers predict and manage costs associated with trigger diagnoses. Advanced Medical Strategies’ PredictDx is… Read More »