The healthcare industry has seen a spike in mergers and acquisitions (M&A), with a total of $73.5 billion spent to finance 243 deals. This number is up 44 percent from the $51.1 billion spent in Q1 of 2011 and up a substantial 61 percent from the $45.7 billion spent in Q2 in 2010, according to a report issued by Irving Levin Associates.

VasoStar, a subsidiary of Frantz Medical Group (FMG), has been awarded an Ohio Third Frontier grant to further develop and commercialize an electromagnetic guidewire system for penetrating through vascular chronic total occlusions, in lieu of invasive open heart surgery such as coronary artery bypass graft.

Real-time pharmacy surveillance of high-alert medications increased the likelihood of intercepting medication errors, according to a six-month study published in the July issue of the Joint Commission Journal on Quality and Patient Safety.

Planned median base salary increases reached 3 percent in 2011 for employees of large integrated health systems (IHS), which is an increase from 2010 when providers reported a planned 2.4 percent median base salary increase for healthcare employees, according to a compensation report from Hay Group Healthcare. Conversely, independent hospitals are reporting lower median base salary increases of 2.3 percent in 2011, reflecting the ongoing economic challenges facing those employers.

Among the major findings of a 21-year analysis by the Advanced Medical Technology Association (AdvaMed), researchers found that medical devices made up a relatively small share of U.S. health expenditures, representing only 5.9 percent of the total in 2009.

The term social media has attracted considerable interest. Opinions about the concept vary widely, a result of many factors including: the purpose by which it is aimed; the age, background and audience of the person either sending or receiving the information contained; and the specific format being used.

Top-performing hospitals are typically ones headed by a medical doctor rather than a manager, according to a study currently in press in Social Science and Medicine.

SAN ANTONIOVirus experts have yet to document a deliberate electronic attack on medical devices. However, the collateral damage of viruses has infected the medical community, according to Axel Wirth, healthcare solutions architect at Symantec, during his presentation at the Association for the Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI) conference & expo June 25.