Health Care
Chris Elias to lead Gates Foundation’s Global Development Program
The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation announced Monday that Christopher Elias, M.D., will lead its Global Development Program. The foundation also announced that the program will be expanded and that Elias will manage a portfolio that includes Family Health, Vaccine Delivery and U.S. and Global Libraries in addition to the existing components of Global Development….
Promising news from the front on the war on malaria
Seattle-based PATH has been one of a number of organizations promoting the use of many tools in its effort to eliminate diseases afflicting the developing world. In the case of malaria, those tools have included insecticide-treated nets, diagnositcs and antimalarial medicines. Now two scientists from PATH’s Malaria Control Program say that with the right strategy…
Study Quantifies Reach of Washington’s Global Health Sector
Global Health continues to grow as an cluster of regional expertise, offering important new opportunities for local organizations not only to address health care issues for the vulnerable here and in the developing world, but also to tackle market opportunities for low-cost health care products appropriate for the developing world. Here’s a press release about…
Dendreon layoffs affect 100 in Seattle
Citing slower than expected sales of its only drug, Seattle biotech company Dendreon announced it was laying off one-quarter of its workforce, including 100 people in the Seattle area. Most of the 500 layoffs will be at manufacturing centers in New Jersey, Georgia and California. The companys workforce ballooned to 2,000 as it prepared for…
Remote Medical International: to your (global) health
Calling the field employees of Remote Medical International (RMI) adventurous might be an understatement. They are spread across the globe, providing remote-area medical care and rescue services in African oilfields, aboard oceangoing ships, on tropical islands and even during Antarctic expeditions. Its what you might expect from a company founded by CEO Andrew Cull, who…
The Cost of Quality
Its called an accountable care organization, or ACO, and its the hot concept in health care. But to Everett businessman Steve Neighbors, its more like a unicorn: Everyone knows what it is, but no ones ever seen one. To some, an ACO is a promising new way of organizing health care to improve outcomes for…
FAQs about ACOs and Local Medical Group Partnerships
Frequently Asked Questions What is an ACO? An organization of health care providers that agrees to be accountable for the quality, cost and overall care of Medicare beneficiaries the government assigns to the organization. What is the advantage of an ACO?If an ACO meets specified quality standards, it is eligible to receive a share of…
New Program Rewards Companies for Corporate Wellness Programs
Wellness programs are a critical way in which companies can reduce their health care costs. UnitedHealthcare has teamed up with Pacific Medical Centers to launch a new awards program to highlight wome of the wellness programs of Seattle area companies. Through September, employees can go online at www.mynorthwest.com/mariners to access a nomination form to describe…
Better, Faster, More Affordable
EDITORS NOTE: In 2004, Dr. Donald Storey, then the senior medical director of the Aetna Aexcel Performance Networks, conveyed unsettling news to Dr. Robert Mecklenburg and his physician colleagues at Virginia Mason Medical Center. Dr. Storey said that Virginia Mason could be excluded from an important Aetna network based on high costs for certain services….
GE Healthcare acquires Applied Precision
Issaquah-based Applied Precision, maker of cellular imaging technologies for biomedical researchers, has been bought by GE Healthcare for an undisclosed amount. GE Healthcare will use Applied Precisions imaging technology for its own cell biology research. Advanced cellular imaging is now central to areas like new drug development. Applied Precision is a company with a strong…
Seattle Biomed Announces Major Scientific Expansion
Seattle Biomedical Research Institute (Seattle BioMed) today announced that 42 researchers from the Institute for Systems Biology, an organization launched by biotech superstar Leroy Hood, will join Seattle Biomed this spring. The institute said the move is part of an effort to integrate a systems biology approach to its global infectious disease research, an approach…
Global Health Organizations Play a Growing Role in the Puget Sound Region
Outstanding Global Health Organization Finalists (in alphabetic order) Christopher Elias, President and CEO, PATH PATH, under the direction of Christopher Elias, has harnessed modern science and engineering to develop culturally appropriate and sustainable solutions for health problems in the developing world. PATH has advanced many innovations, about 85 different technologies, in its 30 years working…
Community Outreach is a Critical Function of Health Care Institutions
Outstanding Achievement in Community Outreach (in alphabetical order) Airlift Northwest Before a group of hospitals founded this air medical transport service in 1982, the outcomes for victims of bear attacks in remote British Columbia or patients in need of an emergency transplants in rural Eastern Washington looked quite different. With helicopters, a Lear jet and…