Tag: economics
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Survey: Type-2 Diabetes Patients Would Switch from Insulin
A new survey shows 60 percent of type-2 diabetes patients in the U.S. who currently use insulin say they would prefer switching to a less expensive bio-similar insulin if such an agent became available. Decision Resources, a health care industry research firm, conducted the survey of diabetes patients in September 2010. Decision Resources reports most…
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Contracts Awarded for Advanced Battery Technologies
Five companies received technology development and assessment contracts today from the United States Advanced Battery Consortium (USABC), a research collaboration of automakers Chrysler Group LLC, Ford Motor Company, and General Motors Company. The awards, totaling $5.43 million, are funded by the U.S. Department of Energy and include a 50 percent cost-share from each of the…
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Health Care Systems to Share Practices on Quality, Costs
Six health care systems in the U.S. announced today a collaboration to improve health care quality while reducing costs. Participating organizations — representing networks of hospitals, clinicians, and researchers — include Dartmouth-Hitchcock, Cleveland Clinic, Denver Health, Geisinger Health System, Intermountain Healthcare, and Mayo Clinic. The Collaborative, as it is called, promises to share data on…
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Collaboration to Develop Smart Power Grid in Denmark
A collection of 32 partners — companies, not-for-profits, research institutes, and universities — have agreed to develop a new intelligent power grid in Denmark. Called the iPower platform, the new system aims to be ready in 2025, when Denmark is scheduled to generate half of its electricity from wind energy. The iPower platform’s full name…
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Economic Model Computes Value of Workplace Flu Shots
Researchers from the University of Pittsburgh in Pennsylvania developed an economic model to calculate costs and benefits of employers providing flu vaccinations as an employee benefit. The team from the university’s Graduate School of Public Health showed employers can save substantial funds offering vaccinations, and the sooner in the flu season the shots are offered…
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Real-Time Alerts Reduce Unnecessary Blood Testing
An electronic message sent to physicians the moment they ordered a blood test for elderly patients reduced unnecessary use of a test that is often false-positive. Physicians received the alert in Kaiser Permanente’s electronic health record when ordering a D-dimer test for patients aged 65 and older. The D-dimer test, combined with a clinical risking…
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Math Model Developed for Biofuels Development
Researchers at the U.S. Department of Energy’s Joint BioEnergy Institute (JBEI) created a techno-economic model that can help accelerate development of biofuels to compete with gasoline. This online, wiki-based model is designed to help researchers pursue promising strategies for cost-efficient biorefinery operations The JBEI team at Lawrence Berkeley National Lab in California designed the model…
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Life-Cycle Analysis Shows CFL Bulbs Most Enviro Friendly
Researchers from Empa, the Swiss Federal Laboratories for Materials Testing and Research in Duebendorf, studied the full lifetime of four lighting technologies, and found compact fluorescent lighting (CFL) to inflict the least environmental damage. The analysis includes consideration of CFL’s mercury content, since exposure to elemental mercury when absorbed through the lungs can cause neurological…
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NGOs: Technique Boosts Rice Production with Less Water
International relief and development organizations Oxfam America, Worldwide Fund for Nature, and Africare reported an improved method of rice farming known as the System of Rice Intensification (SRI) that the groups say has the potential to dramatically improve the lives of millions of poor people around the world. The report released Wednesday is based on…
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R&D Spending Creates 11,000+ Jobs in Indiana Since 1999
An analysis of Indiana’s 21st Century Research and Technology Fund estimates the fund created more than 11,000 jobs since it began in 1999, sparking $427 million in economic activity in the state. Ball State University’s Center for Business and Economic Research in Muncie, Indiana conducted the study. The Indiana General Assembly created the fund in…