News From Around the Web:
> The global breast imaging technologies market will grow at a rate of a little more than 15 percent annually, and will reach approximately $5 billion by 2017, according to a report by the global market research company MarketsandMarkets. The U.S. and Europe continue to be the major markets for breast imaging technologies, with much of that due to the rising number of breast cancer cases being treated across developed countries. Announcement
> A study using brain imaging, along with cognitive flexibility testing, has determined that older adults who have been multilingual since childhood have brains that work more efficiently than monolingual adults. The research was published in the Journal of Neuroscience. Post
> The European molecular imaging market earned $276 million in 2011, and is expected to increase revenues to $388 million by 2018, according to a analysis by Frost & Sullivan, HealthTechZone reports. Neurology is expected to be a key growth field for the market, as well as the traditional field of oncology and cardiology. Article
Healthcare Finance News:
> Healthcare spending in the United States in 2011 grew at a modest rate for the third year in a row, marking the slowest prolonged growth rate in half a century, according to a report in this month's Health Affairs. According to data compiled from the Office of the Actuary at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, healthcare spending grew at a rate 3.9 percent in 2011, identical to the 2010 and 2009 numbers. Article
Healthcare Provider News:
> As hospitals worry about curbing readmissions, they have a new threat sending older patients back to their facilities--post-hospital syndrome--according to an article published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. Nearly one in five seniors bounces back to the hospital within 30 days of discharge, but with a completely different illness than the original admitting diagnosis. Article
And Finally... This doesn't sound like my idea of fun. Article