The Heart Rhythm Society (HRS), in partnership with WebMD Education, announced in December the launch of a free, online educational tool called “How to Reduce Your Risk of Stroke Due to AFib.” The new tool is part of a larger series of educational activities hosted by WebMD Education to help patients, caregivers and those who may be at risk to learn more about various medical conditions. The AFib-focused tool is an easy-to-use, interactive activity delivering important information straight into the hands of the user. This is the first collaboration between HRS and WebMD Education.

December 28, 2017 — Zoll Medical Corp. and Myant, Inc., a high-tech advanced manufacturing company, announced they have ...

Philips recently announced that it acquired VitalHealth, a provider of cloud-based population health management solutions for the delivery of personalized care outside of the hospital, for example, in regional care networks. Headquartered in the Netherlands, VitalHealth’s products and services are being used by more than 100 healthcare networks in various countries including the United States, India, China, Sweden, Germany, Belgium and the Netherlands. The company was founded in 2006 by Mayo Clinic (U.S.) and Noaber Foundation (the Netherlands) and employs approximately 200 employees. Financial details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Essential Medical announced the completion of enrollment in the U.S. pivotal investigational device exemption (IDE) trial of the Manta large bore vascular closure device. The company said it has enrolled 341 patients at 21 different sites with 43 investigators in 10 months. Essential Medical President and CEO Greg Walters said the company expects to file a premarket approval (PMA) submission with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) by the end of the first quarter in 2018.

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) last week finalized the cancellation of the mandatory hip fracture and cardiac bundled payment models that were to be operated by the CMS Innovation Center and implemented changes to the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) Model. These changes will offer greater flexibility and choice for hospitals in providing care to Medicare patients.

A team of researchers at the National Institute for Health Research (NIHR) Leicester Biomedical Research Centre, U.K., has been awarded €6.5 million from the Horizon 2020 European Commission fund. The team — a partnership between Leicester’s Hospitals, the University of Leicester and Loughborough University, and led by clinical scientist consultant Prof. Anthony Gershlick from the university’s Department of Cardiovascular Sciences — will investigate the impact of using extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) on the outcomes of patients who have had a severe heart attack.