The battle for infection control is fought daily in wound management where the body's first line of defense against microbes has been breeched. Sometimes something old is made new again with a twist of new technology, as is the case in new infection-fighting wound care products that use shrimp shells, honey and silver as their key ingredients. The silver bullet

There has been a flood of new products and a rush by companies to get new infection control products on the market since last summer, when the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) passed a rule it will no longer reimburse healthcare facilities for preventable hospital-acquired infections (HAIs) starting in October 2008.

The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 (DRA) has left its mark on hospitals and outpatient imaging center operators. There is no denying that the imaging industry has changed forever. Some may think that the 10 percent of operators on the brink of bankruptcy or in default on payments to finance vendors is a mere market correction for years of overgrowth. But do the math.