Health

6 HEALTH • Summer 2018 { Briefs } Continued from Page 5 UMass Memorial - Community Healthlink | UMass Memorial Medical Group UMass Memorial HealthAlliance-Clinton Hospital UMass Memorial - Marlborough Hospital | UMass Memorial Medical Center START A LIFETIME OF GOOD HEALTH WITH US Eating right and exercising are two keys to staying healthy. UMass Memorial would like to add one more to that list – finding a good primary care physician. With our network of doctors at more than 80 locations throughout Central Massachusetts, finding the right primary care physician is simple. • Care for the whole family with the largest adult and pediatric primary care network in the region • Referral to highly specialized care at our nationally recognized UMass Memorial Medical Center Find your physician by calling 855-UMASS-MD (855-862-7763) www.umassmemorial.org/mypcp A Partners-Harvard Pilgrim deal would be notable in part because it involves a provider and an insurer. Saint Vincent, Heywood, Leonard Morse are region's safest hospitals Saint Vincent Hospital in Worcester earned the highest grade by a hospital-safety ratings agency for the ninth straight time. Saint Vincent received an A grade, an honor matched by Heywood Hospital in Gardner and Leonard Morse Hospital in Natick. UMass Memorial Medical Center's Memorial Campus and University Campus in Worcester each received a B, while three oth- ers received a C: Milford Regional Medical Center, HealthAlliance Hospital in Leominster and MetroWest Medical Center in Framingham. The scores, by the Leapfrog Group, a Washington nonprofit, tracks hospitals for how well they take steps to avoid patient harm, surgical problems and a number of other criteria. The scores are given twice per year. Massachusetts was one of the top five states ranked by proportion of hospitals that landed A grades. Among 56 hospitals ranked in Massachusetts, 30 received an A, 17 received a B and nine received a C. Hologic wins FDA approval for pap test imaging device Marlborough women's health device manufacturer Hologic has won a federal approval for a device the company says can analyze pap tests in 90 seconds. Now, the company's automated imaging of pap tests will be more broadly available in laboratories of all sizes. According to Hologic, the device, ThinPrep Integrated Imager, guides technicians to areas showing potential abnormal cells and images slides in about 90 seconds and com- bines an imaging station and review scope into a single desktop system. The device can also be used as a conventional microscope, Hologic said. Ice Bucket Challenge funds another UMass ALS breakthrough A collaborative of 250 research- ers, co-led by University of Massachusetts Medical School Professor John Landers and funded through the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, have identified a new gene associated with the develop- ment of ALS. The discovery of the gene, known as KIF5A, advances the understand- ing of what causes ALS and builds on past research targeting cytoskel- etal defects a common factor in the development of the disease, accord- ing to UMass. Landers, a professor of neurology, said identifying the cytoskeleton, which is a frame that gives a cell its shape, as a potential target for new drug development is an important development. While 10 percent of ALS is famil- ial in origin because of a genetic defect, the other 90 percent of ALS cases are considered sporadic. OptumCare officially purchases Reliant for $28M Reliant Medical Group officially became part of the international healthcare company Optum in April, with the $28-million deal receiving necessary state approvals in Massachusetts. Reliant Medical Group and Southboro Medical Group will both keep their names, and the company said physicians, staff and manage- ment will be unchanged as a result of the deal. Most insurance plans will still be accepted. Reliant and Southboro Medical Group have a combined 320,000 patients. The company says it is the largest such health system in Central Massachusetts and MetroWest, with more than 500 providers and 2,600 employees at more than 25 locations. Optum is part of the publicly traded UnitedHealth Group. H

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