The Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) is accepting public comments about its request that the Office of Management and Budget approve a proposed e-prescribing project: the Health IT Community Tracking Study 2009.

Bayer Schering Pharma in Berlin, Germany, has entered into a global agreement with Algeta of Oslo, Norway, for the development and commercialization of Alpharadin, an alpha-emitting radium-223-based radiopharmaceutical.

Banner Good Samaritan Medical Center in Phoenix is treating cancer and neurological disorders with technology from Varian Medical Systems of Palo Alto, Calif., and BrainLAB of Munich.

Almost 75 percent of physicians were accepting all or most new Medicare patients and the vast majority of physicians had managed care contracts in 2008, according to findings released Sept. 3 from the Center for Studying Health System Change (HSC) 2008 Health Tracking Physician Survey.

The use of image-guided radiation therapy (IGRT) may be more successful than traditional external beam radiation therapy in treating moderately to severely obese prostate cancer patients, according to a study in the Sept. 1 issue of the International Journal of Radiation Oncology*Biology*Physics.

Distant metastases are found more frequently in patients with ipsilateral lymph node recurrence, and researchers advise that the axillary and supraclavicular node areas be included in ultrasound screening after breast cancer surgery, according to a study in this months Radiology.

James Hoey has been named CEO of Elekta Holdings with responsibility for all of Elektas North American legal entities.

For economists and policy makers to understand the true value of the costs and savings of preventive health programs for chronic disease, the Congressional Budget Office should incorporate longer-term clinical outcomes data and look beyond the current 10-year window standard when making cost estimates, according to research published in the Sept. 1 issue of Health Affairs.