Press Releases

DUBLIN--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Research and Markets (http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/56638d/beds_powered_and) has announced the addition of the "Beds (Powered and Manual) - A Global Market Perspective" report to their offering.

Globally, there is shortage of patient beds due to growing demand from the worldwide aging population, which is outpacing supply of beds in medical facilities. An aging world population is also creating substantial demand for in-home medical services. Majority of healthcare facilities, of late, are reducing bed capacity to minimize cost, and to promote advanced, short-stay surgical methods. The development of home administered chemotherapy drugs, enhancement in emergency care management, and advanced short day-stay surgical methods reduce the pressure of maintaining more beds in hospitals and healthcare centers.

Most of the beds are rented by the dealers rather than purchased. Beds with higher aesthetic value, as well as beds integrated with high-tech features enjoy a greater demand in the market. Reacting to increasing pressure from customers, bed manufacturers have been trying hard to bring down the operating costs with the motive of bringing down the total costs. As a result, competition has intensified in the market, paving way for price-cuts and market share shifts.

These and other market data and trends are presented in "Beds (Powered and Manual): A Global Market Perspective" by BizAcumen, Inc. This report is designed to be the most comprehensive in geographic coverage and vertical market analyses.

Key Topics Covered:

METHODOLOGY

    --  Study Reliability and Reporting Limitations
    --  Disclaimers
    --  Quantitative Techniques & Reporting Level

GLOBAL MARKET OVERVIEW & OUTLOOK

    --  Rising Healthcare Investment in Developing Countries Favors Beds Market
    --  Current and Future Analysis
    --  Technological Advancements - Reduce Need for More Hospital Beds
    --  Fewer Beds Lead to Prolonged Waiting Times
    --  Competitive Analysis

GROWTH DRIVERS

PRODUCT FACTS

PRICING ISSUES

CORPORATE DEVELOPMENTS

MAJOR PLAYERS

MARKET ANALYTICS

REGIONAL OVERVIEW

COMPANIES PROFILED

For more information visit http://www.researchandmarkets.com/research/56638d/beds_powered_and

    Source: Research and Markets

BALTIMORE, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- View Systems, Inc. (OTC Bulletin Board: VSYM), a security and tele-data solutions provider, announced today that the company's exclusive international dealer and business partner, Belcom, has reported a confirmed ViewScan purchase order from the corporate sector. The contract comes from MphasiS, a Hewlett Packard Company based in Bangalore, India.

Belcom's authorized reseller in India, PMG Systems, owned by Dr. S.T. Chacko, states, "The aftermath of 11/26/08 terror attacks in Mumbai, India, has led to an unprecedented effort from the Government of India (GOI) to raise security levels. Belcom, along with PMG Systems, introduced the ViewScan Concealed Weapons Detector to the Indian marketplace in August 2009. There has been a tremendous interest received from the corporate, defense, hospitality and mass transportation industries.

"A confirmed purchase order from MphasiS (a Hewlett Packard Company) for its five locations in India shows the growing acceptance of ViewScan technology over other international manufacturers of door frame metal detectors. ViewScan has set its footprint in India with a US Fortune 50 client. This is a critical landmark to further penetrate into a 1.3 billion population market.

"Belcom has empowered PMG systems to deliver world-class technology at affordable prices to our growing customer base in India."

ViewScan is fast becoming the choice screening system, both domestically and internationally. It's a computer-based system that can scan up to 1200 people per hour. As a person passes through the portal, along with a photograph, threat objects are visually located on the computer screen and an audible alert can be set to sound. The ViewScan produces no harmful emissions so it's safe for everyone.

Belcom is an exclusive international dealer and business partner of View Systems. Belcom, a subsidiary of the Belhasa Group of Companies, represents View Systems' products in the Middle East, Africa & Asia regions. (Source: www.belcom.ae). ViewScan units are currently placed in Saudi Arabia, Bahrain, UAE, India and Pakistan.

Gautham Belthur, General Manager of Belcom, states, "It is indeed a milestone for us to penetrate and add a prestigious US Fortune 50 client to our increasing client portfolio in the ever-competitive security market of India. PMG Systems is truly a professional partner with a thorough knowledge into the Indian marketplace. We are delighted to see a global preference for the ViewScans, along with other View Systems products."

About View Systems:

View Systems, Inc. manufactures and installs weapons detection identification systems, video management platforms and tele-data communication networks targeted towards correctional facilities, schools, courthouses, government agencies, event and sports venues, and commercial businesses. More information can be found on the website at www.viewsystems.com.

Forward-Looking Statements: This press release contains certain forward-looking statements. Investors are cautioned that certain statements in this release are "forward-looking statements" and involve both known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors. Such uncertainties include, among others, certain risks associated with the operation of the company described above. The Company's actual results could differ materially from expected results.

TO SIGN UP FOR VIEW'S NEWS SERVICE: Please email news@viewsystems.com with NEWSLETTER in the subject line. Please include your name, telephone number and email address in the body of the email. You can also sign up by visiting our website at www.viewsystems.com and clicking on the NEWSLETTER link. Signing up for this service will entitle you to receive a copy of each news release and bulletin via email.

SOURCE View Systems, Inc.

MIAMI, FL -- (MARKET WIRE) -- 12/04/09 -- Atlantis Technology Group (PINKSHEETS: ATNP) subsidiary Global Online Television Corporation after long hours and extremely hard work announces its launch date for the GOTV IPTV service to be on January 11th, 2010. Global Online Television Corporation expects to launch the GOTV IPTV service with great success due to all of the interest GOTV is receiving daily.

On January 7th, 2010 Christopher M Dubeau, CEO, will be conducting a conference call with shareholders to discuss in further detail the GOTV IPTV content, marketing strategy, advertisement income, and employment opportunities. Atlantis Technology Group will issue a press release informing shareholders how to participate in the conference call. All questions regarding the above mentioned will be answered as well as any additional items and or contracts that are executed prior to the conference call.

Additional scheduled items for the December 3rd, 2009 Board of Directors meeting will continue to be announced.

About Global Online Television (GOTV)

Global Online Television Corporation was originally established by Atlantis Technology Group as a media subsection that would develop research in the advancement of media-based technology. GOTV brings the largest internet protocol television networks together for your home television viewing. IPTV is TV to TV, using standard broadband connections. By using the IPTV and Microsoft Windows Media Player, the video stream is delivered to your home television over broadband internet connection. Any broadband internet connection can be used, so there is no need to change providers. It is fast, simple, and affordable. To find out more about Global Online Television please visit http://www.gotvco.com.

About Atlantis Technology Group

Atlantis Technology Group was formed to establish privately held and publicly traded technology companies that focus primarily on high-growth investments that are at the leading edge of business and technological innovation.

To find out more about Atlantis Technology Group please visit http://www.atlantistechnologygroup.com.

Safe Harbor Statement under the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995: This release contains forward-looking information. Statements that are not descriptions of historical facts are forward-looking statements provided under the "safe harbor" protection of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements are made to enable a better understanding of our business, but because these forward-looking statements are subject to many risks, uncertainties, future developments and changes over time, actual results may differ materially from those expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. Examples of forward-looking statements are statements about anticipated financial or operating results, financial projections, business prospects, future product performance and other matters that are not historical facts. Such statements often include words such as "believes," "expects," "anticipates," "intends," "plans," "estimates" or similar expressions.

These forward-looking statements are based on the information that was currently available to us, and the expectations and assumptions that were deemed reasonable by us, at the time the statements were made. We do not undertake any obligation to update any forward-looking statements in this report or in any of our other communications, except as required by law, and all such forward-looking statements should be read as of the time the statements were made, and with the recognition that these forward-looking statements may not be complete or accurate at a later date.

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Contradicts Claim That Health Reform Bills Will Increase Deficit

WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Despite claims that the pending health reform bills aren't really paid for because Congress never lets Medicare savings take effect, Congress has allowed the vast majority of Medicare cuts that it enacted in the past two decades to take effect and produce significant savings, a new study from the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities shows.

The analysis, by James Horney and Paul Van de Water, former senior CBO officials now at the Center, examines the history of every significant Medicare cut that Congress has enacted in the past 20 years - specifically, cuts included in deficit reduction legislation enacted in 1990, 1993, 1997, and 2005.

The authors found that virtually 100 percent of the 1990 savings survived; virtually 100 percent of the 1993 savings survived; virtually 100 percent of the 2005 savings survived; and nearly 80 percent of the 1997 savings survived.

"Today's conventional wisdom is wrong," said Horney. "Medicare savings have been a big part of all major deficit-reduction packages that Congress has enacted since 1990, and lawmakers have allowed the vast majority of those cuts to take effect. Given that history, there is every reason to believe that Congress will allow the Medicare savings in the pending bills to take effect as well."

Main "Example" of Failure to Implement Cuts Rests on Misunderstanding

In arguing that large Medicare cuts never "stick," many critics focus on Congress' repeated refusal to let the reductions in doctor reimbursement rates under Medicare's "Sustainable Growth Rate" (SGR) mechanism to take full effect.

But, as the report explains, Congress didn't intend the SGR to produce large savings. In fact, the SGR represented only 3 percent of the total ten-year Medicare savings in the 1997 deficit-reduction bill - only $12 billion of the $394 billion in total Medicare savings over ten years, as CBO estimated at the time.

Because it was badly designed, however, the SGR would actually have cut payments to physicians much more than had been anticipated and well below the level needed to keep pace with doctors' costs. Congress' decision to forestall these unintended cuts was therefore justified on policy grounds.

But, Congress did not simply cancel the SGR and let physician reimbursement rates grow willy-nilly. In fact, although Congress has since 2002 prevented the full SGR cuts from going into effect, it has cut physician reimbursement rates substantially below what was needed simply to keep pace with inflation. Even if Congress blocks the next scheduled SGR cut and freezes the rate at current levels, the rate next year will be 17 percent below the rate in effect in 2001, adjusted for medical inflation.

The Medicare savings provisions in the House and Senate health bills are very different from the poorly designed SGR cut. Instead, they are similar in both size and design to the past Medicare cuts that Congress has allowed to take effect.

Bills Contain Wide Range of Cost-Containment Measures

Claims that the House and Senate health reform bills lack serious cost-containment provisions also do not withstand close scrutiny, the report explains.

"These bills contain just about every reform that health policy experts have proposed to slow health care costs over time," notes Van de Water. "While we will ultimately have to do much more, the bills take most of the steps that we know enough about to pursue now in the areas that experts view as promising."

In Medicare, the bills would scale back overpayments to private insurers, reduce annual payment updates for hospitals and other providers, and, in the House bill, lower prescription drug costs. To reduce costs across the entire health care system, the bills would promote competition among insurers by creating an insurance exchange, cut insurers' administrative costs, invest in preventive care, penalize hospitals with high readmission rates, and establish pilot projects in various areas to help determine the best approaches to controlling health care costs (while giving federal health officials some new authority to implement some changes in Medicare based on the knowledge gained without having to enact new legislation). In addition, the Senate bill would impose an excise tax on high-cost insurance plans to discourage overuse of health care and would create an independent board with the power to implement cost savings in Medicare.

"Lawmakers can strengthen the final bill by combining the strongest cost-control elements of the House and Senate bills," Van de Water said.

Bills Are Fully Paid For and Would Begin to Rein in Long-Term Health Costs

A third major claim by critics -- that, in the near term, the House and Senate bills would raise the nation's total health care expenditures -- is correct but not a meaningful argument against health reform, the report explains. Covering tens of millions of uninsured Americans will necessarily raise total health care spending in the short term.

"There are two fundamental tests for any health reform bill: does it expand coverage without increasing the deficit, and does it begin to slow health cost growth so total health spending will be lower over the long term than it otherwise would be? The House and Senate bills meet the first test and hold real promise for the second," Horney said.

The Congressional Budget Office estimates that both bills would reduce deficits over the first ten years (the House bill by $138 billion, the Senate bill by $130 billion) and for at least a decade after that. Moreover, under the Senate bill, the total federal cost for all health care spending and tax subsidies in the decade after 2019 would be no higher than if we continued current law, according to CBO. This is a major accomplishment for a bill that extends coverage to more than 30 million of the uninsured, the report notes.

Finally, some critics complain that the CBO cost estimates showing that the bills would reduce the deficit are misleading and rest upon a gimmick -- specifically, that neither the House nor the Senate bill includes a measure to permanently eliminate the SGR mechanism. Since Congress likely will continue to prevent the SGR from taking effect, critics say, Congress and CBO should consider the cost of such action as part of the cost of the health reform bills. Once that cost is added, they argue, the contention that the bills do not increase the deficit is false.

Indeed, Congress likely will never let the full SGR cuts take effect, and it probably won't offset the cost of scrapping them. But that cost is neither part of, nor in any way a result of, health care reform -- the federal government will incur this cost regardless of health care reform, not because of it. This fact is undeniable: if health reform legislation were to die tomorrow, the full SGR cost would remain. To be sure, it would be better if Congress offset the cost of cancelling the SGR cuts. But that issue is separate from the question of whether the health care reform bills themselves add to the deficit or not.

The full report is available at http://www.cbpp.org/cms/index.cfm?fa=view&id=3021.

The Center on Budget and Policy Priorities is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization and policy institute that conducts research and analysis on a range of government policies and programs. It is supported primarily by foundation grants.

SOURCE Center on Budget and Policy Priorities

UNION, N.J., Dec. 4 /PRNewswire/ -- PLUS Diagnostics announced today that it has expanded its specialty anatomic pathology services with the launch of a national hematology/oncology offering. The new service completes the company's expansion from a regional laboratory to a leading national anatomic pathology company offering diagnostic services across a full range of specialties including gastroenterology, urology and now hematology/oncology.

PLUS Diagnostics will provide its hematology/oncology services from its new West Coast laboratory, which it designed and opened earlier this year to serve as the primary laboratory for its hematology/oncology operations. The company made a multi-million dollar investment to customize the lab with the newest technologies and testing capabilities to diagnose all types of blood and bone marrow cancers/disorders. It also recruited Dr. Jess Savala Jr., former director of hematology services for Genzyme Genetics in Los Angeles, to serve as medical director of its hematology/oncology program.

"All of us at PLUS are excited to extend our services into hematology/oncology, and serve specialists who are on the front lines of treating rare and aggressive forms of cancer," said Doug Berg, chief executive officer, PLUS Diagnostics. "Our company has been planning for this day for some time. We have invested a great deal of thought, as well as capital into introducing innovative science and technologies that will enable us to provide improved patient care."

PLUS Diagnostics is one of the first commercial labs to offer 9-color flow cytometry to allow for precise characterization of malignancies and disorders, and enhanced detection of minimal residual disease (MRD) in previously diagnosed patients. Among the innovations PLUS plans to introduce to the hematology/oncology market is Know Error®, a tool it uses with its gastroenterology and urology services to protect patients from biopsy switching errors. The company is also expanding its laboratory information system so specialists can easily order and track their test results electronically.

"It is extremely important that we act with great care, speed and precision in serving our customers," said Dr. Savala. "Every detail of our offering is tailored to meet the specialized needs of hematologists/oncologists. Our team is dedicated to doing whatever it takes to help specialists diagnose even the rarest type of disorders quickly, so they can achieve the best outcomes on behalf of their patients."

PLUS Diagnostics' entry into the hematology/oncology market marks the company's latest and final step in its expansion from a regional lab to a national anatomic pathology leader serving a wide range of specialties. Since partnering with Water Street Healthcare Partners, a leading private equity firm focused exclusively on health care, PLUS Diagnostics has made multi-million dollar investments to open bi-coastal laboratories and expand its services to serve its growing base of customers.

"Our team has transformed PLUS Diagnostics into an industry leader through our commitment to providing customers with innovative services that are customized to their unique needs," said Berg. "Our focus continues to be supporting our customers with the best people and state-of-the art science and technologies that achieve improved care and positive patient outcomes."

About PLUS Diagnostics

PLUS Diagnostics is a leading national anatomic pathology company that provides a full range of multi-specialty services, including extensive diagnostic procedures and specialist consultations. Accredited by the College of American Pathologists, PLUS Diagnostics has long been recognized for exceptional service and quality. The company currently focuses on a broad base of specialty pathology services, including urology, gastroenterology and hematology/oncology. For more information, visit, www.plusdx.com.

SOURCE PLUS Diagnostics