Cleveland Clinic reported the planned opening of the Sydell and Arnold Miller Family Pavilion and the Glickman Tower this fall. The buildings represent the largest, most significant expansion in Cleveland Clinic's history, adding nearly 1.3 million square feet to its main campus.

"Cleveland Clinic has entered an era characterized by growth, innovation and patient-centered care," said Delos (Toby) Cosgrove, MD, CEO/president of the Cleveland Clinic. "The opening of the Miller Family Pavilion and Glickman Tower is a transformational event for our health system. Together, these structures will revolutionize the delivery of medical care for patients and clinicians alike, placing the needs of patients and their families at the center and providing the most state-of-the-art healthcare experience possible."

Cleveland Clinic will kick off the opening celebration of the two buildings on Sept. 12. Patients will be moved between the end of September and the beginning of November.

Cleveland Clinic is a not-for-profit multispecialty academic medical center that integrates clinical and hospital care with research and education.

Rebound device gets new reimbursement codes

Minnesota Medical Development (Minneapolis) said that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has agreed to create seven new ICD-9-CM reimbursement procedure codes for its new Rebound HRD (Hernia Repair Device). The new coding will become effective Oct. 1.

The Rebound HRD was recently FDA 510(k)-cleared and is intended to assist in the repair and/or reinforcement of hernia or other soft-tissue defects where weakness exists and where the support of a nonabsorbable material is preferred.

The new coding options will delineate from the existing codes to identify the Rebound HRD as an inguinal hernia repair device which can be used specifically for laparoscopic hernia repair. Previously, CMS coding did not recognize the surgical differences between "open incisional" and "laparoscopic" types of hernia repair.

The Rebound HRD is a self-expanding nitinol-framed/surgical mesh medical device designed for the laparoscopic repair of both inguinal and ventral hernias. The super-elastic nitinol frame allows the device to be folded and inserted laparoscopically. Once deployed, the device fully unfurls or "rebounds" back to its original shape – ready for quick and easy placement over the hernia defect.

New genome study uses Affymetrix SNP Arrays

Affymetrix (Santa Clara, California) said that researchers around the world have used the Affymetrix Genome-Wide Human SNP Arrays 5.0 and 6.0 to uncover important links between copy number variations (CNVs) and schizophrenia. Researchers from the U.S., Europe and Asia published their findings in recent issues of Nature and Nature Genetics.

"This is the first high-resolution, family-based study which examined in a systematic manner whether rare copy number mutations contribute to sporadic schizophrenia," said Maria Karayiorgou, MD, professor of psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center (New York). "The Affymetrix technology made it possible for us to discover that de novo copy number mutations account for at least 10% of the non-familial cases of this devastating disease. Now that we better understand what brain development pathways are involved with schizophrenia, we can look at better ways of treating it in the future." Affymetrix GeneChip microarray technology assists in analyzing complex genetic information.

Texas Health launches community benefit program

Texas Health Resources (Arlington, Texas) has launched "Gift from the Heart," a community benefit program designed to save young lives by providing automated external defibrillators (AEDs) to 51 low-income schools throughout North Texas.

Texas Health, one of the largest faith-based, non-profit healthcare systems in the U.S., is donating the AEDs to secondary schools located near its hospitals, which span eight counties, including Dallas, Tarrant, and Collin. The donation comes as the company unites its longstanding community hospitals – Presbyterian, Harris Methodist and Arlington Memorial -- under Texas Health Resources, the system brand.

"In keeping with our non-profit mission to improve the health of the people in the communities we serve, we could think of no better way to share the coming of a new brand than to give back to our schools," said Douglas Hawthorne, CEO of Texas Health. "Our hope is that this gift will increase the chance of survival for students, faculty, and visitors who may suffer sudden cardiac arrest while at school or attending campus activities."