Generic prescription drugs may not be the cost-saving alternative once thought under the current design of the Medicare Part D program, which gives away such heavy discounts for out-of-pocket costs for brand-name drugs that seniors are actually shelling out way more for generics, according to a study published in Health Affairs.
Gadolinium-based contrast agents (GBCAs) can often bring out the best in MRI, but they’re controversial and thus increasingly avoided. A pilot study in Germany shows how an algorithm might substitute for an injection to track tumors of the brain and spinal cord (aka gliomas).
Bundled payments are helping lower overall healthcare costs, with joint replacement bundles saving about $1,000 per patient annually, according to a second annual report on the model from the Lewin Group.
An Irish AI startup whose investors have already raised $65 million is pledging to deliver a breakthrough natural food additive by the end of this year and four more by 2021.
Johns Hopkins All Children’s Hospital, based in St. Petersburg, Florida, is making big changes in the fallout of investigations from the Tampa Bay Times that its pediatric heart surgery unit had an unusually high mortality rate.
While Google has ventured into the healthcare field with various technologies and tools, it is also collecting vast amounts of healthcare data through these tools and through deals with healthcare stakeholders.
Aided by augmented reality, AI and portable neuroimaging technology, physicians may soon be able to tease out images of patients’ brains—right there in the doctor’s office—to see how much pain each patient is suffering.
UnitedHealth Group, a large managed care company based in Minnetonka, Minnesota, announced a slew of leadership changes at the end of June, including naming a new CEO to UnitedHealthcare, its major health insurance business.
Methodist University Hospital, based in Memphis, Tennessee, is a nonprofit hospital operator with its own collections agency that ruthlessly pummels low-income patients over unpaid medical bills by taking them to court, according to a sort by ProPublica.
Healthcare AI isn’t yet good enough to reliably deliver on its promises where it stands to make the biggest difference—and it doesn’t have enough high-quality data to get there anytime soon.
