Economics

This channel highlights factors that impact hospital and healthcare economics and revenue. This includes news on healthcare policies, reimbursement, marketing, business plans, mergers and acquisitions, supply chain, salaries, staffing, and the implementation of a cost-effective environment for patients and providers.

Social media big data could provide information on fighting prescription drug addiction

Researchers from Dartmouth, Stanford University and IBM Research have conducted a review of literature to evaluate the feasibility of using social media data to identify behavioral patterns of prescription drug abuse. Findings are published in Journal of Medical Internet Research.

Medicare falls behind other countries in providing great care

Policymakers may think elderly Americans should be satisfied with their Medicare coverage, but, according to new research from the Commonwealth Fund, they come in last place when compared to senior healthcare in 10 other countries.

EpicMD Names Jack Karabees President and Vice President of Sales

EpicMD, www.epic.md, a trusted leader in cloud-based telehealth and telemedicine technology platforms, today announced the appointment of Jack Karabees as EpicMD’s President and Vice President of Sales. Karabees has spent over 25 years successfully establishing and executing high-growth sales and marketing plans for enterprise healthcare, payer and hospital-related software technology companies. “We feel that Karabees brings an unusual blend of technology and healthcare leadership experience to the company,” said Matt Wanderer, company CEO. “His experience at this stage of company growth is also a fantastic fit,” he continued.

Chicago's Cook County may lay off 600 after soda tax repeal

In October, Cook County, Illinois, which includes Chicago, repealed a penny-per-ounce tax on sugary beverages that had been in effect for just two months. The move, which resulted from a huge public backlash to the tax, may lead to some 600 layoffs included in a proposal from Board President Toni Preckwinkle.

Wrist wearable uses pulses to relieve chronic motion sickness

Chronic motion sickness patients could be helped by the Reliefband, a wearable that uses pulses to block signals entering the part of the brain related to nausea. 

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AI coaching app assists at-risk patients in preventing type 2 diabetes

As the number of individuals with type 2 diabetes increases, researchers search for a way to prevent or slow the progression of diabetes in at-risk patients. According to a study published in JMIR Diabetes, an artificial intelligence (AI) coaching platform could improve habits to prevent the onset of type 2 diabetes.

Healthcare price growth approaching ‘historic low’

Price growth in healthcare was at a 1.1 percent annual rate as of Sept. 2017 compared to the year prior, according to the Altarum Institute, coming close to the all-time low of 0.9 percent annual growth seen in Dec. 2015.

13 critical findings on digital health advancements

Digital healthcare technology in the form of mobile applications and wearables has improved patient care and proven to be effective tools in self-management, according to a report released by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science.

Around the web

The American College of Cardiology has sent a letter to HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. that outlines some of the organization’s central priorities and concerns. 

One product is being pulled from the market, and the other is receiving updated instructions for use.

If the Trump administration continues taking a laissez-faire stance toward AI—including AI used in healthcare—why not let the states go it alone on regulating the technology?