Precision Medicine

Also called personalized medicine, this evolving field makes use of an individual’s genes, lifestyle, environment and other factors to identify unique disease risks and guide treatment decision-making.

Neurology: MR links midlife vascular risk factors and brain aging

MRI exams of midlife adults revealed that hypertension, diabetes, smoking and obesity were linked with accelerated vascular brain injury and global and hippocampal atrophy, according to a study published online Aug. 2 in Neurology. The study found the risk factors were associated with a decline in executive function a decade later.

HIMSS Webinar: ICD-10 myths busted

Joe Miller, director of e-business at AmeriHealth Mercy in Philadelphia, offered his expertise on ICD-10 to debunk some myths and focus on realities in transitioning to ICD-10 during a virtual briefing webinar by Healthcare Information & Management Systems Society (HIMSS).

Circ: Research may pave way for light-driven pacemakers

In a study that is seeking to explore the possibility of light-driven pacemakers and muscle actuators, researchers have demonstrated the efficacy of low-energy light as a way to control cardiac contractions. The findings were published Aug. 9 in Circulation: Arrhythmia and Electrophysiology.

GE debuts iPad app for small practices

GE Healthcare releases Centricity Advance Mobile, a native Apple iPad application, designed for small primary care physician practices.

Agilent, UC Davis launch research center

The University of California, Davis, is partnering with Santa Clara, Calif.-based Agilent Technologies to establish the Davis Millimeter Wave Research Center (DMRC).

ONC seeks public comment on metadata standards

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology (ONC) issued an advanced notice of proposed rulemaking (ANPRM) recently, soliciting public comment on the metadata standards recommendation by the HIT Standards Committee and HIT Policy Committee.

JAMA: Mass. healthcare reform linked with greater safety-net demand

Despite the significant reduction in un-insurance levels in Massachusetts that occurred with healthcare reform, the demand for care at safety-net facilities continues to rise, stated researchers in an original investigation published Aug. 8 online in the Archives of Internal Medicine.

Siemens' PET/MR now available in Canada

Siemens Canada Healthcare has received a Health Canada medical device license for the Biograph mMR, a whole-body molecular MR with simultaneous MR and PET data acquisition.

Around the web

The final list also included diabetes drugs sold by Boehringer Ingelheim and Merck. The first round of drug price negotiations reduced the Medicare prices for 10 popular drugs by up to 79%. 

HHS has thought through the ways AI can and should become an integral part of healthcare, human services and public health. Last Friday—possibly just days ahead of seating a new secretary—the agency released a detailed plan for getting there from here.

Philips is recalling the software associated with its Mobile Cardiac Outpatient Telemetry devices after certain high-risk ECG events were never routed to trained cardiology technicians as intended. The issue, which lasted for two years, has been linked to more than 100 injuries.