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.

Report: Home care on rise in EU, interoperability needed

Europes patient population is moving toward long-term care and home care from hospitals and other clinical settings, and nursing and residential care services are on the rise, according to analysis from market research firm Frost & Sullivan.

New patient monitoring model draws scrutiny

A new hospital breaking ground usually isnt breaking news. But the vision of patient care at one new facility, tentatively named Palomar Medical Center West (PMC West), is currently illegal under California state law.

DR Systems' cloud computing trial gets underway

Healthcare information systems provider DR Systems has released a partial list of the medical facilities in the U.S., which will be participating in its electronic medical information exchange (eMix) business venture trial. 

Study: fMRI illustrates link between genetics, decision-making processes

By way of functional MRI (fMRI), researchers from the Imaging Institute at the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio were able to observe the default-mode network-0a neural network in the brain--and determine that genetics have an effect on this and several other networks.

Lancet: Adding MRI doesnt affect reoperation rates for breast cancer

The addition of MRI scans to conventional triple assessment techniques for diagnosis of breast cancer has no effect on the reoperation rate, based on the COMICE trial published in the Feb. 13 issue of the Lancet.

Transformation in small steps

Although individual practitioners and healthcare systems are adopting new IT approaches at almost every level of care, National Coordinator for Health IT David Blumenthal, MD, is calling for more innovation. The U.S. health system must take full advantage of the computing technology that has transformed virtually every other aspect of modern life, wrote Blumenthal in a recent commentary in the New England Journal of Medicine.

NextGen portfolio to expand with Opus Healthcare purchase

Quality Systems, a provider of healthcare information systems and connectivity software, has entered into an agreement to acquire Opus Healthcare Solutions.

Study: MRI shows link between emotional memory, brain activity

Using sports film and examining the brain as it handles powerful, rapid-fire positive and negative emotions, researchers at Duke University in Durham, N.C., discovered emotion-induced resonance in brain activity and showed that people remember more positive events than negative events, according to a recent study published in the Journal of Neuroscience.

Around the web

Compensation for heart specialists continues to climb. What does this say about cardiology as a whole? Could private equity's rising influence bring about change? We spoke to MedAxiom CEO Jerry Blackwell, MD, MBA, a veteran cardiologist himself, to learn more.

The American College of Cardiology has shared its perspective on new CMS payment policies, highlighting revenue concerns while providing key details for cardiologists and other cardiology professionals. 

As debate simmers over how best to regulate AI, experts continue to offer guidance on where to start, how to proceed and what to emphasize. A new resource models its recommendations on what its authors call the “SETO Loop.”