Amazon Echo for healthcare
Alexa, what can you do for healthcare?
I bought an Amazon Echo this week and have been enjoying using it in the kitchen. I can ask, “Alexa, what time is it in Germany?” and it will tell me. Or I can say, “Alexa, play music by the Beatles,” or ask, “Alexa, how many ounces in a cup?” and it will let me know. It’s remarkably easy –and not at all frustrating– to use. The whole family is enjoying it.
Naturally I started almost immediately to think of healthcare uses, so I wasn’t at all surprised to pick up the Boston Globe yesterday and see that my friends from Bosto...
Source: Health Business Blog - June 2, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Devices Hospitals Technology amazon echo Source Type: blogs
Will Zika help or hurt health plans?
Health insurers are starting to think about the impact of the Zika virus, which may arrive in force in the US over the coming months. Actuaries are looking for analogous examples for their models, such as other mosquito born illnesses including dengue fever.
Some insurers aren’t too concerned, according to Healthcare Finance News. Others are looking at reinsurance opportunities and considering premium increases.
Most Zika infections cause only mild illness, so the costs of treatment will be modest or zero much of the time. The real impact is likely to come from the cost of lifelong care for babies born with microc...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 31, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Economics Health plans Uncategorized health insurers Zika Source Type: blogs
Trouble ahead: Obese, diabetic 50 somethings heading for bleak senior years
It’s not too late
Today’s middle-aged adults (50-64) are much fatter and more likely to have diabetes than their predecessors from 15 years ago. Obesity is up 25 percent, diabetes 55 percent and the percentage reporting being in very good or excellent health declined by 9 percent, according to the latest America’s Health Rankings Senior Report from the United Health Foundation.
At the state level, some of the changes were far more dramatic. Prevalence of diabetes among middle-aged Coloradans is up 138 percent, while obesity rates in Arizona are up by 96 percent.
The report warns that today’s middle-...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 26, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Research obesity seniors Source Type: blogs
Canada is looking better and better
O Canada!
In almost every election cycle people talk about moving to Canada if a presidential candidate they despise takes office. In practice few make the move. Things could be a little different this time around if a certain nationalist strongman comes to power.
There’s something else to fear this year: the Zika virus. According to NIH director Tony Fauci, mosquitoes with Zika are likely to arrive in the US mainland within the next month or two. One species will be all over the South, another will come up the East Coast as far as New England. Already, close to 300 pregnant women in the US are infected.
Congress...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 23, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Culture International Policy and politics Uncategorized Zika Source Type: blogs
Health Wonk Review is up at Boston Health News
Check out the latest edition of the Health Wonk Review over at Boston Health News. Tinker Ready has a great collection of posts about insurance, HIT, report cards, LGBT health and cancer.
And you won’t want to miss the beautiful collection of photos of the Sant Rafael Pavilion in Barcelona. (Source: Health Business Blog)
Source: Health Business Blog - May 20, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Announcements Blogs Policy and politics Source Type: blogs
The false link between mental illness and gun violence
It would be nice if we could eliminate mass shootings by improving the mental health system, coaxing (or forcing) potential shooters into treatment before they have a chance to wreak havoc. As the Washington Post (Most mass shooters aren’t mentally ill. So why push better treatment as the answer?) reports:
“It would be ridiculous to hope that doing something about the mental-health system will stop these mass murders,” said Michael Stone, a forensic psychiatrist at the Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons and author of “The Anatomy of Evil,” which examines the personalities of brutal killers. “It...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 19, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Culture International Policy and politics Research Source Type: blogs
Biosimilars are “ me-too ” drugs, not generics
Time to take off the blinders
Generic drugs are the biggest success story in healthcare cost containment. This great success has fooled policymakers, journalists, health plans and others into thinking that the same model will tame spending on biologic drugs the way it has for traditional, chemical based products.
The latest example can be found in the Wall Street Journal (Knockoffs of Biotech Drugs Bring Paltry Savings). The article blames the lack of savings on price increases by makers of the original products in the run-up to the introduction of competing products. That is happening, but it doesn’t get to...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 11, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Economics Pharma Policy and politics Uncategorized biotech Generic drugs Source Type: blogs
Biosimilars are “me-too” drugs, not generics
Time to take off the blinders
Generic drugs are the biggest success story in healthcare cost containment. This great success has fooled policymakers, journalists, health plans and others into thinking that the same model will tame spending on biologic drugs the way it has for traditional, chemical based products.
The latest example can be found in the Wall Street Journal (Knockoffs of Biotech Drugs Bring Paltry Savings). The article blames the lack of savings on price increases by makers of the original products in the run-up to the introduction of competing products. That is happening, but it doesn’t get to...
Source: Health Business Blog - May 11, 2016 Category: Health Management Authors: dewe67 Tags: Economics Pharma Policy and politics Uncategorized biotech Generic drugs Source Type: blogs
