CVS Expands Its Healthcare Presence with Its New HealthHUB Stores
CVS, Walgreens, and Walmart are all experimenting with new and innovative ways to capture a larger share of the primary healthcare business. In my opinion, they are generally succeeding whereas the health systems seem to be unable or unwilling to compete for this same business. The latest news about this topic is that CVS is prototyping their so-calledHealthHUBs in Houston (see:CVS Health shows off new HealthHUB store design. Makeover includes dietitians, wellness rooms for yoga). Below are details excerpted from the article:CVS Health has unveiled its new health-focused concept store that's designed to help the ...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 18, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Testing Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Innovations Healthcare Insurance Lab Industry Trends Medical Consumerism Point-of-Care Testing Source Type: blogs
Cerner Offers AI Tool to Combat Physician EHR Burnout
The termsEHR andphysician burnout have become somewhat synonymous lately (see:6 stats on EHR-related physician burnout and 7 tips to combat it;WRITE SHORTER EHR NOTES, FIGHT PHYSICIAN BURNOUT). You may have been wondering how the major EHR vendors would respond to such criticism? We now have at least part of Cerner's response as announced at the recent HIMSS conference (see:At HIMSS19, Cerner unveils AI tool to fight physician burnout. Below is an excerpt from the article:[Cerner has release new software called] Chart Assist, a new AI-enabled workflow, to join a suite of systems designed to reduce physician burno...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 15, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations LIS Definitions and Strategy Medical Research Source Type: blogs
Size of Health Insurance Conglomerates in U.S. Exceeds That of Big Tech Companies
I have been aware that that large health insurance companies have been expanding by the purchase of PBMs and also entering the market as providers (see, for example:UnitedHealth Group to Launch Its Own Variant of an EHR in 2019; OptumHealth, a Division of UnitedHealth, to Offer Virtual Patient Visits Nationwide). However, I did not really have a sense of their size compared to other sectors of U.S. business. Thus, a recent article on this topic caught my attention (see:Health insurance is as big as Big Tech Data). Below is an excerpt from it:The 5 largest conglomerates combining health insurance and pharmacy be...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 14, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Healthcare Insurance Pharmaceutical Industry Source Type: blogs
BRCA Exchange Available on the Web; Understanding BRCA Variants
It's not known among some healthcare consumers that there are a host of BRCA variants other than the standard ones. Normal BRCA testing looks forthree specific genetic variants that are linked to hereditary cancers. Two of these variants — 185delAG and 5382insC — are in the BRCA1 gene. One variant — called 6174delT — is in the BRCA2 gene. A patient may test positive for a variant other than these common ones and it may not be clear under such circumstances what treatment to offer to the patient. The BRCA Exchange is now avai lable on the web that may be of assistance to researchers, physicians, and ...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 13, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Consumerism Medical Research Preventive Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
Community Hospitals Create Affiliation Agreements with Prestigious, Brand-Name Hospitals
An interesting new concept is arising among community hospitals whereby they are affiliating with prestigious, often distant health systems like Cleveland Clinic and Mayo Clinic. This phenomenon should be distinguished from the actual purchase of smaller hospitals or the opening of new hospitals by, say, Cleveland Clinic. The latter system is extremely large by any standard with 52,082 employees; it includes a main campus in Cleveland and 11 regional hospitals (see:Cleveland Clinic by the Numbers). A recent article discussed the aforementioned affiliation trend (see:Community Hospitals Link Arms With Prestigiou...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 12, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Which Healthcare Jobs Are Safe from Replacement by Automation or Robots?
One facet of modernity that is getting more attention is that many of today's jobs will be encroached upon (i.e., replaced) by automation and robots. As one current example, you will not find many people working in modern hospital clinical labs because much of this human labor has been replaced by automated equipment. That's why lab testing is one of the biggest bargains in healthcare today. A recent article addressed the question of whether healthcare jobs in particular are safe from replacement by AI (See:Are healthcare jobs safe from AI?). Below is an excerpt from the it:Across the country and across industries,...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 9, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Digital Imaging in Pathology Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures LIS Definitions and Strategy Pathology Informatics Predictive Analytics Source Type: blogs
Shriner's Hospital in Tampa Closes Inpatient Beds; Part of a Major Trend
I have posted a number of previous notes about the shift away from hospital inpatient care and toward outpatient visits and virtual care (i.e., telemedicine). Some of the new hospitals bring built are referred to as"bedless" (see:The Case of the"Disappearing Hospital Beds"; Implications for Pathologists;Some Additional Ideas About the Bedless Hospitals of the Future;The Design of Bedless Hospitals Continue to Evolve Based on Cost and Technology;The Future of Healthcare: Virtual Physician Visits& Bedless Hospitals). The focus of such facilities is on ambulatory visits and diagnostics, particularly pa...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 7, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Delivery Hospital Financial Source Type: blogs
Proposed Federal Regulations on Sharing of Patient Health Data
(see:PROPOSED FEDERAL RULE PUTS PATIENT RECORDS ON SMART PHONES)A federal regulation proposed February 11 would require physicians ’ offices to not only share medical records electronically with patients via their smart phones, but to implement systems which let patients electronically transfer those medical records to another care provider if the patient requested it. In some cases, patients will want to use that capacity to digitally send records from your office to a complementary care provider. In other instances, it’ll mean “Hasta la vista, baby!”—or “Hola, new patient!” if such a record comes your way. ...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 6, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Source Type: blogs
U.S. Plasma Collection Centers Supply a Booming Industry But Is It Exploitative of Donors?
Earlier in my career I was a hospital blood banker and became familiar with commercial plasma centers that paid individuals for their plasma. Here's a link to the web page of one of them currently in business:CSL Plasma. Such centers are often located in poorer sections of towns. This aligns with the notion that they cater to people down on their luck who donate their plasma because of a financial need. The plasma collected in such centers has various uses including the manufacture of components such as albumin and coagulation factors. I had largely forgotten about this plasma industry until I read a recent...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 4, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Blood banking Food and Drug Administration Healthcare Business Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Source Type: blogs
Apple Collaborates with Janssen on Apple Watch AFib/Stroke Clinical Trial
Apple has been in the news recently regarding innovations with iPhones in partnership with hospitals (see:Apple Has Plans to Copy EHR Records to iPhones and Apple Watches) and with health insurance about the Apple Watch (see:Apple Watch"Gifted" to Insurance Policy Holders; Any Gotcha's with the Deal?). Continuing to expand the functionality of the Apple Watch, the company is now partnering withJanssen Pharmaceuticals, a division of J&J, on a clinical trial (see:Johnson& Johnson partners with Apple to see if Watch can prevent strokes). Below are some of the details, copied from the article:...
Source: Lab Soft News - February 1, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Food and Drug Administration Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Medical Consumerism Medical Research Preventive Medicine Test Kits and Home Testing Source Type: blogs
Provider Organizations Beginning to Compete on the Basis of Value-Based Care
We are transitioning from a fee-for-service healthcare system to a value-based one. This new approach is not well understood, particularly by patients. Value-based care is characterized by the documentation of organizational efficiency and effectiveness combined with positive outcomes for patients. One of the major goals is cost-savings. This is in contrast to fee-for-service where providers decide which services are provided to patients with insufficient attention to outcomes. In line with these changes, some provider organizations are marketing themselves as value-based organizations. Details about this were ...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 30, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Testing Cost of Healthcare Diagnostics Healthcare Business Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Research Preventive Medicine Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
PCP and Family Physician Wait Times increasing 50% in Many Markets
The majority of physicians in the U.S. are now salaried and working for large health systems (see:For the first time ever, less than half of physicians are independent). Also, wait times for an appointment with a family physician or primary care physician (PCP) are increasing (see:PCP wait times are 50% higher than 2014). This can be the source of great frustration for patients (see:Report: 20% of patients have changed doctors because of long wait times). These two facts may or may not be related. Here is an excerpt from the article on physician wait times:The average patient waits 29.3 days to see a family medicine physic...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 28, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Medical Consumerism Public Health Source Type: blogs
Recruiting Patients for Clinical Trials Via a Smartphone App
Recruiting subjects for clinical trials has been a recurring challenge over the years including concerns that low-income and minorities are underrepresented in them (see:Low-Income, Uninsured Patients Often Excluded from Clinical Trials;Site-Less Clinical Trials as a Possible Means to Democratize Them). Because of this underrepresentation, the results of trials are often less valid. Here's an excerpt from an article on this topic (see: Barriers to Clinical Trial Recruitment and Possible Solutions: A Stakeholder Survey):A staggering number of clinical trials fail to meet recruitment goals, which leads to delays, early t...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 25, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Source Type: blogs
The Diagnosis and Treatment of Pre-Diseases: A Look at the Future
One of the interesting aspects of the deployment of new wearable medical devices is the use of sensors attached to patients that have the capability of monitoring disease progression in a manner never before possible. This idea was discussed in a recent article (see:IBM Research develops fingerprint sensor to monitor disease progression). Here is a brief excerpt from it:IBM...announced that it has developed a small sensor that sits on a person ’s fingernail to help monitor the effectiveness of drugs used to combat the symptoms of Parkinson’s and other diseases. Together with the custom software that analyzes the ...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 23, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Diagnostics Pharmaceutical Industry Source Type: blogs
Why " Virtual Assistants " Won't Remove EHR Pain Points Quickly
In a recent note, I commented on the emergence of"virtual scribes" (see:Virtual Scribe Vendors Remotely Generate EHR Notes and Coding). This is hospital service with physicians dictating the details of a patient office encounter. At a later time, a remote transcriptionist employed by a virtual scribe company enters the essential dictated data into the hospital EHR. These remote transcriptionists have access to the hospital EHR for this data entry. This is in contrast with the original and continuing idea of EHR scribes who are physically present in the examining room with the doctor and patient and perform ...
Source: Lab Soft News - January 21, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Research Source Type: blogs
