Some Hospitals Now Offering Price Estimates; More Transparency for " Shoppable " Services
It has been frequently stated that healthcare needs to be more consumer friendly (see:Making Hospital-Based Labs More Consumer Friendly). This applies partly to the pricing of hospital services. In prior blog notes, I have stated that a bill for an inpatient stay has little bearing on the cost of the services for the hospital (see, for example:Coding for Hospital Services; One Reason for the High Cost of Healthcare;Patients' Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Costs Rising; Expect More Consumer Backlash). A recent article indicated that some hospitals are beginning to offer price estimates to help ameliorate consumer dissatisfact...
Source: Lab Soft News - August 4, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Direct Access Testing (DAT) Healthcare Business Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Hospital Financial Radiology Source Type: blogs
Breath Analyzer for Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome
Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a condition in which fluid leaks into the lungs and builds up in the alveoli within. It is a rapidly progressive condition that often leads to terminal consequences, yet it can be difficult to diagnose and monitor.
Now, researchers at University of Michigan have developed a portable device that analyzes a patient’s breath to provide quick and objective results that can help to manage the disease.
The gas chromatography system is about the size of a briefcase. It can perform its analysis from start to finish in about a half hour, providing results with about 90%...
Source: Medgadget - August 2, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Anesthesiology Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Critical Care Diagnostics Emergency Medicine Pediatrics Thoracic Surgery Source Type: blogs
A reflection of a physician ’s firsts
Your first is always special. It is a mixture of youthful inexperience, awkwardness, anticipation, and giddiness that creates a cacophony of emotions and physical changes that is hard to describe unless you have experienced it yourself. Your repertoire of techniques/maneuvers is quite sparse — to say the least. You might fumble around and accidentally put […]Find jobs at Careers by KevinMD.com. Search thousands of physician, PA, NP, and CRNA jobs now. Learn more. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - July 30, 2019 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/xrayvsn" rel="tag" > Xrayvsn, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Physician Radiology Source Type: blogs
A belated birthday present …
Stefano accompanied me to my fractured shoulder checkup at the hospital on Friday. I had two X-rays of my left shoulder, and then we went to see the orthopedist.
Well, the news is much (MUCH!) better than expected: the fracture is actually no longer visible on the X-rays, yep, no kidding!, and my humerus is back in its place. I am going to need more physiotherapy, since my range of motion is still not perfect, even though I can now put both arms above my head, and you can’t tell the difference between the two. But I still can’t make certain movements, such as reaching behind my back enough to hook my bra. So, ...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 21, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll fractured humerus Source Type: blogs
Looking Deep Into Body Using Virtual Ultrasound Lens
Light is a great tool for imaging the outside of the body and for looking at the interior using endoscopes, but looking through more than a few millimeters of tissue typically requires other modalities such as X-rays and ultrasound. Using light to peer through skin, muscle, and other soft tissues has remained an elusive goal for many scientists. Now, a team from Carnegie Mellon University has come up with a remarkable new way of using light to look deep into tissues like never before.
Since tissues are highly irregular, they scatter light in all directions. This results in fuzzy images that don’t provide the neces...
Source: Medgadget - July 19, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Dermatology Diagnostics Medicine Neurology Neurosurgery Ob/Gyn Pathology Radiology Source Type: blogs
Timed release of curcumin inhibits bone cancer cells …
Since I’ve been pretty much housebound because of my fractured humerus, I finally decided to go through our closets and get rid of all the clothes we don’t/can’t wear anymore. Of course, I have to be careful not to hurt my shoulder, and believe me, careful I am! But I can’t just lie around with the cats (our Pixie, in the photo) and watch TV series nonstop…
Speaking of my shoulder, well it’s healing…and healing well, I think. I can now raise my arm above my head. Compare that to a month ago when I could barely lift my arm! Thank you, physiotherapy!
I have my third checkup, with ...
Source: Margaret's Corner - July 15, 2019 Category: Cancer & Oncology Authors: Margaret Tags: Blogroll bone cancer curcumin Source Type: blogs
Infrared Imaging Diagnoses Rheumatoid Arthritis
Diagnosing rheumatoid (RA) arthritis often involves subjective assessment of patient hands, X-rays, blood tests, and ultrasound imaging. Researchers at Birmingham University in the UK have now developed a system that they hope will offer a more objective way of diagnosing RA.
Their system uses infrared spectroscopy and 3D imaging to generate volumetric maps of blood within a patient’s hand. Conventional optical imaging is used to scan the hand and create a model of it. Subsequently, infrared light is illuminated through each of the fingers and what comes out is evaluated.
Blood that is more or less oxygenated a...
Source: Medgadget - July 11, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Medicine Source Type: blogs
12 rules for health tech startups
by MATTHEW HOLT
Last week Mark Cuban tweeted out 12 rules for tech startups and Jessica DaMassa challenged a bunch of people to respond for health care. VC and general health care wit Lisa Suennen came out with quite the list (she got to 13) but I thought someone ought to write the real rules…
1. Never start a health tech company if you can sucker someone into giving you a real job
2. When VCs at conferences say raising money isn’t a problem, throw a milkshake at them
3. Never work with a technical co-founder who won’t give you the last M&M in the packet
4. When a clinician wants to qu...
Source: The Health Care Blog - July 6, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Matthew Holt Tags: Health Tech Matthew Holt Lisa Suennen lists Mark Cuban Startups Source Type: blogs
It ’s Unethical to Use Dental X-Rays to Send Migrant Children to Adult Detention Facilities
The U.S. government is using dental scans to determine if migrant youths are over age 18. The scans are inaccurate for this purpose, and yet they determine if children are sent to adult detention centers.
The post It’s Unethical to Use Dental X-Rays to Send Migrant Children to Adult Detention Facilities appeared first on The Hastings Center. (Source: blog.bioethics.net)
Source: blog.bioethics.net - July 2, 2019 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Susan Gilbert Tags: Ethics Health Care Children and Families dental x-rays detention facilities Hastings Bioethics Forum Health and Health Care migrant children syndicated Source Type: blogs
Radiation-Free Guidance for Vascular Catheters Using Smart Fiber Optics
While modern catheters can reach into various parts of the body, navigating there remains a major challenge. Fluoroscopes that emit X-rays are used to constantly keep track of the catheter location, but they emit ionizing radiation and require a great deal of protection to be used by clinicians.
Engineers at the Fraunhofer Institute for Digital Medicine MEVIS in Bremen, Germany have developed a technology that allows a catheter to understand how it is bent, which can indicate precisely where it is along its journey.
The capability, made possible thanks to fiber optics outfitted with microscopic mirrors, works by det...
Source: Medgadget - July 2, 2019 Category: Medical Devices Authors: Medgadget Editors Tags: Anesthesiology Cardiac Surgery Cardiology Materials Neurosurgery Vascular Surgery Source Type: blogs
Can we move on?
By CHADI NABHAN MD, MBA, FACP
Every so often, my cynical self emerges from the dead. Maybe it’s a byproduct of social media, or from following Saurabh Jha, who pontificates about everything from Indian elections to the Brexit fiasco. Regardless, there are times when my attempts at refraining from being opinionated are successful, but there are rare occasions when they are not. Have I earned the right to opine freely about moving on from financial toxicity, anti-vaxers, who has ‘skin in the game’ when it comes to the health care system, the patient & their data, and if we should call patients “consumers”? Y...
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 27, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Medical Practice Physicians Politics Anti-vaxxers Chadi Nabhan Clinical Trials financial toxicity Patients Pharma vaccines Source Type: blogs
The rAIdiologist will see you now
This article originally appeared on South Manchester Radiology here. (Source: The Health Care Blog)
Source: The Health Care Blog - June 26, 2019 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Christina Liu Tags: Artificial Intelligence Health Tech Health Technology AI Clinical Decision Support image detection Radiology Rizwan Malik Source Type: blogs
CTs, MRIs, Ultrasounds: Differences, Risk & Benefits
What is a CT Scan?
A machine whirs in an arc around a patient, snapping a rapid-fire series of x-rays from different angles. These x-ray snapshots are combined by a computer to produce virtual cross-section images of the body. These are called CT scans, which stands for computed tomography (computer-generated cross-sectional images).
CT Scans Compared to Ultrasounds and MRIs
When the CT scan was first introduced in the 1970s it caused something of a revolution in medicine, allowing doctors to see the inner structure of the body in a way that had been previously hidden – without surgery. Parents often wonder which is more...
Source: Conversations with Dr Greene - June 18, 2019 Category: Child Development Authors: Dr. Alan Greene Tags: Dr. Greene's Blog CT Scan Safety Top Children's Safety Source Type: blogs
