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IBM announces collaborations, launches AI Imaging Marketplace and Clinical Review 3.0 at RSNA

IBM Watson Health today published its 50 Top Cardiovascular Hospitals annual study identifying top U.S. hospitals for inpatient cardiovascular services based on a balanced national scorecard of hospital performance metrics.

From IBM Watson 13 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: Legislate-a-palooza

The House overwhelmingly passed a 2020 National Defense Authorization that included a provision that would give 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.

12 Dec 2019

New machine learning app aims to prevent severe patient falls

New research will be live in npj Digital Medicine on December 12, 2019, that will feature a machine learning app aimed at preventing patients from severe fall-related injuries and deaths.

12 Dec 2019

Supreme Court seems sympathetic to insurers in Obamacare case

No clear split between conservative and liberal Supreme Court justices emerged Tuesday as justices heard arguments over whether the federal government could renege on Congress' promise to pay health insurance companies billions to motivate them to participate in the Obamacare marketplaces.

10 Dec 2019

Study: Claim lines for Lyme disease have increased 117% from 2007 to 2018

From 2007 to 2018, claim lines with diagnoses of Lyme disease increased nationally 117 percent, according to a new white paper from FAIR Health, a national, independent nonprofit organization dedicated to bringing transparency to healthcare costs and health insurance information.

10 Dec 2019

Obamacare back at the high court — with billions for insurers on the line

More than $12 billion is at stake for the nation's health insurers Tuesday when the Supreme Court hears another Affordable Care Act case.

9 Dec 2019

Website errors raise calls for Medicare to be flexible with seniors’ enrollment

Saturday is the deadline for most people with Medicare coverage to sign up for private drug and medical plans for next year.

6 Dec 2019

Preoperative rehabilitation program for older adults leads to better outcomes

Older adults who "train" for a major operation by exercising, eating a healthy diet, and practicing stress reduction techniques preoperatively have shorter hospital stays and are more likely to return to their own homes afterward rather than another facility, compared with similar patients who do not participate in preoperative rehabilitation, according to research findings.

5 Dec 2019

KHN’s ‘What the Health?’: We spend how much on health care?

Health spending in the U.S. grew to $3.6 trillion in 2018, according to a new report from the federal government. The rate of growth — 4.6% — was up slightly from 2017's 4.2%, despite the fact that nearly a million more Americans lacked insurance.

5 Dec 2019

Pharma’s take on the Pelosi drug-pricing bill: Fair warning or fearmongering?

House Speaker Nancy Pelosi's flagship proposal to curb prescription drug prices, the "Lower Drug Costs Now Act" - H.R. 3 - could come up for a vote in the chamber this month.

5 Dec 2019

California surprise-billing law protects patients but aggravates many doctors

More than two years after California's surprise-billing law took effect, there's one thing on which consumer advocates, doctors and insurers all agree: The law has been effective at protecting many people from bills they might have been saddled with from doctors who aren't in their insurance network.

5 Dec 2019

Less access to specialists associated with higher death, hospitalization rates among rural patients

Residents of rural areas are more likely to be hospitalized and to die than those who live in cities primarily because they lack access to specialists, recent research found.

3 Dec 2019

Transplant patients diagnosed with prostate cancer may not need to delay transplantation

Immunosuppressive medications – drugs given to organ transplant recipients so their bodies won't reject the donor organ - could weaken the immune system's ability to find and destroy cancer or fight infections that contribute to cancer.

3 Dec 2019

Candidates are betting big on health. Is that what voters really want?

The one thing we know about health care in the 2020 Democratic presidential primary race is that it's a top issue for voters.

3 Dec 2019

Lower life expectancy with intellectual disability

A new study published on December 2, 2019, in the Journal of Applied Research in Intellectual Disabilities shows why people with intellectual disabilities (ID) typically have a shorter life span compared to the general population. The UNSW Sydney researchers uncover factors that lead to a higher risk of death among people with ID.

2 Dec 2019

‘I feel like I’m in jail’: Hospital alarms torment patients

When Kea Turner’s 74-year-old grandmother checked into Virginia’s Sentara Virginia Beach General Hospital with advanced lung cancer, she landed in the oncology unit where every patient was monitored by a bed alarm.

2 Dec 2019

Air pollution could be associated with more health problems than previously thought

A new study reveals that several more problems could be associated with air pollution than previously believed. The problems associated with air pollution are not just limited to the respiratory ailments but go deeper say researchers from Harvard University and others.

28 Nov 2019

Patients qualifying for Medicare due to disability have higher rates of opioid overdose deaths

New findings from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston show that patients qualifying for Medicare because of a disability have the highest rates of opioid overdose deaths compared with older Medicare beneficiaries and commercial insurance beneficiaries.

26 Nov 2019

Nothing to sneeze at: The $2,659 bill to pluck doll’s shoe from child’s nostril

It was supposed to be a fun evening out for Katy and Michael Branson. But their 3-year-old daughter, Lucy, apparently had other ideas.

26 Nov 2019

Did Joe Biden overstate democratic voters’ opposition to ‘Medicare for All’?

When the subject of "Medicare for All" came up during the Democratic debate last week, former Vice President Joe Biden claimed that the majority of his party does not favor it.

26 Nov 2019