Hold Off on Trying to Sell Your Personal Information to Web-Based Brokers
A recent op-ed piece in the NYT bySarah Jeong raised the issue of selling one's personal information on the web and made a number of important points (see:Selling Your Private Information Is a Terrible Idea). Below is as excerpt from it:PatientSphere, a platform for health care information, purports to offer patients “the ability to not only share” data on their own terms, “but also get paid for it.”PatientTruth similarly bills itself as a health record system and a way for patients to “own” and “monetize” their health data....All of these apps, platforms and services use blockchain — a technology fir...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 12, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Lab Information Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Medicolegal Issues Pharmaceutical Industry Source Type: blogs
Smartphones Provide a Key Element in Our Personal Health Management Systems
A recent article reinforced in my mind the notion that smartphones serve as a critical device in our evolving personal health management systems (see:Study Enrolls First US Patient to Use a Smartphone for Direct Pacemaker Monitoring). It makes the point that smartphones can monitor implanted cardiac pacemakers instead of the previous"black boxes." Below is an excerpt from it:In early July, a Cleveland Clinic patient became the first in the U.S. to use their smartphone to directly monitor their implanted cardiac pacemaker. The patient was enrolled in a multicenter international study with the potential to reshape ...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 12, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Health Wearable Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Preventive Medicine Public Health Source Type: blogs
Rolling Out the MHS GENESIS EHR, the Military Version of the Cerner Product
I have previously blogged about how the U.S. military chose Cerner for the EHR to deploy across all branches after a number of previous failed systems (see:Cerner/Leidos/Accenture Secure EHR Contract for a Global Military EHR). As I suggested in this blog note, I think that Epic was relieved not to have secured the contract. However and as I mentioned in a very recent note (see:Lineup of EHR Vendors; Senior Use of Patient Portals Notable), Cerner earnings are now looking good because of cash infusions from Uncle Sugar.For those interested in the status of the Cerner project with the military which is now calledMHS GENESIS ...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 10, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Hospital Executive Management Public Health Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Hahnemann University Hospital Closing; 570 Residents Stranded
Very disturbing recent news is that historicHahnemann University Hospital in Philadelphia is now scheduled to be shut down in early September (see:Hahnemann University Hospital to Close, Leaving Thousands Out of Work), Below is an excerpt from the article:Historic Hahnemann University Hospital in Center City, Philadelphia, is slated to close later this summer....Nurses and other employees were told the hospital on North Broad Street is slated to close on Sept. 6....The closure would leave around 800 union nurses and about 3,000 total employees out of work, said the union, which represents around 8,500 nurses across the sta...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 9, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Hospital Financial Medical Education Public Health Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Patients' Out-of-Pocket Healthcare Costs Rising; Expect More Consumer Backlash
The high cost of healthcare in the U.S. has not provoked more of a reaction from consumers thus far because the majority of them have health insurance, governmental such as Medicare or private through employers. This situation is changing however due to the growth of high-deductible health plans (see:Enrollment in High-Deductible Health Plans Continues to Grow). Here is a quote from this latter article: "Among adults aged 18-64 with employer-based health coverage from 2007 through 2017, enrollment in HDHPs [high-deductible health plan] coupled with a HSA [health savings account] grew from 4.2% to 18.9%. Without ...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 6, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Business Hospital Financial Public Health Source Type: blogs
Lineup of EHR Vendors; Senior Use of Patient Portals Notable
I haven't blogged about EHR sales and companies for a very long time so it's time to revisit this topic. A recent article in theDark Daily served this purpose (see:EHR Sales Reached $31.5 Billion in 2018 Despite Concerns over Usability, Interoperability, and Ties to Medical Errors) so I provide an excerpt from it below:Sales of electronic health record (EHR) systems and related hardware and services reached $31.5 billion in 2018....The Kalorama report, titled, “EMR 2019: The Market for Electronic Medical Records,” ranks EHR companies based on revenue rather than market penetration. Kansas City-based Cerner hold...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 3, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Telemedicine Finds Key Target: Working Moms Seeking Pediatric Care
I am personally very enthusiastic about the future of telemedicine and believe that it will account for a relatively large share of patient visits in upcoming years. However, often missing in the telemedicine literature thus far has the identification of key target audiences for the service but a recent article now seems to fill this void (see:Telemedicine apps are thriving because working moms love the convenience of their smartphones). It should have been obvious from the outset -- telemedicine is perfect for working moms seeking pediatric care for their children. Below is an excerpt from the article:Telemedicine, ...
Source: Lab Soft News - July 3, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Innovations Medical Consumerism Telemedicine Source Type: blogs
UnitedHealth Buys PatientsLikeMe After Chinese Investor Forced to Divest
PatientsLikeMe has interested me since its inception (see, for example:Genentech Taps On-Line Patient Communities to Improve Trials). It's a forum where about 600,000 patients with some 2,800 conditions"find answers, support and a path forward" by online conversations with others in similar circumstances. Thee company has recently been in the news because its majority owner was Chinese and it was forced to find a new owner -- UnitedHealth Group (see:UnitedHealth buys PatientsLikeMe, which faced Trump administration scrutiny over Chinese investor). Below is an excerpt from the article:PatientsLikeM...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 28, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Information Technology Healthcare Insurance Medical Consumerism Medical Ethics Public Health Source Type: blogs
Lab Specimen Delivery to Clinical Labs by Drone May Soon Become Reality
It seems to me that delivery of biologic specimens from physician offices to clinical labs would be an ideal test for drones and this seems to be happening according to the Dark Report and Dark Daily (see:UPS and WakeMed Now Use Aerial Drone for Daily Transport of Clinical Laboratory Specimens). Below are some of the details:In April,...The Dark Report ...[reported that]WakeMed Health and Hospitals...[used] a quadcopter drone to deliver patients ’ medical laboratory specimens. The drone flew roundtrip between a complex of physicians ’ offices on WakeMed’s Raleigh, N.C. campus and the central clinical laboratory...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 27, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Reference Laboratories Source Type: blogs
Liquid Biopsy for Prostate Cancer Uses Urine as the Specimen
There have been lots of new developments in the world of the liquid biopsy and I have blogged about some of the most recent (see, for example:Grail Picks Specific Method for Liquid Biopsy Clinical Trials;Study Concludes That Liquid Biopsies Can Help Guide Cancer Treatment). However a recent article caught my attention because it involved urine as the required specimen rather than blood and also involvedexosomes which are extracellular vesicles (EVs) produced in the endosomal compartment of most eukaryotic cells as well as cancer cells (see:Bio-Techne nets FDA breakthrough ticket in prostate cancer liquid biopsy). Exo...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 25, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Diagnostics Genomic Testing Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Medical Research Source Type: blogs
Majority of Physicians Now Salaried Employees of Health Networks
The trend continues that an increasing percentage of physicians in the U.S. are salaried as opposed to self-employed and in private practice. This trend is particularly true for younger ones. This development was discussed in a recent article (see:Latest AMA Benchmark Survey Shows Number of Physicians Employed by Health Networks Now Exceeds Those in Independent Practice) with an excerpt below:For the first time, more doctors are employed by health networks than are in private practice.... In a press release, the AMA describes the event as “the continuation of a long-term trend that has slowly shifted the distributi...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 21, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Electronic Health Record (EHR) Healthcare Business Healthcare Delivery Hospital Executive Management Medical Education Public Health Quality of Care Source Type: blogs
Algorithmic Triaging of Patients for Routine Care; a Path to Lower Costs
Most health system executives understand that significant changes are necessary in healthcare to adapt to the preferences of today's consumers while cutting costs and delivering quality care. A recent article quoted an executive of the Cleveland Clinic about three major trends that are shaping the health systems for the future (see:Why Today ’s Hospitals and Health Systems Need to Be More Patient-Centric to Fight Rising Costs). Below is an excerpt from it:“A central challenge for the United States is that between 18 to 20 percent of GDP is going to healthcare, and it’s on track to go higher,” saysEdmund S...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 18, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Cost of Healthcare Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Information Technology Medical Research Quality of Care Telemedicine Source Type: blogs
Why Hospital Labs Should Offer Direct Access Testing to Consumers
In a recent article in Dark Daily,the point is made that a high percentage of millennials do not have a relationship with a primary care physician (PCP) (see:JAMA Study Shows American ’s with Primary Care Physicians Receive More High-Value Care, Even as Millennials Reject Traditional Healthcare Settings). The article goes on to offer a list of changes that hospital clinical labs could pursue in order to capture more business from millennials and other healthcare consumers and they are listed below:Dark Daily advises clinical laboratory leaders to consider changes in how they do business to better serve busy c...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 15, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Diagnostics Direct Access Testing (DAT) Healthcare Delivery Healthcare Innovations Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Consumerism Source Type: blogs
Study Concludes That Liquid Biopsies Can Help Guide Cancer Treatment
It now seems likely that liquid biopsies will have a well-defined and important role in the diagnosis of cancer and the screening of treated cancer patients for recurrences. The value of the procedure continues to improve due to new scientific discoveries (see:Scientific Breakthrough on the Correlation of Liquid Biopsies with Cancer Type) and a recent article was the most positive of any that I have read about the value of liquid biopsies (see:Liquid Biopsy Is Effective at Guiding Treatment of Lung Cancer, Study Finds). Below is an excerpt from it:...[T]wo years ago, Dr. Li and his colleagues [at Memorial Sloan Kettering] ...
Source: Lab Soft News - June 13, 2019 Category: Laboratory Medicine Authors: Bruce Friedman Tags: Clinical Lab Industry News Clinical Lab Testing Diagnostics Genomic Testing Lab Industry Trends Lab Processes and Procedures Medical Research Surgical Pathology Source Type: blogs
