Information technology
New tools help patients make tough decisions in the ER | Wall Street JournalIn the emergency room, patients may expect doctors to call all the shots about tests and treatments. But increasingly, ER physicians are asking patients to participate more in critical decisions about care, such as whether to opt for surgery or undergo a scan with radiation exposure. Now apps and other tools are helping families participate.
How artificial intelligence is changing the way illness is diagnosed and treated | ZDNet
While privacy and regulation will slow the pace of adoption, artificial intelligence will bring some profound changes to healthcare. The aim is for AI systems to do what doctors can't always do: keep up on every detail of every patient's visit to every specialist or hospital, as well as each pertinent new piece of research, disease outbreak, and public health recommendation.
Medical devices and equipment
Zimmer Biomet seals deal to buy Cayenne Medical | Sonoran Weekly ReviewZimmer Biomet Holdings said it has sealed an agreement to acquire Cayenne Medical, an Arizona-based developer of soft tissue reconstruction solutions for the shoulder, knee and extremities.
Pharmaceuticals
New York insurers to change coverage of hepatitis C drugs | Wall Street JournalSeven health-insurance companies in New York will change their criteria for covering costly drugs that cure chronic hepatitis C under the terms of agreements with the office of State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman.
Pharma pushed by investment funds to pay for drug take-back programs | Stat
Nearly two dozen funds that focus on socially responsible investing want several large drugmakers to develop policies for “taking back” unused or expired medications. And their effort is being led by a nonprofit advocacy group that has simultaneously proposed shareholder resolutions requiring three of those companies — Merck, Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie — to pay for the so-called take back programs.
Physicians
Three health systems hope to spark a reduction in surgeries by inexperienced doctors | Bonner County (Idaho) Daily BeeA trio of prominent health systems — Johns Hopkins, Dartmouth-Hitchcock and the University of Michigan — pledged that they will require their surgeons and 20 affiliated hospitals to meet minimum annual thresholds for 10 high-risk procedures. The three systems have asked other hospital networks around the country to join them.
Safety, quality and clinical practice
Rotating night shifts tied to heart disease risk | Scientific AmericanPeople who occasionally work night shifts may be at a slightly increased risk of heart disease, according to a new study. Nurses in the study who worked at least three nights per month were more likely to develop heart problems over the next 24 years than nurses who stuck to daytime shifts.
How many nanoparticle-based drugs reach tumors? Less than 1%, study shows | Phys.org
Targeting cancer cells for destruction while leaving healthy cells alone—that has been the promise of the emerging field of cancer nanomedicine. But new research indicates that progress so far has been limited and new strategies are needed if the promise is to become reality.
