Information technology
Telemedicine has increased abortion access in Iowa, but numbers remain down | IowaWatch.orgThe number of abortions performed in Iowa has been dropping despite access to abortion services within a two-and-a-half hour drive for most Iowans and through telemedicine. The number of induced abortions in Iowa dropped from 5,399 in 2010 to 4,020 in 2014, the last year for which the Iowa Department of Public Health has data.
Vancouver doctors oppose EHR implementation at Island Health | TimesColonist.com
Island Health will not delay the implementation of a $174-million electronic health-record system in a Nanaimo hospital, but will add extra resources as physicians continue to sound warnings about fatigue and a possible catastrophic incident. Physicians claim the software is cancelling, overriding, changing or doubling up some drug orders and critical physician instructions.
Pharmaceuticals
Pfizer agrees to truth in opioid marketing | The Washington PostPfizer, the world's second-largest drug company, has agreed to a written code of conduct for the marketing of opioids that some officials hope will set a standard for manufacturers of narcotics and help curb the use of the addictive painkillers.
Pharmacy managers unleash big data | Bloomberg.com
Historically, pharmacy benefit managers have been known more for their relentless supply efficiency than their tech chops. But with the easiest savings already in the past, OptumRx and rivals such as CVS Health and Express Scripts have begun mining their huge troves of prescription data in search of economies.
Physicians
Patient charged in death of doctor he tackled at Dallas mental hospital | Dallas Morning NewsA patient has been charged with manslaughter in the death of a doctor he tackled Thursday at Dallas' largest psychiatric hospital, police said. Tony Cason, 55, a patient at Timberlawn Mental Health System, is accused of attacking Dr. Ruth Anne MarDock about 1 p.m., according to police documents.
Safety, quality and clinical practice
For-profit review boards are taking over at hospitals. Should they? | STATInstitutional review boards — which review all research that involves human participants — have undergone a quiet revolution in recent years, with many drug companies strongly encouraging researchers to use commercial boards, considered by many more efficient than their nonprofit counterparts. The debate over commercial review boards — and whether they can serve as human subject safety nets, responsible for protecting the hundreds of thousands of people who enroll in clinical trials each year — continues to swirl.
Google to ID eye defects using Alphabet | Advertising Age
Google and the U.K.'s government health service have partnered to study whether computers can be trained to spot degenerative eye problems early enough to prevent blindness. Google DeepMind, the London-based artificial intelligence unit owned by Alphabet, announced a research partnership today with the National Health Service to gain access to a million anonymous eye scans.
