Technology

Congress is being urged to reverse a cut to physicians’ Medicare payments; Bayer announced encouraging results on Monday of 2 phase 3 trials for its nonhormonal drug candidate meant to treat hot flashes; more students are turning to online mental health support rather than school counselors.

This article reviews the book Artificial Intelligence for Improved Patient Outcomes: Principles for Moving Forward With Rigorous Science by Daniel W. Byrne.

Mike Brown, vice president of managed services at Cardinal Health, discusses how Cardinal Health has worked to integrate key digital health solutions among hospitals across the United States.

From 2017 to 2022, patients with better communication with providers were more likely to report being offered and accessing a patient portal, but disparities persist.

The FDA announced it is allowing Florida to import medications in bulk from Canada at far lower prices than those offered in the United States; health insurance companies are revamping their technology to encourage more people to get their medications through the mail; nearly 17,000 patients with COVID-19 may have died after taking hydroxychloroquine during the first pandemic wave.

Kathi Mooney, PhD, RN, FAAN, of the University of Utah, discussed technologies she and her team developed to help improve the quality of life of patients with cancer and their families.

The most-read articles in digital health covered improved outcomes, patient management, and reduced cost of care in telehealth and app-based care.

Excision BioTherapeutics has so far released positive safety data from the first 3 participants living with HIV-1, with no evidence of vector shedding in sexual organ tissue.

Coverage from The US Oncology Network Payer Transformation Summit, held September 27-29, 2023, in Atlanta, Georgia.

The FDA approved the first test to assess opioid addiction risk; Americans are using more cold and allergy medicines to mask any related symptoms to return to work and social gatherings, but may be overtreating themselves in the process; Rite Aid will be banned from using artificial intelligence–powered facial recognition technology for 5 years under a proposed Federal Trade Commission settlement.

This editorial provides suggestions for improving the process of e-consults, which are a promising method of expanding access to specialty care.

US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) clinicians’ perspectives on what constitutes a good e-consult and why suboptimal e-consult requests occur contain broadly applicable lessons for other health systems.

The US Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recommended that children with obesity receive intensive counseling at age 6 to promote healthy diet and exercise habits; a new survey found that the majority of American patients are wary of their doctors using artificial intelligence (AI); a class-action lawsuit was filed Tuesday against health insurer Humana for using an AI algorithm that systemically denies seniors rehabilitation care recommended by their doctors.

CDC revealed nationally representative estimates of chronic fatigue; the proposed merger between Cigna and Humana has been terminated over financial terms and shareholder skepticism; ChatGPT provides inaccurate responses to medication queries.

Andrew Srisuwananukorn, MD, of the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, explained the potential of artificial intelligence (AI)-based support tools for differentiating primary myelofibrosis (prePMF) and essential thrombocythemia (ET) in the community setting.

At last year’s San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, POSITIVE trial primary outcome data were presented on breast cancer–free interval, with women who paused endocrine therapy to attempt pregnancy having a similarly small rate of recurrence vs external controls from the SOFT and TEXT trials: 8.9% vs 9.2%.

A risk prediction model that was based on machine learning could help to make resource utilization more efficient by correctly predicting emergency department (ED) visits in patients with lung cancer.

Given its growing significance in health care, there is an increasing need for digital research ethics and appropriate consent methods, according to one study.

At 12 weeks, significantly more patients with fibromyalgia receiving the smartphone-based intervention reported clinical improvements compared with the control group.

ChatGPT is changing health care while also raising questions about artificial intelligence's promises and limitations; 24 Biden officials met with the National Organization of Black Law Enforcement Executives to discuss the FDA’s proposal to ban menthol cigarettes; a recent hospital cyberattack shows how the vulnerability of health care systems can put patients at risk.

Provisional CDC data show that US babies gained roughly a year in life expectancy in 2022; study findings indicate that the COVID-19 pandemic significantly raised the risk of preterm birth for expectant California mothers; New York Attorney General Letitia James said about 4 million New Yorkers were affected by a data breach of the medical transcription company Perry Johnson & Associates.

Findings show breathing sounds recorded by smartphones during sleep at home can reliably identify obstructive sleep apnea, presenting an innovative and accessible alternative to traditional in-laboratory polysomnography.

Additional COVID-19 tests can be ordered amid rising cases and insurance challenges; therapies targeting toxic proteins in Alzheimer disease spark renewed interest; new poll indicates 55% approval for legal abortion on any grounds.

A retrospective, exploratory analysis identifies biomarkers predictive of spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) response to nusinersen and suggests the efficacy of using machine learning algorithms to anticipate patient outcomes.

The FDA approved delandistrogene moxeparvovec-rokl (Elevidys, Sarepta Therapeutics) in June to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy in ambulatory pediatric patients aged 4 through 5 who have a confirmed DMD gene mutation.