Last update:

Medical economics news

Medical economics

To get patients to accept medical AI, remind them of human biases, research suggests

While people are growing more accustomed to AI-driven personal assistants, customer service chatbots and even financial advisors, when it comes to health care, most still want it with a human touch.

Health

Ultra-processed foods: Why public health warnings could backfire

Premature warnings to consumers to avoid eating all ultra-processed food products have likely social costs and may harm the health of people facing food poverty—at least in the short term.

Medical economics

Even political rivals agree that medical debt is an urgent issue

While hot-button health care issues such as abortion and the Affordable Care Act roil the presidential race, Democrats and Republicans in statehouses around the country have been quietly working together to tackle the nation's ...

Obstetrics & gynaecology

Study highlights need for streamlined miscarriage care in Canada

Miscarriage, or early pregnancy loss, can have devastating emotional effects, but it is poorly managed in Canada. A review published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal provides guidance to physicians on how to diagnose ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Understaffed hospitals have higher rates of infection, study says

Inadequate infection prevention and control staffing levels are associated with higher rates of health care-associated infections, according to a new study published in the American Journal of Infection Control.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Will inequality worsen the toll of the pandemic in the U.S.?

A Harvard public health professor warned Tuesday that the COVID-19 outbreak in the U.S. could rank among the world's worst if the nation fails to take steps to ease the health and economic impacts on America's poor, who face ...

Medications

FDA: Insulin among drugs transitioned to biological products

Insulin and other biologic drugs, such as human growth hormone, have now transitioned to being regulated as biological products, providing a new pathway for approval of biosimilars and interchangeable versions of these products ...

Medical economics

National health spending expected to increase through 2028

(HealthDay)—National health expenditures are projected to increase at an average annual rate of 5.4 percent for 2019 to 2028, representing almost 20 percent of U.S. gross domestic product by 2028, according to a study published ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

How can hospitals make the most of time and drugs to battle COVID-19?

The number of cases of COVID-19 in the United States is expected to reach far beyond the nation's hospital capacity. To cope with the anticipated surge of patients, healthcare workers will need to adopt new strategies to ...

Health

Lessons from a failed health insurance pilot in Ghana

Among sub-Saharan African countries, Ghana stands out for its high rate of health insurance coverage: About 40 percent of the population has policies available through the National Health Insurance Scheme (NHIS). But the ...

Health

The doctor gap: In rural America, it's all hands on deck

Dr. Jennifer Cobanov had been tracking her young thyroid patient for years. The girl's antibody levels were elevated, but her thyroid functioned normally. Then, routine blood work revealed something quite unusual: Her underactive ...

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

One in 10 workers could be exposed to coronavirus weekly at work

(HealthDay)—Millions of workers who constantly interact with the public are exposed to viruses and bacteria on a weekly basis, and so they face a greater risk of falling ill with coronavirus, a new analysis reveals.

Diabetes

Prevention of type 2 diabetes saves billions in spending

Prevention of type 2 diabetes is a good example of specific action that improves wellbeing and helps to curtail public spending. A project focusing on the prevention of type 2 diabetes is being planned, with a research team ...

Medical economics

Capping out-of-network hospital bills could create big savings

Placing limits on what hospitals can collect for out-of-network care could yield savings similar to more-sweeping proposals such as Medicare for All or setting global health spending caps, according to a new RAND Corporation ...

Health

Sugar tax has more public support than expected

The increase in diet-related illness has led to a high burden of costs for society. However, German policymakers, in comparison with their international counterparts, have so far been reluctant to make political interventions ...

Medical economics

Improving the collection of birth and death data worldwide

University of Melbourne researchers have identified and implemented the key interventions and tools that countries can—and should—use to improve the quality and availability of critical birth and death data and ultimately, ...

Health

2018 health care spending up due to higher prices

Average employer-sponsored insurance spending rose to $5,892 per person in 2018, according to the Health Care Cost Institute annual Health Care Cost and Utilization Report.