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Medical economics news

Dentistry

Are dental practices out of control in the United States?

A series of recently published opinions and letters in JAMA Internal Medicine present varying perspectives on the current state of US dental care all emphasize the need for evidence-based practices and changes in economic ...

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.

Medications

Expert: Opioid settlements come with limitations

The nation's three biggest drug distributors and a major drugmaker agreed to a $260 million settlement Monday over the toll taken by opioids in two Ohio counties, averting the first federal trial over the crisis.

Medical economics

Women less likely to receive Canadian federal research funding

Women are significantly less likely than men to be awarded grants and New Investigator personnel awards from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), according to a new study published this week in PLOS Medicine ...

Medications

Closures affect one in eight pharmacies in the US

In a report published in JAMA Internal Medicine, researchers from the University of Illinois at Chicago found that despite an overall increase in the number of pharmacies in the U.S. from 2009 to 2015, one in eight pharmacies, ...

Health

Patients eligible for charity care instead get big bills

When Ashley Pintos went to the emergency room of St. Joseph Medical Center in Tacoma, Wash., in 2016, with a sharp pain in her abdomen and no insurance, a representative demanded a $500 deposit before treating her.

Oncology & Cancer

Patient cost responsibility up for guideline-discordant care

(HealthDay)—For patients with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), receipt of National Comprehensive Cancer Network Guideline-discordant care is associated with higher patient cost responsibility, according to a study published ...

Medical economics

Clinical research improves health of UK economy and NHS

The value of clinical research to the NHS, the UK economy and jobs market has been evaluated in a new report, which provides an assessment of the economic impact of the National Institute for Health Research Clinical Research ...

Health

NHS needs to act on patient feedback, say health researchers

Researchers from the University of Sheffield School of Health and Related Research (ScHARR) are today making a series of recommendations for NHS mental health trusts to change the way they collect and use patient feedback ...

Health

Cost of waste in U.S. health system estimated

(HealthDay)—The estimated cost of waste in the U.S. health care system varies from $760 to $935 billion, according to a special communication published online Oct. 7 in the Journal of the American Medical Association.