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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.

Diseases, Conditions, Syndromes

Medicare spends more than $6 billion on secondary fractures

(HealthDay)—Medicare could save billions of dollars if secondary fractures could be prevented with improved osteoporosis screening, according to a new National Osteoporosis Foundation report conducted by Milliman.

Diabetes

Hypoglycaemia prevention could cut hospital stays

Preventing in-patients with diabetes from developing hypoglycaemia could dramatically reduce the length of time they spend in hospital—according to new research from the University of East Anglia and Cambridge University ...

Medications

If a medicine is too expensive, should a hospital make its own?

When Marleen Kemper was a child, she watched two of her primary-school classmates get ill. One had a brain tumor, and the other contracted an infection in his gut. Both of them died. Kemper was around ten at the time, and ...

Health

Curbing diesel emission could reduce big city mortality

U.S. cities could see a decline in mortality rates and an improved economy through midcentury if federal and local governments maintain stringent air pollution policies and diminish concentrations of diesel freight truck ...

Medical economics

Health insurance costs surpass $20,000 per year, hitting a record

The cost of family health coverage in the U.S. now tops $20,000, an annual survey of employers found, a record high that has pushed an increasing number of American workers into plans that cover less or cost more, or force ...

Medications

High drug costs despite public R&D funding in the millions

EUR 165 million in public and private R&D grants for the discovery and development of a drug that generates millions in revenue per patient (!) for a pharmaceutical company. Numerous public research grants were also identified ...

Oncology & Cancer

11 percent of cancers detected via emergency visit

About 11 percent of cancers are diagnosed following an emergency department visit, according to a study presented at the 12th AACR Conference on The Science of Cancer Health Disparities in Racial/Ethnic Minorities and the ...

Health

Study casts doubt on effectiveness of named GP scheme

An NHS scheme to give every patient aged 75 and over in England a named GP responsible for their care has failed to deliver hoped-for improvements, according to a study by researchers at the University of Bristol's Centre ...

Surgery

More operations are scheduled if doctor is well rested

Researchers at Linköping University have investigated how orthopaedic surgeons make decisions regarding surgery, and how the decisions are related to how much of their work shift they have completed. The results show that ...

Health

Medicaid expansion increases access to kidney transplants

(HealthDay)—There was an increase in Medicaid-covered preemptive kidney transplants (KT) among patients with end-stage renal disease (ESRD) living in Medicaid expansion states versus nonexpansion states, according to a ...

Medications

Academics call for structured drug monitoring in care homes

Professor Sue Jordan from the University's College of Human and Health Sciences led the research which is newly published in the PLOS ONE journal. The study showed how care home residents' adverse side effects were picked ...

Cardiology

New tool measures patients' perceptions of stroke care

(HealthDay)—The STROKE Perception Report is a valid and reliable measure of patients' and family surrogates' perceptions of the quality of acute stroke hospital services, according to a study published in the October issue ...