It's hard to see the future of medicine through the scabs, blisters and scars that torment 7-year-old Charlie Knuth as he makes his way haltingly to a checkup at the U of M Amplatz Children's Hospital. But the boy from Appleton, Wis., is helping doctors perfect a pioneering intervention called gene editing, a procedure that could lend hope to thousands of people suffering from hundreds of diseases — including epidermolysis bullosa, the disorder that causes Charlie's skin to shear off and his eyes to blister. Charlie's case also illustrates the power of an emerging field called "biomedical and health care informatics" that's beginning to revolutionize every aspect of medicine, from laboratory research to clinical treatments.
Six of the 10 most expensive places to buy health care in the nation are in Louisiana, including Metairie, Baton Rouge and Lafayette. That's according to a new Institute of Medicine study that attempted to examine geographic differences in health care spending among Medicare, Medicaid, privately insured and uninsured populations. Monroe, Alexandria, and Shreveport also make the list behind No. 1 ranked Miami and No. 2 ranked McAllen, Texas, based on Medicare spending data. With Louisiana near the top of many of the country's "worst of" health lists — asthma, diabetes, heart disease, obesity — it could be tempting to credit this distinction to our state's particularly unhealthy population.
As the United States struggles to rein in its growing $2.7 trillion health care bill, the cost of medical devices like joint implants, pacemakers and artificial urinary valves offers a cautionary tale. Like many medical products or procedures, they cost far more in the United States than in many other developed countries. Makers of artificial implants — the biggest single cost of most joint replacement surgeries — have proved particularly adept at commanding inflated prices, according to health economists. Multiple intermediaries then mark up the charges.
With the technical part of building state and federal health insurance exchanges mostly complete, contractors are now hoping to find work communicating with potential customers. Companies from Adobe to Maximus are looking to work that will involve first-hand interaction with citizens, meaning they must prepare to combat misinformation and boil down complex decisions. Adobe, which has a government-focused office in Tysons Corner, has already been working with state exchanges, which are online marketplaces that allow individuals to shop for insurance coverage. The company said it previously won work providing its digital signature technology to Rhode Island's exchange, so that users can produce a legally binding signature even on an iPad, and has sold software to California that allows enrollees to automatically populate forms so that they save time.
Health care workers suffer more injuries and illnesses on the job than those in any other industry, thanks in large part to limited federal safety standards and inspections of health care facilities, says a new report by a national advocacy non-profit. The report by Public Citizen shows health care workers had about 654,000 workplace injuries and illnesses in 2010, about 152,000 more than the next most afflicted industry sector, manufacturing. Even though health care workers outnumber construction workers 2-1, the agency responsible for worker safety — the Occupational Safety and Health Administration — conducts nearly 20 times more inspections of construction sites than health care sites, according to the Public Citizen report.
AUGUSTA, Maine (AP) — Many states are gearing up to enroll more residents into Medicaid coverage starting in January. But thousands of Mainers are preparing to lose coverage this winter because of changes to the state's program and the decision not to expand coverage under the federal health care overhaul. More than 15,000 low-income parents are expected to lose Medicaid coverage in January when changes to the state's Medicaid program kick in. An additional 10,500 adults with no dependent children and incomes less than $11,500 are facing the end of their coverage this winter even though they would have kept their coverage if the state had agreed to expand Medicaid.