Category: Frequent Updates

Lunit opens European unit to hasten expansion

Lunit opens European unit to hasten expansion

MobiHealthNews

South Korean medical AI company Lunit has announced its decision to establish a wholly-owned subsidiary in Europe.According to a press release, Lunit Europe Holdings will be based in Amsterdam in the Netherlands and will begin local staff recruitment shortly. 
WHY IT MATTERS
Although Lunit had a branch office which previously managed its European business, its subsidiary in the continent will allow it to plan for the expansion of its sales network and fortify existing partnerships there. 
According to data from Statista, the European medical device market is expected to be worth $136 billion this year. Its biggest segment is cardiology devices with a projected…

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5 Components of a Patient-Centric eCOA Strategy for Oncology Clinical Trials

5 Components of a Patient-Centric eCOA Strategy for Oncology Clinical Trials

HIT Consultant

Melissa Mooney, Director of eCOA Solutions Engineering at IQVIAIn the US alone, an estimated 1.9 million new cases of cancer were diagnosed in 2022, positioning oncology as a key subject of clinical research. Throughout oncology trial development, it is important that stakeholders acknowledge that only patients can fully understand the impact of treatment on their lives. Regulators are now looking beyond clinical indications such as tumor size and delayed disease progression. When evaluating the risks and benefits of treatment, they want to know whether the side effects are tolerable for patients and how these treatments could be improved from the patient’s…

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Why Federally Mandated Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances will Benefit Public Health

Why Federally Mandated Electronic Prescribing for Controlled Substances will Benefit Public Health

MedCity News

Although 2022 has brought on a greater sense of normalcy, the past few years have distracted us from one of the most overlooked epidemics plaguing healthcare: prescription drug abuse.
Before Covid-19 diverted attention away from this problem, President Trump signed on to the SUPPORT for Patients and Communities Act of 2018, instating sweeping legislation for initiatives to address the opioid epidemic. The bill, among other initiatives, requires electronic prescriptions for controlled substances (EPCS) for any covered part D drug. Although the official start of the mandate was delayed two years to January 1, 2023, the importance of this federal intervention cannot be…

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What Will Value-Based Drug Pricing Look Like By 2030? Experts Share 4 Predictions

What Will Value-Based Drug Pricing Look Like By 2030? Experts Share 4 Predictions

MedCity News

Editor’s note: This story is based on discussions at Abarca Forward, a conference in San Juan, Puerto Rico, hosted by Abarca, a pharmacy benefit manager. MedCity News’ Editor-in-Chief Arundhati Parmar and Senior Reporter Katie Adams were invited to attend and speak at the conference. All travel and related expenses for the team were covered by Abarca. However, company officials had no input in editorial coverage. 
The U.S. healthcare systems spent a whopping $301 billion on specialty drugs in 2021, a 43% increase since 2016. These specialty drugs accounted for half of the year’s total drug spending, and the list prices for specialty…

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Apellis Drug Becomes First Approved Therapy for Vision-Loss Disorder Geographic Atrophy

Apellis Drug Becomes First Approved Therapy for Vision-Loss Disorder Geographic Atrophy

MedCity News

Geographic atrophy, an eye disorder that starts as a loss of central vision and progressively worsens to total blindness, now has its first treatment. The FDA on Friday approved an Apellis Pharmaceuticals drug that slows the progression of this disease, which affects more than 1 million people in the U.S.
Approval of the Apellis drug, pegcetacoplan, covers all patients with geographic atrophy, a broad label that reflects the representative patient population tested in pivotal studies, Chief Medical Officer Caroline Baumal said during a Friday evening conference call. The Waltham, Massachusetts-based company plans to launch the drug in March, marketing the product under…

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PBMs Come Under Fire During Senate Hearing

PBMs Come Under Fire During Senate Hearing

MedCity News

Pharmacy Benefit Managers (PBMs) took a hit from lawmakers during a Thursday hearing held by the Senate Commerce Committee, with some questioning why the drug middlemen are even necessary.
“The way I see the situation on PBMs, I don’t know why the hell they even exist,” said Sen. Jon Tester, D-Montana. “They were set up with all the right reasons … But what I see them doing in my state, I don’t think the consumer gets much benefit and they’re shutting down small businesses on main street right and left and those are called our local neighborhood pharmacies.” The hearing discussed how…

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Decline of Telehealth During the Pandemic and After

Decline of Telehealth During the Pandemic and After

MedCity News

The pandemic has forced healthcare organizations to rely heavily on telehealth services. In 2020, virtual visits accounted for more than a quarter of all outpatient visits in the U.S., and they’ve been steadily increasing since then. But there is a flip side to this trend. Recent data shows that telehealth is declining in healthcare, which could create a burden for both healthcare systems and patients. Let’s take a look at why this is happening and what can be done about it.
Reasons behind the decline  There are several factors driving the decline in telehealth utilization in healthcare settings. One reason is cost…

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Q&A: Thrive Center’s CEO Makes Staffing Shortage Concerns a Top Priority

Q&A: Thrive Center’s CEO Makes Staffing Shortage Concerns a Top Priority

HealthTech Magazine

HEALTHTECH: What are the highest-priority issues for senior care organizations in 2023?ROSE: I think it would be workforce and staffing issues, especially in the post-acute area. Unfortunately, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, we saw so many people leave healthcare. Staffing has always been an issue, but it reached critical status during the pandemic. Now, organizations are really trying to recover, so they’re looking for solutions that can augment their workforce and make workflows seamless — not a lot of logins, not a lot of devices, more cloud-based solutions that will really drive efficiency and mobility, because that’s going to be key to a…

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