HHS Aims To Reduce Prescription Drug Costs Through 3 New Models

HHS Aims To Reduce Prescription Drug Costs Through 3 New Models

The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services (HHS) unveiled three new models Tuesday that will be tested by the CMS Innovation Center and aim to lower prescription drug costs. The models include access to $2 generic drugs.
The news is in response to President Joe Biden’s executive order issued in October, which directed HHS to find ways to lower prescription drug costs and improve access to drug therapies for those enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid health plans. The models are meant to build on the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which includes allowing Medicare to negotiate lower prescription drug prices for…

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MD Anderson’s Tech Puts Replay on Fast Path to Clinic With TCR NK Cell Therapies

MD Anderson’s Tech Puts Replay on Fast Path to Clinic With TCR NK Cell Therapies

A slew of biotech companies are pursuing research that could overcome limitations of current cell therapies. Startup creator Replay has a new subsidiary pushing toward the front of the pack with a therapeutic candidate on track to start its first human test this summer—about one year after Replay emerged from stealth. It owes this rapid progress to a cell therapy pioneer’s technology that has already been de-risked by a big pharmaceutical company.
Replay calls itself a genome writing company. With operations split between San Diego and London, the private equity-backed business launched last July with $55 million and a suite of technologies…

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Which Moves Should Providers Watch From Amazon, CVS & Walgreens This Year?

Which Moves Should Providers Watch From Amazon, CVS & Walgreens This Year?

Primary care has been historically dominated by traditional providers that deliver care via fee-for-service models, but retail companies have been amping up their efforts to disrupt the space in recent years. Over the next decade, it will become increasingly difficult for hospitals and other traditional healthcare providers to ignore these disruptors, according to a recent report from the American Hospital Association. 
The report cited a Bain & Company analysis that predicted disruptors could own as much as 30% of the $260 billion primary care market by 2030. So what moves by Amazon, Walmart and CVS will the industry need to watch to…

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Rising Costs Are Keeping Healthcare CFOs Up a Night — Can Data Help?

Rising Costs Are Keeping Healthcare CFOs Up a Night — Can Data Help?

The increasing costs of labor and supplies are the top issues keeping healthcare CFOs up at night, according to a new report released by Syntellis, a provider of performance management software. To effectively address these concerns, healthcare providers must ensure they have access to data-driven analytics software that can help them make important decisions — such as how to effectively manage their existing workforce and where to shift care delivery models — the report said.
Syntellis surveyed more than 200 U.S. healthcare finance professionals who work at hospitals, health systems and integrated delivery networks. These professionals agreed that last year was a…

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Why NLP can only succeed in healthcare if it caters to caregivers

Why NLP can only succeed in healthcare if it caters to caregivers

Natural language processing, or NLP, is a branch of artificial intelligence that enables machine understanding of human language. In recent years, NLP has become part of consumer products and performs with a sometimes surprising degree of accuracy.Virtual assistants use NLP to understand spoken questions like, “What’s the weather like today?” They can contextualize the meaning of the question, and then use data from online sources to reply with a meaningful response.
Medical NLP has long been a topic of research and development, since it contains significant potential for uncovering meaningful insights from unstructured medical text. This presents huge opportunities for healthcare providers, clinical…

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Review of the Zebra ET40-HC and ET45-HC Tablets

Review of the Zebra ET40-HC and ET45-HC Tablets

I was excited to get the opportunity to review the Zebra ET4x-HC Series Tablets that Zebra has recently brought to market.  The initial launch comes in two models: ET40-HC and ET45-HC.  The two models are roughly equivalent with one doing only Wifi and the other offering a 5G option as well.Zebra was kind enough to send me a model to test and review.  Just holding it in your hand, you can feel the ruggedness of the device and you can see the thoughtful design that went into the device.  Everything from their approach to plastics and housing that can withstand regularly cleaning…

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Memorial Healthcare System grows its telehealth offering to 61 programs

Memorial Healthcare System grows its telehealth offering to 61 programs

Before the widespread adoption of telemedicine technology, there were several problems that hindered the delivery of healthcare services for most healthcare organizations.THE PROBLEM
One of the main problems was access to healthcare, particularly with working families and those with chronic conditions. Many people lacked convenient access to medical care and providers, making it difficult for them to receive the care they needed.
Another problem was the cost of healthcare, which could be prohibitively expensive for many people. This was especially true for those without insurance or with limited coverage. Additionally, long wait times for appointments and limited availability of specialists further exacerbated the…

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Providence forges a new path with a virtual nursing unit

Providence forges a new path with a virtual nursing unit

Virtual nursing is gaining significant momentum as an effective way to redesign and redistribute nursing workload. Virtual models decrease the burden on nurses delivering direct bedside patient care and leverages nurses who want to continue practicing, but may not be able to practice at the bedside, by extending their nursing careers.THE PROBLEM
“The flexibility and various practice areas and models of care may appeal to nurses considering leaving the profession and who may not be able to work in a traditional setting,” said Sylvain Trepanier, RN, chief nursing officer at health system Providence. “Virtual nurses will become a new area of professional…

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FDA approves AI ultrasound application for musculoskeletal imaging

FDA approves AI ultrasound application for musculoskeletal imaging

Clarius Mobile Health, which first introduced wireless handheld imaging for medical specialties in 2016, says its third-generation device, HD3, which was approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration this week, will also help improve MSK ultrasound training.WHY IT MATTERS
With clearance from the FDA, the new MSK AI model will be available with the Clarius L7 HD3 and Clarius L15 HD3 ultrasound scanners introduced last year, according to the announcement.
“AI automation is the new frontier and we’re excited to be the world’s first to receive FDA clearance to use AI for musculoskeletal ultrasound,” said Ohad Arazi, president and CEO, in the statement.
Upon…

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