health care

Tissue engineering: Growing new organs, and more
12/14/2012 - 10:05

With the recent launch of MIT’s Institute for Medical Engineering and Science, MIT News examines research with the potential to reshape medicine and health care through new scientific knowledge, novel treatments and products, better management of medical data, and improvements in health-care delivery.

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Early 50s May Be Key Time to Reach Baby Boomers with Health Messages
11/16/2012 - 09:53

The study, based on a survey of Americans age 45 to 65, showed that people in their late 40s had the lowest levels of interest in health issues. Interest rose quickly, however, and peaked in the early 50s, then dropped slightly and plateaued during the rest of the 50s and early 60s.  Another rise in interest occurred near age 65.

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New England Accountable Care Group Selects Gold Standard Drug Database
11/05/2012 - 12:48

Elsevier’s Gold Standard, a leading drug information provider, announced today that the Northern New England Accountable Care Collaborative, LLC (NNEACC), composed of Eastern Maine Healthcare Systems, Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health, MaineHealth and Dartmouth College, has selected the Gold Standard Drug Database to deliver current and accurate drug data and drug decision support. The integration of the Gold Standard Drug Database module will allow the NNEACC to streamline and automate the process of integrating prescribing data with administrative and clinical information to provide a robust view of patient activity to clinicians.

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Transforming America by redirecting wasted health care dollars
10/29/2012 - 14:49

The respected national Institute of Medicine estimates that $750 billion is lost each year to wasteful or excessive health care spending. This sum includes excess administrative costs, inflated prices, unnecessary services and fraud — dollars that add no value to health and well-being.

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Researchers Map Strategy for "Choosing Wisely" on Low-Value Health Care Services
10/24/2012 - 12:49

Cutting the expenses associated with “low-value” medical tests and treatments – such as unnecessary imaging tests and antibiotics for viral infections that won’t benefit from them – will require a multi-pronged plan targeting insurance companies, patients, and physicians, according to a JAMA Viewpoint article published this week by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. These efforts transcend economic impact, however, and may also be essential for improving health care quality and patient safety.

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Money Key Factor in Driving Med Students From Primary Care Careers
09/21/2012 - 09:34

Primary care physicians are at the heart of health care in the United States, and are often the first to diagnose patients and ensure those patients receive the care they need. But researchers from North Carolina State University, East Carolina University (ECU) and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University in New York have found that many students are choosing to pass up a career in primary care because those physicians make substantially less money than specialists, such as dermatologists or radiologists.

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