Today, The Lancet published the most thorough analysis of the genome of a single human being, Stanford bioengineer Stephen Quake. As the cost of genomic sequencing continues to drop, making it available to more people, it’s important to analyze that information in a way that is clinically relevant. When a patient goes to their doctor [...]

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The FDA today approved Provenge (sipuleucel-T), a new cancer “vaccine” made by Dendreon for the treatment of advanced prostate cancer. Prostate cancer is the second most common type of cancer among men with an estimated 192,000 new cases and 27,000 deaths in 2009. This is an important event that marks the approval of the first [...]

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The New England Journal of Medicine has published an analysis of the type and volume of work a typical primary care physician does in a day. Similar to a lot of their specialist counterparts, primary care physicians spend a lot of time on activities that are not reimbursed, given that most insurers only cover office [...]

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Here’s an impressing interactive visualization about the cost of chronic disease management by GE obtained from combining data from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey with 500,000 medical records in GE’s database. Click on the picture to go to the site.

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After nearly loosing his twins to an overdose of the blood thinner heparin given at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles in 2007, actor Dennis Quaid has been heavily involved in raising awareness about medical errors in collaboration with TMIT and the National Quality Forum. Medical errors have historically been dealt with through lawsuits and [...]

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Today, the WSJ cites the results of a study by the California HealthCare Foundation on electronic medical records stating that 15% of the 1,849 adults surveyed reported concealing information from a physician if “the doctor had an electronic medical record system” that could share  information with other groups. Another 33% would “consider hiding information.” Calling [...]

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Yesterday, Stephen E. Neel, a Suffolk Superior Court judge, denied the request of six Massachusetts health insurers to increase premiums by an average of 8 to 32 percent for about 50,000 policies covering 200,000 members. Massachusetts Governor Deval Patrick hailed Neel’s decision as a victory for small businesses and families that have been burdened by [...]

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There are a lot of misconceptions about cancer. Here are some common myths via Cancer.net , the patient website of the American Society of Clinical Oncology: The number of people diagnosed with and dying from cancer is increasing. Actually, the number of new diagnoses of all cancers combined decreased steadily between 1999 and 2006, and the number of [...]

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You qualify as someone with ideal heart health if you have not been diagnosed with cardiovascular disease and: have never smoked or quit more than a year ago maintain a healthy body weight (a body mass index under 25). Click here to calculate your body mass index. spend at least 150 minutes a week doing [...]

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Here’s a promising way to monitor medication adherence: Seeking a way to confirm that patients have taken their medication, University of Florida engineering researchers have added a tiny microchip and digestible antenna to a standard pill capsule. The prototype is intended to pave the way for mass-produced pills that, when ingested, automatically alert doctors, loved [...]

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