“A novel twist on medical tourism to avoid the high cost of U.S. health care saves an employer money and even earns the patient a bonus.” I’d take this option, especially if the alternative was Chicago winter! | learn more
AI needs your data – and you should get paid for it
“A new approach to training artificial intelligence algorithms involves paying people to submit medical data, and storing it in a blockchain-protected system.” | learn more
Your go-to guide to decode medical bills
Curious how to understand those cryptic medical bills? And how to fight them if they seem wrong? Kaiser Health News has your back. | learn more
FCC to spend $100MM toward furthering telehealth
“The three-year program would support pilots that help providers ‘defray’ the broadband costs of bringing telemedicine to low-income Americans and veterans.” | learn more
FDA releases hidden database of injuries from device malfunctions
“After two decades of keeping the public in the dark about millions of medical device malfunctions and injuries, the Food and Drug Administration has published the once hidden database online, revealing 5.7 million incidents publicly for the first time.” | learn more
American medical students aren’t choosing to become primary care doctors
“Only 41.5% of internal medicine positions were filled by U.S.-trained fourth-year students getting traditional medical degrees, the lowest share on record. Similar trends were seen this year in family medicine and pediatrics.” | learn more
1 in 6 insured hospital patients get a surprise bill for out-of-network care
“On average, 16% of inpatient stays and 18% of emergency visits left a patient with at least one out-of-network charge, most of those came from doctors offering treatment at the hospital, according to a study by the Kaiser Family Foundation.” | learn more
You should take a peek at your doctor’s notes on your health
“Some patient advocates say your doctor’s notes offer insights you might never hear from your physician, putting patient and provider on the same page.” | learn more
Vinod Khosla: radiologists still practicing in 10 years will be causing deaths
“[L]egendary Silicon Valley investor and Sun Microsystems founder Vinod Khosla said on Wednesday that he believes ‘any radiologist who plans to practice in 10 years will be killing patients every day,’ because machine-powered solutions will have advanced to such a point that they’ll be far more effective than professional human practitioners.” | learn more
Why some CEOs support ‘Medicare for All’
The crux of this is something I’ve been talking about for a while: why in the world is your employer involved in your healthcare? “While national business groups fight the single-payer concept, the founder and CEO of a large Pennsylvania picture frame manufacturer tries to convince other employers that it’s the only way to control costs and fix the U.S. health system.” | learn more