It’s pretty neat that researchers have figured out how to use a quadriplegic’s brain to manipulate a prosthetic arm. We’re a long way from commercialization –and some worry there will never be a viable market– but I’d guess that in a decade practical devices will be available and that in 20 years many people who would be wheelchair bound today based on their injuries will be up walking around with no one even realizing they have an issue.

But if scientists can figure out a way to pick up and interpret such signals, how long will it be before other thoughts –such as intentions to commit a crime, vote for someone, or dump a lover– will be readable, too? That technology plus a ubiquitous drones could be a powerful tool for repression.

I hope it doesn’t come to pass.

Share

from Health Business Blog http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/2012/05/mind-reading-robot-cool-but-scary-too/

A new report from Surescripts finds that 36% of U.S. prescriptions were sent electronically by the end of 2011. The report also found that about 58% of office-based physicians were electronically prescribing by the end of last year. According to Surescripts, e-prescribing helps increase the likelihood that patients will pick up new prescriptions. AP/Washington Post, Healthcare IT News.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/UiEJwOqfPS4/report-36-of-all-prescriptions-submitted-electronically-in-2011.aspx

The Federal Communications Commission has announced a plan to allocate spectrum for medical body area networks, which use wireless sensors to monitor patients and transmit data to a central computer. FCC is set to vote on the plan next week. The Hill‘s “Hillicon Valley” et al.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/SWxqLFnn9yI/fcc-aims-to-allocate-spectrum-for-wireless-medical-technology.aspx

The Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT has announced the creation of the Office of the Chief Medical Officer, which will provide a clinical perspective for ONC activities, and the Office of Consumer eHealth, which aims to engage patients. Modern Healthcare et al.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/ZIZgmvhQ6wI/onc-announces-the-creation-of-two-new-offices-within-agency.aspx

HHS has released guidance to help states establish health insurance exchanges under the federal health reform law or work with the federal government to create a “federally facilitated exchange.” HHS also awarded $181 million in exchange grants to six states. Reuters et al.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/dw2zNchWDRc/hhs-releases-guidance-on-establishing-health-insurance-exchanges.aspx

In a letter to CMS, the American Hospital Association voiced its support for the proposed one-year delay to the ICD-10 compliance deadline. AHA said organizations should use the extra time to conduct “extensive testing” of the coding system. Becker’s Hospital Review, AHA News.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/KeMpWrXjBHc/aha-expresses-support-for-proposed-delay-for-icd10-compliance.aspx

Under the Affordable Care Act, individual health insurance will probably become more generous and more like employment-related insurance. Currently, individual insurance typically has less generous benefits than employment-related insurance. This study compared out-of-pocket spending on health care between individual and employment-related insurance, controlling for numerous characteristics such as health status. Then it simulated the impact of full implementation of provisions of the Affordable Care Act on adults who currently have individual insurance, including important subgroups—adults with chronic conditions, the near-elderly (ages 55–64), and low-income populations. If adults who had individual insurance during 2001–08 had instead had benefits similar to those under the Affordable Care Act, their average annual out-of-pocket spending on medical care and drugs might have been $280 less. The near-elderly and people with low incomes might have saved $589 and $535, respectively. An important improvement would have been the reduced probability of incurring very high out-of-pocket spending. The likelihood of having out-of-pocket expenditures on care exceeding $6,000 would have been reduced for all adults with individual insurance, and the likelihood of having expenditures exceeding $4,000 would have been reduced for many.

from Health Affairs current issue http://content.healthaffairs.org/cgi/content/abstract/hlthaff.2011.1206v1?rss=1

Health care cost containment is no longer a fantasy. While health expenditures have increased much faster than GDP for many years a combination of factors is likely to bring that trend to an end: hard economic times, cost shifting to patients, and increased consumer understanding that more care isn’t always better.

The one major sector of the economy that’s as dysfunctional as health care is higher education, where costs have also ballooned. Now that student debt is getting the attention it deserves and politicians are beginning to turn their focus to college costs, there will be pressure for creative solutions. I’m encouraged that leading universities like Harvard and MIT are starting to put classes online.

It will be a long, long time before this movement disrupts the business model of Harvard and MIT themselves. That’s because there’s a large and –thanks to the emergence of China– growing surplus of people willing to pay full freight for the privilege of a Harvard or MIT education. It can also be worthwhile to go to such schools to make connections and to have a rich cultural and social life. But schools of much more middling quality charge nearly the same tuition as the choicest universities, and they should be very worried indeed. Would you pay $200,000 for four years at Generic College when you could take online classes at Harvard and MIT and pay a few thousand dollars for a certificate indicating your completion of the classes?

I hope the Harvard/MIT experiment progresses rapidly and that lesser schools find creative ways to respond that increase the value that students receive.

Share

from Health Business Blog http://www.healthbusinessblog.com/2012/05/with-health-care-restraining-costs-can-higher-education-be-far-behind/

Yesterday, HHS launched an online tool called the Health System Measurement Project to help health care professionals, policymakers and the public track U.S. health care trends. The website provides data on access to care, disease prevention, health IT and other issues. In addition, users can view health indicators by certain demographic characteristics. CMIO et al.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/9mrJDIh1ODg/hhs-launches-website-to-track-data-on-us-health-care-trends.aspx

In an Archives of Internal Medicine article, National Coordinator for Health IT Farzad Mostashari, former CMS Administrator Donald Berwick and other experts provide information about the meaningful use program and offer guidance to help health care providers participate. MedPage Today.

from iHealthBeat http://feedproxy.google.com/~r/Ihealthbeat/~3/9cONGMe0UCM/experts-offer-guidance-on-how-to-participate-in-ehr-incentive-program.aspx