Page 114 - Aet News Today

Doctors are competitive by nature, especially when they are compared against their peers. If they can fully trust how they are evaluated and how they compare with their peers, they will respond with great enthusiasm.

While communities should tailor their opioid settlement spending strategies to their local needs, we should embrace basic, population-focused prevention strategies. Prevention efforts can turn the tide of addiction for decades to come.  And they are where we’ll get the biggest bang for our buck.

AppliedVR teamed up with the National Cancer Institute to study the feasibility of VR to alleviate anxiety in brain tumor patients undergoing imaging scans. The research partners recently announced interim analysis results from their clinical study — they said that not only would VR intervention be a feasible option to reduce patients’ anxiety, but that patients would report high satisfaction levels as well.

When asked what the key issues influencing benefits strategy are, 80% of employers said competition for talent, 67% said rising costs, 41% said a focus on inclusion and diversity and 39% said increasing mental health problems, according to a recent Willis Towers Watson survey.

What we need to overcome adherence challenges is a digitally enabled marketplace of options that can be personalized to the patient and the context of their specific condition, pharmacy preference and ability to pay.

The Treat and Reduce Obesity Act would expand Medicare coverage for obesity screenings, treatments and therapies like anti-obesity medications. The Health Equity Coalition for Chronic Disease came out in favor of the bill and asked for swift passage.

Independent primary care practices are at risk of extinction. The U.S. must re-dedicate itself to the preservation of independent primary care over the long run and must undergo a radical reorientation of the health system toward primary care.

Digital health startup Dorsata filed a lawsuit against EHR provider athenahealth and women’s health company Unified Women's Healthcare. The startup alleged that athenahealth stole trade secrets, used deceptive business practices and breached its contract — and that Unified aided and abetted these purported practices.

Turnstone Biologics isn’t the only cell therapy biotech focused on tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes. With $80 million in IPO cash, it can continue clinical trials that could show whether its approach to TILs has advantages.

Medicaid managed care organizations deny prior authorization requests at high rates, according to a recent report by the Office of Inspector General. Of the 115 MCOs the OIG analyzed, 12 had prior authorization denial rates above 25%.