News From Around the Web
> Recent legislation in Alaska opens the door for physicians to prescribe some medications to patients over the phone or online without a prior in-person visit. However, the bill, which is awaiting Republican Gov. Sean Parnell's signature, does not allow doctors to prescribe controlled substances via a telemedicine visit unless a licensed healthcare provider is present with the patient. Announcement
> Researchers at Michigan Technological University have developed software enabling engineers to create labs-on-a-chip (LOC) that can almost instantaneously provide results from patient blood tests. Such labs allow doctors to run "dozens of tests with a single drop of blood," as opposed to labs created manually, which can handle only one or two tests. Announcement
> New York-based healthcare technology company Flatiron Health has raised $130 million for its Series B capital round, led by Google Ventures. The company, best known for its OncologyCloud platform that enables users to sift through clinical, practice management and billing data, also announced that it acquired Los Altos, California-based web oncology software company Altos Solutions. Announcement
Provider News
> Efforts to reduce adverse drug events, falls, infections and other complications prevented nearly 15,000 hospital deaths and saved more than $4 billion in costs in 2011 and 2012, according to data from the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services. Incidence of hospital-acquired infections dropped from 145 per 1,000 discharges in 2010 to 132 per 1,000 discharges in 2012, resulting in 560,000 fewer occurrences in two years, according to the data. Article
Health Finance News
> Hospital-acquired and owned oncology practices contribute to the ever-rising costs for cancer drugs, according to a new report issued by the IMS Institute for Healthcare Informatics. More than 40 percent of U.S. oncologists are now in practices of seven or more physicians, up from just 29 percent in 2012, an increase attributed to hospital and hospital system acquisition of physician practices. Article
And Finally... I hope the guards know what's in that food. Article