News From Around the Web
> Patients with implanted cardiac devices like pacemakers have nothing to fear when riding in electric cars, according to new research conducted by Mayo Clinic researchers. For the study, Mayo researchers looked at 30 patients who used implantable devices from three manufacturers. Electric and magnetic fields were measured in various positions in and around a 2012 Toyota Prius hybrid, but no clinically relevant electromagnetic interference was found. Announcement
> Human error was responsible for an issue with UPMC's electronic health record that forced the entire hospital system to use manual backup for three hours last week, the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports. According to a UPMC spokesperson, no patient care was compromised. Brief
Health Insurance News
> The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services has granted conditional approval to four more states to set up a health insurance exchange. Iowa, Michigan, New Hampshire and West Virginia all received the go-ahead from HHS to establish a so-called State Partnership Marketplace in which the states will jointly operate the exchanges with HHS. Article
> Large employers expect to continue providing health insurance for their workers, at least for the next five years, new survey findings show. About 60 percent of large companies with at least 1,000 employees said they aren't likely to stop offering health plans in favor of subsidizing workers' coverage purchased through a health insurance exchange, according to a survey from the National Business Group on Health and Towers Watson. Article
Medical Imaging News
> Deposits of amyloid beta, an abnormal protein associated with the development of Alzheimer's disease, can be detected in the brain decades before the onset of the disease, according to results of a study published recently in the journal Lancet Neurology. In the study, researchers from Melbourne's Austin Hospital in Australia followed 200 seniors, including 19 with Alzheimer's disease and 36 with mild cognitive impairment, in order to chart brain atrophy and cognitive decline against the rate of amyloid beta deposition. Article
And Finally... I wonder how that works when it snows. Article