News From Around the Web
> The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved a device called the PillCam COLON that is to be used for the detection of colon polyps in patients who have an incomplete optical colonoscopy, Time reported. The device contains a battery-operate camera that when swallowed can transmit images to another device the patient wears around the waist that can be reviewed later by doctors. Article
> MRI and PET scans can identity signs of Alzheimer's disease in people with two parents suffering from the disease years before developing the symptoms themselves, according to a study in the journal Neurology. Participants in the study who had both a mother and father with Alzheimer's showed 5 to 10 percent more brain plaques and greater abnormalities in brain volume and metabolism than those who had only one or no parents with Alzheimer's, as reported in Medical News Today. Article
> Researchers have found that breast-specific gamma imaging (BSGI) can be used to identify cancer in women with all breast densities, according to an article in the American Journal of Roentgenology. According to the study, BSGI offers an alternative adjunct breast imaging modality to magnetic resonance imaging for women who can't undergo MRI. Abstract
Health Finance News
> Although the healthcare sector is one of the economy's biggest generator of jobs, hospitals are creating fewer positions these days. Hospital-based employment fell slightly in January, to just under 4.8 million people, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics. The hospital workforce lost 4,500 jobs, although the numbers are still about 1,800 higher than December 2012. It lost 4,700 jobs in December, the first consecutive two-month decline since February 2011. Article
Health IT News
> ICD-10 implementation costs will be more expensive--in some cases more than three times previous cost estimates--for physician practices, according to updated research published last week by the American Medical Association. The study, an update of research published in 2008, predicts that small practice costs will range anywhere from $56,639 to more than $226,000. Medium practices, it estimates, will pay between $213,364 and $824,735 for implementation; costs for large practices are predicted to run between $2 million and $8 million. Article
And Finally... Nudity and McDonald's are not a good mix. Article