Louisiana senate approves ban on telemedicine abortions; Twitter a reliable resource for sharing info on vaccines;

News From Around the Web

> The Louisiana state senate last week voted overwhelmingly to ban doctors from conducting telemedicine abortions--in which doctors coach patients through taking an abortion pill via a video connection. The legislation now heads to the desk of Gov. Bobby Jindal, who supports it, according to The News Star. Article

> Twitter is a reliable source for sharing new information about vaccines, according to research published this month in the American Journal of Infection Control. According to the study's authors, out of more than 2,500 tweets, 14 percent contained medical information; more than two-thirds of that information was found to be accurate. Abstract

Mobile Health News

> In a national survey conducted by Black Book Rankings, primary care and internal medicine physicians indicated a strong preference for electronic health record usability on their mobile devices. Of the medical specialties polled, 100 percent of hospitalists, 98 percent of primary care physicians, 97 percent of internal medicine physicians, 92 percent of office-based physicians, 88 percent of rheumatologists, and 87 percent of nephrologists reported a strong preference for EHR systems that include mobile apps for tablets and smartphones. Article

> Global annual sensor shipments for mobile sensing health and fitness devices will reach 515 million in 2017, up from 107 million in 2012, according to San Diego-based research firm ON World. By 2017, there will be 1.4 billion mobile sensing health and fitness app downloads globally, with health apps increasing the fastest over the next five years. The research is based on phone interviews and surveys with 2,000 individuals including consumers, manufacturers, developers, suppliers and government officials. Article

Radiology News

> Using an appropriate use criteria decision support tool can eliminate inappropriate imaging examinations to evaluate coronary artery disease, according to a study published recently in the Journal of the American College of Cardiology. Researchers performed an eight-month prospective multicenter cohort study in which they created an online questionnaire to help physicians decide the appropriateness of an imaging test. After physicians entered the details onto the questionnaire, the decision support tool assessed the appropriateness of the test based on the American College of Cardiology Appropriate Use Criteria for myocardial perfusion scintigraphy, stress echocardiography, and coronary CT angiography. Article

And Finally… Hiring an exterminator definitely would have been cheaper. Article