Wearable device can transmit data, drugs into skin; 5,000 patients affected by PHI breach;

News From Around the Web

> Researchers have created a wearable device that is as thin as a temporary tattoo and can "store and transmit data about a person's movements, receive diagnostic information and release drugs into skin," Scientific American reports. Article

>  About 5,000 patients of Escondido, Calif.-based Palomar Health had their personal information--including medical diagnoses--stolen last month when someone swiped a company laptop and two flash drives from an employee's SUV, a company official announced Friday, U-T San Diego reports. Article

Health Insurance News

> Only one day after enrollment for the health insurance exchanges unofficially ended at midnight Monday, healthcare advocacy group Families USA outlined 10 ways to improve the exchange enrollment process next year. Although about 9.5 million people have gained coverage through healthcare reform's Medicaid expansion, health insurance exchanges and private plans, Families USA said tens of millions of consumers remain uninsured. To help those people gain health coverage, the group looked at the first enrollment period for valuable lessons learned. Article

> When consumers challenge a healthcare service their insurer denied, they win about half the time, data from California insurance departments show. The Affordable Care Act allows all consumers to appeal any denied service to a third party, like a state insurance department. Before the reform law, no standard process for appealing an insurer's denial existed. Article

Provider News

> Providing health insurance to the uninsured does not reduce 30-day readmission rates, according to research published in the British Medical Journal. Researchers from the Boston University School of Medicine (BUSM) used all payer inpatient discharge databases to analyze changes in overall admission rates and disparities among patients aged 18 to 64 in Massachusetts hospitals, as compared to control states New York and New Jersey, according to the study. Article

> Many common nursing practices derive from tradition rather than empirical evidence that they are effective, according to an article in Critical Care Nurse. Article

And Finally... Snakes ... in a blaze? Article