In Case You Missed It: New and Noteworthy This Week
This regular blog series is a roundup of recent news items and developments that I found interesting and would like to share.
Telemedicine Use Grows Among Healthcare Professionals
Please see this interesting summary of the Brookings USC Center for Health Policy report on how to contain health spending in the United States. Taming the Beast of Healthcare Spending: Narrower Networks or Savvier Consumers?
This is an interesting article on home emergency care. Community Paramedicine — Addressing Questions as Programs Expand
See this interesting article on the help that robot pets can provide to the elderly. Letter of Recommendation: Hasbro Joy for All
Here is an interesting article on health apps that actually help you understand your own body and that provide, in some cases, a more accurate measure of your health and wellness status than do medical diagnostics. We’re More Honest With Our Phones Than With Our Doctors
See this article on the use of telehealth technology to asses mental health in rural India. Phone App “Bridges Treatment Gap”
This new blood test is a valuable tool to measure the risk of active TB. A Blood RNA Signature for Tuberculosis Disease Risk: A Prospective Cohort Study
Thanks to PEPFAR, HIV/AIDS therapy in Botswana and other resource limited settings is possible. Botswana’s Progress Toward Achieving the 2020 UNAIDS 90-90-90 Antiretroviral Therapy and Virological Suppression Goals: A Population Based Survey
A better way to observe cardiac function in resource limited settings, and others too. To Truly Look Inside
This is an important summary of the inadequacy of many hospital procedures needed to ensure patient safety and some suggestions as to what can be done to implement improvements. Patient Safety is Not a Luxury
Mental health is an integral part of elder care. See the very wide gaps in treatment of mental health for all ages. Sustainable Development and Global Mental Health — A Lancet Commission
See the rather poor description health reform in France. It will be important for us to know what they actually did. France Passes Wide Ranging Health Reforms
I highly recommend When Breath Become Air, by Paul Kalanithi. It is the story of a young brilliant surgeon’s confrontation with lung cancer and his own mortality. It is also a deep inquiry into the nature mind and brain. When Breath Become Air provides insight into the motives for medical research and practice by one who is multiply gifted. It is a meditation on life and death. Paul Kalanithi: Fathoming Humanity
