Kaitlynn Ely

While an increasing number of immunotherapies are reaching market and becoming available, cancer centers feel unprepared to prescribe these treatments and handle adverse events and side effects, according to findings from a new survey from the Association of Community Cancer Centers.

The Washington Health Alliance has found that low-value or wasteful healthcare services accounted for $282 million in unnecessary healthcare spending from July 2015 to June 2016, according to a report titled, First, Do No Harm: Calculating Health Care Waste in Washington State.

Researchers have developed a method of reducing pain-associated behaviors through the creation of decoy molecules that prevent pain after injury.

With 4 in 10 cardiomyopathies having genetic links, there is a need for relatives of patients with cardiomyopathy to be screened in order to prevent early death, according to a recent study published in European Heart Journal.

Risk-sharing contracts between pharmaceutical manufacturers and health insurance providers could be the answer to reducing the rising drug prices in the United States.

New research on breast cancer biopsies and counseling after treatment will allow surgeons to have more meaningful conversations with their patients, according to a study published in JAMA Surgery.

E-cigarette smokers have a high risk of developing lung and bladder cancer, as well as certain heart diseases due to carcinogenic e-cigarette smoke (ECS), according to a study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

A team of 20 scientists in the fields of informatics, statistics, epidemiology, systematic reviews, cancer biology, and nutrition have developed a tool that will assess the links in published human studies between lifestyle factors and cancer.

The American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) recommends that CMS guard cancer patients from high out-of-pocket costs that will impede patient access to life-extending cancer drugs, according to the society’s comments regarding proposed financial revisions to the Medicare Prescription Drug Benefit Program (Part D).

The latest technological advances in the healthcare field will provide more accessible, affordable, and efficient healthcare for patients worldwide, according to a discussion at the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos, Switzerland.

Non-Hispanic black women diagnosed with HER2-negative, lymph node-negative breast cancer who had recurrence score testing had higher estimated risks of distant recurrence than their non-Hispanic white counterparts.

The United Kingdom's government will lead efforts to decrease loneliness, which can have disastrous health consequences.

Patients diagnosed with cancer want their doctors to ask them their desire location for end-of-life (EOL) care, according to a recent study published in the Journal of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network.

Smoking is not an inexpensive hobby. Smokers not only spend money on cigarettes and tobacco, but also on healthcare to manage smoking-related illnesses. Approximately 36.5 million Americans are avid tobacco users who spend large sums of money on their addiction and the consequences that come with it.

Patients dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid have higher levels of Medicare spending compared to other beneficiaries, and it can impact hospitals' performance on a Medicare cost measure, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Patients dually enrolled in Medicare and Medicaid have higher levels of Medicare spending compared to other beneficiaries, and it can impact hospitals' performance on a Medicare cost measure, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

While emergency departments (EDs) are often blamed as the culprit of allotting excessive amounts of opioids to patients, office-based opioid prescriptions have increased 12% from 1996 to 2012 while ED use of opioids have decreased, according to a study published in Annals of Emergency Medicine.

Analysis of randomized controlled trials finds there is not enough proof that wearable biosensors actually improve patient outcomes, such as weight and blood pressure, according to a study by Cedars-Sinai investigators published in npj Digital Medicine.

There is little clinical significance when comparing weight loss among patients who underwent laparoscopic sleeve gastrectomy and patients who had Roux-en-Y gastric bypass surgery, according to studies published in JAMA as part of an obesity themed issue.

Tamper-resistant formulations of oxycodone and other opioid tablets does not have a significant effect on the population, according to an Australian study published in The Lancet Psychiatry.

Physicians create 12.6 million jobs and $2.3 trillion of economic activity, according to the American Medical Association in a new report, The National Economic Impact of Physicians. The study looked at 4 key economic indicators in all 50 states, including the District of Columbia: total output; jobs; wages and benefits; and state and local tax revenue generated by physicians.

Regardless of daily exercise and healthy eating, a person’s genes determine their ability to lose or gain weight, and researchers have now identified 14 variations in 13 genes that affect an individual’s body mass index.

Screening for social risk factors can reduce frequent hospitalization and medical spending, according to a study published in HSOA Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Care.

Racial and ethnic minorities and populations with low incomes will experience more stress during their lifetime compared to wealthy, white individuals, leading to large inequities in both mental and physical health, according to a report from the American Psychological Association.

Older adults who are prescribed many medications that require frequent trips to the pharmacy are more likely to not refill their prescriptions on time, but patients who participate in medication synchronization programs have improved adherence to cardiovascular medications, according to a study published in Health Affairs.

Psychological factors negatively affect quality-of-life scores in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) patients, according to a recent study published in the International Journal of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

Cross-sectoral partnerships between Area Agencies on Aging (AAA) and healthcare and non-healthcare organizations are an effective way of addressing determinants of health among older adults, according to a recent study published in Health Affairs.

New drugs to treat multiple myeloma (MM) have provided clinical benefits, but a study published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy found not all of them can be considered cost effective.

New drugs to treat multiple myeloma (MM) have provided clinical benefits, but a study published in the Journal of Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy found not all of them can be considered cost effective.

In the inpatient setting, access to electronic health records (EHRs) through patient portal use remains low, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Informatics Association.