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Private website touted as interim alternative to HealthCare.gov
Pamela Lewis Dolan Medical & Allied HealthcareDespite doubts from many, including people within his own administration, President Barack Obama remains confident that the technical glitches that overshadowed the launch of the federal health insurance exchange in October will be fixed by Nov. 30. Those working on the site are feeling pressure after a Nov. 13 report from the Department of Health and Human Services found that the technical glitches had the effect the administration feared — people visiting the site got frustrated and left as opposed to buying a plan. Just 108,185 plans had been sold.
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Brainstorming: What is the aftermath of a brain injury?
Colleen Butler Mental HealthcareColleen Butler, author of "Concussion Recovery: Rebuilding the Injured Brain," is offering practical advice to help with the recovery from brain injury. We hope you find this Q&A helpful, and we look forward to hearing from you. If you have a question or comment, we want to hear from you at colleen@brainnavigators.com.
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How to deal with drug-seeking patients
Karen Childress Medical & Allied HealthcarePrescription drug abuse is becoming a national epidemic. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, 1 in 20 people over the age of 12 reported using prescription pain medications for nonmedical reasons in 2010. There is no way to know how many more people misused painkillers and didn't report it. Like substitute teachers in middle-school classrooms, physicians often encounter individuals who test their limits. The first step in dealing with potential drug-seekers is recognizing them.
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Steady progress in chemotherapy treatment for biliary tract cancer
Dr. Afsaneh Motamed-Khorasani PharmaceuticalChemotherapy is widely used for the treatment of advanced biliary tract cancer, but the treatment methods are not fully developed in comparison with other types of cancers such as lung and colorectal cancers. Combination therapy, including cytotoxic agents and molecular-targeted agents, has been widely evaluated for advanced BTC for first-line settings. Second-line chemotherapy is found to be more effective for advanced BTC. However, more clinical trials are required to understand the effectiveness of the second-line chemotherapy.
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Technology and medicine: Applying Google Glass in the medical field
Rosemary Sparacio Medical & Allied HealthcareEvery day, new strides in technology make headlines in all kinds of areas. Nowhere is it is more prevalent or exciting than in the medical field. And one of the most talked about new tech "gadgets" to come onto the scene and into the consciousness of just about everyone who follows the news is Google Glass. The last few months have seen story after story about Goggle Glass being used by physicians.
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Organ transportation becomes big business for air medical services
Joy Burgess Medical & Allied HealthcareAlthough air ambulances focus their services on offering patient transportation, organ transportation has become big business in the last few years. For organs that require transportation over a short distance, a helicopter ambulance is often used, while fixed-wing ambulances may be used to transport organs over long distances.
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Protecting young knees from injury associated with exercise
Heidi Dawson Sports & FitnessKnee pain is something that is too often associated with just the older population. But knee pain is also a common complaint in younger people — especially those who exercise regularly. While in the short term, halting exercise may be beneficial for knee pain, in the long run this is clearly detrimental to overall health. For this reason, it is vital that we help protect young athletes from knee pain. And when it does occur, we must deal with it from the onset.
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Efforts underway to help physicians find best apps to recommend
Pamela Lewis Dolan Medical & Allied HealthcareAs patient engagement becomes an increasingly important aspect of a reformed healthcare system, mobile health applications are often thought to hold great potential for getting patients more involved in their healthcare. With more than 43,000 health-related apps available on the iTunes store alone, and new apps being introduced every day, there is no shortage when it comes to available tools. But due to sheer volume, the ability for doctors to assess and analyze these tools for their safety and efficacy is lacking.
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Infant study highlights need for early identification of autism
Dr. Denise A. Valenti Mental HealthcareA diminished ability to socially interact with eye contact is recognized as a diagnostic marker for autism. A study published Nov. 6 in Nature reported that social engagement using eye contact starts at birth for all infants, but can start to decline as early as two months of age in children later identified with autism.
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Telemedicine legislation: Who is keeping count?
Herb Rogove Medical & Allied HealthcareFor those interested in seeing a brief composite of federal legislation that may be of significant interest to the telemedicine/telehealth community, the following are the most recent ones of note.
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