- Why do hospitalizations increase in the last quarter of the year?
- Scientists use AI to find an antibiotic for a multidrug-resistant bacteria.
- Scientists have managed to preserve rat kidneys for 100 days. Apparently, that’s good news for humans.
- For medical student education, is a virtual cadaver as good (or better) than a real one?
- Are crisis pregnancy centers deceiving pregnant mothers?
Category: Tuesday Links
Tuesday Links
- Is there anything wrong with using AI apps to decide on pre authorization denials for patients?
- Space has a garbage problem: There are 34,260 objects tracked in orbit, and just 25% of them are working satellites.
- Spending on the elderly is baked in – seniors get their benefits no matter what Congress does. But most programs for children require reauthorization – and spending gets stalled by the congressional stop gap funding process.
- A California hospital billed $10.2 billion in gross charges in the last quarter. But 86% of this amount disappeared after discounts to the payers were applied.
- A libertarian is elected president in Argentina. John Fund: “A century ago Argentina was one of the six wealthiest countries in the world. Now it ranks 66th, below Mexico and just above Russia.”
Tuesday Links
- Tyler Cowen: “Classical liberals are increasingly religious.” I don’t think this is new. I think it has been true for a long time. But I don’t know why.
- ACO failures: study of Medicare patients with depression or anxiety finds a 24 percent decline in treatment visits and no discernible improvements at twelve months after enrolling in an ACO.
- Syphilis cases in newborns is ten times what it was a decade ago. In 40% of the cases, the mother had no prenatal care.
- Infant mortality rises for the first time in 20 years.
Tuesday Links
- “Many older people are one medical emergency away from a court-appointed guardian taking control of their lives.”
- The hypothalamus, a cone shaped part of the human brain no bigger than an almond, affects whether we feel hungry and helps control our metabolism. (NYT)
- Kansas and Virginia Medicaid programs paid MCOs for beneficiaries who were dead. (InsideHealthPolicy paywall)
- Solution to rural health care: telemedicine. But you need an internet connection.