Latest News — Page 86

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) have launched a new initiative aimed at providing Medicare patients with better access to emerging technologies. The Transitional Coverage for Emerging Technologies (TCET) pathway, announced on June 22, 2023, aims to promote faster access to new technologies while implementing transparent, predictable, and efficient coverage review processes. The TCET pathway is part of a broader coverage modernization initiative that focuses on certain US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) devices designated by the Breakthrough […]

Large Language Models (LLMs) are gaining prevalence in healthcare. OpenAI, in collaboration with Microsoft Research, is exploring the use cases of such technology in healthcare and medical applications. They aim to understand the opportunities, limitations, and risks in this context. Google’s Language Model for Dialog Application or “LaMDA” (replaced by their Pre-training with Abstracted Langage Modeling “PaLM”) and OpenAI’s previous Generative Pretrained Transformer 3.5 (GPT-3.5) have also been under study for medical applications. Interestingly, these LLMs, although not specifically trained […]

We are excited to announce the launch of our new newsletter, “Value Science Weekly”. This weekly digest is designed to keep you up-to-date on the latest trends, insights, and breakthroughs in Health Economics and Outcomes Research (HEOR), Global Market Access, and Dynamic Intelligence. In our next week’s issue, we delve into the transformative potential of virtual care in neurology, as highlighted by the World Health Organization. The rising demand for continuous home and institutional care, driven by an ageing population […]

Robot-Assisted Surgery (RAS) is a technologically advanced form of minimally invasive surgery, offering a higher degree of precision compared to traditional laparoscopic methods. RAS allows surgeons to control the instruments of the robotic system remotely, providing a further minimally invasive surgical option for patients. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), there are currently 19 known manufacturers of robotic systems designed to aid in surgical procedures. The most widely used among these is the da Vinci® Surgical System. The Austrian […]

Electronic Health Record (EHR) data in biomedical research has seen a significant surge, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. These rich data records are perfect for complex analyses, including machine learning and artificial intelligence. However, the quality of this data has drawn much concern. Despite the critical role EHR data plays in healthcare and its frequent use in biomedical research, its quality is often overlooked. This presents a need for a standardised approach to evaluate EHR data quality. In 1996, Wang […]

As the world grapples with an ageing population and increasing prevalence of chronic diseases, the demand for continuous home and institutional care is expected to rise significantly. This growing need, coupled with the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has led to a major advance in the use of virtual care tools. These tools have been instrumental in ensuring access to care and services, promoting continuity of care, and are now being integrated into care pathways for the evaluation, treatment, and follow-up of […]

The recent outbreaks of epidemic and pandemic-prone diseases have underscored the importance of timely and effective systems for outbreak detection, notification, and response. Early detection and response are crucial in preventing the escalation of outbreaks of infectious disease. To enhance the identification and control of these threats, ambitious and achievable targets are required. In response to this need, the World Health Organization (WHO) has developed the Early Action Review (EAR), a performance improvement approach used to evaluate the timeliness of […]

Juvenile Idiopathic Arthritis (JIA) is an autoimmune disease where the body’s immune system mistakenly attacks its own healthy cells and tissues, leading to inflammation in the joint membrane or the synovial membrane. This condition is the most prevalent type of arthritis in children under the age of 16. JIA is included in the Chronic Disease List (CDL) of the Prescribed Minimum Benefit (PMB) regulations under Rheumatoid Arthritis in South Africa. This means that medical schemes are obligated to fully fund […]

The lack of available annotated medical images has historically hindered healthcare innovation. However, a solution is emerging as healthcare professionals start to share anonymised images and insights on public platforms – which includes the social media site previously known as Twitter (X). This has led to the creation of OpenPath, a comprehensive dataset of over 200,000 pathology images coupled with natural language descriptions, marking it as the largest public dataset of its kind. Researchers have used OpenPath to develop Pathology […]

The World Bank Group (2017) estimates that at least half of the world’s population lacks access to basic healthcare. Moreover, nearly 100 million people are plunged into poverty annually due to healthcare expenses. These gaps in health provision are notably severe in low-income countries (LICs), where the majority of those facing impoverishing health expenses reside. Universal Health Coverage (UHC) – defined as the global aim to ensure everyone receives the health services they need without suffering financial hardship – has […]

Altis Labs, Inc. (Altis), an innovative computational imaging firm, spearheads a worldwide coalition to push for the use of digital twins in clinical trials. This group aims to change the clinical trial design, speed up timelines, and lower failure rates for new cancer treatments. Digital twins, or virtual replicas of physical systems, enable real-time monitoring and manipulation. In healthcare, professionals use them to simulate patient responses to treatments. AstraZeneca and Bayer Pharmaceuticals apply these predictions to refine statistical analyses. This […]

The African Health Markets for Equity (AHME) program has shown encouraging results in improving access to and quality of private health clinics in Kenya, according to a recent study. The research, a cluster randomised controlled trial, aimed to determine if the combination of social health insurance and management training could enhance healthcare services in the country. The study revealed that AHME significantly impacted clinics, with the treatment group reporting a 26.0% increase in total clients and a 51.3% increase in […]

In a pioneering study, researchers have created a multimodal speech neuroprosthetic system that could potentially restore full communication to those with severe paralysis. This innovative system decodes and converts neural activity into text, speech audio, and facial-avatar animation using high-density surface recordings of the speech cortex. The system’s capabilities were demonstrated by a 47-year-old woman with severe limb and vocal paralysis caused by a basilar artery brainstem stroke. Despite her inability to vocalize or type, she achieved a median rate […]

Medicines New Zealand is delighted to announce the launch of the 2022 Transfer of Value reports. These reports, representing the organisation’s second annual publication, offer a transparent snapshot of the financial interactions between biopharmaceutical companies and healthcare professionals. This initiative underscores our unwavering commitment to transparency and ethical standards within the industry. Dr Graeme Jarvis, CEO of Medicines New Zealand, remarked on the release, “This information is what the joint project between industry and healthcare practitioners was designed to deliver.” […]

Starting in 2026, Medicare will have the ability to negotiate drug prices, potentially generating significant savings. According to a recent study, the minimum discount stipulated by the Inflation Reduction Act exceeds 2020 rebates for 4 of the 10 drugs expected to be negotiated in 2026. These include the drug etanercept, which will be subject to a minimum discount of 60%, compared to an estimated rebate of 39.1%, and the cancer drugs ibrutinib, palbociclib, and enzalutamide, all of which will be […]

The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) has released new guidelines regarding aortic valve reconstruction with glutaraldehyde-treated autologous pericardium for aortic valve disease. Published in August 2023, the guidelines recommend that the procedure should be used only in research until further evidence is obtained. The procedure has shown promising short-term and medium-term results, with survival rates of around 90% after ten years and only a small proportion of patients needing a second operation within five years. However, NICE […]