High tech imaging has led to unnecessary, costly and risky treatment of low-risk cancers, according to a Mayo Clinic study published in the most recent issue of the British Medical Journal.
Mayo Clinic
Online insurance marketplaces face challenges
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — New insurance marketplace exchanges are a major policy platform of the Affordable Care Act, but some experts fear technical difficulties as the deadline rapidly approaches this October, according to The Wall Street Journal.
The tech experts building the government exchange websites warned customer to expect glitches when the system first goes live, the newspaper said.
Do hybrid cars interfere with cardiac implants? Apparently not, study finds
In the 1st study of its kind to examine the interaction between hybrid cars and implantable cardiac devices, researchers found that the electromagnetic waves generated by the green vehicles don’t pose a threat.
"Hybrid cards do not generated clinically relevant amounts of [electromagnetic interference]," according to a team of researchers from the Mayo Clinic of Arizona. "It is safe for patients with ICD to interact with hybrid cars."
Implanted electrodes can help amputees gain sensation in prosthetics | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — Swiss researchers have a developed a new prosthetic limb system that uses implanted electrodes to send sensory signals from the limb back to the brain, creating a more realistic sense of touch.
"We could be on the cusp of providing new and more effective clinical solutions to amputees in the next years," Silvestro Micera, head engineer at the École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne Translational Neural Engineering Laboratory, said in prepared remarks.
Mayo Clinic diabetes initiative nabs former Medtronic exec | Personnel Moves
UnitedHealth, Mayo Clinic in pact to improve patient care
UnitedHealth Group, the largest American health insurer, and the Mayo Clinic are joing up to merge insurance records and medical data to help standardize care and lower costs.
The initiative, including a Mayo/Optum Labs venture announced earlier this week, aims to optimize treatments like hip replacements or medication compliance, according to Veronique Roger, head of Mayo’s Center for the Science of Health Delivery.
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Optum and Mayo Clinic look to improve patient care
Optum and Mayo Clinic started a new joint venture, Optum Labs, aiming to improve the quality of long- term patient care.
Both parties will provide information assets, technologies, knowledge tools and scientific expertise to related organizations to solve patient care challenges, according to a press release.
Funding: Philips and Mayo Clinic land $16M CMS grant to improve clinical care
Physician bias in prostate cancer treatment? | MassDevice.com On Call
MASSDEVICE ON CALL — A Mayo Clinic study of prostate cancer treatment found that active surveillance for low-risk patients was prescribed in frequently, and that physicians tend to lean toward their own fields when recommending more aggressive treatment.
"While active surveillance is widely regarded as an effective strategy for managing low-risk prostate cancer, a Mayo Clinic study of 643 urologists and radiation oncologists found that only 21% of physicians studied recommended the strategy while 47% recommended surgery and 32% recommended radiation therapy," according to a press release.
MassDevice.com +3 | The top 3 med-tech stories for June 27, 2012
Say hello to MassDevice +3, a bite-sized view of the top three med-tech stories of the day. This feature of MassDevice.com’s coverage highlights our 3 biggest and most influential stories from the day’s news to make sure you’re up to date on the headlines that continue to shape the medical device industry.
If you read nothing else today, make sure you’re still in the know with MassDevice +3.
Mayo Clinic: Mammogram rates dropped after controversial federal recommendation
Mammogram rates decreased following controversial U.S. Preventative Services Task Force guidance that women under the age of 50 may not need routine screening, researchers found.
A Mayo Clinic team noted a 6% decline nationwide in mammograms for women in their 40s in the year after USPSTF revised its breast cancer screening guidance, a "small but significant decrease," researchers said.