The first implantation of a pacemaker in a human occurred in 1958. Since then, the technology behind permanent cardiac rhythm management has steadily evolved, enabling a variety of implants known collectively as cardiac implantable electronic devices (CIEDs). Today, CIEDs are the standard of care for a range of cardiac arrhythmias, and researchers estimate that 1.2–1.4 million of these devices are implanted annually worldwide. And experts predict that number will continue to increase in years to
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Dear Digital Healthcare: Let’s Do Better
Digital transformation has increased healthcare access, but quality and consistency are lagging behind. A human touch – and some innovative thinking – can get us where we need to be.
We weren’t prepared. But can you blame us?
The healthcare industry has gone digital faster than anyone could’ve expected. Digital health options like telemedicine and online pharmacies existed before the pandemic. At some point, they would’ve naturally risen to prominence. COVID-19 forced us to stuff a
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Media Mix Transformation for Pharma Marketers: The Power of CTV & Digital Video
Consumers continue to cut ties with traditional TV and cable services, prompting industries like the prescription pharmaceutical industry to evolve their marketing mix to accommodate emerging media.
Pharma advertisers spend billions on traditional TV advertising, but as streaming services began to experience explosive growth early in the pandemic, advertising strategies had to adapt. TV-centric advertisers relied on (and still rely on) dayparting (scheduling ads during certain times of the
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Impact of Applying Law of Small Numbers to the Telehealth Industry & Why Its Unsustainable
Driven by headlines and incomplete, misleading data that favor a telehealth narrative, health systems and healthcare investors must start asking "who" is actually supporting waning demand.
The healthcare industry is no stranger to the 80/20 rule. The principle says 80% of an effect is driven by 20% of a cause, and in healthcare, it usually refers to there being a specific cohort of the population (e.g., the chronically ill) driving the majority of care utilization and costs.
More recently,
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The Twin Toll of Peripheral Artery Disease and Diabetes on Minority Communities
Diabetes is one of the most common chronic diseases in the United States, with more than 34 million individuals living with the condition.
It’s hard enough to manage this condition on a daily basis — and it gets even harder with the realization that diabetes doesn’t just exist in isolation. A diabetes diagnosis immediately triggers a domino effect of higher risks for other conditions and complications, including kidney damage, eye damage, neuropathy, and cardiovascular
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The Infrastructure Needed to Meet Health Interoperability Needs
For most patients, it has always been extremely difficult to their personal health and medical data electronically. However, with the CMS Interoperability and Patient Access Final Rule, consumers, specifically Medicaid members, there is a greater push to give access to, and ownership of, this data.
With this move towards interoperability comes new requirements healthcare organizations must meet and adhere to under the rule. To meet many of these federal interoperability requirements,
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The Benefits of Supporting Medical Information Teams with AI Agents
Life science organizations field a wide range of requests for medical information from the healthcare providers and patients they serve. Addressing these inquiries is important from numerous perspectives, from customer support and pharmacovigilance to post-market surveillance, medication adherence and patient outcomes.
Global organizations face two related challenges in answering requests for medical information. For the sake of customer service, they must strive to answer these
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Practicing for the Next Pandemic with Real-World Data
Data reporting challenges during the current pandemic relate to the lack of connectivity between public health and information technology (IT) reporting systems throughout the country. While access to real-world data (RWD) helps address this situation, the solution goes beyond simple accessibility.
Real-world data represents data collected outside of randomized clinical trials, such as patient data from electronic health records (EHRs), mobile and smart devices, claims and billing activity
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COVID-19: Addressing the Urgent Mental Health Needs of Frontline Workers
It is no secret that one by-product of the ongoing pandemic is an exacerbation of the country’s mental health crisis. According to research from Johns Hopkins, one in four Americans experience a mental health disorder in a typical year. Yet among adults in the U.S. rates of depression have steadily climbed from 8.5% before the pandemic to an alarming 32.8% in October of 2021, according to research published in The Lancet Regional Health—Americas.
While it is vital that health systems rush
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$3.7 Trillion Reasons to Centralize Chronic Disease Management
59% of all Americans (194 million) suffer from at least one chronic disease, and almost one in three adults has three or more chronic conditions. Unfortunately, the problem will only get worse with time.
On the business front of chronic disease management, health care systems are already struggling with rising costs and uneven quality despite the hard work of well-intentioned, well-trained clinicians.
Health care leaders and policymakers have tried countless
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