What You Should Know: - Health equity – or the lack thereof – is one of the biggest challenges facing US healthcare organizations today. - A new report from Accenture, US health inequity: beyond the statistics, analyzes the role US healthcare ecosystem participants can play in addressing health inequities due to race and ethnicity. The statistics are staggering. Analysing Key Trends Concerning Health Inequities To understand the human and economic
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Addressing the Diversity Challenge in Clinical Research Through Patient Advocacy
Diversity is paramount to the success of clinical research, both ethically and scientifically. Without adequate representation of racial and ethnic minorities, investigators lack an understanding of the safety and efficacy of novel treatments within those groups. From a scientific standpoint, an incomplete dataset hinders drug delivery and the development of breakthrough therapies – but from an ethical standpoint, underrepresentation creates a barrier to treatment options for populations that
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Clarius Awarded FDA Clearance for AI Ultrasound Musculoskeletal Imaging App
What You Should Know: - Clarius Mobile Health, a leading provider of high-definition handheld ultrasound systems, receives 510(k) clearance for its new MSK AI model, which automatically identifies and measures tendons in the foot, ankle, and knee using artificial intelligence (AI). - The new MSK AI model will be available soon with the Clarius L7 HD3 and Clarius L15 HD3 high-frequency, wireless handheld ultrasound scanners. AI Driven Imaging To Improve
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Boosting Clinical Trial Recruitment Requires Humanity – and Technology
Clinical trials should be a time of promise for better patient outcomes, as they explore new ways to potentially help patients suffering from a variety of conditions. Instead, this phase of treatment development is often met with exasperation as patients, researchers, and drug developers deal with the many barriers to clinical trial recruitment and access. There are two central – and intrinsically linked – problems with the current state of clinical trial recruitment in the U.S.:
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39 Organizations Sign Global Heath Equity Pledge to Advance Health Equity Globally
What You Should Know: - Today, World Economic Forum announced that 39 organizations have signed the Global Health Equity Network Zero Health Gaps Pledge. - The pledge includes 10 key commitments all signatories have made to embed health equity principles throughout their operations, workforce and guiding philosophies. It marks the beginning of an historic journey to making health equity an integral part of business strategies globally and an important step towards a world without health
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How Tech Can Improve Health Plan Performance & Star Ratings in 2023 & Beyond
The open-enrollment period that recently concluded for U.S. health plans was the first since the expiration of pandemic-linked changes to how Star Ratings were calculated. This is a period of major transition for the industry, with some health plans struggling to maintain their previous ratings and plan participants, who are now accustomed to home-based testing and treatment, expecting those services and features to continue. Fortunately, new technology can help health plans boost plan
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Why The Future of Lateral Flow Testing is Digital
Lateral flow immunoassay tests (or LFTs, for short) have been in use for decades, becoming an indispensable tool within diagnostics’ (Dx) practice, as well as a growing range of applications outside healthcare. LFT's capacity for delivering fast turnaround—rapid detection in less than 20 minutes—from sample to result has made LFTs central to the shift moving triage and primary care closer to the patient at point-of-care (POC) and point-of-need (PON). Being intuitive for the user,
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AI/ML Used for Clinical Trial-Site Identification Simultaneously Improves Enrollment Rates and Diversity
Ethnic and racial minorities are commonly underrepresented in clinical trials. This problem is so severe that in April, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded upon existing guidance to further emphasize recommendations to sponsors developing treatments to increase enrollment from underrepresented populations in the U.S., including African-American, Hispanic, Asian and other persons of color, in clinical trials. In the updated guidance, the FDA provided details on what sponsors
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5 Behavioral Health Trends Coming Into Focus in 2023
For the past two years, behavioral health in the U.S. has taken center stage, but the true impact of COVID-19 on families is just now coming into focus. The lingering effect of the pandemic combined with social stressors on top of life’s daily pressures is all taking its toll on mental health. Instead of declining post-pandemic, as a nation, we’re continuing to see an increase in the number of people struggling with some form of anxiety and depression.Among some of the hardest hit are
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How Biosensing Tech Can Alleviate Dehydration in Older Adults
For most adults, the first sign of dehydration is feeling thirsty. However, as we age, our thirst sensation naturally weakens, which means older people may not know that they need more fluids until they’re typically underhydrated, putting them at a higher risk of clinical dehydration. Other age-related physiological changes can also impact a person’s ability to remain hydrated, such as a decline in kidney function. Indeed, renal function begins to diminish around the age of 50. This is due
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