We are still far from the development of an organized, rational lab testing strategy for COVID-19 sat the national level. Whatever plan that exists today is marked by a lack of federal coordination and divisive political messaging. This mix of confusion and contradictory messages continues with the two major for-profit national reference labs, Quest and LabCorp, now offering COVID-19 antibody testing directly to consumers (see: Quest's new service lets customers request COVID-19 antibody test). Below are the details: Quest Diagnostics announced that it will be offering a “consumer in ..read more

One of the few positive aspects of the Covid19 pandemic is that healthcare consumers are increasing turning to their digital devices for access to health services such as virtual visits with their personal physicians or filling prescriptions. I have been blogging about lab test ordering on the web, direct access testing (DAT), for about 15 years (see: Reinventing Direct Access Testing (DAT)) The die now seems to be cast regarding far greater engagement by consumers in digital health initiatives (see: What Is Digital Health and How Does a Health System Get There?). Walgreens, as part of this di ..read more

One of the best articles I have come across lately regarding COVID-19 with a strong scientific orientation is: Why the Coronavirus Has Been So Successful. I have personally been wondering whether our upcoming warmer weather will ameliorate the effects of the pandemic as we have seen with our yearly influenza outbreaks. Here is the answer to this question extracted from this Atlantic article: Coronaviruses, much like influenza, tend to be winter viruses. In cold and dry air, the thin layers of liquid that coat our lungs and airways become even thinner, and the beating hairs that rest in those l ..read more

The notion of drive-through to collect nasal swabs for COVID-19 testing is a practical and efficient idea and, I think, will ultimately be used across the country. Here's an article about how such a collection process is being organized by two Cleveland hospitals (see: University Hospitals and Cleveland Clinic Partner to Provide Drive-Through COVID-19 Testing). Below is an excerpt from the article: Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals (UH) have partnered to provide drive-through COVID-19 testing for patients with a doctor’s order from UH or Cleveland Clinic....Patients without a doctor’s ..read more

I have blogged extensively about the deployment of AI in healthcare (see, for example: CMS Offers $1M Reward for AI to Predict Unplanned Hospitalizations). I have learned that the simplest AI applications may sometimes have the largest beneficial effects (see: Medical Community Braces for Algorithm to Reduce Unnecessary Imaging Orders). That was my reaction when I read a recent Dark Daily article (see: Florida Hospital Utilizes Machine Learning Artificial Intelligence Platform to Reduce Clinical Variation in Its Healthcare...). Below is an excerpt from it: Variation in how individual physician ..read more

One of the new services in healthcare, hospital-at-home (HaH), has caught my attention. I encountered an article providing more details about one company in this business (see: In-Home Healthcare Companies Bring High-Acuity Care, Including Clinical Laboratory Testing, to Patients at their Homes and Workplaces). Below is an excerpt from it: Whatever name it is given, the high cost of keeping a patient overnight in a hospital is motivating a range of healthcare players to develop innovative ways to provide care to patients—even patients with acute conditions—in their home....One such company is ..read more

It's recognized that EHRs are a major cause of physician burnout due to the demands on their time for dictating notes and documenting various types of patient interactions (see: Relationship Between Clerical Burden and Characteristics of the Electronic Environment With Physician Burnout and Professional Satisfaction). Solutions for this problem include hiring scribes to manage the keyboard work for a physician (see: Greater Adoption of the Scribe Model for EMR Data Input) and the deployment of AI-enabled virtual scribes (see: This AI Software Company Just Raised $20 Million To Help Prevent Phy ..read more

Humana is expanding its primary care presence (see: Humana's Broussard calls latest primary care venture an 'expensive, complicated deal'). Below is an excerpt from this article describing this new initiative: Humana's recently announced joint venture to launch senior-centric primary care clinics was far from easy or cheap....The clinics will be payer agnostic and operated by Humana’s primary care subsidiary, Partners in Primary Care....[The company CEO] was addressing a question about the acquisition as well as Humana's deal to acquire home health care provider Kindred at Home in 2018. It's p ..read more

I have been blogging for at least seven years about the "numbing costs" of installing a new EHR (see: Who Says a Hospital CIO Can't Get Fired for Picking the Epic EHR?). These costs and sometimes subsequent financial losses are due to the enormous cost of installing such a system, inability to collect on accounts receivable during and even after the transition, and the decreased productivity of physicians and nurses using the new system after system go-live. There is an inevitable decrease in productivity following the deployment of any new technology because of the unfamiliarity of personal w ..read more

Searching for reliable web sites that discuss the diagnosis of diseases can be a hit-or-miss proposition. The process is sometimes jokingly referred to as "consulting Dr. Google" (see: The precautions you should take before consulting ‘Dr. Google’). Regarding the use of lab tests for diagnosis, one of the best resources that I know is the ARUP Laboratories Test Directory. One word of caution here is that it's primarily designed to guide physicians in test ordering. The trend of providing information on the web about diseases for consumers continues. One example is the Mayo Clinic web site (see ..read more