Hot MedFax

Pain or panacea?  Electronic health records proving a problem for Medicare. http://www.californiahealthline.org/articles/2012/11/29/medicare-ehr-incentive-program-vulnerable-to-abuse-report-finds.aspx

Would you pay 5 cents more for your pizza to pay for healthcare? The Florida operator of the Denny's chain thinks you might. http://www.linkedin.com/groups/Florida-restaurateur-impose-surcharge-ObamaCare-2889111.S.186256618?view=&srchtype=discussedNews&gid=2889111&item=186256618&type=member&trk=eml-anet_dig-b_pd-ttl-cn&ut=0VW5M33nYXnBw1

Big surprise!  Smoking rots the brain. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/smoking-rots-the-brain/6649?tag=nl.e660&s_cid=e660

Someday soon computers will out-think us. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/24/science/scientists-see-advances-in-deep-learning-a-part-of-artificial-intelligence.html

Brain implants?  They're coming!  But will they change who we are? http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/bulletin/when-brain-implants-arrive-will-we-still-be-8220us-8221/6102?tag=nl.e660

Ever tempted to buy one of those fitness devices that tracks your every move but afraid you'll look like a sports geek? Now a company calls Misfits has come out with an elegant new device that syncs with your iPhone that looks like nothing more than a fancy coin. http://www.smartplanet.com/blog/report/a-fitness-device-that-transforms-data-into-high-design/582?tag=nl.e660&s_cid=e660

So maybe you don't need lidocaine or morphine right at the moment.  But what about certain cancer drugs?Drug shortages are multiplying, according to The New York Times. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/17/business/drug-shortages-are-becoming-persistent-in-us.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0

Not a surprise -- 85% of doctors rate US healthcare as not working. http://thehill.com/blogs/healthwatch/public-global-health/268133-study-us-docs-most-negative-on-healthcare-system

So now it's coffee again.  According to an article in The New York Times, a second caffeinated energy drink has been found to kill. http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/381536/caffeinated-drink-cited-reports-13-deaths

I found this interesting -- doctors are prescribing 24% fewer antibiotics to children under 3.  Good thing. http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/11/persistence-resistance/

Why oh why does healthcare cost so much? Docs get paid by the procedure, the more expensive, the better.  And techology, which, admittedly, is making our lives better, costs. http://lifewiseornews.com/2012/11/04/why-do-healthcare-costs-keep-going-up/?goback=%2Egde_2889111_member_183516047

We all breathed a sigh of relief (I know I did) when the food labels started listing ingredients and calories and fat content.  But guess what?  According to the AP, those labels are often misleading.  (For example, I didn't know that low-fat vanilla yogurt has less calories than nonfat (that's because they add sugar to make up for the fat). http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5gz2KrD8GsFO4Xqqp-4w3333H5Dug?docId=ea03f8d16b0d4bd59b5f1697544f0ba7

States have been given more time to set up health information exchanges. Health information whats?  The marketplaces where you can pick and choose among healthcare policies, part of healthcare reform. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/us/us-extends-deadline-on-health-coverage-for-states.html?_r=0

It's probably not a disease you worry about, here in America, but malaria disproportionately kills people all over the world every year. Now a new vaccine given much hope has turned out not to work. http://www.nytimes.com/2012/11/10/health/malaria-vaccine-candidate-produces-disappointing-results-in-clinical-trial.html

I have a friend who was paralyzed in a surfing accident years ago.  He uses an electric wheelchair and is lucky enough to have an elevator in his home.  He has no hope of ever walking again.  But a new mechanism -- a robotic exoskeleton -- may help him meet his wildest dreams, and walk again. http://robotics.tmcnet.com//channels/healthcare-robotics/articles/239367-robotics-computer-chips-helping-spinal-cord-injury-patients.htm

If you're lucky enough to have employer-sponsored health insurance, maybe not so much, next year.  You'll be forking over a bigger chunk of your paycheck to cover it. http://insurance-technology.tmcnet.com/topics/insurance-technology/articles/307160-health-insurance-costs-workers-only-inching-up-but.htm