For a trip to the ER, some are opting for Uber over an ambulance READ
Millions of Americans take an ambulance trip every year; others get rides from willing friends or, tempting fate, drive themselves. But in recent years a new trend has arisen: Instead of an ambulance, some sick people are hailing an emergency Uber.
Your fitness tracker can count your steps, but it’s not that good at monitoring your heart rate READ
Using that nifty fitness monitor to keep track of your heart rate while you exercise? If you exercise while remaining still, it may work pretty well. If you move while exercising, not so much. A study published Monday in the Annals of Internal Medicine put four wearable fitness trackers to the test — both against one another and against the kind of electrocardiography monitor you’d probably encounter while taking a stress test in an doctor’s office.
How G.O.P. in 2 States Coaxed the Health Law to Success or Crisis READ
When President Trump describes the Affordable Care Act as “imploding,” Lori Roll, an insurance agent here, does not consider it hyperbole… In neighboring New Mexico, also under Republican leadership, the Affordable Care Act marketplace is in far better shape. Marketplace customers can still choose among four insurers, and the state has one of the lowest average premium costs. Nearly four years after they opened, the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplaces, also known as exchanges, are not uniformly failing, as Mr. Trump likes to claim. Instead, they have risen or fallen in no small part because of political and policy decisions by each state. New Mexico embraced the law and its marketplace has been healthy, while Oklahoma resisted at every step and its marketplace is foundering.
We’re Getting Closer to Mass Production of Bones, Organs, and Implants READ
Medical researchers have been able to create certain kinds of living cells with 3D printers for more than a decade. Now a few companies are getting closer to mass production of higher-order tissues (bone, cartilage, organs) and other individually tailored items, including implants. This kind of precision medicine, treating patients based on their genes, environment, and lifestyle, could herald the end of long organ donor lists and solve other problems, too.