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Have Robot, Will Travel Hospital Halls

Original publication date: 
Monday, July 9, 2007 - 15:48

Next time you’re in a hospital, count the people pushing carts with medications, food and medical equipment. Then count the robots.

Computerized Medical Files Not Much Better Than Paper

Original publication date: 
Tuesday, July 10, 2007 - 14:05

When Good Health is Bad Business

Original publication date: 
Friday, February 8, 2008 - 12:55

Dodged the flu this year? A lot of people have, and some companies aren’t too happy about it.

The CDC’s FluView map shows that this year’s influenza season has been a slow-starter. While the flu has picked up in recent weeks, sporadic reports of flu were the most common on the agency’s flu map during in December.

Aetna Smartens Up Medical Search

Original publication date: 
Wednesday, March 12, 2008 - 12:39

Plenty of companies are working on better engines to search the Web for health information. Now insurance heavyweight Aetna is making it personal.

The company is rolling out a search service that takes into account a member’s personal health information, including past diagnoses and health-plan details.

Rock and Roll May Never Die, but Sometimes It Gets Sick

Original publication date: 
Wednesday, March 26, 2008 - 12:26

Small businesses are leading the national retreat from employer-based health coverage.

More than half of the 6 million Americans who lost health insurance between 2000 and 2006 worked at small companies or were self-employed, a recent Health Affairs online article reported.

Pentagon Seeks Battlefield Device to Diagnose Brain Injury

Original publication date: 
Thursday, April 17, 2008 - 13:10

Roadside bombs have made brain damage a grim hallmark of modern war. A RAND study out today says 320,000 U.S. troops may have suffered brain injuries in Iraq and Afghanistan — and less than half say they were ever evaluated by a doctor.

Virtual ICU Brings Specialty Care to More Hospitals

Original publication date: 
Tuesday, May 20, 2008 - 11:10

Small and rural hospitals can have a tough time keeping patients. Many will drive an hour or two to the nearest city for all but the most basic — or most urgent — care. And the sickest patients may have to be shipped out anyway, to reach the specialists that might save them.

What if high-tech tools could bring the big-city expertise to their patients instead?

Turning Down the Thermostat May Help Some Baby Brains

Original publication date: 
Thursday, June 12, 2008 - 11:58

For decades, hospital nurseries have taken great care to keep babies warm. You can hardly move in the average maternity ward without tripping over incubators, warming bassinets and receiving blankets. Now, though, some hospitals are turning the thermostat down for a few infants.

Brain Surgery, Via the Nostril

Original publication date: 
Tuesday, July 1, 2008 - 14:44

When you’re navigating around something as delicate as the brain — not to mention cutting things out of it — depth perception helps a lot.

Computers Wouldn’t Have Helped in Overdoses of Texas Babies

Original publication date: 
Friday, July 11, 2008 - 10:12

After 17 babies got overdoses of the blood thinner heparin at a Texas hospital, a hospital-quality group pointed to the incident as one more reason to push for computerized systems for ordering drugs within hospitals.

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