About Covid-19
England pitches free, nationwide COVID-19 testing twice per week: “The plan includes two tests per week starting April 9, with results expected at home within 30 minutes, regardless of whether a person is showing symptoms. The plan is part of the country’s road map to lift wider lockdowns by the end of June, depending on the continuing rollout of vaccines and lower rates of infections and hospitalizations.”
EDVA Seizes Seven Websites Used to Collect Personal Information and Illegally Profit from the COVID-19 Pandemic: “The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of Virginia announced today the seizure of seven websites as part of ongoing efforts by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) to combat online fraud schemes that seek to exploit the increased interest in vaccines, treatments, and employment opportunities associated with the COVID-19 pandemic.
According to court records, the United States obtained court authorization to seize four domains that purported to be the legitimate websites of Pfizer, Inc. (‘Pfizer’)—specifically, ‘pfizermx.com,’ ‘pfizer-vaccines.com,’ ‘pfizerstockrate.com,’ and ‘pfizerksa.com.’ In addition, the government seized three websites claiming to be associated with the United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF)—specifically, ‘unicefcovid19relief.com,’ ‘unicefeverychild.com,’ and ‘unicefinternship.com.’”
Walgreens Not Following U.S. Guidance on Pfizer Vaccine Spacing: “People are supposed to get two doses, three weeks apart. Walgreens, however, separated them by four weeks because that made it faster and simpler for the company to schedule appointments.”
About healthcare IT
Accelerated antimicrobial discovery via deep generative models and molecular dynamics simulations: “The de novo design of antimicrobial therapeutics involves the exploration of a vast chemical repertoire to find compounds with broad-spectrum potency and low toxicity. Here, we report an efficient computational method for the generation of antimicrobials with desired attributes…Within 48 days, we identified, synthesized and experimentally tested 20 candidate antimicrobial peptides, of which two displayed high potency against diverse Gram-positive and Gram-negative pathogens (including multidrug-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae) and a low propensity to induce drug resistance in Escherichia coli.”
Mastercard makes healthcare move with digital ID solution patients can use on their smartphones: “In its first major move into healthcare, Mastercard is teaming up with b.well Connected Health to launch a digital solution that enables patients to verify their identity using their mobile phones.
The ID verification service gives patients a simpler and more secure way to prove their identity online and in person when accessing healthcare services. Rather than relying on username and password credentials, the service employs a password-less authentication process through the use of smart biometrics, the companies said in a press release.”
Digital health's red-hot quarter: $6.7B raised in 147 deals: “In the first quarter of 2021, investors doubled down on digital health, pouring $6.7 billion into the sector and making it the most-funded quarter to date, according to investment firm Rock Health.
This year is clearly on track to pass the record-breaking amount of capital raised in 2020 as first-quarter funding approached nearly half of the $14 billion raised through all of last year.”
About diagnostics
Accuracy of Practitioner Estimates of Probability of Diagnosis Before and After Testing: “This survey study suggests that for common diseases and tests, practitioners overestimate the probability of disease before and after testing. Pretest probability was overestimated in all scenarios, whereas adjustment in probability after a positive or negative result varied by test. Widespread overestimates of the probability of disease likely contribute to overdiagnosis and overuse.”
See also, the accompanying editorial.
Global Media Coverage of the Benefits and Harms of Early Detection Tests: “In this study, we examined how innovative early detection tests are covered in the media. The findings are important because of the potential of such tests to harm healthy people, in contrast to tests promoted for investigation of symptoms. Yet coverage emphasized benefits far more than harms, and the risk of overdiagnosis received little coverage. Our findings align with other medical media coverage studies.”
Social media comments were not included in the study.
About hospitals and health systems
The Insanity of U.S. Health Care Pricing: An Early Look at Hospital Price Transparency Data: A good look at how large systems are (not) complying with price transparency regulations. The article also provides examples of how payments for the same service not only vary widely among insurers, but also with the same insurer across different facilities in the same system.
Rep. Miller-Meeks Pushes for Hospital Transparency but Warns of 'Adverse Effects': The point of the article is to emphasize the different ways to report and analyze revealed data. One example of the ‘adverse effects’ in the title is that rural hospitals may not appear to perform as well as other groups and could face shut-down as a result.