Editor's Note The Food and Drug Administration on July 28 approved a new balloon device to treat obesity without the need for a surgical procedure. The ReShape Integrated Dual Balloon System (ReShape Medical Inc, San Clemente, California) is inserted into the stomach endoscopically and then filled with saline. Patients are…
Editor's Note The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Office of the Actuary estimates that healthcare spending will grow an average of 5.8% each year from 2014 to 2024. The estimate is higher than the projection of 5.7% made a year ago. Prior to the Affordable Care Act in 2014,…
Editor's Note Among hospitals participating in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program, those penalized the most had more quality accreditations, offered more advanced services, were major teaching institutions, and had better performance on other process and outcome measures. The findings suggest that the approach CMS…
Editor's Note Patients exposed to radiation during cardiac computed tomographic angiography had evidence of deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) damage that was associated with cell death, DNA damage in cells, and activation of genes involved in DNA repair, in this study. Most cells damaged by the CT scan were repaired, but a…
Editor's Note Four US Senators (two democrats, two republicans) are sponsoring legislation—The Accelerating Innovation in Medicine (AIM) Act—that would increase Medicare patients’ access to new medical devices. Currently, Medicare patients who are interested in self-paying for a device not covered by Medicare face significant administrative obstacles. Under AIM, once a…
Editor's Note The Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee is asking for a delay of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' Stage 3 meaningful-use rules, which providers say are costly and time-consuming. Stage 3 requires providers to send electronic summaries for 50% of patients they refer to other…
Editor's Note Older women are more likely than older men to have mental decline after general anesthesia, and both men and women had faster declines in mental function and brain volume than those who had no general anesthesia, this study finds. Mental decline was especially severe in women who had…
Editor's Note The AmericanCollege of Surgeons calls the usefulness of surgeon rating systems released last week by two public interest group websites questionable. The groups use differing methodologies (ie, years of Medicare data reviewed, procedures studied, and rating scales used) to determine their rankings, and a patient visiting both sites…
Editor's Note A report from Medicare trustees on July 22 projects that the Medicare trust fund will be exhausted in 2030. The report also revealed that recipients of Social Security disability benefits could face steep cuts next year. The fund it expected to run out of money in 2016. Congress…
Editor's Note A report by Q2 Metrics predicts the US market for spinal implants will reach $6.4 billion by 2024, up from $5 billion this year. The largest product segments include posterior thoracolumbar pedicle screw fixation and traditional anterior cervical plating. There is also strong momentum in hospital and physician…
