Category:

The convenience of internet shopping attracts many young buyers to turn to social media and internet platforms, not only to buy ordinary goods but also medications...What some fail to recognize – especially young adults – is that is that most social media platforms are designed to keep users engaged by pushing content they believe the individual wants based on their activity on the platform..after multiple clicks or searches, the line between what a user was searching for and what content the algorithm is pushing can quickly become blurred...social media algorithms have become so efficient at suggesting content to users, even passive ones, that they have created a perfect pathway for digital drug dealers to connect to potential victims in a matter of a few clicks...READ MORE

AMI, pronounced as Amy, is Bayer's new voice assistant and chatbot that can talk to physicians about prescription drugs when they say, “Hey Google, talk to Bayer Pharmaceutical” on Google Home...An acronym for assistant for medical information, AMI is meant to offer quick, hands-free and on-demand information for busy healthcare professionals. Doctors can ask about prescribing information and other details for two oncology drugs, Nubeqa and Xofigo, and three women’s health products, Mirena, Kyleena and Skyla...Bayer is the first pharma to use voice technology to access medical information through Google Home and Google Assistant...READ MORE

Vaccine passports being developed to verify COVID-19 immunization status and allow inoculated people to more freely travel, shop and dine have become the latest flash point in America’s perpetual political wars, with Republicans portraying them as a heavy-handed intrusion into personal freedom and private health choices...They currently exist in only one state — a limited government partnership in New York with a private company — but that hasn’t stopped GOP lawmakers in a handful of states from rushing out legislative proposals to ban their use...READ MORE

Amazon is taking its health care offerings to new places. The company announced plans to roll out Amazon Care, its on-demand healthcare service across the United States this summer...The move follows the launch 18 months ago of Amazon Care to provide Amazon employees and their families immediate access to high-quality medical care...Amazon Care has two components. The first is virtual care, which connects patients to medical professionals via the Amazon Care app...The second component is in-person care, where Amazon Care can dispatch a medical professional to a patient’s home for additional care...READ MORE

The pace of innovation, the rise of consumerism, an aging population, and the movement toward price transparency means healthcare companies must become more agile and insightful than ever. Six trends have emerged as the top issues affecting healthcare businesses today...READ MORE

1. LEVERAGING BIG DATA
2. SEEING DISRUPTION AS THE NORM
3. EXPANDING THE ROLE OF PHARMACISTS
4. FOCUSING ON TELEHEALTH AND DIGITAL CARE MODELS
5. AGING POPULATION PRESSURING RETAIL PHARMACY
6. ENGAGING PATIENTS TO IMPROVE ADHERENCE

Some companies are betting on telehealth's "gold rush," but virtual care may run into limiting factors...It's become somewhat common in the last year to see news about prescription delivery apps expanding, either to offer more kinds of services or to offer telehealth more generally...Part of this activity is in response to customer demand: Companies say users are increasingly accustomed to a one-stop-shop experience, especially online, and they're starting to expect similar seamlessness from health-and-wellness tools...Another part, of course, stems from the spike in telehealth interest triggered by the pandemic...READ MORE

Here's a look at how it was created, what it offers – and how it grew to reach more than 38 million visits in seven months...Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, Johns Hopkins Medicine needed to provide accurate content very quickly in an information environment that was changing by the hour...In a pre-pandemic world, the organization's content team would look to search engine optimization strategies to see what questions people are asking and determine what information would be most useful. However, that data was just not yet available for COVID-19 when the pandemic hit...READ MORE

One day, my wife Denise and I went to our local bank with a plastic card and put it in the machine. We had the option of withdrawing either $25 or $50 out of our checking account. The money dropped down in an envelope with the cash inside. This was amazing technology for 1981. I then went to work and pulled out the Smith Corona typewriter and started typing prescription labels...Yesterday, I went to our warehouse club and pulled up to the gas pumps. I took out my phone and waved it at the QR code on the screen. I began pumping my gas without ever getting my wallet out of my pocket. I checked my email and saw I had spent $28.54 on pump #4 at 7:46 am...When I stand in front of my pharmacy computer for 10 hours at a time, I often wonder why this technology seems so far behind the other technology I use daily. If we want to move this profession toward more patient-centric care, we must have the tools to do that. All I ask is that my pharmacy computer have the same technology as my gas pump...READ MORE

FDA granted an emergency use authorization for the first machine learning–based COVID-19 nondiagnostic screening device. The Tiger Tech COVID Plus Monitor identifies certain biomarkers that may be indicative of SARS-CoV-2 infection. It can also detect hypercoagulable conditions, such as sepsis or cancer, or hyper-inflammatory states in asymptomatic individuals over the age of 5 years...FDA said the device, which is an armband embedded with light sensors and a small computer processor, is intended for use by trained personnel to help prevent exposure to and the spread of COVID-19...READ MORE

Forged vaccination certificates and fake negative tests are also reportedly available for purchase on the black market...The World Health Organization...issued a warning about counterfeit and stolen COVID-19 vaccines being sold on the dark web...Fake vaccination certificates are also being sold, as well as fake negative tests, aimed at those traveling abroad...The WHO is "aware of vaccines being diverted and reintroduced into the supply chain, with no guarantee that [the] cold chain has been maintained...READ MORE