A New Use for Dating Apps: Chasing STDs
For contact tracers of sexually transmitted diseases, telephones and text messages have become ineffective. Dating apps increasingly are their best bet for informing people of their exposure risks.
Technology
121-140 of 228 results
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Patients Complain Some Obesity Care Startups Offer Pills, and Not Much Else
A new wave of obesity care startups offer access to new weight loss medications. But do they offer good health care?
By Darius Tahir -
Blind to Problems: How VA’s Electronic Record System Shuts Out Visually Impaired Patients
Veterans Affairs’ electronic health records aren’t friendly to blind- and low-vision users, whether they’re patients or employees. It’s a microcosm of America’s health care system.
By Darius Tahir -
Say What? Hearing Aids Available Over-the-Counter for as Low as $199, and Without a Prescription
The cheaper over-the-counter aids are for adults with mild to moderate hearing loss — a market of tens of millions of people, many of whom have until now been priced out because prescription devices can cost thousands of dollars.
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Weight Loss Gadgets: They Provide Data to Help Consumers Achieve Diet Goals, but It Still Won’t Be Easy
You may have seen the ads that promise weight loss and better health — phone apps, rings, and other devices — by giving you data on how your body reacts to food, exercise, and sleep. Is this information enough to help consumers achieve their goals?
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Medical Coding Creates Barriers to Care for Transgender Patients
The codes used by U.S. medical providers to bill insurers haven’t caught up to the needs of trans patients or even international standards. Consequently, doctors are forced to get creative with what codes they use, or patients spend hours fighting big out-of-pocket bills.
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Digital Mental Health Companies Draw Scrutiny and Growing Concerns
Consumers who have trouble getting in to see a therapist are turning to online behavioral health providers that offer quick access. But there’s limited research on their effectiveness.
By Harris Meyer -
Big Employers Are Offering Abortion Benefits. Will the Information Stay Safe?
Work-based benefits may expand access to abortion for people who live in areas where the service is unavailable, but experts warn that claiming benefits could create a paper trail for law enforcement officials to follow.
By Darius Tahir -
Health Care Startups Turn to ‘Coaches’ to Help Patients Cope and Monitor Treatment
The interest, and investment, in coaching and encouragement is a curious turn for an industry that likes to boast of its billion-dollar pills and sophisticated artificial intelligence.
By Darius Tahir -
Journalists Dig Deep on Medical Debt and the Boundaries of AI in Health Care
KHN and California Healthline staff made the rounds on national and local media this week to discuss their stories. Here’s a collection of their appearances.
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High-Tech’s Business Model Hasn’t Worked for the Cue Covid Test
Cue got attention with a Super Bowl ad for a stylish high-tech covid-testing machine to use at home. But the product is expensive, which has limited the San Diego company’s market.
By Eric Taub -
The Private Sector Steps In to Protect Online Health Privacy, but Critics Say It Can’t Be Trusted
Health data can be shockingly available. A group of nonprofits and corporations is proposing to patch up the holes in health apps, but many of the biggest companies didn’t participate in the proposal’s creation.
By Darius Tahir -
Ask KHN-PolitiFact
Should You Worry About Data From Your Period-Tracking App Being Used Against You?
After a leaked Supreme Court draft opinion was published May 2 suggesting that Roe v. Wade would soon be overturned, social media users started worrying that their use of period-tracking apps could lead to trouble if they sought an abortion and lived in a state with strict limits or bans on the procedure.
By Hannah Norman and Victoria Knight -
At US Hospitals, a Drug Mix-Up Is Just a Few Keystrokes Away
After a Tennessee nurse killed a patient because of a drug error, the companies behind hospital medication cabinets said they’d make the devices safer. But did they?
By Brett Kelman -
Heartbeat-Tracking Technology Raises Patients’ and Doctors’ Worries
As Google joins Apple in adding heart rhythm sensors to wearable devices, and millions of people gain access to alerts that flag when their hearts might have skipped a beat, cardiologists are wondering what to do with all the information.
By Darius Tahir -
Who Doesn’t Text in 2022? Most State Medicaid Programs
As states prepare for the end of the covid public health emergency, they are making plans to reevaluate each Medicaid enrollee’s eligibility. They will rely primarily on mail and email because not many states can text enrollees.
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Tech Glitches at One VA Site Raise Concerns About a Nationwide Rollout
The more than $16 billion, decade-long effort by the Department of Veterans Affairs was designed to provide seamless electronic health records for patients from enlistment in the military past discharge.
By Darius Tahir -
Money Flows Into Addiction Tech, But Will It Curb Soaring Opioid Overdose Deaths?
Experts are concerned that flashy Silicon Valley technology won’t reach those most in need of treatment for substance use disorders.
By Brian Rinker -
Pandemic Medical Innovations Leave Behind People With Disabilities
As the country enters Year 3 of the pandemic emergency, people with disabilities across the U.S. are still finding it difficult to use innovations in telemedicine, teleworking, and testing.
By Lauren Weber -
Faxes and Snail Mail: Will Pandemic-Era Flaws Unleash Improved Health Technology?
The covid-19 pandemic exposed how state and local governments’ severely outdated technology can hinder unemployment benefits, food stamps, Medicaid, vaccine registrations, and the flow of other critical information. Now, with hefty federal pandemic relief and unexpected tax windfalls, states may finally have the chance to revamp their information technology for health care and social services. But can they?