September is nearly in the books! Labor Day, back to school, the 1st day of fall are all now just memories. Likewise other events, whether in our everyday lives or at home and abroad have been stored with other memories to be forever remembered or perhaps already forgotten.
What will October hold? No one really knows exactly what the next month will bring. Or for that matter, what the next week, day, hour, or minute will bring. There are things that can be anticipated, assuming life continues on its current course; required work assignments, weekend chores, and planned events with family and friends. Assuming that life will indeed follow its current or anticipated course is a monumental assumption that is not to be taken lightly!
Just about the time life looks like smooth sailing, it gets thrown off course. Disruptive forces come in many forms and sizes. There are “big” disruptions such as Covid-19, hurricanes/floods, inflation, and the invasion of Ukraine by Russia. Then there are the smaller, more personal aggravations – the flat tire, a broken water heater or an over cooked meal. It’s sometimes tempting to think of disrupters as always being negative – but there are positive disrupters. Bet you can name a few!
Healthcare, whether from a benefits, service delivery, medical treatment, or other perspective is not immune from disruption. The healthcare space seems like an ocean that is constantly in flux due to seemingly uncontrollable outside factors. Drowning is an all too often occurrence as plan sponsors and patients struggle with healthcare costs. Physicians, nurses, other providers, and family members caring for a loved one, are battered by stress and pulled by the undertow towards burnout. Other individuals are hit by the unrelenting, crashing waves of healthcare inequities stemming from factors such as their race, gender, sexual orientation, and socio-economic status.
Not everything in the ever-changing ocean of healthcare should be cast in a negative light. There are plenty of positive changes – new quality of life enhancing treatments, cures for diseases through gene therapy, less invasive surgical techniques, pharmaceutical advances and more. So, let’s set sail and check out what’s happening at sea!
This Weekend Reading Series begins with Making Waves with some of the latest healthcare news. Next, check out SOS exploring disturbing reports on the underinsured, suicide rates and more. In Turn the Corner you will find articles on medical advances, including the use of virtual reality to reduce the need for sedation, a new lung cancer surgery approach and food as medicine. Last, but not least, check out Scuttlebutt and my personal favorite A Ukrainian Teenager Invents a Drone That Can Detect Land Mines !
I hope you enjoy the following:
1. Making Waves
- FDA approves ALS drug from Amylyx, giving patients a much-needed treatment option (STAT)
- Multimillion-dollar gene therapies offer hope and huge cost concerns (Axios)
- An Alzheimer’s therapy scores winning results, but what could it mean for patients? (STAT)
- U.S. Will Spend $266 Million to Bolster Public Health Programs (HealthDay)
2. SOS
- Almost half of Americans have inadequate healthcare coverage, survey finds (Healthcare Dive)
- The State of U.S. Health Insurance in 2022. Findings from the Commonwealth Fund Biennial Health Insurance Survey (The Commonwealth Fund)
- 2021 Saw Increase in Number of Suicides, Suicide Rate. 4 percent higher provisional number of suicides and 4 percent higher age-adjusted suicide rate recorded in 2021 versus 2020 (HealthDay)
- Half of Public Has Heard Little or Nothing About the New COVID-19 Booster Aimed at Omicron; Many Don’t Know If the CDC Recommends That They Get the New Booster (Kaiser Family Foundation)
3. Turn the Corner
- Forget the sedatives, I’ll take some VR (The Harvard Gazette)
- Surgeons often take a fifth of the lungs to remove a small tumor. There may be a better way (STAT)
- ‘Food as medicine’: White House pilot program would bring medically tailored meals under Medicare (USA Today)
- Yes, AirPods can double as hearing aids. Here’s how. (Washington Post)
4. Scuttlebutt
- A Ukrainian Teenager Invents a Drone That Can Detect Land Mines (The Smithsonian)
- A Small Town in Alaska Is Home to the World’s First Hammer Museum (The Smithsonian)
- San Francisco’s Famous Sourdough Was Once Really Gross (Atlas Obscura)
- Perceptive Pooches Can Smell Your Stress (HealthDay)
Enjoy the weekend!
Best,
Suzanne
Suzanne Daniels, Ph.D.
AEPC President
P.O. Box 1416
Birmingham, MI 48012
Office: (248) 792-2187
Email: [email protected]
