New York University doctors and hospital executives are using an artificial intelligence (AI) computer program to predict whether a newly discharged patient will soon fall sick enough to be readmitted. The AI program “NYUTron” reads physicians’ notes to estimate a patient’s risk of dying, the potential length of their hospital stay, and other factors important to their care. Testing showed that NYUTron could predict four out of five patients who would require readmission to the hospital, according to a report published online June 7 in the journal Nature. NYUTron is what its developers call a “large language model,” which can read and understand the creative and individualized notes frequently taken by doctors. It’s an improvement over earlier health care computer algorithms that required data to be specially formatted and laid out in neat tables, the researchers said. “Our findings highlight the potential for using large language models to guide physicians about patient care,” said lead researcher Lavender Jiang, a doctoral student at NYU’s Center for Data Science. “Programs like NYUTron can alert health care providers in real time about factors that might lead to readmission and other concerns so they can be swiftly addressed or even averted,” Jiang said in a school news release. Jiang and her colleagues trained NYUTron to scan unaltered text from electronic health records and, from what it learns, to make…  read on >  read on >

Summer vacation has begun for some families and screen use may already feel like too much. A psychiatrist from Baylor College of Medicine in Houston offers some tips for making sure smartphones and tablets are put to good use and not used to excess. Dr. Laurel Williams, a professor in the department of psychiatry and behavioral sciences, said no arbitrary number of hours spent online indicates addiction. She suggests parents should focus on their child’s behavior toward their phone. If something seems different or problematic, that might be a warning sign of too much screen time. “It could be that your child is not talking to anyone at home, talking less, always spending time in their room or getting anxious or unhappy about whatever they see or do online,” Williams said in a college news release. Kids tend to get less physical activity when they overuse devices, whether watching TV, playing video games or scrolling through social media. They need to be active, and they also need to pursue some enrichment to make sure they are ready for their studies in the fall. Poorer children who can’t afford to participate in summer enrichment programs often lose knowledge during the break and take longer to catch up at the start of the school year, Williams noted. Some may not have many options other than turning to…  read on >  read on >

Older Americans are increasingly likely to log into “patient portals” to access their health care information — but confidence levels vary. About 78% of people aged 50 to 80 now use at least one patient portal, according to the new University of Michigan (U-M) National Poll on Healthy Aging. Five years ago, just 51% in this age range used patient portals, the researchers said. The poll also found that 55% of those who used patient portals had done so in the past month. About 49% had accounts on more than one portal. This surge is partly due to the increase in use of telehealth visits, said Denise Anthony, the U-M School of Public Health professor who worked on the poll. “This change makes access to secure portals even more important for older adults who want to see their doctors and other health care providers virtually. It also makes the disparities we found in our poll even more troubling,” Anthony said in a Michigan Medicine news release. Older adults with annual household incomes below $60,000, and those who were Black or Hispanic, had lower rates of portal use. These groups were also less likely to say they’re comfortable using a portal. People in fair or poor health physically or mentally were also much more likely to say they’re not confident about their ability to log in…  read on >  read on >

During the early part of the COVID-19 pandemic, one of the only ways to see a doctor was via video or phone appointment, and it turns out many people with cancer still prefer telemedicine visits over in-person ones. The recent end of the U.S. public health emergency will remove some of the flexibilities that were put in place during the pandemic to allow for wider use of telemedicine, and this may be unfortunate, noted study author Dr. Krupal Patel, an oncologist at the Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. “When implemented right and offered to the right patient, telemedicine visits can be a valuable alternative to in-person appointments,” Patel said. The benefits of telemedicine for people with cancer are substantial, he noted. It allows for greater flexibility with scheduling, reduces costs associated with getting to the doctor’s office or hospital, and saves travel time. For the study, more than 33,300 people with cancer answered survey questions on in-person visits, and almost 6,000 on their telemedicine experiences during and after the height of the pandemic, from April 2020 through June 2021. Almost 76% of cancer patients were highly satisfied with their access to their doctors via televisits, compared with about 63% of those who saw their doctors in person. About 91% of people who saw their doctor virtually were highly satisfied with the response and amount…  read on >  read on >

While the U.S. Veterans Affairs health system has been criticized for long appointment wait times and limited access to specialists, the quality of care and access to a range of surgical services is as good as or better than at non-VA health centers on several measures, new research reveals. “Surgery involves many steps of care,” said lead study author Dr. Mariah Blegen, a fellow in the department of surgery at the University of California, Los Angeles David Geffen School of Medicine. “This updated review is important because it tells us that the veterans at the VA are getting good care. Quality improvement, through the VA National Surgical Quality Improvement Program (VA NSQIP), has been the focus of the VA for several decades and I think this effort is paying off,” Blegen said in a news release from the American College of Surgeons. The findings were published online May 8 in the Journal of the American College of Surgeons. VA NSQIP has helped track millions of surgical cases and improve outcomes, including improved rates of postoperative death and infection, according to the researchers. “The database continues to drive statistically reliable research that can help VA hospitals better assess its surgical outcomes and develop quality improvement programs,” said Dr. Clifford Ko, director of the ACS Division of Research and Optimal Patient Care. After the success of VA…  read on >  read on >

(HealthDay News) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration on Wednesday issued a six-month extension for people seeking to fill controlled medication prescriptions via telehealth. That ability had been set to expire along with the ending of the pandemic public health emergency on May 11. “These medications, including those used to treat opioid use disorder, are a vital form of care for millions of Americans who have come to rely on safe and effective telemedicine appointments,” Dr. Bobby Mukkamala, chair of the American Medical Association’s Substance Use and Pain Care Task Force, said in a statement. “Patients being treated with these medications often have challenges securing and traveling to in-person appointments. We are grateful the DEA is approaching this issue with the gravity it deserves, and we look forward to reviewing the details of the policy when they become available,” Mukkamala added. Prior to the pandemic, patients had to see a doctor for at least one in-person appointment before being able to access prescriptions for a long list of medications, including stimulants for attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, benzodiazepines for anxiety, and medications for opioid use disorder, sleep or pain. The DEA had offered proposals on March 1 that would allow prescribers to prescribe one 30-day supply of these controlled medications or the opioid use disorder buprenorphine without an in-person exam. Then an exam would be required…  read on >  read on >