Population Health

Apple on Monday unwrapped the CareKit and described the new software as a framework for building apps that can empower people take a more active role in their own care.

California's insurance exchange is threatening to cut hospitals from its networks for poor performance or high costs, a novel proposal that is drawing heavy fire from medical providers and insurers.

The California Institute of Regenerative Medicine has awarded Tracy C. Grikscheit, MD, of The Saban Research Institute of Children's Hospital Los Angeles a $7.1 million grant to develop a cellular therapy for the treatment of digestive system nerve disorders, the hospital announced in a statement. The grant was awarded through CIRM's Translational Research Program.

While hospitals build wellness centers, insurers too are investing in programs that have moved beyond tobacco-free living sessions and gym membership benefits.

Over 300 healthcare and patient advocacy organizations sent a letter to Senate and House leaders on Thursday urging them to press the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to permanently withdraw a reduced Part B drug payment model from consideration.

Consumers were urged to buy policies in their 50s, because premiums rose the longer they waited. About 4.8 million people were covered by long-term care policies in 2014. But insurers botched just about every aspect of the policies they sold in the early days of the industry, said Joseph Belth, a retired professor of insurance at Indiana University known as one of the insurance industry's toughest critics.

Population health outfit Caradigm has announced it will be forming what it calls a Care Transformation Team that it claims will help improve the outcomes of population health initiatives for the providers it serves.

Medical groups have already started educating their members about the law and other end-of-life options. The California Medical Association issued a document earlier this year that explains to doctors and patients how the law works. Many physicians are going to have to figure out how to talk to patients when the patients raise the question.

Since 2010, more than 50 rural hospitals have closed across the country and hundreds more are in fragile financial condition. Rural populations have declined, and, in many places, those that remain are largely elderly or uninsured. At the same time, congressional budget agreements and the Affordable Care Act reduced Medicare reimbursement and subsidies for the uninsured. Many rural hospitals have been unable to withstand the revenue losses. The hospital in Fredericksburg, a town of about 10,000 deep in the heart of Texas Hill Country, could easily have faced a similar fate.

Across the country, more than 50 rural hospitals have closed over the last six years, and another 283 are in fragile financial condition, according to the National Rural Health Association.