Blue Steens in October 2019
Catch up on Blue Steens articles and venture further
This month on Blue Steens
Justifying health insurance expenditure
It can be difficult for public health insurers to decide which medical interventions to cover. A 2018 paper by Johann Go suggests the consistent application of a two-level assessment process to justify healthcare expenditure. The article considers gender transition and race-alteration in this context.
Vlog
This month was a bit of a roller-coaster. I am chuffed to bits (as they say) that I’ll be graduating with Distinction from my MSc in Finance and Investment Management at the University of Aberdeen. At the same time, ICAS training is creating more pressure as we’re edging closer to exams. Time management is key now to get ready.
ICAS
Some more study tips have been added to the playlist.
Next month on Blue Steens
We will explore
... why patients and patient advocates should be compensated for their contributions to biomedical research.
Beyond Blue Steens
Biotech
Modelling human hepato-biliary-pancreatic organogenesis from the foregut–midgut boundary - Researchers created an experimental stem cell-derived 3D three-organ structure. This ties in nicely with part 4 of my previous blog series on transplant organ donation.
Novo Nordisk looks to bluebird for gene therapy targets - Novo Nordisk partners with Bluebird on a three-year research arrangement looking to discover gene therapy candidates for the treatment of genetic diseases, including haemophilia. Note that Bluebird recently gained EU approval for their first treatment. What’s so interesting about this is that it appears Bluebird still has to decide on the best way to price their presumably very expensive gene therapy. They previously suggested performance-based pricing and repeated the same suggestion more recently.
Medtech
Technology Isn’t the Half of It: Integrating Electronic Health Records and Infusion Pumps in a Large Hospital - Assessment of the motivations and challenges of integrating EHR with ‘smart’ infusion pumps in one hospital. This case study exemplifies that good intentions and novel tech must be backed up by thorough planning and implementation of reasonable policies and workflows.
Bayer, Sensyne spin AI collaboration into global LifeHub imaging project - The international UK-based project aims to improve cardiovascular disease treatment through AI-enabled radiology and imaging. The development is to make use of 3 million anonymized NHS patient records.
Paralysed man walks again with brain-controlled exoskeleton - Now, here’s a tremendous application for video ‘games’. A tetraplegic man trained virtually to eventually manipulate an exoskeleton. The tech will take a few more years to make it onto the market but offers huge hope for paralysed people.
Miscellaneous
Researchers Find 15% of Trials Could be Replicated Using Real World Data - A study found that real-world data from insurance claims and electronic health records can be used to replicate ca. 15% of clinical trials. Being able to back up the results gained in prescriptive settings of clinical trials with real-world observations is solid validation. Considering that the mentioned real-world data are not collected for this purpose, the finding in itself does not invalidate the other 85% of clinical trials. It makes you wonder, though, whether there should be more alignment in pre- and post-approval data collection.
Karen Petrou: An Equitable-Capitalism Solution to Accountable-Capitalism Demands - Petrou argues that there is already a solution to the presumed critical state of US capitalism: the public-benefit corporation. This is a company with a clear charter to “consider purposes other than profits in decision-making”. The model is already being applied in 35+ states.