Third Annual SINAInnovations Conference “Engineering and Medicine”

This year’s program will feature a number of exciting speakers, exhibitors, and demonstrations exploring the expanding interface between engineering and medicine—and how it is transforming all aspects of health care.

Topics include: breakthroughs in material science, nanotechnology, and imaging; genomics and personalized medicine; transformative technologies, including apps, software, and mobile technologies; and engineering to improve global health.

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Breakfast of Legends

The Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center (MSAHC), a pioneer and leader in the treatment of adolescent-specific health services, will celebrate its 11th annual Breakfast of Legends benefit on Thursday, October 23, from 7:30 to 9 am, at The Plaza.

Funds raised at the Breakfast of Legends enable the MSAHC to provide free comprehensive health care—medical, mental, dental, optical, reproductive, and health education—to more than 11,000 adolescents from New York City and surrounding areas.

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“…Health Care News Stories Often Emphasize or Exaggerate Potential Benefits, Minimize or Ignore Potential Harms, and Ignore Cost Issues.”

The JAMA Internal Medicine article included the following abstract “From April 16, 2006, through May 30, 2013, a team of reviewers from HealthNewsReview.org, many of whom were physicians, evaluated the reporting by US news organizations on new medical treatments, tests, products, and procedures. After reviewing 1889 stories … the reviewers graded most stories unsatisfactory on 5 of 10 review criteria: costs, benefits, harms, quality of the evidence, and comparison of the new approach with alternatives. Drugs, medical devices, and other interventions were usually portrayed positively; potential harms were minimized, and costs were ignored. Our findings can help journalists improve their news stories and help physicians and the public better understand the strengths and weaknesses of news media coverage of medical and health topics.”

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Unnecessary Tests and Procedures in the Health Care System

The Choosing Wisely article noted “Physicians Say Unnecessary Tests and Procedures Are a Serious Problem, and Feel a Responsibility to Address the Issue.”

“Physicians say unnecessary tests and procedures represent a serious problem in the health care system. A majority of physicians feels a strong responsibility to help their patients avoid unnecessary care.”

“84 percent of physicians are interested in learning more about evidence-based recommendations that address when tests and procedures may be unnecessary. Physicians with exposure to the Choosing Wisely campaign are 17 points more likely to have reduced the number of tests or procedures they have done in the last 12 months. 45 percent of primary care physicians say they have seen or heard about the Choosing Wisely campaign after a description.”

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“…Physicians Believe That Fellow Doctors Prescribe an Unnecessary Test or Procedure…”

The Kaiser Health News article noted “The most frequent reasons that physicians order extraneous—and costly—medical care are fears of being sued, impulses to be extra careful and desires to reassure their own assessments of the patient…”

“… Choosing Wisely, a two-year old campaign devised by a foundation created by internal medicine doctors … has persuaded nearly 60 medical societies to identify overused tests and procedures. The goal is to cut back on needless medical care, which by some estimates may waste a third of the $2.8 trillion the country spends on health each year.”

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