TikTok has banned the popular ‘milk crate challenge’ from its platform due to concerns that users participating in the trend could be seriously injured. The challenge saw TikTok users stacking milk crates into a pyramid and then attempting to climb across the unstable structure. A spokesperson from the company told TechCrunch in an email that…
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Priority Health will offer $0 cost share coverage for members’ third COVID-19 vaccine doses, the insurer announced. That’s despite the Biden administration saying booster shots will be available for free in the fall. Pending federal approval, U.S. health officials plan to roll out Moderna and Pfizer vaccination boosters beginning the week of Sept. 20. While…
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US hospitals in some states are once again strained by the latest surge in Covid-19, illustrating the heavy toll taken in parts of the country as infections near levels last seen during the heights of the pandemic in January. More than 78 per cent of hospital beds are occupied currently, according to data from the…
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As healthcare providers offer bonuses and other perks to attract new employees amid a growing workforce shortage, staff unions say that’s not enough as their members face personal protective equipment shortages and unsafe staffing ratios. National Nurses United, a union representing more than 175,000 members nationwide, on Thursday said the country isn’t facing a workforce…
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As healthcare costs continue to rise, many self-insured employers and other healthcare purchasers are considering direct contracts with local health systems. For a purchaser with a large, locally based population, direct contracting presents an opportunity to collaborate and innovate with healthcare providers to reduce costs and improve care. For providers, working directly with a purchaser…
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Hackensack Meridian Health and Englewood Health appealed the delay of their proposed deal amid opposition from antitrust authorities. The Federal Trade Commission sued to block the 16-hospital Hackensack Meridian Health system’s acquisition of the neighboring New Jersey hospital on the grounds that the transaction would likely increase prices and reduce quality. A federal court in…
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Trinity Health Mid-Atlantic is collaborating with Independence Blue Cross Foundation on digital and clinical tools that provide nurses and frontline workers with access to mental health resources and support. The program will address clinical burnout using a self-guided care approach and personalized tools created by NeuroFlow, a mental health software company based in Philadelphia. “This…
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The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has enlisted several firms, including PricewaterhouseCoopers, to audit billions of dollars sent to healthcare providers during the pandemic. Those audits will start soon for thousands of providers who received at least $750,000 in federal financial assistance last year, including from the Provider Relief Fund. The $178 billion…
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Retail trading updates Sign up to myFT Daily Digest to be the first to know about Retail trading news. The US stock market regulator has asked the public to weigh in on the “gamification” of share trading, in response to concerns that some online apps are prodding investors to take risks they do not fully…
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Magnets in Apple’s latest smartphone, the iPhone 12, can trigger a setting in some implantable cardiac devices that temporarily disable the devices, according to Food and Drug Administration researchers. The study, published in the journal Heart Rhythm this week, reinforces existing recommendations from the FDA urging patients to keep some consumer electronic devices at least…
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