American College of Surgeons: Social Media Influences Surgical Training

American College of Surgeons: Social Media Influences Surgical Training. “Surgical training has long relied on traditional methods, such as didactic lectures, hands-on experiences, and mentoring by experienced surgeons. However, the emergence of communication platforms has ushered in a new era of learning and knowledge dissemination. Social media platforms, with their immense reach and accessibility, have provided surgeons and trainees with unprecedented opportunities to share their experiences, exchange ideas, and engage with a global community of medical professionals.”

Johnson & Johnson: Driving Diversity in Medical Illustration

Johnson & Johnson: Driving Diversity in Medical Illustration. “To increase diverse representation in medical imagery—and to ultimately help improve health outcomes for people of color—the company has collaborated with Deloitte and the Association of Medical Illustrators to launch Illustrate Change, a growing library of medical illustrations featuring people of color.”

University of Southern California: High-tech map promotes access to medicine and pharmacy services

University of Southern California: High-tech map promotes access to medicine and pharmacy services. “[Dr. Dima M. Qato’s] latest project is an interactive, nationwide mapping tool showing the location of every pharmacy in the United States and which neighborhoods fall into the category of ‘pharmacy deserts,’ or pharmacy shortage areas…. The map identifies nearly 1 in 4 neighborhoods — representing millions of Americans — as pharmacy shortage areas.”

State of Maine: Maine DHHS Launches Help Me Grow Maine to Connect Families to Resources That Help Young Children Thrive

State of Maine: Maine DHHS Launches Help Me Grow Maine to Connect Families to Resources That Help Young Children Thrive. “Initiated by the Department and supported with the passage of PL 2021, Ch. 457 (PDF) sponsored by Senate President Troy Jackson, the free service for children up to eight years of age and their families aims to improve access to early developmental screening, diagnostic, and treatment services and referrals to early intervention services.”

Stanford Medicine: Delivering free (tele)health care to Ukrainians

Stanford Medicine: Delivering free (tele)health care to Ukrainians. “In the days immediately following the Russian invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24, Annalicia Pickering, MD, a pediatric hospitalist with Stanford Medicine; Solomiia Savchuk, a student at the Stanford School of Medicine; and Zoe von Gerlach, a Stanford engineering graduate student, set a bold intention: Find a way to provide meaningful medical support to people in Ukraine. Just months later, the confluence of their efforts has led to the launch of a telehealth program, called Telehelp Ukraine, that serves Ukrainians who need medical assistance — those who remain in their home country as well as those who have sought refuge in Poland.”

Ars Technica: Google Maps accused of leading users to fake abortion clinics

Ars Technica: Google Maps accused of leading users to fake abortion clinics. “In 2018, Google was first confronted by media reports investigating why crisis pregnancy centers (CPCs)—often religious, non-medical organizations that do not provide abortion services or referrals for abortion services—frequently dominate Google Maps search results for ‘abortion clinics.’ Now, four years later, the tech company seems to be making some moves to potentially change the quality of these sorts of search results.”

CNN: How Google found itself under pressure from all sides after Roe’s demise

CNN: How Google found itself under pressure from all sides after Roe’s demise. “In mid-June, one week before the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, more than 20 Congressional Democrats wrote a letter to Google CEO Sundar Pichai. In it, they urged the company to prevent searches for abortion clinics from returning results and ads that direct users to facilities that actually oppose the procedure, noting it could put women’s health at risk. The next month, 17 Republican attorneys general wrote a letter to Pichai pushing for the opposite.”

Wall Street Journal: Phones Know Who Went to an Abortion Clinic. Whom Will They Tell?

Wall Street Journal: Phones Know Who Went to an Abortion Clinic. Whom Will They Tell? . “In May, shortly after the draft of the Supreme Court opinion overturning Roe v. Wade became public, location-data specialist Tapestri Inc. received unusual requests from two companies. Each wanted to purchase mobile-device data that would reveal users who had visited abortion clinics along the Illinois-Missouri border, said Tapestri Chief Executive Walter Harrison.”

Bleeping Computer: Meta, US hospitals sued for using healthcare data to target ads

Bleeping Computer: Meta, US hospitals sued for using healthcare data to target ads. “A class action lawsuit has been filed in the Northern District of California against Meta (Facebook), the UCSF Medical Center, and the Dignity Health Medical Foundation, alleging that the organizations are unlawfully collecting sensitive healthcare data about patients for targeted advertising.”

WHSV: VHHA rolls out healthcare cost transparency tool

WHSV: VHHA rolls out healthcare cost transparency tool. “The Virginia Hospital and Healthcare Association rolled out a new tool that helps patients understand healthcare costs, as well as financial assistance policies, available here. It is meant to help prepare for what procedures may cost. You select your hospital and the portal takes you to their website, where you can input your procedure and see what that costs. Depending on the hospital system, you may be asked for insurance information so they can take that into account as well.”