Patterns of initial colorectal cancer screenings after turning 50 years old and follow-up rates of colonoscopy after positive stool-based testing among the average-risk population.

Objectives: Effective colorectal cancer (CRC) screening requires proper adherence beginning at the recommended screening age. For those with positive results on stool-based tests (SBTs), a follow-up colonoscopy is warranted. The objectives of this study were to 1) examine initial screening rates after turning 50 years old; and 2) assess rates of follow-up colonoscopy after a positive SBT.

"I'm Home(screen)!": Social Media in Health Care Has Arrived.

In more than a decade, the adoption and use of some type of social media among American adults has risen from 5% in 2005 to nearly 70% in 2016. The reigning social media platform by usage, Facebook, has 142% more American adult users than the second most utilized social media platform, Instagram, which was purchased by Facebook in March 2012. Of the 68% of American adult Facebook users, more than three quarters visit the site daily.

Strategies for integrating personalized medicine into healthcare practice.

Aim: Research and innovation in personalized medicine are surging, however, its adoption into clinical practice is comparatively slow. We identify common challenges to the clinical adoption of personalized medicine and provide strategies for addressing these challenges.

Methods: Our team developed a list of common challenges through a series of group discussions, surveys and interviews, and convened a national summit to discuss solutions for overcoming these challenges.

Can and should value-based pricing be applied to molecular diagnostics?

Current pricing and reimbursement systems for diagnostics are not efficient. Prices for diagnostics are often driven by administrative practices and expected production cost. The purpose of the paper is to discuss how a value-based pricing framework being used to ensure efficient use and price of medicines could also be applied to diagnostics.

Innovative tests for patient-tailored treatments: demonstrating value in the age of personalized medicine.

The days of the blockbuster business model of drug development are winding down. Budget pressures, coupled with the rapidly increasing knowledge of personalized medicine, will soon cease to sustain pharmaceutical companies that expect to live by sales of prescriptions for patients who will not respond, who will respond suboptimally or who will respond adversely to drugs. The realization of personalized medicine presents an unprecedented transformative opportunity - it is clearly the future of the pharmaceutical industry and of healthcare.