Consumers Can Search Prices For Medical Services With New Online Tool

USA Today: New Tool Searches Health Prices By Doctor, Insurance
Starting Tuesday, consumers worried about high out-of-pocket health costs can search for procedure prices ranging from knee surgeries to vasectomies, based on their doctor and type of insurance so they can eliminate most of the surprise bills that show up long after their wounds have healed. Amino, a health data company that launched last fall, was already helping connect patients to doctors in their areas based on quality data. The new tool greatly expands its pricing data and covers about 550,000 physicians, 49 procedures and 129 insurance companies. (O'Donnell and Ungar, 7/12)

Stat: A ‘Scientific Deli Slicer’ That Offers Pathologists A High-Tech Look At Tumors
As diagnostics turn molecular, the standard pathologist techniques of tissue staining and mounting are looking antiquated. Bay Area upstart 3Scan hopes to change that. 3Scan is developing a computerized biopsy tool. It works by shaving tissue samples with a diamond-edged blade that’s got a camera in it — very sci-fi — and then digitizing the ultra high-res images of the biopsied tissue. Those images can be pieced back together on a computer and viewed as a 3D tissue sample. You can even zoom in for a view at a cellular level. (Keshavan, 7/12)

The Tennessean: Uber, Tech Company Team Up To Get Patients To Appointments
A Nashville health care technology company is teaming with Uber to offer patients the chance to schedule a ride to the doctor's office as a way to reduce the number of no-show appointments. The partnership, called Ride to Health, will ask patients if they need a ride once they confirm the appointment. If they respond yes, the company will send a link to the Uber app, said Sam Johnson, CEO of Relatient, a cloud-based software developer that works with physician offices and hospitals. (Fletcher, 7/12)