The Doctor Will See You … On Your Smartphone
Walgreens plans to offer a smartphone app that will link doctors and patients in 25 states, while insurers UnitedHealth Group and Anthem will make their telemedicine services available to about 40 million additional people by next year. Meanwhile, an FDA panel backs a second cholesterol drug for patients with dangerously high levels of the artery-clogging substance.
The Associated Press:
Walgreens, Insurers Push Expansion Of Virtual Doctor Visits
Millions of people will be able to see a doctor on their smartphones or laptops for everyday ailments once the nation's largest drugstore chain and two major insurers expand a budding push into virtual health care. Walgreens said Wednesday that it will offer a smartphone application that links doctor and patients virtually in 25 states by the end of the year. That growth comes as UnitedHealth Group and the Blue Cross-Blue Shield insurer Anthem prepare to make their own non-emergency telemedicine services available to about 40 million more people by next year. (Murphy, 6/10)
The Associated Press:
FDA Panel Backs Amgen Cholesterol Drug For Some Patients
Federal health advisers said Wednesday that a highly-anticipated cholesterol-lowering drug from Amgen Inc. should be approved for patients with dangerously high levels of the artery-clogging substance. But as with their review of a similar drug a day earlier, the Food and Drug Administration experts stressed that long-term results are needed to judge the drug’s real benefit. (Perrone, 6/10)
