Researchers used ChatGPT to diagnose eye-related complaints and found it performed well. Richard Drew/AP hide caption
Health Inc. : Shots - Health News As spending on care rises, the business of health keeps getting more important. We feature news on and analysis of drugmakers, health insurers, hospitals, doctors and others in the business of providing health care.
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Kayce Atencio, who had a heart attack when he was 19, was unable to rent an apartment for years because of bad credit attributed in part to thousands of dollars of medical debt. "It always felt like I just couldn't get a leg up," says Atencio, one of millions of Americans whose access to housing is threatened by medical debt. Rachel Woolf for KFF Health News hide caption
An analysis of court records by the state treasurer and Duke researchers finds Atrium Health in Charlotte, N.C., accounted for almost a third of the legal actions against North Carolina patients over roughly five years. Logan Cyrus for KHN hide caption
Dr. Alex Shteynshlyuger spends hours on the phone with payment processors like Zelis, fighting their attempts to impose fees on electronic payments. DeSean McClinton-Holland/Pro Publica hide caption
A sign points visitors toward the financial services department at Grady Memorial Hospital, in Atlanta. David Goldman/AP hide caption
An aerial view shows damage to a Pfizer pharmaceutical factory in Rocky Mount, N.C., from a tornado that struck on July 19. The plant produces many drugs used in hospitals. Sean Rayford/Getty Images hide caption
Doctors are starting to face a flood of message from patients and some health care companies are billing for clinical advice delivered this way. jose carlos cerdeno martinez/Getty Images hide caption
'Hi, Doc!' DM'ing the doctor could cost you (or your insurance plan)
AbbVie's Humira was the world's best-selling drug for many years. Now it faces competition for copycats that cost a fraction of its price. David J. Phillip/AP hide caption
Pharmacy benefit managers are middlemen who work with drug companies and insurers, helping set the retail prices for prescription drugs Americans rely on for their health. They're now the subject of a number of new bills in Congress. Robert F. Bukaty/AP hide caption
Cultivated Meat is an alternative to traditional meat derived from cells in a lab. In this photo, a chicken breast is prepared at Upside Foods. Brian L. Frank for NPR/Brian L. Frank for NPR hide caption
'No kill' meat, grown from animal cells, is now approved for sale in the U.S.
Tessa was a chatbot originally designed by researchers to help prevent eating disorders. The National Eating Disorders Association had hoped Tessa would be a resource for those seeking information, but the chatbot was taken down when artificial intelligence-related capabilities, added later on, caused the chatbot to provide weight loss advice. Screengrab hide caption
An eating disorders chatbot offered dieting advice, raising fears about AI in health
Osteopathic physician Kevin de Regnier of Winterset, Iowa, checks Chris Bourne, who came in for an adjustment of his anxiety medication on May 9, 2023. Tony Leys/KFF Health News hide caption
Matt Ashley, a senior technologist at Johnson Memorial Health in Franklin, Indiana, is part of a small IT team that spent months helping the hospital recover after a crippling cyberattack in 2021. Farah Yousry/WFYI hide caption
Cyberattacks on health care are increasing. Inside one hospital's fight to recover
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Doctors' offices often offer special medical credit cards as a solution to paying off large medical bills. But patients may end up paying far more for their bills when they have to pay interest down the road. Fly View Productions/Getty Images hide caption
Since the pandemic, some hospitals have started offering to let patients with acute illness recuperate at-home, with 24-hour remote access to medical professionals and daily home visits. FG Trade/Getty Images hide caption
Students at the University of Minnesota celebrate their induction into medical school. The U.S. has disproportionately few Black and Hispanic doctors. Some of the barriers to entering the profession start before even getting into medical school, recent research finds, including financial pressures and racism. Anthony Souffle/Star Tribune via Getty Images hide caption
Diversity in medicine can save lives. Here's why there aren't more doctors of color
Teen with life-threatening depression finally found hope. Then insurance cut her off
Startup companies say that new programs similar to ChatGPT could complete doctors' paperwork for them. But some experts worry that inherent bias and a tendency to fabricate facts could lead to errors. ER Productions Limited/Getty Images hide caption
Doctors are drowning in paperwork. Some companies claim AI can help
Clinics in rural areas with fewer doctors, dentists and nurses are turning to mobile health care clinics to take care to where it's most needed. The Healthy Communities Coalition organizes a few mobile dental events each year in Lyon County, Nev. Wendy Madson/KHN hide caption
After her pregnancy, Danielle Laskey discovered the hospital was out of network for her health plan, and her insurer said surprise-billing laws protecting patients from big out-of-network bills for emergency care did not apply Ryan Henriksen/KHN hide caption
A surprise-billing law loophole? Her pregnancy led to a six-figure hospital bill
Physicians are lobbying Congress for a raise in Medicare reimbursement rates, among other requests. Anadolu Agency via Getty Images hide caption
Paul Davis is a retired physician in Findlay, Ohio, who gets weekly treatments of the drug Kimmtrak to help stave off the progression of his rare cancer — uveal melanoma. He worries the accumulating cost of the drug — nearly $50,000/week if he has to pay it out of pocket — could saddle his family with crushing medical debt after he's gone. Maddie McGarvey for KHN hide caption
Diagnosing and treating patients was once an ER doctor's domain, but they are increasingly being replaced by health practitioners who can perform many of the same duties and generate much the same revenue for less than half the pay. Phil Fisk/Image Source via Getty Images hide caption