Author: Healthcare Propulsion Staff

Simple voice calls have long been useful for getting help in a crisis, but today’s smartphones can do so much more. Many can even automatically contact emergency services if you’re incapacitated.Your phone can give warnings for dangerous situations like storms, floods, wildfires and earthquakes. And if you’re stranded out of network range, many newer devices can connect to a satellite for requesting assistance. Here’s an overview.Getting StartedFirst, take time to explore your phone’s settings and menus. Find the places to list emergency contacts, your medical information, permission to share your location and other vital details that can get aid to…

Large and small employers are bracing for what looks to be the sharpest increase in health care costs in more than two decades. The cost per worker is projected to go up an average of 11 percent next year, or somewhat lower if workers’ insurance benefits are reduced, according to a U.S. survey released Wednesday.The employers’ final costs, after they make changes to health plans, are still expected to increase about 8 percent next year, the steepest since 2003, according to Marsh, the benefits consultant formerly known as Mercer.More than a third of the 1,800 employers surveyed said they anticipated…

A massive volcano erupts in Southeast Asia. Ash fall delays flights and destroys crops, while pyroclastic flows wipe out entire towns. Over the following weeks, the sulfur dioxide pumped out turns into a haze of fine acid droplets, eventually wrapping around the entire planet, scattering sunlight back to space. The sun turns pale, shadows go soft, the sky glows violet after sunset and the ground below cools. The next summer never appears. Harvests fail from the American Midwest to the monsoon belt in Asia. Countries close their borders, and people who have never heard of the volcano begin to starve.This…

Influenza viruses constantly shapeshift to evade recognition by the immune system. This shapeshifting occurs in critical proteins like hemagglutinin (HA), which controls how the virus attaches to human cells before entering them. Influenza viruses can evade immunity in two major ways: through the gradual accumulation of mutations that make HA harder for the immune system to recognize, or through reassortment events that can introduce substantially different viral proteins and potentially lead to flu pandemics. To address this challenge, seasonal flu vaccines remain the primary approach since they can be developed to target the flu viruses that are circulating most predominantly…

Europe’s cold-tolerant Korean bush mosquito can thrive where other invasive mosquitoes struggle, raising new questions about how it should be tracked, identified, and assessed for disease risk. Study: Just another white-striped mosquito? A scoping review and group discussion synthesis on Aedes koreicus in Europe. Image Credit: Cloudpost / Shutterstock In a recent review accepted for publication in the journal Acta Tropica, a group of authors mapped the available evidence on Aedes koreicus in Europe and identified priorities for surveillance, research, and public communication. Background A mosquito first detected in Europe in 2008 is now established across several countries, yet questions about…

Researchers at University College Dublin (UCD) published the full study protocol for Bump2Baby & Me+ (B2B&Me+) today. This is a study testing how a digital health coaching program for pregnant women at risk of gestational diabetes performs when it moves out of a clinical trial and into routine hospital care. Publication coincides with the close of the study’s recruitment phase, which began in December 2025 across hospitals in Ireland, Spain, Poland and Norway. Gestational diabetes affects roughly one in seven pregnancies worldwide. It raises the risks for both the woman and her baby – women who develop gestational diabetes have a…

Get the free Morning Headlines email for news from our reporters across the worldSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailSign up to our free Morning Headlines emailA weight-loss jab, which is not yet legally available in the UK, may be more effective than Mounjaro, according to a new study.Researchers found tirzepatide, the active ingredient in Mounjaro, helped patients shed almost a fifth of their body weight (19 per cent) over about 17 months. But retatrutide – an experimental medicine which has not been authorised for medical use by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) – helped patients…

A breast cancer survivor says she no longer lives “with the same fear” after a clinical trial enabled her to stop the heart medication she needed following cancer treatment.Lucy Shepherd, from Hertfordshire, was diagnosed with triple positive breast cancer shortly after her 33rd birthday, but a routine scan revealed that her heart function had declined during care.A new study, described as “hugely encouraging” for patients, has found the majority of breast cancer survivors whose treatment caused heart problems may not need to be on precautionary medication for life.”Being part of the trial and having the chance to come off my…

Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. Good morning and happy Allston Christmas to everyone in the Boston area. Below we’ve got all the news you need outside of Storrow Drive.  Nine new companies make drug pricing deals President Trump announced the next round of drug pricing deals yesterday, with nine new companies joining the 17 that previously reached agreements with the administration. Companies made pledges to sell new medications to U.S. patients at prices comparable to the lowest prices in peer countries, to offer their drugs to state…

ALKU Pairs Staffing Model with rockITdata’s Solutions Expertise to Deliver Complete Project Ownership and Fuel Rapid Growth Across AI, Healthcare IT and Federal Health ANDOVER, Mass., Sept. 1, 2026 /PRNewswire/ — ALKU, a leading specialized staffing firm, today announced the acquisition of rockITdata, a rapidly growing technology consulting firm specializing in artificial intelligence, digital transformation and data analytics across enterprise and public sector clients. The acquisition allows rockITdata to leverage ALKU’s deep access to advanced AI and data engineering talent to meet significant demand in its existing business, giving clients a partner that can deliver end-to-end project ownership at scale.…