February 17, 2017

Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

By Karl Oestreich

Mayo Clinic in the News is a weekly highlights summary of major media coverage. If you would like to be added to the weekly distribution list, send a note to Emily Blahnik with this subject line: SUBSCRIBE to Mayo Clinic in the News.

Editor, Karl Oestreich;  Assistant Editor: Emily Blahnik

 

Twin Cities Public Television (Almanac)
Head of Mayo Clinic: John Noseworthy

Interview with Dr. John Noseworthy begins at 12:14. Almanac is hosted by Cathy Wurzer and Eric Eskola. Mary Lahammer contributes political reporting on a weekly basis.

Reach:  Twin Cities Public Television's "Almanac" program is a Minnesota institution. It has occupied the 7 o'clock time slot on Friday nights for more than a quarter of a century. It is the longest-running prime time TV program ever in the region. "Almanac" is a time capsule, a program of TPTrecord that details our region's history and culture during the past twenty five years. The hour-long mix of news, politics and culture is seen live statewide on the six stations of the Minnesota Public Television Association. Almanac was the first Minnesota TV show that virtually everyone in the state could watch together. The program's unusual format has been copied by numerous PBS stations around the country and it has led to Almanac being honored with the Corporation for Public Broadcasting's award for Best Public Affairs Program.

Related coverage:
Post-Bulletin, Political Notebook: Noseworthy talked to White House officials about travel ban

Context: John Noseworthy, M.D. is Mayo Clinic President and CEO. 

Contacts:  Kelley Luckstein, Karl Oestreich

 

KSTP
Mayo Clinic Doctors Demonstrate Dangers of Ice Fishing

Ice fishing may be a favorite pastime of many Minnesotans, but doctors say it can also be more dangerous than some realize. Mayo Clinic doctors aimed to demonstrate those dangers with the help of a mannequin they call Gus. Gus has been dinged, dented and generally doomed in a series of Mayo Clinic public education videos. Previous installments include Gus being hit by a driver who's texting, suffering a fireworks injury and receiving the Heimlich.

Reach: KSTP-TV is the ABC affiliate in Minneapolis that broadcasts on channel 5. KSTP-TV Online has more than 503,000 unique visitors each month. It is owned by Hubbard Broadcasting Inc., and is the only locally-owned and operated broadcasting company in the Twin Cities. KSTP-TV first broadcast in April 1948, and was the first television station to serve the upper Midwest.

Additional coverage: 
La Crosse TribuneAnglers beware: Ice fishing more perilous than traditional methods
KAAL, Mayo Clinic Doctors Demonstrate Dangers of Ice Fishing
Star Tribune, Mayo study finds hazards of ice fishing are many and varied

Context: Ice fishing might seem like a benign sport – for everyone except the fish. Sitting in a cozy shanty waiting for a bite, what could go wrong? A lot, Mayo Clinic surgeons have found. The ice fishing injuries they have chronicled seem more like a casualty list from an extreme sport: burns, broken bones, concussions and more. The findings are published in the American Journal of Emergency Medicine. The study team analyzed data on emergency department visits between 2009 and 2014 obtained from the National Electronic Injury Surveillance System ─ All Injury Program and found 85 patients hurt while ice fishing. There may be more cases than they could find; the database collects data on emergency room visits from a nationally representative sample of roughly 100 hospitals with six or more beds, and the researchers had to search case narratives to identify ice fishing injuries. More information on the study can be found on Mayo Clinic News Network.

Contacts: Sharon Theimer,  Rhoda Fukushima Madson

 

News4Jax
Thousands run marathon to support breast cancer research
by Ashley Mitchem

After a decade that included nearly 100,000 runners, the Donna 26.2 marathon has become more than just a run -- it's the only marathon in the United States dedicated to breast cancer research. Donations support breast cancer research at Mayo Clinic and provide financial assistance to
those living with breast cancer.

Reach: WJXT is an independent television station serving Florida’s First Coast that is licensed to Jacksonville. This Week in Jacksonville is a weekly public affairs program on WJXT.

Additional coverage: Florida Times-Union, First Coast News

Context: The DONNA Foundation is a non-profit organization in Northeast Florida producing the only marathon in the U.S. dedicated to breast cancer research, awareness and care.  The DONNA Foundation has helped to develop and maintain the Mayo Clinic Breast Cancer Translational Genomics Program.

Contact: Paul Scotti

 

Marketplace
Mayo Clinic's hometown looks to become the 'Silicon Valley of medicine'
by Catharine Richert

If you head directly south from St. Paul, Minnesota, you'll eventually find yourself in Rochester, home of the world-renowned Mayo Clinic. For NPR Marketplace Logomore than 100 years, the city and the hospital have been synonymous. And now, a massive economic development project backed by Mayo, the city and the state aims to transform the city of more than 100,000 into a magnet for startups and entrepreneurs in medicine and other fields. Mayo BioBusiness Center Chair Jim Rogers said Rochester’s transformation is already apparent. "I can count — just about every building has a new business in the last four of five years, it seems,” he said. "It's incredible what's occurring here."

Reach: Marketplace is produced and distributed by American Public Media (APM), in association with the University of Southern California. The Marketplace portfolio of programs includes Marketplace with Kai Ryssdal, Marketplace Morning Report with David Brancaccio, Marketplace Weekend with Lizzie O'Leary, and Marketplace Tech with Ben Johnson. Marketplace programs are currently broadcast by nearly 800 public radio stations nationwide across the United States and are heard by more than 13 million weekly listeners.

Previous coverage in the January 13, 2017 Mayo Clinic in the News Weekly Highlights

Context: With Mayo Clinic at its heart, the Destination Medical Center (DMC) initiative is the catalyst to position Rochester, Minnesota as the world’s premier destination for health and wellness; attracting people, investment opportunities, and jobs to America’s City for Health and supporting the economic growth of Minnesota, its bioscience sector, and beyond.

Contacts: Duska Anastasijevic, Bob Nellis

 

CNN
For decades, women had heart attacks in silence
by Michael Nedelamn

Sharonne Hayes, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic and founder of its Women's Heart Clinic, originally thought it was near-impossible to do research on SCAD. She expected to see no more than one or two cases in her career. "Most of the cases were in the pathology literature, so it wasCNN Logo (thought to be) almost universally fatal," said Hayes, who has educated patients through the advocacy organization WomenHeart for over 15 years. In 2009, a woman approached her at a WomenHeart conference and asked, "What is Mayo doing about research on SCAD?" "It's probably so rare," Hayes replied. "We could never research it."

Reach: Cable News Network (CNN) is a worldwide news and information network providing live, continuous coverage of news from around the globe, 24 hours a day. CNN online received more than 55 million unique visitors to its website each month.

Context:  Sharonne Hayes, M.D. is a Mayo Clinic cardiologist. Dr. Hayes studies cardiovascular disease and prevention, with a focus on sex and gender differences and conditions that uniquely or predominantly affect women. With a clinical base in the Women's Heart Clinic, Dr. Hayes and her research team utilize novel recruitment methods, social media and online communities, DNA profiling, and sex-specific evaluations to better understand several cardiovascular conditions. A major area of focus is spontaneous coronary artery dissection (SCAD), an uncommon and under-recognized cause of acute coronary syndrome (heart attack) that occurs predominantly in young women.

Contacts: Traci Klein, Kelley Luckstein

NBC News, Killer Figure: Why Having an Apple Shape Can Be Deadly — New research suggests normal-weight people who carry their fat at their waistlines may be at higher risk of death over the years than overweight or obese people whose fat is more concentrated on the hips and thighs. "We see this with patients every day: 'My weight is fine. I can eat whatever I want,'" said study senior author Dr. Francisco Lopez-Jimenez, preventive cardiology chief at the Mayo Clinic. "These results really challenge that."

Yahoo! News, Mayo Clinic, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announce rare congenital heart defect collaboration — Mayo Clinic's Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome and Children's Hospital of Philadelphia are collaborating to delay and prevent heart failure for hypoplastic left heart syndrome, a rare and complex form of congenital heart disease in which the left side of a child's heart is severely underdeveloped. "We are very excited to be working with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to explore better treatment options for patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome," says Timothy Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. Additional coverage: Post-Bulletin

Bloomberg, Merck Stops Alzheimer’s Study After ‘No Chance’ of Benefit by Michelle Cortez — Merck & Co. will end a study of its once-promising Alzheimer’s disease drug in patients with mild-to-moderate forms of the condition, just three months after Eli Lilly & Co. announced its own setback in a field that’s been littered with failures. “It’s very disappointing, once again,” said David Knopman, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “There is mounting evidence -- of which this is another piece -- that removing amyloid once people have established dementia is closing the barn door after the cows have left,” Knopman said.

Boston Globe, Failure of another Alzheimer’s drug turns more attention to Biogen“It’s very disappointing, once again,” said David Knopman, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Merck’s drug, like Biogen’s and others, targets amyloid plaque in the brain. The plaque is believed to be a cause of the disease. “There is mounting evidence — of which this is another piece — that removing amyloid once people have established dementia is closing the barn door after the cows have left,” Knopman said.

New York Times, Medical Mystery: Why Is Back Surgery So Popular in Casper, Wyo.? by Austin Frakt — …A third option is to push people toward high-quality back surgery centers. Walmart created a network of high-quality spine centers for its employees that includes Virginia Mason Hospital in Seattle and the Mayo Clinic. It charged hefty co-payments to anyone getting surgery outside the network. The company found about a third of referrals didn’t need back surgery.

Smithsonian magazine, Doctors Can Use Robotic Telemedicine to Assess Coma Patients by Crystal Ponti — This groundbreaking research conducted at the Mayo Clinic Hospital in Arizona is the first to question if medical providers need to be in the same room as a patient, or if robotic telemedicine can be used to successfully complete an assessment of someone in a comatose state. Led by Bart Demaerschalk, a professor of neurology at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and director of synchronous telemedicine at the Mayo Clinic Center for Connected Care in Rochester, Minnesota, the 15-month study included 100 patients of varying levels of coma. The patients underwent assessments utilizing two closely related scales: the Glasgow Coma Scale (GCS) and the Full Outline of UnResponsiveness (FOUR) score.

WCCO, Mayo Clinic — WCCO’s Good Neighbor Business of the Week — Podcast with Dave Lee and Dr. Wald discussing Mayo’s involvement as a sponsor for the Super Bowl Host Committee. Scroll to mid-page for interview.

WCCO, Rochester Plans $5 Million In Public Transit Investment — Rochester plans to spend $5 million to make over its transit system. The city plans to add 30,000 jobs over the next 20 years due to a Mayo Clinic expansion. Developers are also moving forward with new hotels and condos. There are four potential plans to make the city easier to navigate. Additional coverage: KTTC

Yale News blog, Yale-Mayo Clinic to further regulatory science by Kevin Lin — Funded by a United States Food and Drug Administration grant of up to $6.7 million over two years, Yale and the Mayo Clinic are establishing a Center of Excellence in Regulatory Science and Innovation to advance regulatory science by developing tools to measure the safety and efficacy of FDA-regulated products. According to a press release, the Yale-Mayo Clinic CERSI aims to use real-world data to inform regulatory decision making; allow the FDA to use advanced analytic methods; and share knowledge gathered between the institutions.

Star Tribune, The future after ACA? Look to Minnesota's pasty by Glenn Howatt and Christopher Snowbeck — Health plans in Minnesota’s individual market have much tighter networks this year to reduce costs. Plans sold throughout most of the state, for example, don’t include the Mayo Clinic as an in-network provider, even though survey data from 2013 showed that 38 percent of MCHA beneficiaries said access to Mayo was “extremely important.” So far the idea of bringing back high-risk pools is still in the concept stage, with few details ironed out, such as the crucial issue of how they would be funded.

Colorado Health & Wellness, Hardship to Happiness by Kris Scott — Dr. Amit Sood. Heard of him? The answer is likely no, but there are a lot of people who hope that will soon change, and for good reason. Sood’s not some celebrity wannabe peddling an unobtainable lifestyle for fame and money, but he does have one big goal, which is to bring, for lack of a better word, happiness to seven billion people — the planet’s population. Sood doesn’t think so, and neither do those who know him, including his employer, the Mayo Clinic, who not only supports his work but is partnering with him to bring that work to a much larger audience — more on that later. Currently, Sood runs Resilient Living — its online home is stressfree.org — an organization with a goal to help people overcome their “neural predisposition to suffering.” It’s something he knows a little about because, like others who genuinely want to make the planet a better place, it’s a conviction Sood comes by honestly and organically.

Health.com, 7 Causes of Chest Pain That Aren't A Heart Attack by Maria Masters — Health.com spoke to three leading cardiologists across the country, and all of them reiterated one thing: If you’re having chest pain, and you’re not 100% sure what’s causing it, either call your doctor or call 911...“I know of one person who died and the last thing in their search bar was ‘heart attack symptoms,’” says Sharonne Hayes, a cardiologist at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Additional coverage: Essence

Runner’s World, 8 Things to Know About Running and Your Breasts by Sarah Lorge Butler — The body is not naturally kind to the breasts. “Depending on the size, they can be very heavy,” says Andrea Cheville, M.D., physical medicine and rehabilitation researcher and director of the Cancer Rehabilitation Program at Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. “The body doesn’t support them very well. There’s not much to keep them stable and immobilized.” Just your skin and a few ligaments.  Other parts of the body are luckier. “If you think of something like the abdominal fascia, it’s just incredibly strong,” Cheville says.

Twin Cities Business, DMC Board Approves $38M Mixed-Use Development For Discovery Square by Sam Schaust — The Destination Medical Center Corporation’s board of directors, which oversees developments related to the 20-year, $6 billion plan to transform Rochester into America’s health care capital, approved a $38 million mixed-use development project on Wednesday. Titan Real Estate and Investments and Opus Group will work together to build a new 156-unit apartment complex with 9,000-square-feet of retail shopping space. “It fits well within the Discovery Square sub-district plan, one of the top priority areas for the [Destination Medical Center, or DMC,] initiative and the DMCC board,” said Lisa Clarke, executive director of the DMC Economic Development Agency, in a statement.

KFGO Fargo, Mayo Clinic Study Finds Ways to Allay Dementia! by Jack Sunday — In this Podcast: Dr. Yonas Geda, Mayo Clinic psychiatrist and behavioral neurologist and senior author of a new study on people 70 and older. They found that if people in that age group used a computer, did crafts, hung with friends and played games, they maintained their memory better than those that don't. And, the good news is that people shouldn't turn these activities into "daily drudge work."

JAMA, Addressing Physician Burnout by Tait Shanafelt, et al — A variety of factors contribute to physician burnout. Excessive workload, clerical burden and inefficiency in the practice environment, a loss of control over work, problems with work-life integration, and erosion of meaning in work are all factors.Unlike many industries in which advances in technology have improved efficiency, EHRs appear to have increased clerical burden for physicians and can distract some physicians from meaningful interactions with patients. A recent time-motion study involving direct observation of 57 physicians for 430 hours indicated that physicians spend approximately 33% of their work hours performing direct clinical work and 49% completing clerical tasks and interfacing with the EHR.

AMA blog, Burnout’s other dimension: Eroded sense of medicine as a calling by Timothy M. Smith — Burnout’s effects on physicians are well documented, but new research puts a finer point on the issue. A core motivation for many physicians to practice medicine—a calling to help people—may be undermined by professional burnout. The study, in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, looked at responses from more than 2,200 physicians to assess their identification with medicine as a calling, defined as committing one’s life to work that is personally meaningful and serves a social purpose.

Phoenix Business Journal, Physician bottleneck: Why Arizona must seek more ways to educate new doctors by Angela Gonzales — Mayo Clinic School of Medicine and Creighton University School of Medicine are preparing to open in the Valley — a move many perceive to be a good sign for addressing the growing physician shortage in Arizona.

Becker’s Hospital Review, These 53 hospitals have the best organ transplant outcomes by Heather Punke — Using data collected from other organizations, the Scientific Registry of Transplant Recipients assesses outcomes of centers that perform liver, heart, lung, kidney and kidney-pancreas transplants. Listed below are the hospitals that received a score of five from SRTR for four major transplant types — liver, heart, lung and kidney. No hospitals received a five in the kidney-pancreas transplant category...Heart: Mayo Clinic Hospital (Phoenix). Kidney: Mayo Clinic (Rochester, Minn.).

Outside magazine, A Longtime Fitness Editor Does Some Soul Searching by Scott Rosenfield —There’s a reason Michael Pollan wrote a whole book on nutrition that can be condensed into seven words: “Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.” That thinking isn’t reserved for food science alone. In an email, Michael Joyner, a physiologist at the Mayo Clinic, told me that we overcomplicate everything when it comes to health. He then pointed me to an obituary in the New York Times of Lester Breslow, a researcher who, the Times reported, “gave mathematical proof to the notion that people can live longer and healthier by changing habits like smoking, diet and sleep.”

Healthcare Business News, Mayo Clinic researchers quantify immune cells associated with future breast cancer risk — Researchers from Mayo Clinic have quantified the numbers of various types of immune cells associated with the risk of developing breast cancer. The findings are published in a study in Clinical Cancer Research.  "This is the first study to quantify the numbers of various immune cell types in breast tissue and whether they are associated with later breast cancer risk," says the study's lead author, Amy Degnim, M.D., a breast surgeon at Mayo Clinic.

WKBT La Crosse, Do you have an arrhythmia? by Katrina Vogelgesang — An arrhythmia is an interruption in the electrical impulses that cause your heart to contract. With many different kinds of arrhythmias, and many different magnitudes as well, arrhythmias are more common than you think. There are two types of arrhythmias, according to the Mayo Clinic. A Tachycardia is a sped up heart rate, and a Bradycardia is a slowed heart rate.

Barron News-Shield, Mayo grants available for health projects — For the third year, Mayo Clinic Health System is pleased to offer its Hometown Health Grant program to help improve the health of communities in northwest Wisconsin. The grant application is open to nonprofit organizations in Barron, Buffalo, Dunn, Chippewa, Eau Claire, Pierce, St. Croix and Trempealeau counties. The Hometown Health Grant program supports innovative efforts that help to prevent and reduce obesity (with an emphasis on children), reduce and help manage chronic conditions, and impact mental health and well being. Additional coverage: Chippewa Herald

Live Science, Daily Low-Dose Aspirin May Boost Chances of Successful Pregnancy by Rachael Rettner —Taking high doses of aspirin (more than 100 milligrams a day) during pregnancy may increase the risk of pregnancy loss, congenital defects and complications with the fetuses' heart, according to the Mayo Clinic. Women should speak with their doctor about taking pain medication during pregnancy.

Eau Claire Leader-Telegram, Woman golfing again after heart valve replacement by Christena T. O’Brien — Almost two years ago, Nancee Burbank of Eau Claire found herself getting short of breath going up the stairs in her southside home. Burbank is one of Mayo Clinic Health System’s patient speakers for the annual “Her Heart, Her Story” event set for Thursday. Her cardiovascular surgeon, Dr. Robert Wiechmann, is part of a medical panel of Cardiac Center experts who will answer questions. “I can’t say enough about the care at Mayo,” Burbank said. “I had excellent care and compassion from the time I went into registration until I checked out.”

Chippewa Herald, Mayo Clinic Health System: Love your lipids by Andrew Calvin — Dyslipidemia means abnormal cholesterol and triglyceride levels. While these fat substances are necessary for your body to function normally, too much of the bad kind or not enough of the good kind increases your risk of heart disease, stroke or narrowed arteries in your arms or legs. The first step is getting a cholesterol test, also called a lipid panel or lipid profile. According to mayoclinic.com, this blood test measures four types of fats in your blood…

Medical Xpress, Mayo Clinic News Network: Don't ignore infant fevers — "A fever in this age group can be a sign of a serious bacterial infection that requires urgent medical treatment," says Dr. Seth Gregory, a Mayo Clinic Health System pediatrician. One study identified a serious bacterial infection in 10 percent of infants with a fever between 1 day and 2 months of life. While you do not have to check a temperature on a healthy-looking infant, it is important to check a temperature on your child if there are signs of illness or you believe your child may have a fever.

Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal, Mayo-born bedside-analytics startup Ambient raising $5.4M by Katharine Grayson — Ambient Clinical Analytics Inc., a health care technology startup that analyzes patient data in real time, is seeking about $5.4 million in equity financing, according to a regulatory filing. The Rochester, Minn.-based company spun out of Mayo Clinic about three years ago and has gone on to build several tech tools. Among them is AWARE, an application that generates patient-information dashboards for doctors working in intensive care units. Mayo Clinic physician Dr. Brian Pickering created the tool to prevent ICU doctors from becoming overwhelmed by the flood of data and alarms that are generated by devices that line patients' bedsides.

Post-Bulletin, Most cases of thyroid cancer are curable — DEAR MAYO CLINIC: How is thyroid cancer treated? Does it always require taking out the thyroid? When is iodine treatment used, and how does that work?... .If thyroid cancer is not cured with a combination of surgery and radioactive iodine therapy, then chemotherapy, external radiation therapy or other treatment may be necessary. Fortunately, surgery cures most cases of thyroid cancer, and the long-term outlook after the procedure is usually excellent. — John Morris III, M.D., Endocrinology, Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Post-Bulletin, Mayo Clinic’s History of Medicine to be dedicated by Loren Else — Mayo Clinic's History of Medicine will be dedicated in Plummer Hall on February 22. Public tours of the library, on the 15th floor of Plummer Building will be held on the day of dedication. The library houses the Clinic's collection of some 2,000 rare volumes.

Post-Bulletin, Super Bowl planners ready to roll out fun by Randy Petersen — As his classmates played behind him on an unusually warm Tuesday, fifth-grader Ron Chieves laid down the reason he wants to see more winter activities in Rochester's parks. Chieves was one of 28 Longfellow Elementary School students tapped to weigh in regarding plans for a mobile playground being funded by a $52,000 legacy grant from the Minnesota Super Bowl Host Committee…Excitement for such activities carries lifelong benefits, said Dr. Donald Hensrud, medical director of Mayo Clinic's Healthy Living Program. "We know the best time to establish healthy habits is when we're young," he said, noting more than 50 benefits have been connected to healthy living. "There isn't a pill that does close to that many things," he said.

Post-Bulletin, Our View: Travel ban would have impact on Mayo, Rochester — Regardless of what you think of President Trump's travel ban -- the courts don't think much of it, though polls show Americans fairly split on the issue -- it clearly would have a larger impact on Rochester than on many other cities. Rochester and Mayo Clinic aspire to be an ever-growing international destination medical center. Mayo depends on foreign-born students and professionals to provide world-class health care. The clinic, Minneosta's largest private employer, has an important worldwide clientele and reputation. The city is increasingly diverse and is home to hundreds of refugees from the countries affected by Trump's executive order. All are reasons for Rochester and Mayo to be concerned.

MedPage Today, Watching Tom Brady, Dion Lewis in Super Bowl? by Ryan Basen — Two full years is the optimum time athletes should sit after the ligament is reconstructed, concluded Timothy Hewett, PhD, and doctoral candidate Christopher Nagelli, of the Mayo Clinic, who conducted a literature review of return to play following ACL injuries. The sports medicine community has made significant advances in surgical techniques, postoperative rehabilitation, and identification of risk factors for second injury," the authors wrote, "but this has not translated to a reduction in secondary ACL injury risk. The recovery of baseline knee health and function should be a fundamental requisite prior to returning to sport following (reconstruction).

The State South Carolina, Carolinas CEO sees employees as best asset by Joe Perry — One thing that also separates Carolinas from other hospitals is the recent collaboration with the Mayo Clinic Care Network. “It’s easy, at our fingertip, at our phone access,” he said. Since he came aboard at the beginning of the year, the Mayo connection has been used many times to ensure that decisions

KSFY Sioux Falls, Rarely performed procedure gives Lake City woman a second chance — On July 11th, 2016.....392 days after being placed on the transplant list.....the phone rang. "He said we got a possible match for you are you willing to accept and come down?" The man on the other end of the phone? Doctor Richard Daly at the Mayo Clinic. "There's a point where patients are deteoriating where we need to decide that if we get a chance we need to go ahead." Daly is a 25 year transplant surgery veteran who knew Britiny's condition was bad.

Tech Crunch, Virtual nurse app Sense.ly raises $8 million from investors including the Mayo Clinic by Lora Kolodny — San Francisco startup Sense.ly has raised $8 million in a Series B round of venture funding to bring its virtual nurse technology to clinics and patients of every kind. The company’s app helps physicians stay in touch with patients, and prevent readmission to the hospital. Chief Executive Officer and founder of Sense.ly, Adam Odessky describes the platform as “A cross between Whatsapp and Siri that captures all the important signals about a person’s health.” Investors in Sense.ly’s Series B round included the Mayo Clinic, Chengwei Capital which led the round, Bioved Ventures, Fenox Venture Capital and the Stanford StartX fund. Additional coverage: HIT Consultant, MobiHealthNews

Healthcare IT News, Mayo Clinic expert shares tips for making healthcare certifications worth the expense and effort by John Andrews — There are myriad certifications available for professionals looking to add more alphabet groupings behind their names, but is it always a worthwhile endeavor? “There is a lot of misunderstanding about this right now,” said Kenneth Stensvold, assistant section head for the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn. Before enrolling in a certification program, Stensvold recommended that prospective students ask themselves some pointed questions about it. “They should ask themselves what purpose are they trying to serve?” he explained. “Are they doing it because it is required or are they doing it to benefit themselves?

Healthcare Finance News, Revenue cycle teams add work-from-home options, improving productivity by Jeff Lagasse — The Mayo Clinic in Arizona has offered a work-from-home option to its revenue cycle employees for roughly the same amount of time and has done so for more or less the same reasons: space and job retention. Yvonne Chase, Mayo's director of patient access and business services, said many of the clinic's employees live an hour or more away from work. They wanted to telecommute, and with an inability to expand its physical presence, Mayo was happy to oblige.  "We have a lot of space constraints in our building, and we need that space for our providers," said Chase. "We've always been very successful doing it in other areas, the support areas. This was a good fit."

AccuWeather, Is eating snow dangerous? by Chaffin Mitchell — "Any snow has the risk of containing pollution, dirt and microbes. Snow that has been on the ground for a couple of days may have chemicals from snow removal, dirt, microbes from the dirt and animal debris," Jennifer Johnson, Mayo Clinic Health System family medicine physician said. The risks of eating snow in big cities and small cities or towns are different. "Big cities have more people and more pollution (more cars, buildings, etc). Rural locations have more potential for agricultural chemicals in the ground that may leech into snow over time," Johnson said.

WKBT La Crosse, Number of babies born addicted to opioids are rising by Erik Jacobson — "By no means has La Crosse been immune to this epidemic,” said Dr. Dennis Costakos, the chair of the Department of Neonatal Medicine at Mayo Clinic Health System. But doctors from both local hospitals say that number is changing in a good way. "About two years ago, we saw a little bit of stabilization, and I'm starting to see 30 percent less than let's say at the height of it 4 years ago,” Costakos said.

News4Jax, Antibacterial soap may be more dangerous than beneficial — Some ingredients in antibacterial soap may be hazardous, according to the Food and Drug Administration. Nineteen ingredients that can be found in the soaps are now banned. This affects hand and body soap. "If it says antibacterial on the label, and triclosan is one of the biggest chemicals we are most concerned about, these chemicals have not been found to be any more effective than regular soap and water," said Dr. Vandana Bhide, a pediatrician at Mayo Clinic.

UPI.com, New process creates armies of T cells to fight cancer by Amy Wallace — Researchers from the Mayo Clinic and the University of Washington have developed a new way to target the natural function of T cells when passing through the bloodstream to raise cancer-fighting armies. "Even though it is relatively easy to collect billions of T cells directly from patient blood, it has historically proved difficult or impossible to unleash those T cells' natural ability to recognize and target cancer cells," Dr. Peter Cohen, a Mayo Clinic immunotherapist and co-author of the study, said in a press release.

DOTmed, Mayo Clinic, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia announce rare congenital heart defect collaboration —"We are very excited to be working with Children's Hospital of Philadelphia to explore better treatment options for patients with hypoplastic left heart syndrome," says Timothy Nelson, M.D., Ph.D., director, Todd and Karen Wanek Family Program for Hypoplastic Left Heart Syndrome. "By entering into this collaboration, we are making it possible for all children with hypoplastic left heart syndrome to be able to participate in cell-based treatments, no matter their location. This new hypoplastic left heart syndrome consortium significantly expands the reach of hypoplastic left heart syndrome research."

The Guardian, Refugees needing urgent medical care may see treatment hopes dashed by ban by Amanda Holpuch — In a statement, the Mayo Clinic medical facility said: “We have several patients who would have needed to cancel or delay their appointments at Mayo Clinic if the order had not been challenged by the courts.” The Mayo Clinic said that it also knew of 80 staff, physicians and scholars affiliated with the medical system who were affected by the order. “We have brought expertise from legal, government relations and human resources to help with individual cases as needed,” the statement said. The hospitals would not disclose the status of the patients on Tuesday.

Associated Press, PepsiCo sees growth from "guilt-free" items like Baked Lay's by Candice Choi — Donald Hensrud, director of the Mayo Clinic Healthy Living program, noted that food companies help determine what people eat, and that their efforts to offer better options is progress. "From the standpoint that they are creating healthier products, that's a good thing," he said. It's not just PepsiCo. Food makers across the board are saying they want to offer healthier options as they face criticism from public health advocates and see changing trends among consumers. Additional coverage: WTOP, News & Observer, KTTC

KAAL, Med City FC Signs First Player — The first ever top-level adult amateur soccer team is making its way into Rochester. Med City Football Club is teaming up with Mayo Clinic Sports Medicine, which will be the title sponsor for the season. More than 75 people from nine different states tried out and on Wednesday, the first player signed to play for the team. Additional coverage: KIMT

WKBT La Crosse, Tiny Tim Benefit raises $20,000 for Mayo Clinic Health System — An annual fundraiser is presenting one final gift to an area emergency room. The Franciscan Healthcare Auxiliary presented a checked for $20,000 to the Emergency and Urgent Care Department at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse on Wednesday. The money was raised through the annual Tiny Tim Benefit and Jingle Bell Brunch, which was held for the final time this past year. Additional coverage: WXOW La Crosse

Winona Daily News, Saint Mary’s discussion on DMC, entrepreneurship Feb. 21 — Saint Mary’s University’s Kabara Institute for Entrepreneurial Studies will host a public discussion about how Rochester’s Destination Medical Center initiative will impact entrepreneurship and economic development in southeast Minnesota on Tuesday, Feb. 21 at 7 p.m. in Figliulo Recital Hall (located in Saint Mary’s Performance Center). The public is invited to gain an insider’s perspective from key Mayo Clinic and Rochester business and entrepreneurial leaders.

Jacksonville Business Journal, $50 million in construction set to start at Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville by Derek Gilliam —The Robins & Morton Group picked up a building permit to construct a 152,000-sqaure-foot medical office building for the Mayo Clinic. The job cost for construction of the shell building came in at $50 million, according to the permit. The construction of the four-story building will take place at 4500 San Pablo Road.

La Salud, Claves para evitar el deterioro cognitivo — “Nuestro equipo descubrió que las personas que realizaban estas actividades al menos una o dos veces por semana, sufrían menos deterioro cognitivo que quienes participaban en las misma actividades solo dos o tres veces al mes, o menos”, comenta el Dr. Yonas Geda, psiquiatra y neurólogo conductual de Mayo Clinic, quien es el experto autor del estudio.

A Tu Salud, Conoce la importancia de prevenir las enfermedades cardíacas (+video) — El Dr. Francisco López Jiménez, médico cardiólogo de Mayo Clinic, comenta que las enfermedades del corazón son consideradas la principal causa de muerte tanto en Estados Unidos como en otros países del mundo. “Se estima que aproximadamente 70 por ciento de las enfermedades del corazón se pueden prevenir con cambios en el estilo de vida. No hay tantas enfermedades donde tengamos tanto control en lo que nos pueda pasar en el futuro”, comenta el Dr. López Jiménez.

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