Cardiovascular diagnoses such as chest pain and atherosclerotic heart disease are key drivers of outpatient payments, which accounted for almost 57 percent of hospitals’ net patient revenue in 2017, according to data compiled by Definitive Healthcare.

UnitedHealthcare partnered with Medtronic Feb. 1 to make the device company’s MiniMed 670G insulin pump system its preferred pump for diabetics aged 7 and up—a move the Juvenile Diabetes Research Foundation (JDRF) calls “an unacceptable step backward” and says effectively limits patients’ choices to one product.

Spending growth per Medicare beneficiary has slowed considerably since 2005, and 56 percent of that decline can be linked to reduced spending on cardiovascular disease and related risk factors, researchers reported Feb. 4 in Health Affairs.

Researchers predicted 12,400 additional deaths from cardiovascular disease (CVD) could occur in England between 2021 and 2030 if the United Kingdom severs preferential trading agreements with the European Union (EU) and prices of fruits and vegetables are impacted.

General Electric (GE) has changed its original strategy and will now aim to sell nearly half of its healthcare unit, GE Healthcare, according to GE CEO Larry Culp.

Amid the FDA’s crackdown on the e-cigarette industry due to rising rates of teen vaping, a new randomized trial revealed e-cigs are effective for their original purpose: The devices were almost twice as successful as other nicotine replacement therapies, like patches and gums, in helping people stop smoking.

It isn’t too late to sustain a 50-year-long reduction in cardiovascular disease-related deaths, according to research published in Clinical Cardiology—but with rising rates of obesity and diabetes, we’re closer than ever to reversing that progress.

The FDA published its final guidance Jan. 22 for ensuring medical devices meet “more modern safety and performance criteria” before being cleared through the agency’s 510(k) review process.