Medical economics

Australia has made progress in reducing socioeconomic inequalities in life expectancy since the late 2010s, according to new research from The Australian National University (ANU), setting the country apart from many other high-income countries.

Four discrete cross-sectional surveys of US adults from 2020–2024 reveal US adults reporting high confidence in the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) dropped from 82% in February 2020 to a low of 56% in June 2022, according to a study published in PLOS Global Public Health by Amyn A. Malik and colleagues from UT Southwestern Medical Center, United States.

Overall, 46% of adults age 65 and older have taken steps to “age in place,” according to a new poll. This includes 31% who have made modifications to make their home more age-friendly and 26% who have already moved to a place that can meet their needs as they age. Some older adults have done both.

A video consultation between patient and surgeon is just as good as a physical visit to the outpatient clinic to discuss a major operation. This is evident from research by Amsterdam UMC, which demonstrated that a video consultation is just as good as a physical consultation in terms of information uptake.

It is well known that both scarcity of resources and expectations of efficacy influence preferences and decisions in health care. But how do these two factors (scarcity and expectations) affect when both are combined? Why, for example, were specific groups of patients (mainly elderly and disabled) so obviously discriminated against during the COVID-19 pandemic, when medical resources were particularly scarce?

Republicans in the U.S. Senate are sparring over their version of the multitrillion-dollar budget and immigration bill the House of Representatives passed on May 22, 2025.

Australian nurses have responded to hundreds of disaster events over the last six years, but new research led by Charles Darwin University (CDU) suggests they still aren’t ready for the impact of catastrophe. The work is published in the journal Health Emergency and Disaster Nursing.

A new study published in the journal Vaccine reveals that improvements in the supply chain and delivery of human rabies vaccines in Tanzania and Kenya could significantly reduce preventable deaths and ensure more efficient use of health budgets.

While it may seem intuitive that people would die without life-saving medications, Penn and Harvard researchers have connected losing a federally funded prescription drug assistance program and an increase in mortality.

New research by ESMT Berlin and the Halle Institute for Economic Research (IWH) shows that private equity (PE) acquisitions lead to substantial operational efficiency gains in hospitals, challenging common public concerns. The study reveals that hospitals acquired by PE firms significantly reduce costs and administrative staff without increasing closure rates or harming patient care.