Same-day pharmacy delivery from Amazon? It could happen .
Questions swirl around Amazon’s plans to move into the pharmacy sphere: How could it affect current market dynamics and address challenges, like timely drug delivery and medication adherence? The logistics giant, which makes a large chunk of its earnings on storing data, is positioned to do big things to improve coordination of products and services. That, of course, could also influence buyers to spend more with them. Amazon hasn’t announced whether it will direct initial efforts towards health care providers or sell directly to consumers—a market with huge profit potential, but rife with regulatory complexity. ( MedCity News)

Poll: Continue funding for Medicaid expansion states
Americans say it’s important to continue funding for states that expanded Medicaid under the ACA, according to a Kaiser Family Foundation survey. Overall, more than 70 percent of those responding said they prefer keeping Medicaid largely as it is now, but among Republicans, only 47 percent say to keep the status quo, while 48 percent said they support changing Medicaid so states have more flexibility in determining who and what services are covered. ( Kaiser Family Foundation ; survey results)

Researchers harmonize music and medicine

For centuries, philosophers have traced the connection between music and medicine. Researchers at Johns Hopkins formalized it with the Center for Music and Medicine. Co-founded and co-directed by Alex Pantelyat, a Johns Hopkins University neurologist, the goal is to "integrate music and rhythm into medical care and improve the health of musicians worldwide.”  Interdisciplinary work began with a study of how choral singing can affect symptoms of Parkinson’s, measuring its effects on mood, memory, sound pressure, voice jitter and more. Results are not yet published, but the choral group found the experience so uplifting that it continues to meet. ( The Baltimore Sun )

Home genetic testing: Who owns the data?
AncestryDNA’s invitation to consumers to identify their “ethnic mix” via a home DNA test included eyebrow-raising fine print: consumer permission for the company to own “a perpetual, royalty-free, world-wide, transferable license to use your DNA.” Legal experts theorize that information from you—or any relatives that give a sample—could make its way into the hands of insurers or other parties. AncestryDNA leadership updated its terms to clarify customers still own their genetic information, and say the company doesn’t intend to sell the data. But with permission, they will share de-identified information to for-profit research companies. ( Slate ; Snopes)

Arkansas: OK to submit backup plan for the backup plan
Uncertainty around the validity of cost-sharing reduction payments in ACA marketplace plans? No problem, says Arkansas Insurance Commissioner Allen Kerr. His department will allow insurance carriers to submit multiple sets of rates for 2018. Only one set will be reviewed for approval, while the others are provided “for informational purposes.” That lets carriers change their proposed rates if federal payments stop. "We wanted to be proactive this far out, in order to let folks know that we understand there's this question out here," said insurance department spokesman Ryan James. ( ArkansasOnline.com)

Copy-and-paste makes progress notes easy—and less accurate
Less than 20 percent of the text in a typical EHR physician progress note is original; 46 percent is copied and pasted and 36 percent is imported from other sources, according to a study published in JAMA Internal Medicine. Research from the National Institute of Standards and Technology says copy-and-paste functionality has “introduced overwhelming and unintended safety-related issues,” such as outdated or inaccurate information. One recommended fix is to make it easy to recognize information that was copied and pasted, so clinicians can evaluate where it came from when reviewing the record. ( Healthcare Informatics ; JAMA Internal Medicine)

Minneapolis takes the lead