health care Tag
12 Mar USPSTF Recommendation for Hepatitis C Screening of All Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_42708" align="alignleft" width="143"] Dr. Barry[/caption]
Dr. Michael Barry MD
Director of the Informed Medical Decisions Program
Health Decision Sciences Center at Massachusetts General Hospital
Physician at Massachusetts General Hospital
Professor of Medicine,Harvard Medical School
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Hepatitis C affects more people today than ever before, many of whom are younger. If left untreated, it can cause serious, lifelong health problems due to liver damage. The good news is that hepatitis C infection is both preventable and treatable, with recent evidence showing that new treatments for adults are highly effective. Knowing this, we’ve broadened our guidelines to recommend screening for hepatitis C in all adults between the ages of 18 and 79.
12 Mar Recent Older Immigrants May Rely on Public Health Insurance
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53451" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Becerra[/caption]
Dr. Adan Z. Becerra PhD
Senior Epidemiologist for the NIH
Social and Scientific Systems
Washington, District Of Columbia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Previous studies have shown that disparities in insurance coverage by immigration status exist in the United States such that immigrants compared to nonimmigrants are less likely to have insurance. However, most studies have been cross sectional with few studies investigating long term trajectories of insurance coverage over time. We addressed this gap in the literature by following a cohort of adults for 24 years from before until after reaching Medicare age-eligibility.
12 Mar Low Income Seniors With Both Medicare and Medicaid Do Less Well Than More Affluent Elderly
Posted at 16:00h
in Author Interviews, Beth Israel Deaconess, Brigham & Women's - Harvard, Cost of Health Care, Geriatrics, JAMA, Medicare
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_53434" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Wadhera[/caption]
Rishi K. Wadhera, MD
Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians
Cardiovasular Diseases
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In the U.S., income inequality has steadily increased over the last several decades. Given widening inequities, there has been significant concern about the health outcomes of older Americans who experience poverty, particularly because prior studies have shown a strong link between socioeconomic status and health.
In this study, we evaluated how health outcomes for low-income older adults who are dually enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid have changed since the early 2000’s, and whether disparities have narrowed or widened over time compared with more affluent older adults who are solely enrolled in Medicare (non-dually enrolled).
11 Mar Different Cervical Cancer Risk with Copper vs Hormonal IUDs
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53473" align="alignleft" width="161"] Dr. Spotnitz[/caption]
Matthew E. Spotnitz, MD, MPH
Departments of Biomedical Informatics and Obstetrics and Gynecology
Columbia University Medical Center
Observational Health Data Sciences and Informatics, and Medical Informatics Services
New York-Presbyterian Hospital, New York, New York
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Our take home message is that copper and hormonal IUDs may have different physiological effects on the female genitourinary system.
10 Mar Drug Companies Pour Money Into Decision-Makers in Congress
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53363" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Wouters[/caption]
Olivier Wouters, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Health Policy
Department of Health Policy
London School of Economics and Political Science
London
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Although both Democrats and Republicans consider lowering prescription drug prices a priority, lobbyists and campaign donors in the pharmaceutical industry may counteract efforts by federal and state governments to decrease these costs.
In this study, I tracked every dollar spent by the pharmaceutical and health product industry on lobbying and campaign contributions in the US from 1999 to 2018.
These data were obtained from the Center for Responsive Politics and the National Institute on Money in Politics—two non-profit, non-partisan US organizations.
07 Mar Cigna Will Waive Co-Pays for Covid-19 Tests Ordered by Health Care Providers
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53428" align="alignleft" width="162"] Dr. Miller[/caption]
Dr. Steve Miller MD MBA
Chief Clinical Officer
Cigna
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: With diagnoses of coronavirus increasing, Cigna is committed to helping contain the virus, removing barriers to testing and treatment, and giving peace of mind to its clients and customers.
06 Mar AI May Drive Faster Diagnosis of COVID-19
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
Arni S.R. Srinivasa Rao, PhD
Professor, Division of Health Economics and Modeling, DPHS
Director - Laboratory for Theory and Mathematical Modeling
Department of Medicine - Division of Infectious Diseases
Medical College of Georgia
Department of Mathematics, Augusta University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: This is a methodological study with a flowchart, algorithm, and theory to enable quicker identification of individuals at risk of coronavirus based on CDC's guidelines on COVID-19.
05 Mar Stress and Delayed Detection Contribute to Increased Melanoma Mortality with Loss of Partner
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53405" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Langan[/caption]
Dr. Sinead Langan. FRCP MSc PhD
Professor of Clinical Epidemiology
Wellcome Senior Clinical Fellow
Faculty of Epidemiology and Population Health,
London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine
London, U.K.
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Psychological stress is commonly cited as a risk factor for melanoma, but clinical evidence is limited. We wanted to test the hypothesis that acute severe stress increases the risk of melanoma and melanoma progression.
05 Mar How Best to Measure Patient Persistence with Medications? Self Report or Pharmacy Fill?
Posted at 02:29h
in Author Interviews, Compliance, Electronic Records, JAMA, University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_53388" align="alignleft" width="180"] Dr. Fanaroll[/caption]
Alexander C. Fanaroff, MD, MHS
Assistant Professor of Medicine, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine
University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: This is a secondary analysis of the ARTEMIS, a cluster randomized trial of copayment assistance for P2Y12 inhibitors in patients that had myocardial infarction. One of the primary endpoints of ARTEMIS was persistence with P2Y12 inhibitors: Did the patient continue to take a P2Y12 inhibitor over the entire 1 year following MI? In ARTEMIS, we captured persistence data in two ways, patient report and pharmacy fill records. What we did in this study was to look at the agreement between persistence as measured by these two methods.
05 Mar Study Finds No Link Between Moderate Egg Consumption and Overall CVD Risk
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: Jean-Philippe Drouin-Chartier, RD PhD Assistant Professor, Faculty of Pharmacy, Université Laval Researcher, NUTRISS Center of INAF, Université Laval Visiting Scientist, Department of Nutrition Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? Response: Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a leading cause of death worldwide. Eggs are a major source of dietary cholesterol, but they are also an affordable source of high-quality protein, iron, unsaturated fatty acids, phospholipids, and carotenoids. However, because of the cholesterol content in eggs, the association between egg intake and CVD risk has been a topic of intense debate in the past decades. Many prospective studies on the association between egg intake and cardiovascular disease risk have provided conflicting findings. The aim of our study was to prospectively examine the association between egg consumption and risk of CVD in three cohorts of US men and women, and to conduct a systematic review and a meta-analysis of prospective cohort studies on eggs and CVD.
04 Mar USPSTF Statement on Screening for Cognitive Impairment in Older Adults
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53371" align="alignleft" width="133"] Dr. Doubeni[/caption]
Chyke A. Doubeni, M.D., M.P.H.
Director, the Mayo Clinic Center Health Equity and Community Engagement Research
Department of Family Medicine
Mayo Clinic in Rochester, MN
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Cognitive impairment is a serious public health problem that affects millions of Americans as they age; it can lead to frustrating challenges that impact their everyday lives, such as trouble remembering, learning new things, or organizing their thoughts.
04 Mar Cancer Drugs Most Expensive to Develop
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53363" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Wouters[/caption]
Olivier Wouters, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Health Policy
Department of Health Policy (COW 2.06)
London School of Economics and Political Science
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: Drug companies often point to high research and development costs as justification for the rising prices of new medicines.
Yet most prior analyses of research and development costs have been based on confidential data voluntarily supplied by drug companies to researchers with financial ties to the industry. Independent teams have not been able to verify those findings.
04 Mar Discounts Linked to Widening Gap Between List and Net Drug Prices
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46836" align="alignleft" width="132"] Dr. Hernandez[/caption]
Inmaculada Hernandez, PharmD, PhD
Assistant Professor of Pharmacy and Therapeutics
University of Pittsburgh School of Pharmacy
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Prior research found that list prices of drugs more than doubled in the last decade. However, because prior research was based on list prices, it did not account for manufacturer discounts, which have also increased in the past few years.
We leveraged net pricing data from the investment firm SSR health to estimate increases in drug prices after accounting for discounts.
28 Feb Drivers of More Expensive Cars Less Likely To Yield For Pedestrians
I think a take away message is that only about 28% of cars actually yielded....
27 Feb Most Women Report Weight Gain After Breast Cancer Diagnosis
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53328" align="alignleft" width="120"] Dr. Ee[/caption]
Carolyn Ee PhD
NICM Health Research Institute
Western Sydney University
Australia
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Worldwide and in Australia, breast cancer is the most common cancer in women. Weight gain is common after diagnosis of breast cancer and may increase tumour recurrence risk, mortality rate, and worsen quality of life. As there was no national data on the prevalence of weight gain after breast cancer in Australia, we undertook a national survey which was open to any woman living in Australia who had breast cancer.
24 Feb What is the Link Between Body Height and Dementia?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53278" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Jørgense[/caption]
Terese Sara Høj Jørgensen PhD
Assistant Professor
Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences
University of Copenhagen
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Dementia may develop as a result of both genetics and environmental exposures operating throughout the life course, and the risk of dementia may already be established early in life. Body height has a strong genetic component and is at the same time influenced by environmental factors early in life. Body height is an expression of growth early in life and a taller body height could express that the body has had an optimal development. At the same time, a shorter body height could be an indicator of harmful exposures early in life. A few smaller studies have identified a link between body height and dementia. However, rather than being a risk factor of dementia in itself, body height is likely an indicator of harmful exposures early in life and hereby linked to dementia. Body growth could furthermore be linked to dementia as an indicator of brain and cognitive reserve. Thus, to understand the relationship between body height and dementia, large scale high-quality longitudinal studies exploring the impact of early environmental factors and genetics to explain the link between body height and dementia were needed prior to this study.
24 Feb Hospitals That Received Awards for Quality Care More Likely to Be Penalized by CMS
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53210" align="alignleft" width="160"] Dr. Wadhera[/caption]
Rishi K. Wadhera, MD
Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center
Harvard Medical Faculty Physicians
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In recent years, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services has implemented nationally mandated value-based programs to incentivize hospitals to deliver higher quality care. The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP), for example, has financially penalized hospitals over $2.5 billion to date for high 30-day readmission rates.
In addition, the Value-Based Purchasing Program (VBP) rewards or penalizes hospitals based on their performance on multiple domains of care. Both programs have focused on cardiovascular care. The evidence to date, however, suggests that these programs have not improved health outcomes, and there is growing concern that they may disproportionately penalize hospitals that care for sick and poor patients, rather than for poor quality care.
23 Feb Uncomplicated Appendicitis: Patient Satisfaction of Surgery vs Antibiotics
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53265" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Salminen[/caption]
Paulina Salminen MD PhD
Chief and Professor of surgery
Turku University, Finland
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Appendectomy has been the standard treatment for uncomplicated acute appendicitis and currently one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures. We now know that there are two different forms of acute appendicitis: the more common milder uncomplicated acute appendicitis and the more severe complicated acute appendicitis. While the complicated form is primarily still treated surgically, in recent years evidence from randomised trials and meta-analyses show that antibiotics are a safe and efficient treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis also at long-term follow-up.
Quality of life (QOL) and patient satisfaction after antibiotic therapy or appendectomy for uncomplicated acute appendicitis have been studied previously in a pediatric population but not in an adult population. Our aim was to compare long-term quality of life and patient satisfaction after antibiotic therapy and appendectomy for the treatment of uncomplicated acute appendicitis in patients enrolled in the original APPAC trial.
22 Feb Prices for Drugs Commonly Used in Emergency Departments Rise Substantially
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:Collin Tebo BA
Georgetown University School of Medicine
Washington, DC
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The growing cost of pharmaceuticals is an issue of increasing concern in the United States where a large portion of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product is health care spending. During the past decade, visits to Emergency Departments (EDs) have increased considerably. Pharmaceutical drugs are utilized in the care of most patients who visit the ED therefore, rising drug prices are a concern for emergency medicine physicians, administrators, and patients throughout the US.
20 Feb Has Medicaid Expansion Affected Access to Timely Cancer Care?
Posted at 13:36h
in Author Interviews, Cancer Research, Cost of Health Care, JAMA, University of Pennsylvania
MedicalResearch.com Interview with:
[caption id="attachment_53218" align="alignleft" width="180"] Dr. Takvorian[/caption]
Samuel Takvorian, MD, MS
Instructor in the Division of Hematology and Oncology
LDI Associate Professor
University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The Affordable Care Act’s Medicaid expansions have been associated with improved access to care, affordability, and for certain surgical and medical conditions, health outcomes. However, studies have also suggested unintended consequences such as lengthened wait times, and there is continued debate about the overall impact of the expansions.
19 Feb Private Equity Firms Increasingly Target Specialty Medical Groups for Investment
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53189" align="alignleft" width="180"] Dr. Zhu[/caption]
Jane M. Zhu, MD, MPP, MSHP
Assistant Professor of Medicine
Division of General Internal Medicine
Oregon Health and Sciences University
Penn LDI Adjunct Senior Fellow
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: In recent years, private equity firms have been rapidly entering the health care sector, including by purchasing physician medical groups. There’s a lot of interest in this trend but very little empirical research to understand its scope, characteristics, and effects.
19 Feb Which States Have Most Ultraviolet-Related Melanomas?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_46733" align="alignleft" width="120"] Dr. Islami[/caption]
Farhad Islami, MD PhD
Scientific Director, Surveillance Research
American Cancer Society, Inc
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Many cases of cutaneous melanoma (melanoma) in the United States have been attributed to ultraviolet (UV) radiation, but there was little information on the state-by-state burden of melanoma due to UV exposure. We estimated numbers, proportions and age-standardized incidence rates of malignant melanomas attributable to UV radiation in each US state by calculating the difference between observed melanomas during 2011–2015 and expected cases based on rates in a population with theoretically minimum UV exposure.
As there is no population completely unexposed to UV radiation, the reference rates we used were historical melanoma incidence rates in Connecticut during 1942–1954, when the melanoma burden was low. For most adults, melanomas diagnosed in that period likely reflected UV exposure accumulated in the 1930s or earlier, when exposure was minimized by clothing style and limited recreational exposure.
We estimated that 338,701 melanoma cases (91.0% of total, 372,335) in the United States during 2011–2015 were attributable to UV exposure; 94.3% of all these UV-attributable cases (or 319,412 cases) occurred in non-Hispanic whites. UV-attributable melanoma incidence rates and cases were higher among males than females, but attributable rates and cases in ages <45 years were higher among females.
18 Feb Prolonged Sitting Raises Cardiac Risk Factors in Post-Menopausal Women
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53194" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Sears[/caption]
Dorothy Sears Ph.D.
Professor of Nutrition
College of Health Solutions
Arizona State University
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Historically, heart disease among women has been understudied despite this being the number one cause of death in women. One in three women will die from heart disease. Older women are the fasting growing population in the US and after menopause experience a dramatic increase in risk for cardiometabolic diseases such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes. For these reasons, it is critical to understand the impact of modifiable behaviors on this risk. Accumulating evidence shows that prolonged sitting is a highly prevalent behavior, associated with cardiometabolic and mortality risk, and greatest in older adults. Thus, overweight or obese postmenopausal women who partake in prolonged sitting time likely have highly compounded cardiometabolic risk.
13 Feb Don’t Rely on Smartphone Apps To Diagnose Skin Cancer
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53101" align="alignleft" width="200"] Prof. Deeks[/caption]
Professor Jon Deeks PhD, CStat
Institute of Applied Health Research
Professor of Biostatistics
College of Medical and Dental Sciences
University of Birmingham, UK
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Skin cancer is one of the most common cancers in the world, and the incidence is increasing. In 2003, the World Health Organization estimated that between two and three million skin cancers occur globally each year, 80% of which are basal cell carcinoma, 16% cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma, and 4% melanoma. The potential for melanoma to metastasise to other parts of the body means that it is responsible for up to 75% of skin cancer deaths. Five year survival can be as high as 91-95% for melanoma if it is identified early, which makes early detection and treatment key to improving survival.
Early detection of melanoma is reliant on people with new or changing moles seeking early advice from medical professionals. Skin cancer smartphone applications (“apps”) provide a technological approach to assist people with suspicious lesions to decide whether they should seek further medical attention. Of increasing interest are smartphone apps that use inbuilt algorithms (or “artificial intelligence”) that catalogue and classify images of lesions into high or low risk for skin cancer (usually melanoma).
Apps with inbuilt algorithms that make a medical claim are now classified as medical devices that require regulatory approval. These apps could be harmful if recommendations are erroneous, particularly if false reassurance leads to delays in people obtaining medical assessment. CE (Conformit Europenne) marking has been applied to allow distribution of two algorithm based apps in Europe (SkinScan and SkinVision), one of which is also available in Australia and New Zealand. However, no apps currently have United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval to allow their distribution in the US and Canada.
We have completed a systematic review of studies that examine the accuracy of all apps that use inbuilt algorithms to identify skin cancer in users of smartphones. We report on the scope, findings, and validity of the evidence.
12 Feb PFAS Chemicals Found in Drinking Water Linked to Tooth Decay in Children
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53134" align="alignleft" width="200"]
Dr. Wiener and Christopher Waters, Research Labs Director, WVU School of Dentistry[/caption]
R. Constance Wiener, DMD, PhD
Associate Professor
West Virginia University School of Dentistry
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Perfluoroalkyl and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) are chemical groups that have had a wide variety of uses due to their ability to their ability to repel water and stains. They might be found in food packaging, water-repellant clothing and carpeting, paints, fire-fighting foam, and water, for example. Although many are no longer manufactured in the United States, PFAS persist in the environment as they do not readily break down. Adverse health effects have been speculated especially for low birthweight babies, immunological effects, certain cancers and thyroid hormone disruption.1 With these considerations, we hypothesized that there may be an association of PFAS with tooth development and subsequent dental caries (cavities).
10 Feb Many Adults Approaching Retirement Avoid Medical Care Because of Cost Concerns
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53089" align="alignleft" width="200"] Dr. Tipirneni[/caption]
Renuka Tipirneni, MD, MSc, FACP
Assistant Professor
Holder of the Grace H. Elta MD Department of Internal Medicine
Early Career Endowment Award 2019-2024
University of Michigan Department of Internal Medicine
Divisions of General Medicine and Hospital Medicine
and Institute for Healthcare Policy & Innovation
Ann Arbor, MI 48109
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: While U.S. adults age 50-64 previously had more limited options for health insurance before Medicare at age 65, the Affordable Care Act expanded the number of options, including Marketplace plans (e.g., through HealthCare.gov) and Medicaid. This expanded set of options may complicate decisions about health insurance near retirement. In addition, several policy challenges to the Affordable Care Act may add uncertainty to the decision-making process.
01 Feb Sweet Taste of Diet Soda May Raise Risk of Diabetes
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53057" align="alignleft" width="164"] Dr. Yanina Pepino[/caption]
Marta Yanina Pepino, PhD
Assistant Professor
Department of Food Science and Human Nutrition
Division of Nutritional Sciences
College of Agricultural, Consumer and Environmental Sciences Administration
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Urbana, IL 61801
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study? What are the main findings?
Response: There is a general belief that substituting sugars with low calorie sweeteners contributes to diet healthfulness. However, accumulating data suggest that consuming a diet high in low calorie sweeteners , mainly in diet sodas, is associated with the same health issues than consuming a diet high in added sugars, including an increased risk of developing type 2 diabetes. The potential mechanism underlying such association are varied and still unclear. Our findings contribute to the growing evidence that despite having very little or no calories, sweeteners can affect our metabolism (i.e. the way we handle blood sugar) and that their effects may be different in people with obesity from those of normal weight.
30 Jan Not Always Clear Which Insurance Plans Are Affiliated with Catholic Hospitals
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_53001" align="alignleft" width="129"] Dr. Drake[/caption]
Coleman Drake, PhD
Assistant Professor, Health Policy and Management
Pitt Public Health
Affiliate faculty member
Medicaid Research Center and Center for Pharmaceutical Policy and Prescribing
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: The religious directives of Catholic hospitals prohibit the provision of many forms of contraception. To examine how Catholic hospitals restrict access to reproductive health services, we examined the market share of Catholic hospitals in every county in the continental US.
We found that nearly 40% of women of reproductive-aged women live in counties with high or dominant Catholic hospital market share. We also examined whether the networks of Health Insurance Marketplace (i.e., Obamacare) plans direct their enrollees toward or away from Catholic hospitals, and thus reproductive health services.
29 Jan How Can Virtual Assistants Be Trained to Help Substance Abusers?
MedicalResearch.com Interview with: [caption id="attachment_51918" align="alignleft" width="158"] Dr. Ayers[/caption]
John W. Ayers, PhD MA
Vice Chief of Innovation | Assoc. Professor
Div. Infectious Disease & Global Public Health
University of California San Diego
MedicalResearch.com: What is the background for this study?
Response: Already half of US adults use smart device enabled intelligent virtual assistants, like Amazon Alexa. Moreover, many of the makers of intelligent virtual assistants are poised to roll out health care advice, including personalized wellness strategies. We take a step back and ask do intelligent virtual assistants provide actionable health support now?
To do so we focus on a specific case study. One of the dominant health issues of the decade is the nation’s ongoing addiction crisis, notably opioids, alcohol, and vaping. As a result, it is an ideal case to begin exploring the ability of intelligent virtual assistants to provide actionable answers for obvious health questions.