Tell anybody in a health care setting that you’re hurting, and they always want a number. “How bad is the pain on a scale of one to 10,” they ask, “where one is no pain, and 10 is the worst pain you can imagine?”

The health care industry is undergoing seismic shifts as the result of new technologies. When you think about the laundry list of items and challenges in your IT strategy - security, IoT, cloud, shrinking capital budgets, mobility - they all apply to the health care industry. However, it comes with a different set of challenges. The health care industry is not a single entity. Made up of hundreds of different federal, state and local entities, along with myriad commercial service providers, it is a loose confederation of parties that use disparate systems that are somehow meant to interoperate. Adding to that is a diverse range of customers for whom good service can be a matter of life or death.

After 900 failed attempts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (that number may be a little off, it's been a long year), US President Trump took two actions yesterday that could destroy insurance markets. US citizens will still be able to buy an "Obamacare" plan for next year and their current insurance will still work. But this portends some very bad news.

Cancer is the worst. And, maybe thanks to Movember and pink consumer goods, we're all extremely aware. Too aware. Because we've gotten it drilled into our heads to always get tested, patients are ignoring the risks of unnecessary cancer screenings, says the New York Times. Low-risk patients often get false positives, leading to dangerous and wasteful misapplications of radiation and chemotherapy.

You would think an emergency room is a place to get medical care quickly, but plenty of us know the feeling of waiting for hours even if the place doesn't seem busy. This video helps to explain why.

If you've gotten a blood test for herpes, and it came up positive, the chances that you actually have herpes are lower than you think.

You may have heard people suggesting that if you want to be sure you'll have birth control for the next four years, you should book your IUD insertion appointment now. You may not have considered an implant when choosing your birth control, but don't dismiss the idea out of hand.

Annual health exams are pretty normal, but whether they're necessary is up for debate. Years ago, I asked my doctor for a checkup and he chuckled, pointing out that I seemed fine. So, is this annual tradition really a necessity? It boils down to three simple questions.

On April 1, health insurance premiums will rise across the board in Australia. This year, the average price hike is estimated at 5.6 per cent which works out to around $200 per family. However, some premiums are going up more than others which can result in forking out significantly more. Here are the average increases for each insurer in Australia.