Christina is the associate editorial director of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and The American Journal of Accountable Care® (AJAC), and joined AJMC in 2016. She oversees the publication of the print journals, from manuscript submission to publication, and works with the editors in chief and editorial boards to promote the journals.
She has a BS in public health from Rutgers University. You can connect with Christina on LinkedIn.
Population-Level Weight Maintenance Programs Could Help Prevent Diabetes, Study Finds
February 6th 2017A recent study indicated that strategies to promote weight loss or maintenance across an entire population could be more effective in preventing type 2 diabetes than programs specifically targeting obese people at high risk of developing the disease.
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Report Commissioned by COA Explores "Murky" World of Pharmacy DIR Fees
February 2nd 2017A white paper commissioned by the Community Oncology Alliance (COA) delved into the practice of “direct and indirect remuneration” fees administered by pharmacy benefit managers and how they could drive up drug prices for Medicare Part D beneficiaries and taxpayers.
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OxyContin Maker Purdue to Fund Upgrade of Virginia Prescription Monitoring System
January 29th 2017The collaboration between Purdue Pharma and the Virginia Department of Health comes about 2 months after Governor Terry McAuliffe declared the state’s opioid addiction crisis a public health emergency.
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More Patients Willing to Switch to Telehealth Providers
January 28th 2017A recent survey of consumers found that 1 in 5 were willing to switch from their current primary care physician to one that offered telehealth visits. Researchers noted a particular interest among the survey respondents in using telehealth to manage a chronic illness or get a prescription refilled.
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ACA Draws Support From Physicians, but Also Conservative Medicaid Expansion States
January 26th 2017A pair of commentaries published in the New England Journal of Medicine explored the popularity of the Affordable Care Act among both US physicians and residents of red states that have expanded Medicaid. Legislators preparing to repeal the law will need to contend with the widespread support for some of its components, even in unexpected regions of the nation.
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COPD Undertreatment Actually Led to Fewer Exacerbations, Study Finds
January 25th 2017A study of patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) treated at a Veterans Administration hospital in New York found an unexpected relationship: the veterans who were undertreated according to treatment guidelines had lower rates of COPD exacerbation events.
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FDA Campaign Decreased Teen Smoking Initiation, but E-Cigs Continue to Entice Youth
January 24th 2017The FDA’s anti-smoking campaign warning teens about “The Real Cost” of cigarettes was successful at preventing smoking initiation, according to the results of a nationwide survey. However, another study found that levels of e-cigarette use have increased among adolescents unlikely to start smoking cigarettes.
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Healthcare Costs and Utilization After First-Line Therapy for Medicare DLBCL Patients
January 23rd 2017Patients diagnosed with diffuse large B-cell lymphoma (DLBCL) who relapsed following first-line treatment had higher rates of healthcare utilization and greater costs than the patients who had not relapsed.
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Lead Author of Hospitalist Study Discusses Success of Unique Staffing Models
January 23rd 2017A study published last October indicated that hospitalist groups with a higher ratio of physician assistants to physicians achieved the same outcomes at lower cost in a community hospital setting. Lead author Timothy Capstack, MD, explained to The American Journal of Managed Care® how these hospitalist models can benefit patients in a variety of healthcare settings.
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For American Indians, Food Insecurity and Chronic Disease May Be Linked
January 21st 2017Rates of food insecurity remain high in American Indian communities, and a recent study indicates that inadequate food quality and quantity may put these populations at higher risk of diabetes, obesity, and hypertension.
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Predictors of Health IT Adoption in Small Primary Care Practices
January 19th 2017The use of health information technology in small primary care practices continues to rise, but a recent study found that the extent of its adoption varies based on practice size, ownership, and financial incentives.
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Rare Disease Information Websites Vary in Quality, Study Finds
January 18th 2017Patients with rare diseases often turn to the Internet for information on their illness, but an analysis of some of these websites found that their content often failed to meet important quality criteria and neglected key information categories.
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Ibrutinib Prevents Cytokine-Release Syndrome After CAR T-Cell Therapy for B-Cell Neoplasms
January 18th 2017A study in a mouse model found that mice receiving chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)-T immunotherapy plus ibrutinib demonstrated longer overall survival and reduced cytokine production than the mice not treated with ibrutinib.
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CDC Seminar Addresses Challenges of Opioid Abuse in Women
January 18th 2017During a Public Health Grand Rounds seminar hosted by the CDC on Tuesday, 3 experts from different vantage points within the healthcare system discussed why opioid use disorder presents unique challenges in women and what can be done to address this crisis.
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Medicaid Expansion Associated With Higher-Quality Care in Community Health Centers
January 16th 2017After the Affordable Care Act allowed states to expand Medicaid eligibility for low-income residents, 25 states and the District of Columbia chose to do so by 2014. A team of researchers from Brown University analyzed data from federally funded community health centers and found increased levels of coverage and better care quality for those in Medicaid expansion states.
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5 Health-Related Takeaways From Trump's Press Conference
January 13th 2017President-elect Donald J. Trump held a news conference in New York Wednesday on a wide range of topics, but a recurring theme was the future of healthcare. Here are 5 things we learned about Trump’s plans for healthcare at Wednesday’s conference.
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CVS, Cigna Decisions Encourage Use of Cheaper EpiPen Alternatives
January 12th 2017Shortly after Cigna announced it would stop covering the name-brand EpiPen, CVS declared it would begin selling a cheaper generic version of the costly epinephrine injector. Earlier in the week, Heather Bresch, CEO of EpiPen manufacturer Mylan, had reflected on the controversy surrounding the device’s price.
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Vaccine Skeptic Robert F. Kennedy Jr May Lead Trump's Vaccination Safety Panel
January 11th 2017President-elect Donald J. Trump's transition team declined to confirm that vaccine skeptic Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., would head a vaccine safety commission in the new administration, but the move would be consistent with Trump's prior positions on vaccination and autism.
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Larger Insurers, Provider Groups Have More Success Negotiating Prices
January 10th 2017A recent study in Health Affairs indicated that insurers with greater market shares are better able to negotiate lower prices, particularly from larger provider groups. The findings could have far-reaching implications as insurers continue to merge and smaller provider groups face lower payments.
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Medicare Catastrophic Coverage Spending Tripled Since 2010, OIG Reports
January 7th 2017Payments for catastrophic coverage under Medicare Part D have more than tripled since 2010, rising past $33 billion in 2015, according to a new report from the Office of Inspector General (OIG). The report identified high-priced specialty drugs as a major driver of the increase in spending.
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State Medicaid Directors Ask CMS to Consider Longer Coverage of Psychiatric Stays
January 6th 2017In a letter to CMS, the National Association of Medicaid Directors contended that a 15-day limit on inpatient psychiatric treatment reimbursement is too short for effective treatment of some patients diagnosed with severe mental illness or substance use disorder.
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Quality of Care Not Affected by Hospital Changes in Physician Employment
January 4th 2017More hospitals are switching to employment-based affiliations with physicians, but a recent analysis found no association between conversion to an employment model and changes in mortality, readmissions, length of stay, or patient satisfaction rates.
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