Laura is the vice president of content for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and all its brands, including The American Journal of Accountable Care®, Evidence-Based Oncology™, and The Center for Biosimilars®. She has been working on AJMC® since 2014 and has been with AJMC®’s parent company, MJH Life Sciences®, since 2011.
She has an MA in business and economic reporting from New York University. You can connect with Laura on LinkedIn or Twitter.
Federal Health IT Strategic Plan Outlines 5 Key Goals
December 8th 2014The updated federal health information technology strategic plan is an attempt to collect, share, and use interoperable health information to improve care; enhance individual, community, and public health; and advance research.
Read More
Financial Incentives Top Motivation for EHR Adoption
December 6th 2014Financial incentives and the need to share patient information are the top motivations for physicians adopting electronic health records, according to a data brief from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health Information Technology.
Read More
Despite Large Investments, HIE Research Shows Few Positive Outcomes
December 4th 2014Health information exchange (HIE) use is increasing in the US, but other than reducing emergency department usage and costs, little else is known about the effect of HIEs on other outcomes, according to a new study from RAND.
Read More
Integrated Health Benefits Plans Gaining Attention
December 2nd 2014Employers and employees are seeing eye-to-eye when it comes to integrated health benefits. Not only do employees see how an integrated plan can improve quality of care and health, but employers see how it makes good business sense.
Read More
Alarm Hazards Remain Top Safety Concern in Hospitals
November 26th 2014Medical technology hazards remain a top safety issue for hospitals and can come in many forms. However, for the fourth year in a row, alarm hazards topped the annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list from the ECRI Institute.
Read More
HHS Proposes Fixed Open Enrollment Dates, Automatic Re-Enrollment Alternatives
November 24th 2014In the first 2 years of the Affordable Care Act, open enrollment has run for 2 different time periods, and HHS is looking to set a fixed date for future years. Plus, it offers a solution to automatic re-enrollment.
Read More
With Third Lawyer, Republicans File Lawsuit Over the ACA
November 22nd 2014Republicans finally filed a lawsuit against President Obama's healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, after approving the suit in July. They are challenging the employer-based coverage aspect of the law, as well as Treasury payments to insurers.
Read More
Providers Becoming More Open to Digital Health Technology Use
November 20th 2014Clinicians are showing increased openness toward using digital technology and are becoming more comfortable with trusting tools like at-home test results, according to a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute.
Read More
CMS Healthcare Cost Transparency Tools Found Lacking
November 19th 2014In an effort to foster greater transparency of healthcare costs, the government and private sector entities are offering tools that provide cost and quality information to consumers. But just how effective are these tools?
Read More
The Argument For Better Patient-Centered Care in Oncology
November 19th 2014After 4 years of living with inflammatory breast cancer, Amy Berman, RN, BS, senior program officer at the John A. Hartford Foundation, she still felt fine, which she attributed to her care choices, she explained during her speech at The American Journal of Managed Care's Patient-Centered Oncology Care meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
Read More
More Than Half of Low- and Moderate-Income Adults Cannot Afford Their Deductibles
November 18th 2014One-fifth of adults with health insurance spent at least 5% of their income on out-of-pocket healthcare costs over the past year with low-income adults the most likely to have high costs, according to a report from The Commonwealth Fund.
Read More
Merck's Vytorin Achieves Primary, Secondary Endpoints in IMPROVE-IT Study
November 17th 2014Patients taking Merck's Vytorin, which combines simvastatin with the non-statin Zetia, experienced fewer major cardiovascular events than patients treated with simvastatin alone, according to the results of the IMPROVE-IT study.
Read More
Healthcare Leaders Pursuing Telemedicine Adoption Despite Challenges
November 17th 2014Despite challenges with reimbursement and physician buy-in, healthcare organizations are committed to implementing telemedicine programs, according to a survey of healthcare leaders, mostly C-suite executives.
Read More
Study Finds Continuity of Care Reduces Costs, Mortality, Morbidity
November 13th 2014As cost containment becomes increasingly important in healthcare, the findings of a recent study in the Annals of Family Medicine on the impacts of continuity of care could have an impact on how healthcare systems deliver care.
Read More
Nearly Half of Uninsured Don't Understand Basic Health Insurance Concepts
November 12th 2014Although open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act's insurance Marketplaces is almost here, a 10-question survey from Kaiser Family Foundation found that the health law's target audience still struggles with understanding insurance coverage.
Read More