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Computer-Aided Mammograms Increase Medicare Cost-Burden: JAMA Study
The retrospective study analyzed SEER data from 2001 through 2009, and found that the annual CAD prevalence among Medicare screening mammograms increased from 3.5% to 79.7%.
When used during mammograms on women aged 65 and older, computer-aided detection (CAD) leads to more diagnostic intervention, including biopsy, and increases the detection of in situ breast tumors, a new study shows.
"Because in situ tumors often neither grow nor progress, CAD may be leading to a lot of unnecessary breast surgery and radiation in older women who don't really have ," Dr. Joshua J. Fenton, of the University of California Davis, told Reuters Health by email.
Medicare has reimbursed CAD during screening mammography since 2001. In a prior study, Dr. Fenton and colleagues found that CAD use increases the rate of false-positive findings on screening mammography and the detection of ductal carcinoma in situ (DCIS).
Complete report on Medscape: http://bit.ly/108L6LO
Navigating Health Policy in an Election Year: Insights From Dr Dennis Scanlon
April 2nd 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with Dennis Scanlon, PhD, the editor in chief of The American Journal of Accountable Care®, about prior authorization, price transparency, the impact of health policy on the upcoming election, and more.
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Prices for care at hospital trauma centers vary across hospitals; drug shortages reached a record high during the first quarter of 2024; although 3 of the biggest makers of asthma inhalers pledged to cap out-of-pocket costs for some US patients at $35, these do not apply to daily inhalers used by the youngest kids with asthma.
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Exploring Medicare Advantage Prior Authorization Variations
March 26th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the March 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on variations in prior authorization use across Medicare Advantage plans.
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The Biden administration recently launched the Global Health Security Strategy, a new effort to combat the spread of infectious diseases; lawmakers zeroed in on the risks of massive consolidation in health care during the first congressional hearing on the Change Healthcare hack; the FDA recently announced the recall of a pair of heart devices linked to numerous deaths and injuries.
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