Telehealth May Expand Access to Care, But Not Lower Spending
A study on the costs and benefits of direct-to-consumer telehealth published in Health Affairs found that it may make care more accessible without actually lowering spending. Just 12% of telehealth visits replaced face-to-face visits, while the other 88% represented new utilization by patients that otherwise would not have accessed care. This increased utilization was linked to higher costs, as net spending on acute respiratory illness increased by $45 per telehealth user annually.
Patient Receives $2.5 Million in Negligence Lawsuit Against VA
Veteran Steven Cooper was awarded $2.5 million after winning a court case against the Veterans Administration (VA), according to the Washington Post. Cooper’s attorneys argued that a nurse practitioner at the Phoenix VA hospital found abnormalities on his prostate but neglected to refer him for further testing, delaying his diagnosis of Stage IV cancer by 11 months. The Phoenix VA medical center faced intense scrutiny in October 2015 when an inspection found that veterans faced unnecessary clinical harm due to a lack of timely care.
Public Health Campaign Encourages Healthier Beverage Choices
An intervention designed to reduce sugary drink consumption in Maryland appears to have changed consumers’ purchasing patterns. The “Howard County Unsweetened” initiative featured advertising on multiple channels encouraging consumers to choose water over soda, sports drinks, and fruit drinks. A study on the campaign, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, found that soda sales decreased by nearly 20% at local supermarkets over the 3-year study period.
Specialty Pharmacists at the Forefront: Elevating Care for Rare Diseases
May 1st 2024In the US, a disease is considered rare when it affects fewer than 200,000 persons, or 1 in every 1500 individuals, with an estimated total of 25 to 30 million Americans overall living with a rare disease at any given time.
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Tackling Health Inequality: The Power of Education and Experience
April 30th 2024To help celebrate and recognize National Minority Health Month, we are bringing you a special month-long podcast series with our Strategic Alliance Partner, UPMC Health Plan. Welcome to our final episode of this limited series and our conversation with Janine Jelks-Seale, MSPPM, director of health equity at UPMC Health Plan.
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Latest Advances and Updates of Treatment in the Real World at AUA
May 1st 2024The annual meeting of the American Urological Association (AUA) not only presents the newest therapies coming out but showcases the latest in how treatments are being used in the real world, said Stephen Freedland, MD, of Cedars Sinai.
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Examining Low-Value Cancer Care Trends Amidst the COVID-19 Pandemic
April 25th 2024On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the April 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on the rates of low-value cancer care services throughout the COVID-19 pandemic.
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BRCA-Like Classification May Be a Useful Biomarker for Olaparib Response in Ovarian Cancer
May 1st 2024Adding olaparib to maintenance therapy with bevacizumab was associated with significantly longer survival for patients with ovarian cancer whose tumors have a BRCA-like genomic profile, but not among those with non-BRCA-like tumors, a study found.
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