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.
Gains in Coverage and Access to Care in Recent Years
December 21st 2016A study by The Commonwealth Fund reports that uninsured rates have dropped in all states and fewer patients in most states say cost is a barrier to care. These improvements were observed in the years after the implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
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Cutting Costs, Improving Quality: Top 5 AJAC® Articles in 2016
December 21st 2016This year, the most read articles from The American Journal of Accountable Care® explored how healthcare providers and payers have implemented innovative ideas to reduce spending while maintaining or increasing the quality of care.
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Surprising Perceptions of Access to Healthy Food in Rural Latino Communities
December 18th 2016A recent study that conducted interviews with mainly Latino residents of agricultural communities in California found that most considered affordability, not access, a major barrier to buying healthy foods.
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Racial and Gender Disparities in COPD Risk for Never-Smokers
December 17th 2016A study on gender and racial inequalities in the prevalence of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease among non-smokers found that black Americans and women are at higher risk, possibly due to a combination of biological and social factors.
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CMS Decision to Abandon Medicare Part B Demo Greeted With Sighs of Relief
December 16th 2016After widespread criticism from healthcare providers, drug companies, and lawmakers, CMS has announced that it will not go forward with its proposed Medicare Part B payment program. The experimental reimbursement model was intended to reduce outpatient drug spending, but oncologists worried it would have unfairly slashed their Part B payments.
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CMS Announces New ACO Model Featuring Medicare—Medicaid Shared Savings
December 15th 2016A new accountable care organization (ACO) model announced by CMS aims to improve care and lower costs by allowing beneficiaries enrolled in both Medicare and Medicaid to be covered under a Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO.
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Women Denied Abortions Report Worse Mental Health Outcomes
December 15th 2016A longitudinal 5-year study that tracked women seeking abortions found that women who were turned away had worse mental health outcomes than those who received an abortion, contrary to some claims that abortion can have long-lasting psychological consequences.
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VA Rule Expanding Practicing Authority of Nurses Draws Mixed Reactions
December 14th 2016The Department of Veterans Affairs healthcare system has announced a final rule that will grant full practicing authority to some types of advanced practice registered nurses, with the exception of nurse anesthetists.
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Ethical Debate Surrounds Inclusion of High-Value Care in Medical Curriculum
December 13th 2016As the healthcare industry continues its transition toward value-based care, some medical ethicists have raised concerns about how education with an emphasis on value can potentially conflict with patients’ best interests. An opinion letter published in JAMA discusses various strategies for addressing these tensions.
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Study Raises Concerns About Access to Substance Abuse Treatments in Medicaid
December 12th 2016An analysis of Medicaid coverage for substance abuse treatments revealed that the services and medications covered vary widely by state. The Health Affairs study raised concerns that patients in some states may not have adequate access to necessary addiction treatment.
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Opioid Guideline: Prescribing for Pain Management and Use in the Emergency Department
December 11th 2016The United States is in the midst of an opioid epidemic that has been responsible for a 200% increase in deaths due to overdose of heroin or an opioid pain reliever since 2000. Guidelines provide clinicians with ways to identify patients at risk of opioid use disorder and best practices of prescribing opioids.
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Researchers Develop Model to Predict Chemotherapy Success in Aggressive Breast Cancer
December 8th 2016At the 2016 San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, researchers announced the creation of a model to identify patients with triple negative breast cancer who are most likely to respond to chemotherapy.
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Hospital Associations Send Letter to Trump Outlining Consequences of ACA Repeal
December 8th 2016The American Hospital Association and the Federation of American Hospitals sent a joint letter to President-elect Donald Trump and Vice President-elect Mike Pence highlighting the potentially devastating effects a repeal of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) could have on community hospitals.
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Report Examines Repercussions of Partial ACA Repeal Through Budget Reconciliation
December 7th 2016A recently released report investigates the potential ramifications of partially repealing the Affordable Care Act through the process of budget reconciliation. The study by the Urban Institute Health Policy Center warned that such a move by Congress would double the number of uninsured Americans and significantly disrupt the insurance market, resulting in reduced access to care.
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Medicare Spending for Beneficiaries With Multiple Chronic Conditions Varies Geographically
December 5th 2016An analysis of per capita Medicare spending among beneficiaries with 6 or more chronic conditions reveals wide geographic variations in costs across the US, with similar spending levels often seen in counties neighboring one another.
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Hospitals in More Stressed Cities Have Lower CMS Star Ratings
December 1st 2016An analysis of 150 US cities’ stress rankings and the CMS star ratings of the hospitals within them reveals a significant correlation between the 2 factors, indicating that more-stressed cities tend to have lower hospital star ratings.
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Almost 13 Million Fewer People Have Trouble Paying Medical Bills
November 30th 2016The amount of Americans under age 65 in families having trouble paying medical bills has dropped significantly over the past 5 years, according to a survey report from the National Center for Health Statistics. The percentage of children in families that struggle to pay healthcare bills has steadily declined as well, though as of June 2016 it remained higher than the percentage of such adults.
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Chronic Disease Medication Adherence Higher in Patient-Centered Medical Homes
November 28th 2016Patients who received care for their chronic diseases in a patient-centered medical home had higher rates of medication adherence over 12 months than patients treated elsewhere, according to a study in the Annals of Internal Medicine.
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AAP Issues Report on Barriers to Mental Health Treatment for Young Children
November 25th 2016In a report published in Pediatrics, the American Academy of Pediatrics discussed several barriers to care for young children with mental health problems. The authors suggested that prompt access to treatment and more complete training for pediatricians could help remove some of these barriers.
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Transitional Care Clinics Aim to Reduce ED Visits for Mentally Ill Patients
November 24th 2016Emergency departments are a common destination for people with serious mental illness, even though these urgent care settings are costly and overburdened. Some healthcare systems are implementing transitional care clinics to help keep these mentally ill patients out of the ED.
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PCOC16: "Oncology Care 2017" Panel Discusses Future of Cancer Care
November 22nd 2016The 5th annual Patient-Centered Oncology Care® (PCOC) meeting, hosted by The American Journal of Managed Care, November 17-18, in Baltimore, Maryland, concluded with a panel discussion on the future of oncology care in 2017. The panelists concurred that value-based payment is here to stay despite the imminent changes in healthcare.
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Prevalence of Dementia in the US Continues to Decline
November 22nd 2016A study of older Americans has found that the prevalence of dementia has decreased significantly, from 11.6% in 2000 to 8.8% in 2012. It cited increased average educational attainment and improved diabetes treatments as factors that could explain the drop in dementia rates.
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