Jackie Syrop

Between 1997 and 2011 there was a nearly 50% drop in emergency department mortality rates for US adults, most likely because of advances in palliative, prehospital, and emergency care.

Walking briskly on a regular basis may be more effective than vigorous jogging for improving glucose control in people with pre-diabetes, according to new research published in Diabetologia.

A majority of American adults taking opioids and other commonly prescribed medications are misusing them, including combining them with other drugs in dangerous ways, according to a new study by Quest Diagnostics.

Healthcare spending is tracked routinely, but much less is known about where the money goes.

The most recent pattern of healthcare spending among Americans appears to show a divergence of expenditures trends for the wealthy, middle class, and poor, which suggests a redistribution of care toward wealthier Americans.

Some surgical procedures were associated with an increased risk of chronic opioid use among patients who had never used opioids prior to surgery.

The number of state psychiatric beds still available to serve the nation’s most ill and potentially dangerous psychiatric patients is at its lowest level ever recorded, setting off a crisis of unmet need throughout the country.

Nurse practitioners’ autonomy and independence in caring for patients and the good relationships they have with healthcare administrators improves their teamwork with physicians, according to a study from Columbia University School of Nursing investigators.

A new review of Medicare prescription drug plans suggests that these plans need incentives that will push them to consider long-term outcomes and costs because they tend to consider only short-term clinical outcomes and costs related only to the pharmacy benefit.

The findings highlight what the authors say is ongoing discrimination in payer coverage for substance abuse care, in contrast with other mental health conditions.

Like the influential Model List of Essential Medicines maintained by the World Health Organization, there should be a list of key tests every country should have available, with high quality standards, write a group of experts.

The update of the Urban Institute’s 2015 analysis suggests that the nation continues to be on track to spend much less on healthcare over the next several years than was projected by CMS in late 2010.

Despite evidence and clinical guidelines that support intensive statin use in high-risk patients, very few eligible patients start treatment at recommended levels.

An initiative that provided Pennsylvania Medicaid patients with a primary care “medical home” reduced the costs of their care by up to $4100 per year and decreased the number of their physician visits and hospitalizations.

A new study in the June 2016 issue of JAMA Internal Medicine found that between 2010 and 2012, an estimated $73.0 billion in excess of generic cost was spent on brand drugs within the same class.

The authors say patients with cancer and dementia were more likely to have palliative care consultations and DNR orders.

Faulty assumptions about the best ways to address the needs of minority patients may be lead to racial and ethnic disparities in the treatment of mental health and substance use disorders.

A new study in Health Affairs suggests antipsychotic use among Medicaid children peaked in 2008 and has slowed since that time, but this remains a policy challenge.

One in 5 US hospitals have failed to adopt a “never events” policy and have not met benchmarks set by the Leapfrog Group for managing never events.

Patient navigation programs using a population-based information technology-enabled system can help improve screening rates for cancer among patients at high risk for not adhering to screening recommendations.

Lesbian, gay, and bisexual adults reported higher rates of severe psychological distress and impaired physical health than did heterosexuals, according to data from one of the nation’s leading, most representative health surveys.

The rising prevalence of urologic cancers, along with the increased use of hormone therapies and the approval of novel biologics, is driving strong growth in the urologic cancer market globally through 2022.

A recent study of the Department of Veterans Affairs’ Web-based patient portal, My HealtheVet, found a small, statistically significant and potentially meaningful improvement in diabetes-related physiologic measures among patients who started and sustained use of the portal's features.

About 59 million Americans spent $30.2 billion out-of-pocket on complementary health approaches for adults ($28.3) and children ($1.9) in 2012.

After reviewing the evidence for all approved hepatitis C virus treatments, Advera Health has determined that Gilead Sciences’ newly approved, pan-genomic Epclusa has a similar safety profile as Sovaldi, Harvoni, Daklinza, and Viekira Pak.

A majority of people surveyed in California and Hawaii supported physician-assisted death. There was even a majority of support among respondents who said religion or spirituality was very important to them.

More than one-third of patients with atrial fibrillation who are have a moderate to high risk for stroke are being treated with aspirin, even though it is well known that blood thinners provide more protection.

Nearly one-third of American consumers report experiencing a steep increase over the last year in prices paid for drugs they routinely take, which is having a spillover effect on all phases of their lives.

More than 58% of healthcare payers’ businesses have already shifted to full value-based reimbursement models, a 10% increase since 2014.

Prescription drug spending between 2014 and 2015 increased at a much higher rate among health exchange plans compared with commercial plans, Medicare, and Medicaid plans. Express Scripts highlighted 3 select trends that are having the biggest impact on plans.