Laura is the vice president of content for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and all its brands, including Population Health, Equity & Outcomes; 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.
5 Things About Repealing and Replacing the ACA
During the December Managed Care Cast hosted by Patricia Salber, the guest was Joe Antos, PhD, resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute, who discussed potential changes to healthcare and the realities of repeal and replace under President-elect Donald J. Trump’s administration.
CMS Announces Additional Mandatory Bundled Payment Models, ACO Track 1+
CMS is moving full-steam ahead with the transition to value-based care. On Tuesday, the agency announced 3 new bundled payment models in cardiac care, an expansion on the Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement Model, and the highly anticipated new track in the Medicare Shared Savings Program.
Expert Insights: Most Popular Videos, Interviews, and Podcasts in 2016
Along with the peer-review research, journal articles, and news coverage, The American Journal of Managed Careâ„¢ (AJMCâ„¢) has a robust multimedia component that brings together stakeholders from across the healthcare industry to discuss important topics in the world of managed care and delve deeper into topics.
Drug Price-Fixing Charges Result From Investigation of Generic Drug Industry
Two former executives at a generic pharmaceutical company have been charged with being involved with price-fixing, bid-rigging, and customer allocation conspiracies. The charges are the first that have resulted from a 2-year investigation of the generic drug industry.
States With the Best Well-Being Among Older Adults
In general, older adults (over the age of 55) in the United States tend to have a higher well-being compared with the broader adult population. Older Americans have better eating habits, fewer financial worries, and more community pride.
Opioid Guideline: Prescribing for Pain Management and Use in the Emergency Department
The 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.
Improving Health in Poor Communities by Providing Children With Hope
During the keynote speech at the inaugural conference of The National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs, Geoffrey Canada, president of the Harlem Children's Zone, discussed the challenge of addressing health disparities in poor communities.
Improving Utilization of Tools to Care for Complex Patients
Creating effective interventions to care for complex populations and making them available is only half the battle. That was the lesson gleaned from a workshop session at The National Center for Complex Health and Social Needs’ Putting Care at the Center conference, held December 7-9 in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
Little Patient Benefit to Using G-CSF to Prevent Neutropenia
There is little patient benefit to using granulocyte colony-stimulating factor (G-CSF) to help white blood cell growth and reduce the risk of infection in women with breast cancer, according to a study published in Journal of Clinical Oncology.
The Future of the ACA and US Healthcare Under President Donald Trump
As the Republicans retained control of both the House and the Senate and Donald J. Trump was declared the next president of the United States, it became abundantly clear that President Barack Obama’s landmark healthcare reform legislation was in grave danger.
Cost of Smoking Cessation Policies in Medicaid Worth the Investment
Medicaid programs throughout the country cover tobacco cessation therapies, but utilization of these benefits tends to be low and varies among states, according to a study published in the CDC’s Preventing Chronic Disease.
Sanders, Cummings Request Investigation of Insulin Prices for Collusion
Prices rising for the same drug across multiple pharmaceutical companies might be the result of collusion, according to a letter sent to the Department of Justice and the Federal Trade Commission from Senator Bernie Sanders, I-Vermont, and Representative Elijah Cummings, D-Maryland.
VBID Summit: Defining and Paying for Value in Healthcare
Various stakeholders in the healthcare industry are trying to determine value in healthcare, and speakers representing the pharmaceutical industry, research, and the patient perspective discussed the topic during the VBID Summit.
VBID Summit: Addressing Underinsurance With a More Clinically Nuanced Approach
Underinsurance is a byproduct of the many changes being brought to the healthcare system, said Robert W. Dubois, MD, PhD, chief science officer and executive vice president of the National Pharmaceutical Council, during a session at the VBID Summit.
Politics and Health Policy After the Presidential Election
Working under the assumption that the outcome of the presidential race is pretty set, Avik S. A. Roy and John E. McDonough, DrPH, MPA, pondered the potential health policy changes during a Hillary Clinton presidency with a Republican-controlled Congress.
A Part of the Community: Caring for Underserved Individuals in New York City
Healthfirst's Medicare Advantage members are largely low income, and actually poorer than its Medicaid members. In order to reach these members and foster trust, Healthfirst makes itself a part of the fabric of the community.
MA Enjoyed Great Success, but Faces Greater Challenges, CMS' Cavanaugh Says
The Affordable Care Act’s changes in payment and reduction in benchmarks in Medicare Advantage raised questions about the future of the program that ended up being unfounded, said Sean Cavanaugh, deputy administrator and director of the Center for Medicare at CMS, during the opening keynote at America’s Health Insurance Plans’ National Conference on Medicare, held October 24-25 in Washington, DC.
Medicare Payment Reform, ACO Participation Discussed During ACO Coalition Keynote
In the keynote speech at the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, Mark McClellan, MD, PhD, director of the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy, started out by providing a broad picture of Medicare reform before narrowing it down to what is happening on the ground.
Hotspotting: Care Intervention for the Most Complex, Costly Patients
The Camden Coalition of Healthcare Providers utilizes hotspotting to identify the most complex and costly patients and enrolls them in a care management program to empower them to take control of their own healthcare.