Laura is the vice president of content for The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®) and all its brands, including The American Journal of Accountable Care®, 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.
Alarm Hazards Remain Top Safety Concern in Hospitals
November 26th 2014Medical technology hazards remain a top safety issue for hospitals and can come in many forms. However, for the fourth year in a row, alarm hazards topped the annual Top 10 Health Technology Hazards list from the ECRI Institute.
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HHS Proposes Fixed Open Enrollment Dates, Automatic Re-Enrollment Alternatives
November 24th 2014In the first 2 years of the Affordable Care Act, open enrollment has run for 2 different time periods, and HHS is looking to set a fixed date for future years. Plus, it offers a solution to automatic re-enrollment.
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With Third Lawyer, Republicans File Lawsuit Over the ACA
November 22nd 2014Republicans finally filed a lawsuit against President Obama's healthcare reform law, the Affordable Care Act, after approving the suit in July. They are challenging the employer-based coverage aspect of the law, as well as Treasury payments to insurers.
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Providers Becoming More Open to Digital Health Technology Use
November 20th 2014Clinicians are showing increased openness toward using digital technology and are becoming more comfortable with trusting tools like at-home test results, according to a new report from PwC's Health Research Institute.
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CMS Healthcare Cost Transparency Tools Found Lacking
November 19th 2014In an effort to foster greater transparency of healthcare costs, the government and private sector entities are offering tools that provide cost and quality information to consumers. But just how effective are these tools?
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The Argument For Better Patient-Centered Care in Oncology
November 19th 2014After 4 years of living with inflammatory breast cancer, Amy Berman, RN, BS, senior program officer at the John A. Hartford Foundation, she still felt fine, which she attributed to her care choices, she explained during her speech at The American Journal of Managed Care's Patient-Centered Oncology Care meeting in Baltimore, Maryland.
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More Than Half of Low- and Moderate-Income Adults Cannot Afford Their Deductibles
November 18th 2014One-fifth of adults with health insurance spent at least 5% of their income on out-of-pocket healthcare costs over the past year with low-income adults the most likely to have high costs, according to a report from The Commonwealth Fund.
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Merck's Vytorin Achieves Primary, Secondary Endpoints in IMPROVE-IT Study
November 17th 2014Patients taking Merck's Vytorin, which combines simvastatin with the non-statin Zetia, experienced fewer major cardiovascular events than patients treated with simvastatin alone, according to the results of the IMPROVE-IT study.
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Healthcare Leaders Pursuing Telemedicine Adoption Despite Challenges
November 17th 2014Despite challenges with reimbursement and physician buy-in, healthcare organizations are committed to implementing telemedicine programs, according to a survey of healthcare leaders, mostly C-suite executives.
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Study Finds Continuity of Care Reduces Costs, Mortality, Morbidity
November 13th 2014As cost containment becomes increasingly important in healthcare, the findings of a recent study in the Annals of Family Medicine on the impacts of continuity of care could have an impact on how healthcare systems deliver care.
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Nearly Half of Uninsured Don't Understand Basic Health Insurance Concepts
November 12th 2014Although open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act's insurance Marketplaces is almost here, a 10-question survey from Kaiser Family Foundation found that the health law's target audience still struggles with understanding insurance coverage.
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Hospice Care Reduces Hospitalizations, Healthcare Expenditures for Medicare Patients
November 11th 2014Hospice care for Medicare patients resulted in lower hospitalization rates and lower healthcare expenditures during the last year of life, according to a study published the November 12 issue of JAMA.
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How to Improve Pay-for-Performance With Targeted Incentives
November 11th 2014Traditional pay-for-performance programs tend to result in significant waste for payers, but the industry could benefit from a slightly modified model, which focus efforts on patients who are at higher risk for poor outcomes.
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Insights into the Necessity of Clinical Documentation Improvements
November 10th 2014As the healthcare industry transitions to new initiatives such as accountable care organizations and pay-for-performance, clinical documentation improvement is necessary, according to a report from the American Health Information Management Association.
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Are State-Run Marketplaces Ready to Be Financially Self-Sustaining?
November 8th 2014In less than 2 months the health insurance Marketplaces will need to be financially self-sustaining, which will occur through a variety of approaches, as federal establishment funds will run out on January 1, 2015.
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Meaningful Use Numbers Disappointing But Not Surprising
November 5th 2014Recently released numbers from the CMS Meaningful Use program were lower than expected, which further highlights the changes that need to be made in meeting federal guidelines for electronic health record requirements, according to officials 4 healthcare organizations.
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Obama Admin Goes After Plans that Lack Hospital Coverage
November 4th 2014Large employer health plans will now be required to cover in-patient hospitalization services, according to a notice from the Treasury Department and HHS on Tuesday morning. The final regulation will be issued next year.
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Global Budget Payment Model Lowers Spending, Improves Care Over 4 Years
November 4th 2014Using global budgets for healthcare instead of traditional fee-for-service improves quality of patient care and lowers costs, according to a new study by researchers from Harvard Medical School's Department of Health Care Policy.
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