Mary Caffrey

A GAO report faults CMS policy on durable medical equipment, and the diaTribe Foundation convenes a daylong session to guide the FDA on how future drugs and devices should be evaluated for measures beyond A1C.

Coverage of technology developments at the 77th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association (ADA) and the annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators (AADE).

President Donald Trump had clearly been unhappy with the negative press coverage over Price's use of charter flights for routine travel. The HHS Secretary said Thursday he would pay for his seats, or $52,000 of the $400,000 cost of the 26 charter flights taken since May.

A continuous glucose monitor (CGM) device made in the United States is finally approved for use here after patients in 40 other countries already have access.

The National Quality Forum report finds that good payment models are key to promoting health equity; it states health systems must be compensated for taking care of more complex patients.

As obesity rates increase, health systems will have to take charge of finding places to discharge the largest patients to avoid penalties from Medicare, authors of a new study find.

The pilot program is the latest venture among stakeholders in diabetes care to look for ways to deploy patient data to improve outcomes and hold down costs.

Collins cited projections for large cuts to Medicaid in explaining her opposition to the proposal.

During a presentation at the US Psychiatric and Mental Health Congress in New Orleans, Louisiana, Mark Zimmerman, MD, said studies show that the presence of a comorbid disorder or specific symptom were the most important factors driving treatment decisions when clinicians picked an antidepressant, and anxiety was the symptom they cited most frequently.

With so many options for treatment-resistant depression, expert George Papakostas, MD, said all things being equal, the patient's preference counts.

A primary care physician finds there's little incentive to keep up with a patient-centered medical home, except that it's the right thing to do.

The move to give entrepreneurs access to patient-approved continuous glucose monitoring data fits with the company's prediction that insulin pumps will become a thing of the past, and most of the heavy lifting of delivery will be done by a smartphone.

The growing importance of quality ratings will put pressure on hospitals to meet ADA standards for insulin therapy without added manpower.

Without digital health providers, Medicare's Diabetes Prevention Program could have a hard time reaching seniors in rural areas, where rates of the disease are approximately 17% higher, one leading provider argued recently.

Studies presented at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions showed that patients being treated with the ITCA 650 were less likely to need to take additional therapy to control their diabetes.

The latest version of the free app offers patients a simple color-coding system to track their blood sugar status, as well as an easy way to share data with their physicians and perhaps their health plan.

A multi-layered partnership with the American Association of Diabetes Educators is just one of the strategic steps in the past year for WellDoc, which offers a suite of digital diabetes products, including one with an insulin bolus calculator.

In their letter, the directors said the bill would result in "the largest intergovernmental transfer of financial risk from the federal government to the states in our country’s history."

The chief medical officer of Omada Health discusses a transition from one of the world's largest pharmaceutical companies to a digital health provider, and from treating chronic disease to preventing it.

More work is needed to understand the connections between premature births and birth defects, researchers said.

Authors of the study say the technology exists to screen seniors with type 2 diabetes and identify those at risk of a fracture.

Truck drivers were identified in a Gallup survey as the profession most at risk for type 2 diabetes.

A survey of patients with ADHD showed that two-thirds of those who augment their morning medication do so because it stops working, and 42% have to plan their day around their medication fading.

While exercise tends to taper off after age 65, the findings show the mental health benefits are greater for seniors who keep moving, which is an important lesson for health professionals.

Experiments with baker's yeast showed why a fat-regulating enzyme is needed in the body.

The debate over marijuana policy tends to be dominated by people with political "skin in the game," when what's needed is a balanced, evidenced-based review, said Kevin P. Hill, MD, MHS, of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School.

While many payers, and the Blues in particular, have invested in digital health startups, a new agreement will pair Horizon with a company whose philosophy rejects the operating mentality of most insurers.

Experts said that the frequency and quality of social relationships have a greater effect on mortality than obesity or drinking alcohol, and this commands attention from health systems.

Changes under the DSM-5 mean that certain "mixed features" create a gray area of characteristics that could signal major depression or bipolar disorder, even if a patient has not exhibited hypomania.

Studies show that the earlier a child with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder is treated with stimulants, the less likely he or she is to develop a substance abuse problem later in life.