Authors

Impact of Statin Guidelines on Statin Utilization and Costs in an Employer-Based Primary Care Clinic

Adherence to clinical guidelines in practice is often suboptimal and controversial. This study compares actual statin utilization and cost with full adoption of major clinical guidelines in a real-world population.

Cost Sharing and Branded Antidepressant Initiation Among Patients Treated With Generics

Higher cost sharing is associated with reduced branded antidepressant initiation among patients trying generic therapy. Dynamic benefit designs could enhance access to branded medications when appropriate.

Value-Based Payment in Implementing Evidence-Based Care: The Mental Health Integration Program in Washington State

Value-based payment improved fidelity to key elements of the Collaborative Care Model—an evidence-based mental health intervention—and improved patient depression outcomes in Washington state.

Attitudes and Behavioral Intentions Regarding Managed Care: A Comparison of Academic and Community Physicians

Insurance Coverage and Subsequent Utilization of Complementary and Alternative Medicine Providers

The Effectiveness of Postgraduate Education on the Clinical Breast Examination Skills of Primary Care Physicians

Comorbid Insomnia: Current Directions and Future Challenges

Empirical Analysis of Domestic Medical Travel for Elective Cardiovascular Procedures

Promoting domestic medical travel to high-quality providers could improve clinical outcomes and reduce long-term healthcare costs.

Improving Patient Self-Management of Multiple Sclerosis Through a Disease Therapy Management Program

This study evaluated the effect of a multiple sclerosis disease therapy management program on medication adherence, therapy persistence, relapses, work productivity, and quality of life.

Evaluating a Community-Based Program to Improve Healthcare Quality: Research Design for the Aligning Forces for Quality Initiative

Disparities in Diabetes and Hypertension Care for Individuals With Serious Mental Illness

This study highlights disparities in care for diabetes and hypertension for individuals with serious mental illness compared with the general Medicaid and Medicare populations.

Collaborative DTM Reduces Hospitalization and Healthcare Costs in Patients With Diabetes Treated With Polypharmacy

Drug therapy management implementation in 2 health plans resulted in significant cost savings and modest to significant reductions in emergency department visits and inpatient admissions among patients with diabetes.

The Clinical Core of the JNC 8 Hypertension Guidelines

The latest Joint National Committee guidelines are based on 27 large clinical trials concerning hypertension management. These trials are often discussed in isolation, but their data have never been aggregated into a single source.

The Value of Value-Based Insurance Design: Savings From Eliminating Drug Co-Payments

Geisinger Health System’s $0 co-pay drug program for its chronically ill employee population is associated with positive cost savings and a 5-year return-on-investment of approximately 1.8.

Organizational Barriers to Physician Participation in Cancer Clinical Trials

Unintended Consequences of a Quality Measure for Acute Bronchitis

A quality measure reduced antibiotic use for patients with acute bronchitis but led to use of an alternative diagnosis, offsetting most of the observed improvement.

Health Information Technology for Ambulatory Care in Health Systems

Health systems are important in driving electronic health record adoption in ambulatory clinics, although the uptake of key functionalities varies across systems.

Health Outcomes Under Full-Risk Medicare Advantage vs Traditional Medicare

Physician groups under 2-sided risk–based Medicare Advantage provide care associated with higher quality and efficiency compared with care by these same groups under fee-for-service Medicare.

Impact of a Co-pay Accumulator Adjustment Program on Specialty Drug Adherence

Commercial health plan initiation of a co-pay accumulator adjustment program for specialty medications treating autoimmune diseases was associated with significant reductions in medication adherence and persistence.

Effects of Nurse Specialist Transitional Care on Patient Outcomes and Cost: Results of Five Randomized Trials

Diagnostic Testing for Influenza: Review of Current Status and Implications of Newer Treatment Options

Pharmacoeconomics of Emerging Therapies for Rheumatoid Arthritis

Contributor: Better Diabetes Management Starts With Sustaining the Behaviors That Drive Outcomes

Diabetes care improves when support adapts to real-life changes, removing barriers and sustaining daily habits beyond reminders, education, and one-time interventions.

Results From a National Survey on Chronic Care Management by Health Plans

This study shows that health plans use chronic care management programs as standard components of the overall approach to manage the health of their members.

Comprehensive Health Management Pharmacist-Delivered Model: Impact on Healthcare Utilization and Costs

Pharmacist-provided comprehensive medication management led to a significant difference in emergency department visits and a cost savings of $2.10 to $2.60 for every $1.00 spent relative to a comparator group.

Effects of Telephone Counseling on Antipsychotic Adherence and Emergency Department Utilization

A telehealth nursing program used psychological counseling techniques to improve antipsychotic medication adherence, leading to reduced emergency department utilization in a managed Medicaid population.

The Utility of Cost Discussions Between Patients With Cancer and Oncologists

Many patients with cancer desire cost discussions with doctors, but those discussions are rare. Nevertheless, cost discussions may lower patient costs-usually without altering treatment.

Chief Happiness Officer-An Emerging New C-Suite Role

Treating physicians as your most valued customers: embracing the role of chief happiness officer to drive physician engagement and change management.

Chronic Pain as a Driver of Cost in ACO Arrangements

A discussion of chronic pain prevalence, care obstacles, and potential opportunities for care improvement within the accountable care organization context at University of California, San Francisco Health.

Healthcare Utilization and Cost Effects of Prior Authorization for Pregabalin in Commercial Health Plans

Prior authorization for pregabalin in commercial insurance plans accomplished the objective of lower pregabalin utilization; however, there was no significant decrease in disease-related healthcare costs.