Authors
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Addressing Cost Barriers to Medication Adherence: Sam Peasah, PhDSam Peasah, PhD, MBA, RPh, director of High-Value Health Care Value-Based Pharmacy Initiatives at UPMC Health Plan, discusses ways that health plans can help reduce the cost burden of medications to improve adherence.
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Effects of an Out-of-Pocket Maximum in Medicare Part DThis study compares the impact of the 3 different out-of-pocket maximums proposed in Congress and by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission.
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The Impact of Immune Checkpoint Inhibitors on Cost and Quality of Life in the Initial Treatment of Patients With Advanced or Metastatic NSCLCImmune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) represent a significant benefit for the initial treatment of patients with advanced or metastatic non−small cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Beyond clinical benefit of increased overall survival, it represents a class of medications with a favorable adverse effect profile compared with chemotherapy. Drugs that target programmed cell death protein 1 (PD-1) receptor and its ligand PD-L1 are ICIs that work by taking the brakes off the immune system and promote T-cell−mediated cancer cell destruction. Current NCCN guidelines recommend that all patients with advanced or metastatic NSCLC have their PD-L1 status (amount of PD-L1 on cancer cells) assessed to guide treatment section. However, this recommendation is not always followed and may lead to inappropriate treatment selection and potential increased cost. Through appropriate biomarker testing, subsequent appropriate utilization of ICIs may help to drive down other costs and improve health-related quality of life. Managed care pharmacists should continue to focus on promotion of guideline concordant care that includes appropriate biomarker testing and selection of an evidence-based preferred treatment option.
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Gaps in the Coordination of Care for Older Adults With or at Risk for Cardiovascular DiseaseOlder adults with cardiovascular disease (CVD) or CVD risk factors report that gaps in communication among their providers are common and hazardous.
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Evaluating Smoking Cessation Service at an Emergency Department Clinical Observation UnitThis study aimed to evaluate the impact of a smoking cessation service in a group of patients admitted to a short-stay unit in the emergency department.
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Health Outcomes Under Full-Risk Medicare Advantage vs Traditional MedicarePhysician 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.
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Updated Clinical Guidelines Outline Optimal Treatment of Helicobacter pylori InfectionFor pharmacists wondering whether bismuth quadruple therapy still reigns as the gold standard, the wait is over—the latest recommendations are here.
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Reflections on 2024’s Progress in R/R CLLPanelists discuss how the relapsed/refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia treatment landscape evolved significantly in 2024 with expanded Bruton tyrosine kinase inhibitor options, growing real-world evidence for newer agents, and emerging combination strategies, while expressing optimism for future advances in personalized therapy approaches and novel drug development.
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Lebrikizumab Shows Promise in Long-Term Atopic Dermatitis Control: Raj Chovatiya, MD, PhDRaj Chovatiya, MD, PhD, MSCI, highlights the long-term effectiveness of lebrikizumab across diverse patients, including those with prior biologic use, positioning it as a potential first-line treatment for moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.
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Limited English Proficiency, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Cardiovascular Disease, and In-Hospital COVID-19 OutcomesThis study evaluated whether limited English proficiency modifies the association between cardiovascular risk factors or cardiovascular disease and outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.
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Cross-Validation of Insurer and Hospital Price Transparency DataReal-world cross-validation of insurer and hospital price transparency data finds low overlap but high concordance between data sources.
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Optimizing the Management of TRDDrs Steven Levine, Patricia Ares-Romero, Samuel Nordberg, Martin Rosenzweig, and Carrie Jardine share insight on the future treatment landscape for TRD.
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Overview of Different Therapies for Patients with Pulmonary Arterial HypertensionPanelists discuss how current therapeutic strengths include 15 approved treatments with different mechanisms of action that can work synergistically, while limitations involve variable delivery methods and complexity, leading to more aggressive upfront combination therapy approaches.
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Care Fragmentation Predicts 90-Day Durable Ventricular Assist Device OutcomesThis analysis evaluates the relationship between hospital care delivery network fragmentation and in-hospital and 90-day outcomes. These networks may be novel targets for improving outcomes.
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Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Accessibility of Taiwanese Medical CareThe COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to routine medical care in community populations in Taiwan. The unmet needs should be emphasized as normal life resumes.
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Frameworks for Advancing Health Equity: Food as MedicineLearn about how Allegheny Health Network's "Food as Medicine" initiative tackles food insecurity and enhances health through personalized nutrition support.
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Psoriasis Treatment Center of New Jersey Reports Positive Results for Tapinarof in Psoriasis TrialIn this study, 52% of adult patients achieved the treat-to-target goal of 1% BSA or less within 3 months of incorporating tapinarof cream into their biologic regimen.
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Care Coordination Engagement Patterns in Long-Term PatientsCare coordination engagement increases over time in long-term high-cost, high-need patients, with no identifiable data-driven times for when to initiate patient care de-escalation.
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Screening for Health Literacy, Social Determinants, and Discrimination in Health PlansThis study provides insight on the experiences of patients of a national health plan with 2 structural determinants of health—health care discrimination and health literacy—and how those interact with social determinants of health and patient demographics.
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US Cost-effectiveness and Budget Impact of Point-of-Care NAAT for StreptococcusThis study evaluates the cost-effectiveness and budget impact to US payers of point-of-care nucleic acid amplification tests (NAAT) for group A streptococcus.
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Researchers Propose Model to Replicate Patient Experience in Artificial Pancreas SystemA methodology to monitor patient-in-the-loop modes and faults was examined using a hybrid automata model that was able to replicate patient’s real-life operation modes.
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Real-world HIV Diagnostic Testing Patterns in the United StatesThis retrospective study evaluated real-world implementation of the updated CDC HIV algorithm in a large US laboratory.
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Growth of Electronic Consultations in the Veterans Health AdministrationThis study evaluates the growth in electronic consultation use over the first 7 years after its implementation across the entire Veterans Health Administration system.
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Ensuring Access to Health Care by FQHCs as States Reopen Amid COVID-19Federally qualified health centers (FQHCs) must focus on enhancing the nonemergency medical transportation Medicaid benefit to improve patient access during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) emergency as states reopen.
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Considerations to Increase Rates of Breast Cancer Screening Across PopulationsAuthors from the Community Oncology Alliance and Avalere Health present data that show breast cancer screening rates recovered more slowly among some racial/ethnic groups following on the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic.
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Advanced Care at Home at Scale in an Integrated Health Care SystemAdvanced care at home (otherwise known as hospital at home) can be scaled and provide care for a sizable portion of a hospital’s inpatient census, creating hospital capacity in an integrated delivery system.
