Authors

Implementing Clinical Informatics Tools for Primary Care–Based Diabetic Retinopathy Screening

The authors describe a primary care–based diabetic retinopathy screening program incorporating telemedicine, strong health information technology engagement, and development of clinical informatics tools.

Contributor: Maintaining the Doctor-Patient Connection During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Christine Ko, MD, professor of dermatology and pathology at Yale University, reflects on her use of telehealth and how it allowed her to establish and maintain emotional connections with her patients, all at high risk of skin cancer.

Limited English Proficiency, Cardiovascular Risk Factors, Cardiovascular Disease, and In-Hospital COVID-19 Outcomes

This study evaluated whether limited English proficiency modifies the association between cardiovascular risk factors or cardiovascular disease and outcomes in patients hospitalized with COVID-19.

Factors Associated With Persistent High Health Care Utilization in Managed Medicaid

Schizophrenia, chronic pain, and multiple medical diagnoses at enrollment into a large managed Medicaid system are associated with long-term high health care utilization.

Access to Consultative Dermatologic Care via Physician-to-Physician Asynchronous Outpatient Teledermatology

Direct access of primary care physicians to dermatologists via asynchronous teledermatology improves a health system’s ability to increase patient access to dermatologic care.

Noninvasive Ventilation at Home Reduces Mortality in COPD With CRF

This study explores the association between receiving noninvasive ventilation at home and mortality, hospitalizations, and emergency department visits in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) with chronic respiratory failure (CRF).

Chronic Overlapping Pain Conditions and Long-term Opioid Treatment

Little is known about opioid prescribing patterns in patients with chronic overlapping pain conditions. This study suggests target populations for interventions to manage chronic pain.

Impact of COVID-19 Pandemic on Accessibility of Taiwanese Medical Care

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted access to routine medical care in community populations in Taiwan. The unmet needs should be emphasized as normal life resumes.

Treatment Patterns for Patients With Advanced/Metastatic Cancers by Site of Care

Treatment patterns and overall survival were similar regardless of site of care between patients receiving anticancer therapy in the hospital outpatient vs physician office setting.

Care Management Improves Total Cost of Care for Patients With Dementia

Compared with usual care, a dementia care management program improved various cost of care and utilization metrics in a Medicare managed care population at 12 months.

Impact of the Patient-Centered Medical Home on Consistently High-Cost Patients

Patient-centered medical homes in Maryland’s multipayer demonstration disrupted the pattern of recurrently high expenditure among the costliest patients and improved continuity of care.

Medical Costs for Managing Chronic Kidney Disease and Related Complications in Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease and Type 2 Diabetes

Psoriatic Arthritis Treatment Patterns and Costs Among Pharmacologic Treatment–Naïve Patients

We present results of an analysis of IBM MarketScan databases that evaluates treatment patterns and health care costs for treatment-naïve patients with psoriatic arthritis.

PQA Annual Meeting: Quality Emerges From the Pandemic, Focused on Access and Equity

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance's 2022 annual meeting will return to an in-person format after 2 years. The meeting with include timely topics: quality beyond the pandemic, health equity, and remote care

A Learning Health Care Community: Integrating Research and Practice at Scale

This article presents a case study of how stakeholders in one state came together to integrate practice and research that is a step beyond a learning health care system.

Out-of-Pocket Costs for Diabetes Medications in Employer-Sponsored Health Insurance Plans

Out-of-pocket costs of diabetes medications other than insulin can be quite high for individuals with employer-sponsored health insurance.

Understanding Insurance Coverage Policies for Incretin Mimetics for Weight Management

The high cost of incretin mimetics for weight management limits insurance coverage and potentiates variation in utilization management strategies to control near-term spending.

Remote Monitoring Saves Costs in Outpatient Negative Pressure Wound Therapy

Health insurance records of patients using negative pressure wound therapy (NPWT) revealed lower adjusted 90-day wound-related costs with remote therapy monitoring vs NPWT alone.

Diagnosis Patterns and Stress Testing Trends After Implementing High-Sensitivity Troponin Assay

This study found that switching from a conventional troponin assay to a high-sensitivity troponin assay resulted in changes to diagnosis patterns and stress testing trends.

Journey to Anticoagulant Access Following Payer Rejection of Apixaban

Formulary restrictions can create treatment barriers for patients with atrial fibrillation, including unnecessary delays in treatment and prescription abandonment, with vulnerable populations at greater risk.

Utilization Management and Physician Burnout

This survey assesses physician experiences with utilization management and burnout and investigates whether there is a link between them.

Challenges of Fracture Risk Assessment in Asian and Black Women

Differences in bone density and FRAX fracture risk scores among Black and Asian women yield greater discordance in fracture risk estimation compared with White women.

Impact of the Collaborative Care Model on Medical Spending

Modest spending on integrated mental health services in primary care, facilitated by use of new collaborative care billing codes, did not increase overall health care costs.

Impact of Delayed Adoption of Novel Atrial Fibrillation Treatments

Using direct oral anticoagulants as a case study, the authors examined how delayed adoption of novel treatments could impact patient health outcomes and cost.

Approaches for Overcoming Barriers to Cross-Sector Data Sharing

The authors identified challenges to cross-sector data sharing and the approaches used to overcome these challenges in the Mid-Ohio Farmacy, a partnership to address food insecurity.

Hospital Outcomes of Male Breast Cancer in the United States

This is the first study to estimate the hospital lengths of stay and costs of male breast cancer at the US population level.

Medicare Advantage Coverage Restrictions for the Costliest Physician-Administered Drugs

Four large Medicare Advantage insurers manage access to expensive physician-administered drugs with a combination of prior authorization, step therapy, and Part D formulary design.

Behavior-Based Diabetes Management: Impact on Care, Hospitalizations, and Costs

The Diabetes Care Rewards program offers a business case for health plans to promote engagement through use of contingent incentives, thus improving health outcomes and lowering costs.

Association Between Interhospital Care Fragmentation, Readmission Diagnosis, and Outcomes

In this analysis of the National Readmissions Database, the authors investigated the association between interhospital fragmentation of care, reason for readmission, and patient outcomes.

Potential Health Literacy Resources for Health Plans: A Narrative Review

Several evidence-based health literacy resources may be beneficial in health plan settings to improve organizational health literacy, personal health literacy, and health equity.