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Have Racial Disparities in Home Dialysis Utilization Changed Over Time?

Medicare prospective payment for dialysis modestly increased availability and use of home-based dialysis treatment but did not affect historic racial disparities in home dialysis.

Care Transitions: Opportunities to Better Serve the Traveling Patient

The authors share a model that facilitates patient-centered care and can be adopted by other health systems to encourage successful care transitions for the traveling patient.

COVID-19 and Clinic Workflow Optimization Using Lean Six Sigma

The authors report an approach of outpatient clinic workflow reorganization utilizing simple, inexpensive measures to improve patient engagement and experience in addition to providing a safe setting for patients for clinic visits in the wake of COVID-19.

Contributor: Companies Can’t Afford a She-cession

As working women have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19, solutions to address what has been coined a “she-cession” include targeted communications, flexible work schedules, and increased education/tutoring resources.

Factors Associated With Lung Cancer Risk Factor Documentation

This cross-sectional observational study found several factors associated with whether a patient had sufficient lung cancer risk factor documentation in the electronic health record.

Association of Co-pay Elimination With Medication Adherence and Total Cost

This study evaluated cost and utilization attributed to members enrolled in a health care program with no pharmacy co-pay. Health care savings were identified in addition to medication adherence improvements.

Comparing Breast Cancer Treatment Outcomes Between Fee-for-Service and Medicare Advantage

This study examined postdiagnosis breast cancer treatment outcomes for Medicare Advantage vs fee-for-service (FFS) Medicare in Ohio and found no significant differences overall but disparities for Black patients with FFS Medicare.

Contributor: Coping With Insomnia During COVID-19

Potential Impact of Hospital at Home on Postoperative Readmissions

Many postoperative readmissions are amenable to diversion to a hospital at home program for surgical patients, representing an opportunity to generate revenue and improve patient experience.

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.

Managing Total Knee Replacement Under Value-Based Payments

This article describes the approach that a large primary care group at risk for value-based payments chose to deploy in managing clinical and financial outcomes of knee osteoarthritis jointly with orthopedic surgeons.

Implementation and Cost Validation of a Real-time Benefit Tool

This study evaluates impact of a real-time benefit tool on medication access and physician and pharmacy workflows at a large academic medical center.

RSV Vaccines Demonstrate Sustained Effectiveness for Older Adults

RSV vaccines protected older adults against RSV-related hospitalization over 2 seasons, although with less effectiveness for those with immunocompromise or cardiovascular disease.

Geographical Variation in Kidney Function Testing and Associations With Health Care Costs Among Patients With Chronic Kidney Disease and Type 2 Diabetes

Neulasta Onpro: A Coup de Grâce?

With the rapid decline in average sales price of reference pegfilgrastim products due to biosimilar competition, health care institutions and payers may grapple with coverage of Neulasta Onpro.

Disparities in Surgical Outcomes in Medicare Advantage vs Traditional Medicare

This study evaluated differences in racial and ethnic disparities in surgical outcomes between Medicare Advantage and traditional Medicare beneficiaries, finding consistent but nonuniform smaller disparities within Medicare Advantage.

Using Natural Language Processing to Classify Social Work Interventions

Natural language processing can be used for automated extraction of social work interventions from electronic health records, thereby supporting social work staffing and resource allocation decisions.

Longitudinal, Relationship-Based Case Management: A Prospective Cohort Trial

A longitudinal, relationship-based case management approach significantly reduced health care costs and improved quality of life for Medicaid enrollees with complex needs over 1 year.

Cost Analysis of Self-Monitoring Blood Glucose in Nonintensively Managed Type 2 Diabetes

Analysis of claims data showed reduced utilization and costs among patients with nonintensively managed type 2 diabetes using self-monitoring of blood glucose compared with continuous glucose monitoring.

A Conceptual Framework for Addressing Social Needs Through the Accountable Health Communities Model

No published studies exist on use of intervention design, implementation strategies, and theory in the CMS Accountable Health Communities Model, the largest-scale test of social prescribing in the United States.

Addressing Evolving Patient Concerns Around Telehealth in the COVID-19 Era

With a rapid shift to telehealth during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, clinicians, health care organizations, and policy makers must consider and address patients’ evolving needs, concerns, and expectations.

Charitable Medication Distribution Improves Care for Uninsured Patients With Diabetes

This report illustrates how providing vital diabetes medications to uninsured patients through a charitable medication distributor improves clinical outcomes.

Patient Perspectives on Technology-Based Approaches to Social Needs Screening

Patients are essential stakeholders in designing systems to capture social needs. The authors present key findings from patient interviews regarding social needs screening through technology-based modalities.

Patients’ Access to 2018 FDA-Approved Drugs 1 Year Post Approval

2018 was a landmark year for new drug approvals. However, patients’ access to these novel drugs varied by drug category and enrolled health plan.

High-Risk Care Management Impact on Medicaid ACO Utilization and Spending

In Massachusetts’ largest Medicaid accountable care organization (ACO), high-risk care management significantly reduced spending, emergency department visits, and hospitalizations, demonstrating that targeted strategies can manage health care costs amid budget constraints.

Development and Validation of the COVID-19 Hospitalized Patient Deterioration Index

The authors developed and validated an accurate, well-calibrated, easy-to-implement COVID-19 hospitalized patient deterioration index to identify patients at high or low risk of clinical deterioration.