Diabetes

Recommendations to interrupt long periods of sitting challenge both insurers and employers to find methods, based on evidence, to encourage physical activity throughout the day to improve health. Aetna has pursued programs with Apple with its own employees.

A landmark reimbursement decision from Medicare, and news in diabetes prevention.

Using digital health to manage chronic disease means creating new payment models that recognize care is an ongoing process.

Authors from the digital health provider Noom offer an update of a successful employer-based initiative.

Recent studies have linked yoga and mindfulness with reduced stress, improved glycemic control, and even lower medical costs. Should these low-cost practices find ways to standardize to meet payers' needs? Or is it managed care that needs to adapt?

Three cardiologists, including the 2015-2016 president of the American College of Cardiology, review the evidence in support of lifestyle modification for diabetes management or remission.

Health coaching for diabetes patients increased diabetes knowledge in all participants, but the most significant clinical improvements were seen in those who had been faring poorly at baseline, according to the newly published results of a chronic disease management program in Australia

An analysis of nationally representative survey-based data finds that 5.2% of adults with type 2 diabetes were in remission, without bariatric surgery, at the end of the second year.

Five-year results of the Why WAIT study at Joslin Diabetes Center.

US and European guidelines recommend 150 minutes per week of moderate physical activity.

The study points to an additional tool that could help prevent at-risk patients from progressing to diabetes.

For some time, studies have shown a link between elevated stress and obesity. Measuring cortisol levels in the hair may be a better way to evaluate chronic stress, since the hormone level will not fluctuate from day to day.

Recent advances in insulin formulations and innovative drug classes have made it easier than ever to manage diabetic patients’ glucose levels, according to Yehuda Handelsman, MD, FACP, FACE, FNLA, medical director and principal investigator at the Metabolic Institute of America.

This week, the top managed care stories included Republicans releasing an outline for replacing the Affordable Care Act, pharmacy benefit managers and pharmaceutical companies pointing fingers over drug costs, and findings on engagement for patients with chronic conditions.

Patients treated by primary care providers with a high volume of patients experienced worse management of their disease. However, if a physician specifically treated a higher number of diabetics, the quality of the diabetes care received by patients was significantly higher.

The results are important given the concentration of Medicare beneficiaries who are in Medicaid and being treated for multiple chronic conditions.

The study adds to the growing body of evidence linking heart disease and diabetes to dementia.

As health plans ramp up efforts to “coach” patients with diabetes and other chronic diseases, a study in The American Journal of Managed Care® finds that customizing these efforts to patients’ knowledge and needs reduces hospital visits and improves some health measures.

The results from the United Kingdom support CMS' decision to add a payment code for collaborative care to this year's Medicare Physician Fee Schedule.

The results follow a separate report that outlined the reasons why low-income workers don't seek preventive care, and what can be done.

The announcements come as Medicare is set to start reimbursing the Diabetes Prevention Program on January 1, 2018.

This small study found sustained weight loss of 10% of body weight in patients who were overweight but not obese, along with improvements in glycemic control and quality of life that exceeded patients taking medication only.

A study in Diabetes Care examined the effects of high-deductible health plans on healthcare utilization for diabetes patients with varying incomes.

This week, the top managed care stories included the end of 2 insurance megamergers, a proposed rule to tighten restrictions for the Affordable Care Act, and new legislation in New Jersey provides the nation's strictest mandates for treating addiction.

Researchers examined how genetic variants linked to type 2 diabetes behave in their environment, and the results pointed to a molecule that affects how pancreatic islet cells "read" the genes.