Diabetes

Studies have shown that embedding behavioral health services into the primary care practice produces better health outcomes for patients with diabetes, while reducing indications of depression. The challenge is figuring out how to make the transition to new payment models that reward such care.

A review of 24 trials covering more than 10,000 patients confirmed earlier findings that PCSK9 inhibitors dramatically reduce cholesterol and risk of heart attacks. But an editorial that appeared alongside the meta-analysis in Annals of Internal Medicine said long-term studies are needed on this new drug class.

CMS wasted nearly $251 million in taxpayer dollars on infusion drugs in just 18 months by using outdated drug pricing estimates, which drove up the cost of prescription injectable drugs for an aging baby boomer population.

Vivek Murthy, MD, MBA, who took office as US Surgeon General in December and has a ceremonial swearing-in Thursday, says he hopes to reduce chronic diseases such as obesity, diabetes, and heart disease by promoting physical activity.

The diabetes drug metformin is being used in some cancer treatment trials, but study results show the use of metformin does not improve survival of patients with pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma.

In its third year, Patient-Centered Diabetes Care, which took place April 16-17, 2015, in Boston, showed how new payment models, new therapies, and new approaches to patient engagement are changing care for persons with diabetes. The American Journal of Managed Care and Joslin Diabetes Center presented this year's meeting.

Having people from different parts of the diabetes care equation talking together at the 3rd Annual Patient-Centered Diabetes Care Meeting is what will move the industry forward, according to Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, chief medical officer and senior vice president at Joslin Diabetes Center and the editor-in-chief of Evidence-Based Diabetes Management journal.

Recent emphasis of identifying those with prediabetes and intervening to halt its progression is aimed at reducing the financial impact of diabetes in the United States, which was estimated in 2012 at $245 billion.

There were no significant differences in the risk of ambulatory care—sensitive condition hospitalization or mortality between patients who initiated analogue insulin compared with the neutral protamine Hagedorn.

Smartphone data is now being used for crowdsourcing studies of diabetes, asthma, cardiovascular disease.

Currently partnered with Apple, Johnson & Johnson, and Medtronic, IBM is also buying Explorys and Phytel, 2 start-ups that can boost IBM's presence in the healthcare world.

Onglyza (saxagliptin), developed by AstraZeneca, was found to cause an increased risk of heart failure.

Incentives in employee wellness programs, especially penalties, can hurt morale and lead to legal action. But without incentives, there's no guarantee the employer will see healthcare savings and return on investment.

Hospitals like Boston Children's and Penn Medicine think they are better off building in-house apps that are custom-made for their workflow, rather than risk buying those available in the market, which may not necessarily be a perfect fit.

Researchers worked with nearly 3800 individuals to establish workplace programs that focused on healthy eating and increasing physical activity. At the end of the study period, the number of employees in the control site who were overweight/obese increased by about 5%, while the number in the intervention group had decreased by 4%, resulting in a net difference of 9%.

Quality benefits were equal across racial/ethnic groups with equal personal health record (PHR) use, but nonwhite status and a preference for Spanish language predicted lower PHR registration.

The study found that thiazolidinediones, commonly used to treat individuals suffering from type 2 diabetes, activate the PPARY' receptors in the hypothalamus, which in turn triggers food hoarding, food intake.

Diabetic retinopathy affects 33% of all patients with diabetes over 40; 29 million Americans have type 1 or type 2 diabetes.

This article identifies patient-, provider-, and system-level factors associated with the problem of self-monitoring blood glucose without use of the results.

Diabetes is associated with more advanced stage breast cancer, according to a new study that confirms a strong link between diabetes and later stage breast cancer at diagnosis.

The Association for Molecular Pathology has provided comments to the FDA, urging increased regulation of next generation sequencing diagnostic tests to ensure consistent and proper performance of the tests.

The study, conducted by the national laboratory Quest Diagnostics, found that in states that expanded Medicaid, he number of Medicaid enrollees with newly identified diabetes rose by 23%, to 18,020 in the first 6 months of 2014, from 14,625 in the same period in 2013.

A one-minute look at managed care news during the week of March 16, 2015, including bills from Congress to fix the sustainable growth rate formula and anticipation over the PCSK9 inhibitors.

Targeting glucose control and managing cardiovascular (CV) risk factors may prevent future CV events, and have positive downstream impact by reducing costs to healthcare stakeholders.

A study that combined socioeconomic data and hospital-level data on quality care after myocardial infarction showed that hospitals that serve the poorest Americans adhere to high standards, but patient outcomes do not always reflect that high-quality acute care.