Diabetes

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.

An estimated 86 million Americans have prediabetes and 90% don't know it. The initiative announced yesterday seeks to reach this population and intervene before the disease progresses to type 2 diabetes mellitus, which costs $245 billion a year.

A new analysis published by the RAND Corporation suggests strategies that the pharmaceutical industry could offer payers as they try to cover the front-loaded cost of newer breakthrough drugs.

A unique coaching project included not only traditional elements like nutrition and exercise but also stress management and sleep.

The study, which will presented next week at the meeting of the American College of Cardiology, defined how much avoiding diabetes, obesity, and hypertension before age 45 matters if one is later diagnosed with heart failure.

While the pharmaceutical industry has always justified the billions spent on developing a candidate drug molecule, the process has definitely seen some important changes. This article evaluates whether these revolutionary changes have influenced drug development for the better.

This study's findings showed that diabetes care remained suboptimal among many patients with multiple chronic conditions and that patient outcomes varied by multimorbidity profile.

Budget cuts mean county health clinics will be unable to fill hundreds of jobs, leaving smaller staffs to serve low-income people in state that declined to expand Medicaid despite pleas from its hospitals and business leaders.

Significant results from an international phase 3 study, EDITION, resulted in the approval of Toujeo in treating patients with type 1 as well as type 2 diabetes.

The 2015 Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee met for more than a year to review scientific evidence and discuss "patterns" of food consumption, and those discussions are reflected in the report. After a 45-day comment period and public hearing, the US Secretaries of Agriculture and Health and Human Services will issue the final Dietary Guidelines for Americans, the nation's official nutrition policy.

Study finds that Regeneron Pharmaceuticals' more expensive Eylea help patients with severe eye disease caused by diabetes more than the less-expensive options from Roche Holding.

The study, conducted at the Columbia University School of Nursing, found that mobile apps with decision support features resulted in significantly higher diagnosis rates than apps with only bare-bones tools for recording results from a patient exam.

Developed by the company 23andMe, the test identifies carriers of a gene mutation that could determine the susceptibility of a person's offspring to Bloom Syndrome.

The article was part of a Lancet series which took aim at the "unacceptably slow" response to rising rates of childhood obesity, and the effects not only on health but also on its social and economic effects on children. Authors called on nations to rein in marketing aimed at children.

A randomized controlled trial found that plain-language, illustrated medication lists improved medication understanding among Latinos.

A one-minute look at managed care news during the week of February 9, 2015, including an announcement of a new Affordable Care Initiative and a potential change to recommended dietary guidelines.

This retrospective cohort study in a Medicare Advantage population posits that type 2 diabetes mellitus complications pose an excess burden on healthcare resource use and related costs.

The situation with hepatitis C drug costs is setting an interesting precedent for the rest of healthcare and one that needs to be watched closely, according to Keith Hoffman, PhD.

If the Dietary Guidelines Advisory Committee drops cholesterol from the list of "nutrients of concern," it will be consistent with a 2013 task force finding as well as the panel's focus on dietary patterns, or the mix of foods that Americans eat and their effect on population health.

The effect of switching from multiple daily insulin injections to an insulin pump on insulin and other diabetic drug expenditures in type 2 diabetes.

An editorial accompanying the meta-analysis discussed the challenges physicians face when evaluating individual patient needs against guidelines. In the United States, the movement toward reimbursement based on population health measures has raised questions about whether it makes sense for patients to be given multiple medications to achieve small improvements toward targets. Results must be weighed against increased side affects or large out-of-pocket expenditures.

A disease management program at the University of Minnesota revealed only some targeted chronic diseases benefitted from the program while others were unaffected.

After nearly 6 years overseeing public health initiatives, Margaret Hamburg, MD, commissioner of the FDA will be stepping down, according to various sources.