Medicare

Use of a smartphone-based application was found to improve medication adherence and some clinical outcomes in patients managing multiple comorbidities using polypharmacy, researchers concluded.

Late July brings a 64% enrollment increase; owner charged with fraudulently billing Medicare over $784 million; COVID-19 hot spots lose nurses due to burnout.

Identifying patients with combined polypharmacy and frailty can help recognize ICU patients with high risk of hospital readmission, the authors said.

Seventy percent of Americans have received at least 1 dose of a COVID-19 vaccine; CMS releases payment rules for fiscal year 2022; alcohol linked to over 700,000 new cancer diagnoses in 2020.

The study was conducted to shed more light on the growing issue of polypharmacy, an issue that is expected to increase as the US population ages.

Drug optimization in older adults improved outcomes in this retrospective study.

However, letting nurses have total control of medication management during hospital stays can create problems afterward.

While polypharmacy, along with hospital length of stay and other factors, was linked to a higher risk of 30-day hospital readmission, the type of medication mattered as well.

Future Medicare Part D models should consider alternative strategies to improve cost-related non-adherence.

Larger primary care practices in downside risk–only payment models and capitation saw the highest telemedicine utilization rates by their patients enrolled in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans.

High-tier generic drug placement in Medicare Part D has increased over time, but it may be related to a drug’s clinical profile and availability of substitutes rather than preferred brand-name drug coverage.

A string of controversies surrounding the approval of Biogen's Alzheimer disease drug aducanumab (Aduhelm) has not only called into question the independent nature of the FDA, but puts both providers and patients in a challenging position when it comes to deciding whether or not to prescribe or take the treatment.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Charlie Wray, DO, MS, an assistant professor of medicine at the University of California San Francisco, outlines the findings of a paper he coauthored which assessed Americans' experiences with their insurance providers.

Medicare Advantage plans may deliver care more efficiently to food-insecure beneficiaries than traditional Medicare, but they are not better at reducing food insecurity.

PBMs keep copays higher on the same generic drugs.

The Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) needs to be reimagined get back on track and to live up to its promise to incentivize value-based care.

Abstracts cover the cost of cancer-related diarrhea, 30-day readmission rates, and how perceptions of the likelihood of survival affect end-of-life care.

A pharmacist-led collaborative medication management service reduced problems associated with polypharmacy in older adults with chronic kidney disease (CKD).

The head of AHIP sat down with a senator and 3 health care executives for a conversation about payment and access issues at the organization's 2021 Institute and Expo Online.

The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission (MedPAC) suggested several changes to Medicare Advantage (MA) plan benchmark calculations, with the intent to generate yield savings for Medicare, and urged CMS to streamline alternative payment model (APMs) where it can.

In a 7 to 2 decision, the Supreme Court ruled Thursday that the Affordable Care Act (ACA) will stand, as plaintiffs seeking to declare the law unconstitutional did not have standing.

The researchers created a model that simulated what would happen when health systems and providers began working together in Medicare accountable care organizations (ACOs) in arrangements that did not extend to outright mergers or acquisitions.

Davey Daniel, MD, hematology/medical oncology specialist, Tennessee Oncology, discusses findings of an abstract presented at ASCO 2021 showing a lower total cost of care paid by Medicare for episodes of care for patients in the Oncology Care Model (OCM) enrolled in clinical trials vs those receiving routine care.

Although most Medicare Part D plans cover guideline-recommended outpatient chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) inhalers, the utilization controls applied to these therapies vary by plan type.