April 18th 2024
Using 25 health system performance indicators, the Commonwealth Fund 2024 State Health Disparities Report evaluated racial and ethnic disparities in health care and health outcomes both within and across US states and highlighted the urgent need for equitable health care policies and practices in the US.
COVID-19 and Cancer: NCI's Sharpless Says COVID-19 Could Halt Streak of US Cancer Mortality Gains
July 19th 2020The talk by Ned Sharpless, MD, director of the National Cancer Institute, preceded presentations on some of the earliest findings about the effects of COVID-19 on cancer: It appears that patients treated with chemotherapy for lung or thoracic cancer shortly before being diagnosed with COVID-19 face a higher risk of death, and so do patients with cancer who take the combination of hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) and azithromycin.
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New COVID-19 Hospital Data Protocol Raises Concerns
July 16th 2020Following an announcement that hospitals are to bypass the CDC and send all coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)–related information to a central database, questions have been raised as to the future of COVID-19 data transparency and politicization.
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Did ACA Implementation Enable Victims of Intimate Partner Violence?
July 7th 2020Between 2002 and 2015, data showed an increase in the percentage of intimate partner violence (IPV)–related emergency department claims paid by private insurance in the United States. This finding suggests the Affordable Care Act (ACA) may have increased women’s willingness and ability to seek medical attention for IPV-related injuries and disclose IPV as the source of the injuries, according to a study published in Women’s Health Issues.
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Dr Fumiko Chino: Medicaid Expansion Increases Cancer Mortality Benefit
July 4th 2020The Affordable Care Act encourages preventive care, like cancer screenings, by eliminating copays, so that additional years will only see the number of lives saved grow, noted Fumiko Chino, MD, assistant attending radiation oncologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York, in an interview prior to ASCO20 Virtual, this year’s annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.
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Hospital Responses to DSRIP Program Reforms in New Jersey
This study examines the New Jersey Delivery System Reform Incentive Payment (DSRIP) program using hospital web surveys and key informant interviews and finds progress toward data-driven population health management for low-income patients.
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Oklahomans vote to expand Medicaid amid the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic; Anthony Fauci, MD, cautions Congress that the daily number of new COVID-19 cases could reach 100,000 if outbreaks are not suppressed; public health departments must fight the spread of COVID-19 with lower funding and insufficient staff.
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Voters in Oklahoma will decide whether or not to amend the state's constitution to expand Medicaid; new studies find that nearly 300 children in the United States have contracted a rare inflammatory disorder related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); the House of Representatives passed a bill aimed to bolster the Affordable Care Act.
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Trump Administration, Republican Attorneys General Ask Supreme Court to Repeal ACA
June 25th 2020The Trump administration and Republican state attorneys general called on the Supreme Court to overturn the entire Affordable Care Act (ACA, also known as Obamacare). President Trump has endorsed repealing the ACA since his 2016 campaign, while Republican lawmakers have largely opposed the law since its inception in 2010.
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How Can Data Sharing Evolve Population Health Management?
June 25th 2020During the National Association of Accountable Care Organizations Virtual 2020 Spring Conference, panelists discussed how data sharing can be implemented in health care systems and spur the evolution of population health management.
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Humana's Bold Goal Program Takes Aim at Chronic Disease in Time of COVID-19
June 18th 2020Bold Goal is Humana’s effort to address holistic health needs in key markets, in part by working with community partners to address social determinants of health. The program seeks to tackle barriers such as lack of food or housing and social isolation that contribute to chronic disease.
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Social Needs Resource Navigators Help Limit Children's Health Care Utilization
June 2nd 2020Research has established an association between social risk factors and child health outcomes, while professional medical organizations have endorsed screening for such factors in clinical settings. Providing an in-person patient navigator to address family social needs leads to a decrease in child health care utilization, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open.
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Racial Disparities Shift in Observation Status in Hospital Admissions for Avoidable Conditions
June 2nd 2020A study released Monday used national Medicare data to try and understand disparities between black and white patients in avoidable hospitalizations for ambulatory care–sensitive conditions.
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Study Finds Nonprofit Hospitals Did Not Direct Medicaid Expansion Savings Into Communities
May 29th 2020Medicaid expansion was associated with a decrease in nonprofit hospitals’ burden of providing uncompensated care, according to a study published in JAMA Network Open. However, hospitals did not redirect this financial relief toward spending on additional community benefits.
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Lili Brillstein on Mandatory, Voluntary Payment Models
May 29th 2020There will never be all mandatory payment models or all value-based models, but we can craft a value-based model around just about anything as long as everybody agrees on what the criteria is, said Lili Brillstein, CEO of Brillstein Collaborative Consulting, and former Director for Episodes of Care at Horizon Blue Cross Blue Shield of New Jersey.
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Linking Opportunity Costs and Value Assessments for State and Commercial Payers
May 20th 2020When deciding which treatments to cover, states and commercial payers must wrestle with opportunity costs as new therapeutics come to market. A panel at Virtual ISPOR 2020 discussed some of the factors that go into those decisions.
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How Much Does It Cost to Give Birth in the United States? It Depends on the State
May 15th 2020The cost of giving birth in the United States can vary by thousands of dollars depending on where the birth takes place. In Arkansas, inpatient birth charges come out to roughly $8300, but that total rises to nearly $20,000 in New York.
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Secnidazole May Successfully Treat STI Disproportionately Affecting Black Women
May 6th 2020Lupin Pharmaceuticals Inc. (Lupin) announced positive results from its phase 3 trial assessing the efficacy and safety of secnidazole (Solosec) in female patients with trichomoniasis. Although trichomoniasis is common in the United States, the risk of being infected with the infection is nearly 10 times higher for African American women compared with non-Hispanic white women.
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What Matters to Our Patients Matters to Us, and We Must Keep Up, Panel Notes
April 24th 2020Day 1 of Virtual COA 2020, this year’s Community Oncology Conference, kicked off with the panel discussion, “Top Oncology Issues Now & Looking Ahead,” led by Bo Gamble, director of Strategic Practice Initiatives at the Community Oncology Alliance. Topics covered ran the gamut: from Zoom being everyone’s new middle name to telehealth to caring for patients’ medical and social needs and beyond.
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Do Caregivers for Patients With Heart Failure Benefit From Telehealth?
April 23rd 2020In the United States, heart failure affects a patient population of over 6.5 million. Through medication management, transportation, and emotional support, among the many tasks they assist with, these patients’ caregivers provide services valued at $7.9 billion annually.
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Dr Anshu Jain: We Must Be Teachers, Researchers, and Caregivers
April 21st 2020In a preview interview for this year’s 2020 Community Oncology Conference, The American Journal of Managed Care® speaks with Anshu Jain, MD—radiation oncologist at Ashland Bellefonte Cancer Center in Ashland, Kentucky; assistant clinical professor at the Yale School of Medicine; and Community Oncology Alliance board member—on how important it is to always strive for excellence in medicine.
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A Revised Classification Algorithm for Assessing Emergency Department Visit Severity of Populations
March 11th 2020An updated emergency visit classification tool enables managers to make valid inferences about levels of appropriateness of emergency department utilization and healthcare needs within a population.
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