July 2010

Use of rt-PA is associated with long-term cost savings, but more high-quality, current cost-effectiveness research is needed for stroke centers, care networks, and telemedicine.

Among Medicare enrollees with metastatic colorectal cancer, the use of newer chemotherapy agents was lower for African American patients and for older patients.

Algorithms based on managed care pharmacy data can efficiently identify persons at risk for undiagnosed chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Effective preventive treatments, early critical care, and multi-disciplinary rehabilitative strategies for stroke will reduce the national expenditure for stroke-related healthcare services.

Pilot testing of guidelines for the laboratory monitoring of high-risk medications shows that monitoring is highly variable and that there is room for improvement.

The authors describe several simple changes that health plans can make in the design of pay-for-performance programs that may improve their effectiveness.

Laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding and gastric bypass are cost-effective treatments for morbid obesity compared with no treatment.

Routine preoperative MRSA screening of cardiac surgery patients could provide substantial economic value to third-party payers and hospitals under a wide range of circumstances.

A disease management program for Medicare Advantage patients with diabetes and coronary artery disease resulted in significantly reduced hospital admissions and total healthcare costs.

In patients with mild asthma, mometasone furoate dry powder inhaler resulted in improved adherence and fewer exacerbations than beclomethasone dipropionate hydrofluoroalkane aerosol inhaler.