November 2012

November 21, 2012

An examination of hospitalization patterns in patients with multiple sclerosis with a focus on the association with time and patient characteristics.

November 21, 2012

Purchasers-employers and government programs-are primary actors for pushing for payment, benefit design, and transparency initiatives to get better value; health plans can partner.

November 20, 2012

Evaluation of real-world implementation of HER2 testing showed that uptake was high (>90%) and trastuzumab treatment was targeted to patients with positive HER2 status.

November 20, 2012

The aDCSI without the inclusion of laboratory data performs similarly to the DCSI with laboratory results, and is a good measure of diabetes severity.

November 19, 2012

From 2005 to 2009, improved clinical practice systems were associated with cost reductions only for medically complex patients.

November 19, 2012

Automated telephone calls can increase colorectal cancer screening rates at a cost of about $40 per additional screen.

November 16, 2012

This study highlights the potential value of innovative ways of collecting information about adverse drug events directly from patients.

November 16, 2012

Reference pricing is an effective cost-containment tool widely used in other countries; it may be an attractive policy strategy for the US healthcare system.

November 16, 2012

November 15, 2012

Primary care providers have developed standing agreements with other healthcare providers and community-based organizations to coordinate care. Early experiences with these agreements are discussed.

November 15, 2012

Adjusting for patients' covariates, postoperative complications and mortality among geriatric surgical patients exhibited an age-dependent, illness-related, and preoperative medical expense“associated pattern under universal healthcare coverage.

November 15, 2012

This study used multivariate models to identify physician specialty and comfort with end-of-life discussions, both of which are associated with end-of-life referrals.