November 2012

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

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.

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.

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

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

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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.