November 2015

November 10, 2015

Many programs attempting to effectively treat high-need, high-cost individuals have not been able to lower spending, improve outcomes, or increase satisfaction. This paper suggests 8 attributes that many successful programs share.

November 13, 2015

Evaluation of a national retail pharmacy automatic refill program for patients on medication for chronic disease demonstrated significantly improved patient adherence and reduced medication oversupply.

November 13, 2015

Expanding and more representative participation in Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement initiative suggests potential for large impact, pending the results of risk-bearing participants.

November 13, 2015

Payment policy, health plan characteristics, and Medicare beneficiary characteristics come together to foster continued growth in the Medicare Advantage program.

November 13, 2015

This study tested 3 financial incentives encouraging breast cancer screening (mammograms) among women deemed overdue. None were effective overall; "person-centered" incentives worked in the most recently screened subgroup.

November 13, 2015

The American healthcare system is finally moving away from fee-for-service toward bundled payments, but this transition will only be successful if we shift risk to the physicians.

November 13, 2015

Providing a weekly feedback report significantly influences the test ordering behavior of internal medicine residents and reduces laboratory overutilization.

November 13, 2015

Many primary care physicians in the United States reported providing unnecessary medical care in response to patient requests; several factors predicted this behavior.

November 20, 2015

Sequence discovery techniques identified sequences of events that led to gaps in diabetic therapies and were used to identify outreach opportunities aimed at improving medication adherence.

November 30, 2015

Atrial fibrillation patients with mental health conditions are less likely to be eligible for warfarin receipt, and those who are eligible receive warfarin at lower rates.

November 30, 2015

The authors describe a quality improvement intervention that focuses on directly scheduling mammogram appointments for women who lack adherence despite written outreach letters.

November 27, 2015

This review demonstrates the long-term (≥12 months) efficacy of preoperative smoking cessation programs, providing further support for incorporation of smoking cessation programs into presurgical clinics.