February 2015

An original emergency department patient survey, insurance claims data, and administrative records are used to examine the characteristics of nonurgent users.

Quality benefits were equal across racial/ethnic groups with equal personal health record (PHR) use, but nonwhite status and a preference for Spanish language predicted lower PHR registration.

A systematic review of presenteeism instruments found that most have been validated to some extent, but evidence for criterion validity is virtually absent.

Using an ICD-9-CM code algorithm, the authors effectively identified potentially difficult-to-reach populations for a hypertension clinical trial.

This article identifies patient-, provider-, and system-level factors associated with the problem of self-monitoring blood glucose without use of the results.

Safety net hospitals reduce emergency surgeries among Medicaid and uninsured patients, and provide a benefit to these populations relative to other providers.

Data suggest that behavioral health providers and services must be included as core components of accountable care organizations to achieve desired health and cost outcomes.

The authors identify a 4-step plan to accelerate the spread of evidence-based practices.

Implementing patient decision aids was associated with lower rates of elective surgery for benign prostatic hyperplasia and of active treatment for localized prostate cancer.

Successful patient engagement in a nationally available, remotely delivered behavioral health intervention can significantly improve medical outcomes and lower healthcare costs.

This study examined the impact of the Medicare Part D coverage gap on medication use by Hispanics, blacks, and whites with diabetes.

A collaborative practice model to reduce hospital readmissions from an outpatient environment.

Incomplete records of patient history can bias hospital profiling. Completing health records for Medicare-covered patients in VA hospitals resulted in modest changes in hospital performance.

A study to determine the health literacy of elderly patients and establish whether an association exists between health literacy and cardiovascular disease risk factors.

Measurement and accountability are now part of the DNA of our entire healthcare system, and cost and quality are both improving.

No corporate weight control program has ever reported savings or even sustained weight loss using valid metrics across a sizable population for 2 years or more, accounting for dropouts and nonparticipants. Further, these programs can harm morale and even the health of the employees themselves.