September 2017

Medicare formularies were inconsistent in increasing restrictiveness to drugs that received FDA black box warnings for death and/or cardiovascular risk with safer available drug alternatives.

A conceptual framework was used to examine the influence of healthcare provider and psychosocial barriers on treatment utilization among younger and older socioeconomically disadvantaged smokers.

The authors investigated back-transfer: the transfer of patients near the end of an acute hospitalization to a local community hospital for completion of their medical care.

Financial barriers to behavioral health integration in Oregon Medicaid accountable care organizations (ACOs) limit opportunities to expand integrated care, but state and organizational opportunities exist.

A 7.6% improvement in 12-month cholesterol refill was observed among US military veterans randomized to an adherence blister packaging intervention versus an education-only intervention.

The authors examined the effect of narrow network plan selection on beneficiaries’ outpatient visits and outpatient out-of-pocket expenditures in the 2014 nongroup health insurance market.

New statin prescriptions at the Veterans Health Administration were reviewed using a cross-sectional study design. Statins were frequently prescribed outside of guideline recommendations.

This study examined the early impacts of closing the donut hole in Medicare Part D.

Racial and ethnic differences in hip fracture incidence and mortality outcome were observed within a diverse population of older men, with lower rates of both among Asians.

Provider-owned insurers have the potential to reduce costs, but face challenges building competitive provider networks.