Diabetes

A new RAND study explores the range of possible causes that might explain observed international variations in the usage of medicines for selected disease areas: dementia, osteoporosis, cancer, diabetes, and hepatitis C.

The rule applies to restaurants, retail food establishments, and vending machines with 20 or more locations.

The ACO and Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition, an initiative of The American Journal of Managed Care, held its most recent WebEx session this week. Participants discussed new strategies and technologies that both employers and healthcare organizations can use to get patients to take ownership over their own care.

A new study shows only a small share of patients with private insurance who were newly diagnosed with diabetes in 2011-2012 enrolled in self-management training, raising questions about how well managed care could address both long-term health and cost control for this important group. These patients are a target for special attention under the ACA.

Benefits of a patient-centered multimorbidity care management program occurred early, and were evident only among patients with depression and unfavorable medical control of diabetes and heart disease.

The study, published in Environmental Health Perspectives, studied the BMI of children in Southern California over a period of 8 years, and studied it's correlation with environmental pollutants.

Diabetes advocates are pressing for a bill that would compel Medicare to cover CGM technology. They cite a study in The American Journal of Managed Care, which found it costs $17,564 every time a person with diabetes goes to the emergency department with hypoglycemia.

This study identifies factors associated with seeking physician assistance and participating in a diabetes self-management class in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus.

The report, published in the journal Diabetes, found that children between 5 to 9 years of age were the hardest hit.

Amid yesterday's good news from the CDC that Americans are living longer than ever was a sobering fact. Rates for the top 10 causes of death all fell from 2011 to 2012, save one: suicide. The death rate increased from 12.3 to 12.6 deaths per 100,000 people.

Patients utilizing Medisave for a diabetes management program in Singapore were more compliant with care processes, but reductions in hospitalization and costs were not sustained.

A new research study from the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School showed that niclosamide ethanolamine salt (NEN) can burn the excess fat in the liver cells of mice through a process known as mitochondrial uncoupling. Fat accumulation in the liver is a typical characteristic of diabetic patients.

ASCO has called for raising awareness to control obesity, as it is not just a risk factor for developing diabetes but also for cancer.

Diabetes-related hospital charges are driven by complications, hospital misadventures, procedures, and other patient and discharge characteristics. Readmission charges are not different from initial admission charges.

The authors evaluate long-term glycemic control in a 5-year follow-up period after patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes mellitus with severe hyperglycemia were treated with 6 months of basal insulin therapy in a randomized controlled trial.

Highlights from the American Diabetes Association's 74th Scientific Sessions, which took place on June 13-17, 2014, in San Francisco, CA, are available in a newsletter published by The American Journal of Managed Care.