Health System

The end of the COVID-19 public health emergency spotlights US outbreak tracking weakness; the American Psychological Association released guidelines to guide teen social media use; the first study funded by the US government to measure safe injection site effectiveness was announced Monday.

Study authors said the findings could inform clinicians when selecting therapies for patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D). However, an editorial found the follow-up period too short and differences between the study arms too small to be meaningful.

A panel at Asembia 2023 discussed what their organizations are doing to improve diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) at their organizations, and what others can learn from these efforts.

Naveen Mansukhani, director of operations and account management of Retail Pharmacy Services at Cardinal Health, talks about how the responsibility for saving costs does not just fall on one department or person, but is collaborative and requires strategy.

One dose of human papillomavirus vaccine (HPV) vaccine can prevent infection for at least 3 years, and maybe even longer; Eli Lilly plans to seek FDA approval for Alzheimer drug that slows decline; New York governor signed a bill expanding contraceptive access in the state next year.

A settled class-action lawsuit paves the way for 5 million New Yorkers on Medicaid to have expanded dental coverage; 2 hospitals broke federal law by denying a woman whose life was in danger an abortion; mask mandates in most health care settings are being lifted around the United States.

Mark A. Socinski, MD, executive director of the AdventHealth Cancer Institute, shares his insight on liquid- and tissue-based biopsies and their clinical utility in non–small cell lung cancer (NSCLC).

Craig D. Pederson, principal at Insight Health Care Partners, discussed the evolving landscape of value-based care and challenges to implementation from the provider perspective during his keynote presentation at the National Association of Managed Care Physicians (NAMCP) Spring Managed Care Forum 2023.

The deal creates a new force in the world of value-based health care.

Jessica Allegretti, MD, MPH, medical director of the Crohn's and Colitis Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, reviews emerging therapeutics being investigated for the prevention and treatment of Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).

Not only are Black and Brown communities, as well as neighborhoods with lower socioeconomic status, disproportionately impacted by climate change, but these communities are not as readily able to adapt to mitigate the impacts climate change has on health.

Construction of a composite measure, use of a summary disparity statistic, and measure selection are key considerations in the design of equity-focused payment programs.

This 4-day event drew thousands of health care leaders to Nashville, Tennessee; in this column, Ron Southwick, editor of Chief Healthcare Executive, shares his thoughts from conversations and panels in Music City.

This retrospective study examined food insecurity and neighborhood disadvantage in health system patients as predictors of acute health care utilization.

Health systems may be better able to support adoption of chronic care management processes, which have a strong evidence base for practice implementation, compared with patient engagement strategies, which have less evidence to guide effective implementation.

Jessica Allegretti, MD, MPH, medical director of the Crohn's and Colitis Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, speaks on current indications for Rebyota (fecal microbiota, live-jslm) in the treatment of recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), as well as coverage and access-related implications for the drug.

The FDA wants to discourage the use of single-arm trials for accelerated approvals of oncology drugs; Cigna’s review system allows doctors to reject claims without reading them, an investigation shows; US bishops want to restrict gender transition care in Catholic hospitals.

A 6-item teamwork measure with good construct validity correlated with favorable provider outcomes including work experience, burnout, and intent to stay with the organization.

The keynote session highlighted trends in COVID-19 and other respiratory illness rates, a bounce back in health care utilization, biosimilar market trends, new product launches, and more.

In this AMCP Market Insights session, panelists discussed best practices and challenges when it comes to prescribing antibody drug conjugates, from the payer, provider, and patient perspectives, based on survey findings.

Although adults hospitalized with COVID-19, the flu, or respiratory syncytial virus are often administered antibiotics, the drugs have no effect on reducing the risk of death, according to a new study.

The Community Oncology Alliance (COA) retains the spirit of an upstart advocacy group, while working to look ahead at innovative technologies, care delivery trends, and other events that threaten independent practices, said oncology leaders while attending their annual meeting this week.

On the first full day of conference activity at AMCP 2023, a morning session examined prior authorization (PA) through a lens of refining the current process and the potential role of clinical trial data in PA criteria.

Jessica Allegretti, MD, MPH, medical director of the Crohn's and Colitis Center, Brigham and Women's Hospital, discusses the standard of care for the prevention and treatment of primary and recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI).

Candida auris was first reported in the United States in 2016; the highly contagious fungal infection has been labeled an “urgent threat” by the CDC, and its spread may have aided by underresourced public health systems.

Many people often don’t connect the dots between climate change and its impact on skin health, but these effects have been happening for years, said Eva R. Parker, MD, associate professor of dermatology at Vanderbilt University Medical Center.

Establishing mobile health clinics in rural settings requires collaboration across health systems by aligning missions, building infrastructure to support research, and demonstrating proof of concept.

Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and incoming medical director at Thyme Care, explained Thyme Care’s value-based care (VBC) system in oncology and the benefits of care navigation.

The high court in North Dakota voted to protect abortion in that state; an outside panel of FDA expert advisors voted to support a full approval for Paxlovid; Sanofi follows competitors' price caps for insulin.

Lawyers were questioned in a federal lawsuit intending to overturn approval of a drug used for medication abortion; during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2021, US maternal mortality increased for the third year in a row; the Alzheimer’s Association is lobbying Congress to push for Medicare coverage of new Alzheimer drugs under early access.