Providers

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Joanne Armstrong, MD, MPH, vice president and chief medical officer for Women’s Health and Genomics at CVS Health, on the distinct pathophysiology of cardiovascular disease in women and how her own health experiences have influenced her perspective on cardiovascular disease management.

More experienced dermatopathologists were less likely to see overdiagnosis as a significant public health problem, a new survey showed.

The February drop out of the top 5 coincided with a sharp decline in new cases of COVID-19, as reported by the CDC, following the January peak of the wave of cases related to the Omicron variant.

In this study, investigators from Pennsylvania and New York evaluated outcomes among patients following their hospitalization for heart failure (HF) who did or did not participate in a remote monitoring program that included financial incentives for adherence.

A study found that patients with end stage renal/kidney disease (ESRD) who undergo left ventricular assist device (LVAD) implantation had higher 1-year mortality compared with patients with chronic kidney disease.

In this study, outcomes were investigated among a cohort of patients with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) who participated in a cardiac rehabilitation program post hospital discharge after they survived acute onset of HFrEF.

In this new study, researchers wrote of the implications that detailed an association between asthma and exposure to particulate matter less than or equal to 2.5 mcm.

Investigators found quality of life (QOL) effects may be tied to patients’ perceptions of cognitive impairment, rather than objective measurements of impairment from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Holding other factors constant, the authors find that older providers prescribe significantly more opioids, with the gap between older and younger providers increasing from 2010 to 2015.

A machine learning approach identified age and several comorbidities, such as nasal polyps and asthma, as being associated with revision endoscopic sinus surgery among patients with chronic rhinosinusitis.

Nurse practitioners are increasingly meeting primary care demands in underserved areas and are more likely to deliver structural capabilities related to chronic disease management.

This approval of trastuzumab deruxtecan (Enhertu) follows the March release of data from the DESTINY-Breast03 trial on the anti-HER2 monoclonal antibody, also a HER2-directed antibody-drug conjugate, which indicated superior outcomes vs trastuzumab emtansine.

An overlapping comorbidity profile was observed among patients with plaque psoriasis and palmoplantar pustulosis, although risks of certain comorbid conditions varied between the 2 groups.

In patients with liver involvement, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma was a common diagnosis among some patients with cancer of unknown primary (CUP).

Biomarker testing is having growing importance to ensure that patients are started on the correct therapy for the best outcomes, said Sneha Sharma, PharmD, director, specialty clinical solutions, Magellan Rx.

A recent review found that home-based pulmonary rehab had comparable short-term benefits to outpatient pulmonary rehab, although the outcome quality was low.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Ari D. Panzer, BS, lead author and researcher, then at Tufts Medical Center—now at Duke University—discusses the findings from his team’s investigation into coverage decisions by health plan insurers of the 66 drugs approved by the FDA in 2018.

Among patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in clinical remission, patient-physician discordance when assessing disease activity may be associated with the inability to achieve remission.

Patients with aspirin-exacerbated respiratory disease (AERD) who initiated treatment with dupilumab as an add-on asthma or chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps therapy reported rapid clinical improvement that was sustained after 3 months.

These investigators wanted to better understand the reasons for the increased risk for acute myocardial infarctions among young women, who have the largest increase in hospitalization for heart attacks.

A significantly greater risk of cardiovascular events was observed among a multiethnic Brazilian population of patients with psoriasis and psoriatic arthritis vs controls, in which those in the sixth decade of life had the highest risk.

The study showed that introducing the TLR7 variant in an animal model led to the development of autoimmune symptoms and potential development of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).

Application of quality improvement methodology by a multidisciplinary team could improve the efficiency of outpatient ophthalmology appointment scheduling.

Peer support can be a helpful facet of chronic kidney disease (CKD) self-management, but inconsistent provider awareness and referral practices are barriers to uptake at Canadian clinics.

An editorial in response to the editor in chief’s December 2021 letter discusses evidence supporting the cost-effectiveness of an innovative advance care planning initiative.