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Hospitalized patients who are obese are more likely to be readmitted and have longer and costlier inpatient stays, but tend to have lower mortality rates, according to new research presented at Digestive Disease Week 2017, held May 6-9 in Chicago, Illinois.

As the number of mobile health applications continues to skyrocket, a group of researchers set out to determine whether a smartphone app could prevent readmissions for patients released from the hospital after gastrointestinal (GI) surgery. The findings from the pilot study of their mHEALS app were presented at Digestive Disease Week 2017, which took place May 6-9 in Chicago.

At a session during Digestive Disease Week 2017, held May 6-9 in Chicago, speakers highlighted some new approaches to managing obesity that are now approved by the FDA.

At Digestive Disease Week 2017, held May 6-9 in Chicago, researchers presented their findings from a trial of a text messaging intervention to encourage weight loss and liver health in patients with non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD).

As CMS developed the Medicare Access and CHIP Reauthorization Act (MACRA) over the past few years, it was responsive to the needs and concerns of clinicians, according to William Borden, MD, FACC, FAHA, associate professor of medicine and director of healthcare delivery transformation at the George Washington University. Still, Borden says there are ways the requirements could be simplified, which would benefit both physicians and patients.

According to the findings of a new study, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty could present an effective alternative to more invasive surgical weight loss interventions. The research was presented at Digestive Disease Week 2017, held May 6-9 in Chicago.

At a session during Digestive Disease Week 2017, held in Chicago from May 6-9, speakers discussed the ongoing efforts to define, measure, and improve the quality of care for patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

Experts gathered to discuss policy changes and their impact on digestive research and patient care during the “Gastroenterology in the Age of Trump” session presented by the American Gastroenterological Association at Digestive Disease Week 2017, held May 6-9 in Chicago, Illinois.

As they take on risk, health systems have to address factors that contribute to rising rates of obesity, diabetes, or dementia-and they are doing so in novel ways.

A day after House Republicans voted to pass legislation that repeals and replaces large parts of the Affordable Care Act, Avik Roy, Forbes opinion editor and president of the Foundation for Research on Equal Opportunity, outlined what Republicans are trying to fix. After his presentation, he joined a panel discussion on what impact the American Health Care Act will have.

Darius Lakdawalla, PhD, explains that moving to value-based pricing system can be thorny when not everyone has the same definition of value.

At the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition®, people from around the country who are successfully creating new ways to deliver value-based care come together to share learnings and best practices for attendees to take back to the office on Monday, explained Clifford Goodman, PhD, moderator at the ACO Coalition spring live meeting in Scottsdale, Arizona, and senior vice president and director at the Center for Comparative Effectiveness Research at the Lewin Group.

Healthcare organizations really need to be careful that the protected health information flow is safe and there are no vulnerable spots where that information can be accessed and cause a HIPAA violation, explained Lee Barrett, executive director of the Electronic Healthcare Network Accreditation Commission.

Panelists on day 1 of the ACO & Emerging Healthcare Delivery Coalition® discussed the challenging work of creating public-private partnerships, and how these initiatives can address issues to improve the health of a population.

The rise of accountable care means health systems have more opportunities to share patient information, increasing the opportunities for hackers to penetrate their systems. The question isn't whether a health system will have a breach but when and how it will respond, experts said.

The current form of the American Health Care Act would greatly impact patients in New Orleans, where a high percentage of people have chronic diseases that count as preexisting conditions, explained Michael Griffin, president and CEO of Daughters of Charity Services.

Although Daniel George, MD, of the Duke Cancer Institute, sees value in cancer vaccines and expects they will start showing more benefit to patients, he acknowledges that a barrier to widespread use of cancer vaccines is that they don't show an immediate response.

There are 2 main ways big data has helped to advance cancer care, but the lack of interoperability in the United States limits some of the data that can be analyzed for quality purposes, explained Bobby Green, MD, MSCE, senior vice president of clinical oncology at Flatiron Health.

Susan A. Cantrell, RPh, CAE, CEO of the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP), discusses the biggest concerns and opportunities facing members of AMCP during this time of legislative and regulatory uncertainty and rising costs in healthcare.

Negotiations among House Republicans have led to a compromise that would amend the American Health Care Act and the Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) is concerned the amendment would undermine patient protections that are important for people with cancer, said Leah Ralph, director of health Policy at ACCC.

Is rubber meeting the road with big data in cancer care? “No…rather, not yet,” Green said at the 2017 Community Oncology Conference, April 26-27, held at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center in National Harbor, Maryland.

Basit Chaudhry, MD, PhD, founder of Tuple Health, discussed the feedback he's heard from practices about the Oncology Care Model and how these opinions could be used to guide potential changes.

Christian Downs, MHA, JD, executive director of the Association of Community Cancer Centers, explains how the oncology workforce shortage needs to be addressed by both bringing talented doctors from abroad and raising the next generation in the United States.

Community oncologists believe that they are in a very good position to lead the way to achieve the goals of Cancer Moonshot.

Programs like One Great Community aim to engage communities in the process of population health research, which is a key to successful public health initiatives, explained Shauntice Allen, PhD, assistant professor in the University of Alabama at Birmingham School of Public Health.

At the 2017 Community Oncology Conference, practice administrators from 2 community clinics discussed the changes they made to their practice to accommodate the reporting requirements of the Oncology Care Model (OCM), and the follow-up planned as they work to implement changes.

When the COA Patient Advocacy Network converged on Capitol Hill on April 26, 50 advocates were able to discuss their concerns with a number of issues facing patients with cancer, including 340B and clinic consolidation, explained Rose Gerber, director of patient advocacy for the Community Oncology Alliance (COA).

At the 2017 Community Oncology Conference, participants discussed the impact of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) on oncology drug prices and patient access to much needed treatments.

The playing field regarding Medicare reimbursement and drug pricing has to be leveled between hospitals and community oncologists in order for physicians to compete for patients on the basis of the quality of care they provide,

The first drugs for nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) won't be approved until 2019 at the earliest, but with 16 million Americans affected and another 6 million to 10 million at high risk, the market could be expensive and it's worth keeping an eye on, said Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, senior clinical consultant for emerging therapeutics at Express Scripts.