Clinical

Two studies presented at the ongoing 2016 Multidisciplinary Head and Neck Cancer Symposium report on financial hurdles faced by patients diagnosed with head and neck cancer that result in lifestyle modifications, advanced disease, and worse outcomes.

What we're reading, February 19, 2016: long-term hospice care is weighing on Medicare; both the pope and the World Health Organization suggest women in Zika infected countries have access to contraception; and Texas health official steps down after co-authoring study on Planned Parenthood.

While primary care physicians are incorporating more nurse practitioners and physicians' assistants into patient care teams, there is a lack of incorporation of other healthcare professionals, such as behavioral specialists, psychiatrists, and pharmacists.

A study of decade-long trends in the incidence and mortality rates of patients who develop cardiogenic shock during hospitalization for acute myocardial infarction found a decline in death rates, but not incidence.

A new study, published in Nature Communications, has delineated a mechanism that could help explain the resistance that is emerging with the new immuno-oncology agents such as PD-1 and PD-L1.

Employers can encounter complications with benefit design approaches when it comes to those patients for whom traditional, less-expensive drugs are ineffective, or for those who prefer to have the drugs administered differently, explained Cheryl Larson, BA, vice president of the Midwest Business Group on Health.

What we're reading, February 18, 2016: one-third of clinical trial results are never published; Sandoz challenges rule for notices of biosimilar launches; and hepatitis C combination drug could reduce treatment to just 4 weeks.

Wellness programs that base financial incentives on loss aversion could result in better outcomes, according to a trial of how certain financial incentives impact physician activity among overweight and obese adults.

While patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease have a higher risk of stroke than the general population, patients who have frequent exacerbations of their illness actually have a reduced risk of stroke than those with infrequent exacerbations.

A Task Force composed of gastroenterology specialists, with a special interest in colorectal cancer, has released updated recommendations urging post-operative colonoscopy instead of endoscopy to improve survival.

Durvalumab is being developed for the treatment of PD-L1—positive patients with inoperable or metastatic urothelial bladder cancer

What we're reading, February 17, 2016: Pfizer pays to settle Medicaid claims case; needle exchanges will get financial boost with federal funding; and in New Jersey, Chris Christie releases budget that includes steep cuts to hospitals.

Individuals with more than one diagnosis are more likely to report to a primary care physician than to a subspecialty physician.

Whether or not employer wellness programs work remains debated, but the real question to address is whether we are even fighting the right battle.

A collaboration led by CMS and America’s Health Insurance Plans released 7 core sets of quality measures created to reduce complexity, decrease cost burden, and ensure high-quality care.

A noninvasive colorectal cancer screening test manufactured by Exact Sciences, which received CMS coverage within months of its FDA approval, is not included under Humana’s coverage policy

Relatively simple improvements could increase patient satisfaction and potentially improve the important process of imparting patient information during enrollment of cancer patients into clinical trials.

Inhibiting the PIGF/VEGFR-1 signaling regressed tumor growth in obese, but not in lean mice, the author report.

What we're reading, February 15, 2016: despite cuts to the program, enrollment in Medicare Advantage is up 50% over 5 years; orphan drug designations from the FDA up 22% in 2015; and Zika virus infections on the rise in Puerto Rico.

This week in managed care the top stories included President Obama's final budget plan, value-based deals made for Novartis' new heart drug, and a look at the strides made in immuno-oncology.

In the first large-scale study of its kind, researchers at Kaiser Permanente and the University of California San Francisco found that rates of dementia risk vary across racial and ethnic groups.

A study published in Cancer Epidemiology, Biomarkers & Prevention has identified geographic and ethnic factors as an important determinant of vaccinating against the human papillomavirus.

Patients with advanced kidney cancer in the UK now have access to nivolumab through an early access scheme.

What we're reading, February 12, 2016: the former Kentucky governor is looking to block the current governor's plans to dismantle Kynect; Senator Orrin Hatch speaks out against Medicare negotiation of drug prices; and the link between Zika and microcephaly is growing stronger.

Carfilzomib, a proteasome inhibitor, has been approved by the FDA for use in combination with dexamethasone or lenalidomide, in patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma who have previously received 1 to 3 lines of therapy.