Health Care Delivery

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA highlights 3 key trends shaping the future of health care: a focus on health equity with actionable strategies for equitable access to care, a transition toward responsible AI utilization, and a push to maximize the potential of patient data while addressing privacy concerns.

A meta-analysis of 3 case-controlled MS studies showed an association between susceptibility to multiple sclerosis (MS) and the vitamin D pathway.

Different levels of risk for HIV exist in the different subtypes of intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Discontinuation of asthma drug leaves patients in search of alternative; FDA’s approach to artificial intelligence (AI) raises opportunities and challenges; landmark FDA approval signals hope for millions with severe food allergies.

Researchers said these findings confirm that zilebesiran can significantly reduce serum angiotensinogen levels, leading to sustained reductions in blood pressure over a 24-hour period, even 6 months post-treatment, though more research is needed for longer-term use.

This week in health equity and access includes challenges for independent physicians due to Medicare cuts, inequities in access to State Health Insurance Assistance Program counseling, a study on patient experiences in national health plans, strategies for building trust in cancer care, and increasing breast cancer rates in young Black women.

Pain screening in young patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) has demonstrated benefits for the administration of integrative health and medicine modalities for pain management.

Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, chief operating officer and cofounder of Upfront Healthcare, explains how the company emphasizes personalized engagement to overcome technological, cultural, and social barriers while Medicaid disenrollment rates are increasing.

The combination of daratumumab and immumodulatory therapy was evaluated among patients with relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have failed prior treatment with immunomodulatory agents, proteasome inhibitors, and daratumumab as monotherapy or in combination.

The Federal Trade Commission and HHS will examine generic drug shortage causes; the Biden administration recently dedicated an additional $515 million to a major initiative to study long COVID; cybersecurity experts warn that US hospitals are at risk for attacks and the government is doing little to prevent such breaches.

For this analysis, investigators used metagenomic sequencing files from the Gut Bugs trial, a placebo-controlled multidonor fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) trial conducted among adolescents classified as obese.

Coverage from the panel discussion, "Can Clinical Pathways Have Burnout, Too?" at Patient-Centered Oncology Care 2023.

These findings suggest complement protein levels may be an important biomarker for type 1 diabetes.

Combining interventions to encourage screenings for colorectal cancer (CRC) and social determinants of health (SDOH) was found to improve screening rates in CRC without decreasing rates of screenings for SDOH.

Coverage from "Navigating the PBM Landscape: How a Heath Care Economist Sees It," at Patient-Centered Oncology Care 2023.

Investigators analyzed global, national, and regional trends in acute myeloid leukemia (AML), which predominantly affects individuals aged 60 to 89 years.

The Momentum trial from Sarepta Therapeutics is investigating SRP-5051 (vesleteplirsen) for use among male patients aged 8 to 21 years who have Duchenne muscular dystrophy amenable to exon 51 skipping.

"I'll say what I don't think the issue is—it's not technology. We can solve this problem with technology," Carrie Kozlowski, OT, MBA, explains in the interview.

The need for health equity spans the entire health care ecosystem, including the Medicare Advantage (MA) population. Neutralizing social determinants of health (SDOH) barriers, well-informed adherence strategies help MA plans navigate new CMS measurement frameworks, like the Health Equity Index.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we're talking with the authors of a study published in the February 2024 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® about their findings on how health plans can screen for health literacy, social determinants of health, and perceived health care discrimination.

A single-institution, retrospective cohort study evaluates knowledge gaps in clinical data on Black patients with melanoma.

A national single-center observational retrospective study reveals the long-term benefits of hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS).

In this interview, Chandler Cortina, MD, MS, FSSO, FACS, Froedtert & the Medical College of Wisconsin, addresses the impact that prioritizing mental health care can have on patients as they navigate through their cancer journey.

Over the past 20 years, Medicare physician pay has plummeted by 26% when adjusted for inflation, while hospital reimbursement has surged by 70%, prompting over 100,000 doctors to abandon independent practice for hospital or corporate employment since 2019.

For the first time, investigators found that the replacement of salt with a salt substitute not only reduced hypertension, but did not also increase hypotension, a key factor for older adults.

Although corticosteroids were found to immediately improve best-corrected visual acuity and central macular thickness, anti–vascular endothelial growth factor (anti-VEGF) therapies had significant long-term advantages when treating diabetic macular edema.

Overcoming insurance hurdles for critical medications; rising heat and wildfires reverse decades of clean air progress; conflicts between parents and schools arise as teens seek mental health support

The findings follow endorsement of the screening measure from the American Diabetes Association, which recommended the practice to identify patients who have type 1 diabetes (T1D) who could benefit from targeted strategies to prevent symptomatic heart failure (HF).

A cross-sectional comparative study demonstrated the increased prevalence of hearing impairment in children and adults with sickle cell disease (SCD) or sickle cell traits compared with healthy individuals.