Health Care Delivery

With New York being at the crossroads of the HIV epidemic and the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, a group of researchers wanted to know what, if any, correlation there was between the 2 disease states.

An investigation of economic data from 3123 US counties, from 2007 to 2016, indicates that the cardiovascular mortality drop the authors saw may be a result of improved economic conditions.

Individuals with serious mental illness have a greater risk of acquiring HIV compared with the general population and could therefore benefit from preexposure prophylaxis (PrEP) services in the community.

Robin Gelburd, JD, president of FAIR Health, discusses the massive jump in telehealth claims from November 2019 to November 2020.

A 9% year-over-year increase was observed in the number of US Medicare beneficiaries who enrolled in a Medicare Advantage health plan in 2020, with the increase in enrollment influenced by the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic and its related effects.

The Biden administration will reopen the health exchanges created by the Affordable Care Act (ACA); direct HHS and other agencies to reexamine other health policies, including Medicaid work requirements; and reverse the so-called global gag rule while affirming support for reproductive health.

A 13.9% increase in diagnosed cases of HIV was seen following expansion of Medicaid coverage under the Affordable Care Act.

Telemedicine sprang up very quickly and will stay around to some extent once the pandemic ends, said Peter McAllister, MD, a neurologist, board certified headache specialist, and medical director of the New England Institute for Neurology and Headache.

The American College of Rheumatology (ACR) announced a number of policy priorities that it is encouraging the new Congress and administration to focus on during the year.

On this episode, we speak with the coauthor of a paper looking at the mental health stressors facing first responders and health care workers during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. The paper found that a sizable number of these frontline workers are at risk for psychiatric illnesses at severity levels higher than other national disasters, including 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.

Periodic review of treatment safety and monitoring are necessary as medical centers increasingly use newer disease-modifying therapies earlier in the course of multiple sclerosis.

President Joe Biden reportedly will take executive action to reopen federal marketplaces selling Affordable Care Act (ACA) health plans; Moderna investigating booster shot designed to be more effective against emerging variants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); Brazil coronavirus variant is found in Minnesota.

Voclosporin, the first FDA-approved oral therapy for lupus nephritis, will be sold as Lupkynis by Aurinia Pharmaceuticals and is approved for use in conjunction with immunosuppressive treatment.

Metabolic surgery is more effective than conventional medical therapy in the long-term control of type 2 diabetes (T2D), according to results of a 10-year follow-up study of a randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

Patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) were asked their preferences of second-line treatment options such as biologics and Janus kinase inhibitors, taking into account such factors as the probability of severe side effects, treatment effectiveness, administration route, and more.

The FDA approved the first injectable monthly treatment for HIV; Eli Lilly announced positive effects of its monoclonal antibody treatment for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19); President Joe Biden will sign an executive order on food insecurity.

Findings of the Change Healthcare 2020 Revenue Cycle Denials Index indicate that since the onset of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, medical claim denials have risen 11% nationwide, with the most denial rates found in regions with the highest first wave of outbreaks.

Both women and men have a greater chance of 90-day hospital readmission when they are considered to be in frail condition from heart failure.

Nephrologist Mary Dittrich, MD, the chief medical officer and executive vice president of U.S. Renal Care as well as cofounder and partner of Boise Kidney & Hypertension Institute, discusses how to keep patients safe while providing high-quality kidney care during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week, and you can now listen to it on our podcast, Managed Care Cast.

Based on US health insurance consumer behavior reported in the eHealth Insights: 2020 Retrospective report, notable trends of the past year to watch for in 2021 include the popularity of $0 premium Medicare Advantage plans, the rise of telemedicine, and potential hesitancy against taking a vaccine for coronavirus disease 2019.

Focused ultrasound subthalamotomy was shown to improve motor features among patients with Parkinson disease who present with asymmetric symptom severity.

The US Surgeon General, Vice Admiral Jerome Adams, MD, and other officials urged for greater uptake of FDA-approved treatments for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in an effort to slow the surge of cases requiring hospitalization. However, logistic, monetary, and efficacy concerns may have drastically limited the amount of biologic treatments actually administered to patients.

As coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) continues to drive significant change in health care delivery, physician leaders affiliated with the Council for Accountable Physician Practices have worked to increase investment in strategies to address disparities in care exacerbated by the pandemic, such as value-based care and telemedicine.