Health Care Delivery

Terrance Mayes, EdD, and Loretta Erhunmwunsee, MD, FACS, discuss their new roles as chair and vice-chair, respectively, of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s (NCCN) new Diversity, Equity, & Inclusion (DEI) Directors Forum.

The government is allowing Medicare Advantage (MA) plans to delay returning hundreds of millions of dollars or more in government overpayments; a proposed new extension of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) might make birth control coverage more accessible for certain private insurance plans; a study found that students lost around 33% of their school year because of the pandemic’s educational barriers and are struggling to regain that lost time.

The Biden administration has said it would give 60 days notice before ending the public health emergency, which was set to end April 11, and the national emergency was set to end March 1.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Reverend Paul Abernathy, CEO of the Neighborhood Resilience Project and board member of UPMC for You, who discusses his experiences in promoting health and resiliency in trauma-affected communities, as well as challenges related to access and accessibility of care and medical mistrust.

The United States possesses the highest infant and maternal mortality rates compared with any other high-income country, even though it spends the most on health care.

As of September 2022, all but 2 states had implemented newborn screening programs for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), accounting for 98% of births in the United States.

Researchers explored the case of a 40-year-old woman with polycythemia vera (PV) who developed a portal vein occlusion 1.5 months postpartum after C-section.

Large geographical data may offer insight on race and ethnic health inequities across the United States.

The report indicated that the use of a clear definition on health disparities and a framework for analysis are key in the measurement and interpretation of health inequities affecting underserved populations.

A team of experts from the United States and Canada performed this systematic review, considering for the first time patient values and preferences for their atopic dermatitis (AD) care.

The FDA is relaxing some time-based deferrals for donating blood; new guidance aims to streamline the COVID-19 vaccination process; Congress has been called on to solidify cannabidiol (CBD) regulations.

Colon carcinoma and acute diverticulitis have similar computed tomography imaging features that can make differential diagnosis difficult for radiologists, but a novel artificial intelligence assistance model was shown to help diagnostic accuracy.

A real-world study of health care resource utilization (HCRU) in patients with myasthenia gravis on second-line therapy identified the factors that led to increased financial burdens.

Timothy Murphy, MD, FACP, practice president of Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® about the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on screening for lung cancer.

Richard L. Martin III, MD, MPH, spoke on the goals he has in his new role as medical director of health equity and community engagement at Tennessee Oncology, and what lessons he has learned so far in providing care to underserved communities.

After 3 years of continuous enrollment due to the pandemic, those on Medicaid will need to sign up again for coverage in April; fears about heavy metal levels in baby food prompt FDA to decrease lead exposure; long COVID is keeping large numbers of people out of work or needing medical care after returning.

Amazon’s announcement of a prescription subscription service that charges a flat monthly fee instead of offering discounts on each prescription fill represents the retail giant’s latest foray into the health care space.

Eli Lilly will tack on $450 million more to increase capacity in a diabetes drug plant in light of shortages; patients emailing and messaging medical providers online might be charged; 57% of adults in a recent survey think that the federal government should secure health care coverage for all Americans.

Paul G. Alexander, MD, MPH, executive vice president and chief health equity and transformation officer, RWJBarnabas Health, spoke on population health management strategies employed by his organization to identify and address health disparities in the communities they serve.

Jodi Fenner, senior director at Elevance Health, speaks on the key themes she presented during her session at the 2023 Health Equity Summit in San Diego, California, titled, "Promoting Health Equity through Primary Care."

N. Benjamin Fredrick, MD, of Penn State Hershey Medical Center and Penn State University College of Medicine, speaks on the key themes he presented during his session at the 2023 Health Equity Summit in San Diego, California, as well as topics related to the measurement, creation, and implementation of health equity initiatives.

States in which recreational cannabis is legal see declining codeine prescriptions; the FDA plans to simplify the use of COVID-19 vaccines; state-wide abortion debates ramp up as Congress deadlocks

A new review article shows how technologies like next-generation sequencing might help clinicians tailor care for myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

Michelle Y. Williams, PhD, RN, of Stanford Health Care, speaks on the key themes she presented during her session at the 2023 Health Equity Summit in San Diego, California, titled, "Launching a Health Equity Strategy."

After a delayed lag period, air pollution from a wildfire was associated with modestly increased rates of clinic visits for psoriasis among adults starting 5 weeks after the fire and peaking at 8 to 9 weeks after the fire.

The researchers note that this finding adds valuable insight for individualized treatment decisions in scenarios where the role of thymectomy is not fully clear.

Timothy Murphy, MD, FACP, current practice president at Rocky Mountain Cancer Centers, spoke with The American Journal of Managed Care® about the current state of lung cancer screenings.

As the country hits the debt limit spending on Medicare and Medicaid may be at risk; the Agriculture Department targets fraudulent claims in products labeled as organic; first cases of drug-resistant gonorrhea strain found.

A study found that adherence to the CDC recommendation of mRNA monovalent COVID-19 boosters was low in immunocompromised individuals.

The study sought to identify what factors were linked with developing depression in adults with asthma without a history of the disease, and to identify which factors were associated with recurrent depression during the pandemic in adults with both conditions.