Health Care Delivery

Research as we know it today, done in isolation and seemingly protected from real-world evidence (RWE), may one day soon be the exception vs the norm, as our ability to amass and extract insights from RWE grows. It’s time that researchers and other industry stakeholders acknowledge the power of using different data sources in a complementary manner to tackle some of health care’s most difficult problems.

Thirst outcomes were investigated among patients with stable heart failure (HF), due to the limited data available on this relationship and how it, along with fluid and sodium intake, influences clinical outcomes in this population.

The authors of this study evaluated outcomes among children aged 7 to 16 years, all living with type 1 diabetes (T1D), who attended a 3-day virtual education camp that focused on their use of a closed-loop control (CLC) system for insulin delivery.

United States birth rate rises from last year but is still lower than pre-pandemic; a drug plant closure in California could affect availability of 5 essential medications; the No Surprises Act prevented 2 million potential surprise bills in first 2 months of 2022, report says.

During a State-of-the-Art Lecture at Digestive Disease Week 2022, Jessica L. Mellinger, MD, MSc, explained how the COVID-19 pandemic has driven increases in rates of alcohol use and associated liver disease, as well as what can be done at the clinic, societal, and policy levels to address these trends.

New findings from a prospective cohort study outline associations between diabetes medications and common eye conditions, such as open-angle glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration (AMD).

Pfizer announced positive data of its COVID-19 shot regimen for children under 5 years; providers gear up for increased challenges in distributing abortion medication; hypoallergenic baby formula shipments arrive in the United States.

Dupilumab was associated with reductions in exacerbations and oral corticosteroids (OCS) dosage, as well as improved lung function, in patients with OCS-dependent asthma with and without comorbid chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps.

Roxana Siles, MD, FAAAAI, staff in the Department of Allergy and Immunology at Cleveland Clinic and codirector of the Asthma Center at Cleveland Clinic, discusses the important need for chronic cough therapies and what issues with current treatments should be addressed by next-generation medications.

Chargemaster lists may encourage patients to shop around for services, but the authors of this report said the implications of this change for dermatology are not well-defined.

This study evaluated levels of 4 biomarkers associated with heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF) before and after treatment with the angiotensin receptor neprilysin inhibitor sacubitril/valsartan.

In some cases, however, the rate of decline is no different than that of the general population, according to new research.

Use of a chitosan-based gel dressing after endoscopic sinus surgery for nasal polyps was found to reduce risk of wound infection and synechia in patients, although no difference was observed regarding granulations.

Continuous glucose monitor (CGM) use as part of a telemedicine program in patients with type 2 diabetes transitioning out of a hospital setting and to a different diabetes therapy was evaluated in this new open-label study.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Tham Thi Le, PhD, MPH, lead author—then at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, now at AstraZeneca—and Linda Wastila, PhD, MSPH, senior author and the Parke-Davis Chair in Geriatric Pharmacotherapy, Pharmaceutical Health Services Research, at the University of Maryland at Baltimore, discuss the findings of their investigation into opioid use by patients with a new cancer diagnosis and the opioid prescribing practices of their health care providers from 2007 to 2013.

Fine-tuning clinical phenotypes and identifying effective treatments remain challenging in chronic lung allograft dysfunction (CLAD) after lung transplantation and chronic graft-versus-host disease (GVHD) after allogeneic hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation.

Elaine Siegfried, MD, professor of pediatrics and dermatology, Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center, explains the impact of socioeconomic status on the management of atopic dermatitis in the clinical setting.

The latest report from FAIR Health shows that the majority of people diagnosed post-COVID condition were never hospitalized.

Real-world patients with psoriasis demonstrated significant improvement in difficult-to-treat scalp, nail, palmoplantar, and genital disease manifestations with the IL-23 inhibitor tildrakizumab.

Neil Goldfarb, president and chief executive officer of Greater Philadelphia Business Coalition on Health (GPBCH), provides an overview of the core discussion points and other aspects in-person attendees can look forward to at the 2022 GPBCH Annual Conference.

Patients with cold agglutinin disease faced a 4.5-times greater risk of death during winter months, new data show.

Findings of the 52-week phase 3 LIBERTY AD PED-OLE trial showed dupilumab to have an adequate safety profile and incremental clinical benefit with continued use among pediatric patients with moderate to severe atopic dermatitis.

A survey of patients and health care providers found both groups favor at-home administration of biologics when possible.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with one of the authors of a paper published this month in Health Affairs about the utilization of substance use disorder treatment (SUD) services between 2010 and 2019, and why more needs to be done to get more individuals into treatment.

Today, health plans are shifting dollars to more value-based contracts along with investments in population health management. Digitizing lab results across all care settings and unlocking the potential of lab values can help health plans reach the Triple Aim of improving the patient experience, improving the health of populations, and reducing the per-member cost of health care.

A cross-sectional analysis found that protein biomarkers were associated with estimated glomerular filtration rate, which may capture early kidney impairment.

The report details totals paid to hospitals by private insurers and providers and compares the sums with a Medicare benchmark.

Experts warn, however, that human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccinations missed because of the COVID-19 pandemic could stymie this progress.

Significantly greater persistence, adherence, and time on monotherapy was achieved with the use of ixekizumab vs the biologics adalimumab, etanercept, secukinumab, and ustekinumab, in the treatment of moderate to severe psoriasis.

Dupilumab improved lung function and reduced severe asthma exacerbation rates in children with moderate to severe asthma with or without atopic comorbidities.