Policy

The following are highlights of abstracts that focus on readmission rates, an increasingly important subject for hospitals that are subject to evolving rules and regulations as they relate to reimbursement.

Integration of written-prescription data into medication adherence measures doubled the number of patients identified as nonadherent and improved prediction of follow-up LDL cholesterol.

Financial incentives may not be strong enough to influence physician goal commitment to guideline-recommended hypertension care when providers attribute performance to forces beyond their control.

The frailty determination of the Adjusted Clinical Groups“diagnoses based predictive model identified frail elders with moderate success compared with a validated screening questionnaire.

Cost has been front of mind for many researchers that have released new study data at CHEST 2012. Here are some of the highlights from the new research.

In this video, Aimee Tharaldson, PharmD, Senior Clinical Consultant, Emerging Therapeutics Express Scripts, Inc, talks about the impact that biosimilar medications could potentially have on the specialty pharmacy market.

Patient-centered medical home practices provided better preventive care and disease management with less resource utilization than practices not pursuing PCMH status.

Competitive bidding characterizes market-based proposals to control Medicare spending, but in this first empirical study of bidding in Medicare, we find that competition is lacking.

Modest increases in adherence to medication regimens among Medicare patients with heart failure were associated with lower Medicare spending in 3 major drug classes.

We examined the impact of clinical complexity defined by comorbidity count and illness burden on comprehensive diabetes care, including blood pressure, glycemic, and lipid management.

Managed care organizations have the opportunity to identify potential opioid misuse and implement care coordination interventions, which can enhance safety and streamline patient pain management.

Michael E. Chernew, PhD; Lee N. Newcomer, MD, MHA; and Sandra M. Swain, MD; examine the treatment benefits, cost concerns, and insurance coverage strategies for pertuzumab.