AJMC® in the Press, August 23, 2019

An article contributed to AJMC.com, the website of The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®), by America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP) took a look at the impact of a California law to address surprise medical billing. The article, “Can We Stop Surprise Medical Bills AND Strengthen Provider Networks? California Did,” was cited by Health Data Management and Fierce Healthcare. In the article, Jeanette Thornton, senior vice president for Product, Employer, and Commercial Policy for AHIP, offers data showing that since the passing of the law, in-network specialty doctors in the state have increased.

Skilled Nursing News highlighted a study published in the January health information technology (IT) issue of AJMC^®. The study, “Drivers of Health Information Exchange Use During Postacute Care Transitions,” found that health information exchange between hospitals and skilled nursing facilities is underused and that a mixed-methods approach is essential to understanding and accounting for variation in implementation and use.

With over half of all clinicians in the United States experiencing signs of burnout, an article published in the June issue of The American Journal of Accountable Care, a sister publication of AJMC^®, offers solutions to the public health epidemic. The commentary, “Making an Evidence-Based Case for Urgent Action to Address Clinician Burnout,” was mentioned in articles from Becker’s Hospital Review and Times Reporter.

A letter published in the July issue of AJMC^®, “Real-Time Video Detection of Falls in Dementia Care Facility and Reduced Emergency Care,” received attention from Senior Housing News, which highlighted that the study found an artificial intelligence­—enabled video fall detection system using visual science reduced emergency department visits by 80% in 6 communities over 3 months.

OBR Oncology’s Monday newsfeed included an article from AJMC^®’s sister site The Center for Biosimilars^®. The article, “Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit Declines to Halt Sales of Biosimilar Bevacizumab,” covered the court’s decision to deny Genentech’s motion for an injunction that would have blocked Amgen from selling its biosimilar bevacizumab, Mvasi, pending the outcome of an appeal.

Goodwin’s Big Molecule Watch included The Center for Biosimilars^®’ article “UnitedHealthcare Will Prefer Amgen’s Anticancer Biosimilars Beginning in October.” The article reported the insurer’s announcement that beginning October 1, Amgen’s biosimilar bevacizumab (Mvasi) and biosimilar trastuzumab (Kanjinti) will be preferred products for commercial and community plans.

Advisory Board’s Friday daily briefing included a study published in AJMC^®’s health IT issue, “Improving Provider Directory Accuracy: Can Machine-Readable Directories Help?” Researchers of the study assessed the accuracy of provider directories and found widespread errors. They concluded that machine-readable directories are not more accurate than conventional directories, despite their advantages.