AJMC in the Press, May 13, 2016

The special issue of The American Journal of Managed Care devoted to policy and economic issues of treatment for hepatitis C virus (HCV) received coverage in several news outlets this week, including Infectious Disease Special Edition. The specialty healthcare news outlet focused on a group of papers in the issue making the case that treating HCV patients early in their disease would lead to more than $800 million in quality-of-life benefits over 20 years and reduce demand for liver transplants, freeing up 7300 transplants for other patients. For the AJMC special issue, click here.

Leah Lawrence of Medical Economics reported this week on a study by Maeng, et al, of Geisinger Health System that appeared in the February 2016 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care. The study found that an all-or-nothing bundled payment model for diabetes care let primary care physicians focus more on helping patients make better care decisions through a true “system of care.” This payment model measured the share of patients who met all the recommended measures, instead of an average or composite. Researchers found while costs increased at first, over time they dropped, especially on inpatient facility care. To read the full article, click here.