Top 5 Strategic Alliance Partnership Content of 2023

The American Journal of Managed Care^®’s (AJMC^®) Strategic Alliance Partnerships (SAPs) encompass a wide range of health systems, payers, oncology practices, associations, and more. Through interviews and contributed content, SAPs provide insights into changes in health care delivery and medicine. This year, the top articles covering our SAPs included how one organization is addressing health inequities, growing familiarity with biosimilars, the link between COVID-19 and cancer progression, and more.

Here are the top stories from our SAPs, and you can learn more about our SAPs and how to become one.

5. AHN’s Center for Inclusion Health Personalizing Equitable Care Delivery for Marginalized Communities

Allegheny Health Network's Center for Inclusion Health was one of the nation’s first programs focused on meeting the complex health needs of underserved communities and marginalized populations. Established in 2014, the center now provides coordinated and compassionate care delivery using evidence-based interventions for the Western Pennsylvania region. In an interview for AJMC’s podcast, Managed Care Cast, Elizabeth Cuevas, MD, the division chief of the Center for Inclusion Health, discussed the major health issues affecting patient outcomes in marginalized communities, how community-level partnerships can address these challenges, and additional areas of opportunity to better manage these populations.

Listen to the full interview.

4. Gastroenterologists, Rheumatologists Cite Greatest Familiarity With Biosimilars

A survey of 350 providers found that gastroenterologists were the most familiar with biosimilars (81% very familiar) while ophthalmologists and dermatologists had low rates of familiarity (33% and 31%, respectively, very familiar). In addition, rheumatologists indicated growing familiarity, with 76% saying they were very familiar, up from 56% in 2022. With dermatologists and rheumatologists citing their top concerns around adalimumab biosimilars being safety and efficacy, the report noted there was a “continued need for education to strengthen clinical confidence in these agents.”

Read the full article.

3. App Effectively Maintains, Manages HF Self-Care Following Discharge

At the American Society for Preventive Cardiology (ASPC) Congress on CVD Prevention, new data showed that a mobile health app targeting postdischarge self-care for patients with heart failure could positively impact their survival outcomes. The study randomized a group of patients who had been discharged after a heart-failure–related hospitalization to either utilize the Heart Failure Health Storylines app and discharge notes or discharge notes alone. Patients utilizing the app were more confident in long list of scenarios, including taking their medication, exercising, following a low-sodium diet, obtaining health information, relieving symptoms, and more.

Read the full article.

2. The Importance of Examining and Preventing Atrial Fibrillation

During the Honorary Fellow Award Lecture at the ASPC Congress on CVD Prevention, Emelia J. Benjamin, MD, ScM, discussed the importance of preventing atrial fibrillation. During a follow-up interview for Managed Care Cast, Benjamin discussed risk factors and prevention strategies for atrial fibrillation, as well as connections between atrial fibrillation and noncardiovascular health conditions. Benjamin is associate provost for faculty development at Boston University Medical Campus; cardiologist at Boston Medical Center, a large urban safety net hospital; professor of medicine, Department of Medicine, at Boston University Chobanian and Avedisian School of Medicine; and professor of epidemiology, Boston University School of Public Health.

Listen to the full interview.

1. Kashyap Patel, MD, Sees Link Between COVID-19 and Cancer Progression, Calls for More Biomarker Testing

This article, published in the April issue of Evidence-Based Oncology^™ (EBO), dove into a growing body of evidence highlighting the possible role of inflammation in connection with cancer incidence. Kashyap Patel, MD, CEO of Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates and associate editor of EBO, noted that his practice had seen patients developing cancer earlier in life than typical and that several types of cancers were progressing more rapidly than prior to the pandemic. Patel feared that the combination of rising obesity-related cancers and COVID-19 was creating a perfect storm of factors triggering inflammatory responses that causes cancer to not only arrive years earlier than normal but also be deadlier upon diagnosis.

Read the full article.