Health Care Delivery

A new federal rule will enable thousands of immigrants in the Deferred Action for Childhood Arrivals (DACA) program to obtain health care through the Affordable Care Act; a forthcoming CMS rule is expected to lower home-based care wait times and raise caregiver wages; the HHS Office for Civil Rights has finalized 2 rules that strengthen the ACA’s health care discrimination ban.

There was a marked increase in the prevalence of targeted therapy among patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL), which corresponded to positive overall survival rates observed in the study.

Among over 60,000 nursing home residents who initiated antihypertensive medication, rates of excess fractures due to falls per 100 person-years were as high as 5 among certain patient groups, such as those with dementia and high blood pressure (BP).

A recent meta-analysis that assessed prescribed exercise in managing multiple sclerosis (MS) detailed the benefits of resistance training for improving muscle weakness in this patient population.

Two bird flu vaccines could be available within weeks; Walmart Health struggles to expand in retail health care services; repeal of 1864 law preserves abortion access in Arizona.

Representatives from ICON plc and Symphony Health joined forces at AXS24 to discuss the challenges of managing high-cost specialty drugs and how they influence self-funded employer benefit plan design and employee access to specialty medications.

The health-system specialty pharmacy has the unique ability to coordinate better with the provider and take a team approach that reduces the chances of dropping the ball on the patient’s care.

Doug Long, MBA, vice president of industry relations at IQVIA, covered a bevy of stakeholder investment–related topics in his presentation at AXS24 on trends in specialty pharmacy, chief among them challenges facing the industry, obesity medications, generics and biosimilars, new product launches, and the outlook for the US market.

A recent meta-analysis drew limited conclusions about the impact of 1-night sleep restriction on cognitive function, stressing the need for further research consideration.

A team of researchers developed 3 quality improvement measures embedded in electronic health records (EHRs) to improve care delivery in patients with heparin-induced thrombocytopenia.

Optum Life Sciences and Takeda Pharmaceuticals are partnering on an innovative virtual care pilot program for inflammatory bowel disease meant to both continue the mission of the current value-based health care landscape and raise the bar for personalized care delivery optimization.

An ongoing, phase 3, open-label study demonstrated the efficacy of exagamglogene autotemcel (exa-cel) infusion to promote transfusion dependence in patients with transfusion-dependent β-thalassemia (TDT).

The study aimed to improve the understanding of lived experiences and the fear of recurrence among survivors of localized, stage 0 to IIA cutaneous melanoma.

Theodore R. Levin, MD, discusses new study he coauthored, which found that screening rates for colorectal cancer (CRC) increased across all demographics when using automated and personalized reminders.

End of reporting mandate signals shift in real-time tracking of airborne pathogens; high rates of psychiatric conditions seen among patients with long COVID; new rule reinforces notification requirements for digital health records and apps.

This analysis evaluated patient-related outcomes between those who did and did not receive consolidation durvalumab after chemoradiotherapy for unresectable stage III non–small cell lung cancer.

Racial disparities in end-of-life care, the role of wellness and faith in minority health, award-winning research on health disparities, societal factors impacting cardiometabolic health, and rising mental health challenges among US youth are all covered this week in the Center on Health Equity and Access.

Kathy Zackowski, PhD, National MS Society, expresses the inherent value of quality rehabilitation trials for broadening clinical understandings of multiple sclerosis (MS) and bettering patient outcomes.

A retrospective analysis out of Denmark could not find a causal relationship to explain trends in melanoma incidence and mortality rates, demonstrating the need for more research in this area.

Asembia AXS24, which has record registration this year, will take place in Las Vegas, Nevada, April 28-May 2, at the Wynn & Encore Las Vegas.

While behavioral health care utilization has been rising, the treatment landscape has been worsening. New findings show that 20% of youths did not receive any form of treatment within 3 months of their initial behavioral health diagnosis.

Men who have sex with men (MSM) who are HIV-negative reported interest in an injectable pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) that lasted longer than the daily pill, regardless of cost or coverage.

A large cohort study demonstrated the validity and reliability of single-channel electro-oculography (EOG) for sleep-stage classification.

Amit Singal, MD, medical director of the UT Southwestern Medical Center Liver Tumor Program, discusses populations at the highest risk of hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), when screening is needed, and key tools in HCC surveillance and screening.

Dalia Rotstein, MD, MPH, emphazises the importance of awareness that multiple sclerosis (MS) impacts patients from various backgrounds as clinicians think through ways to improve access to care and research efforts in MS.

In addition to sharing research related to disparities and inequities in the cardiometabolic space, Rashon Lane, PhD, MA, Sutter Health, discussed “how we might need to think differently about how we are intervening on disparities.”

Population pharmacokinetic and exposure-response analyses revealed a favorable benefit-risk profilane for the treatment combination of polatuzumab vedotin and rituximab, cyclophosphamide, doxorubicin, and prednisone (R-CHP).

With the high burden of metabolic disease increasing in the US, Sophia Humphreys, PharmD, Sutter Health, explains how this impacts health equity.

New health privacy rules aim to protect patients and providers in an evolving abortion landscape; some physicians express concerns about efficacy, risks, and entrenched beliefs in treating Alzheimer disease; CMS addresses longstanding staffing deficits in nursing homes.

At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2024 annual meeting, multiple poster presentations concerned with health equity, data collection, glucagon-like peptide-1 agonists, and more were acknowledged for their originality, relevance, clarity, bias, and quality.