Study: Here’s Some Evidence That Switching Among Generic Levothyroxine Products Is OK
March 1st 2022Guidelines tell prescribers and patients to avoid switching among levothyroxine products from different manufacturers. But Mayo Clinc-led research finds little difference between switchers and nonswitchers.
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UCSF Research: No Synergy From Valued-based Programs for Primary Care Organizations
February 26th 2022Ideally, value-based and technology programs combine to produce better outcomes. But researchers at University of California, San Francisco, found little evidence of synergy in the meaningful use, patient-centered medical home and Medicare Shared Savings Program ACO program.
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CVS Caremark Chief: Moderate Drug Spend Increase Shows PBM Is Doing Its Job
February 25th 2022In discussing company’s drug spend report, CVS Caremark President Alan Lotvin, M.D., bats away criticism of the pharmacy benefits management (PBM) industry, blames drugmakers for high drug prices, and says independent pharmacies are doing well because of participation in “humongous buying groups.”
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Nurses Are Healthcare’s Frontlines. Now They Are Also Its Inventors.
February 16th 2022Main Line Health in suburban Philadelphia has solicited ideas for inventions from nurses. Barbara Wadsworth, the healthcare system’s chief operating officer with 35 years experience as a nurse, has invented a device for cushioning patient falls in the bathroom.
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Who Is Picking Up the U.S. Healthcare Tab?
January 31st 2022A Congressional Budget Office puts some numbers to the common knowledge that commercial payers pay providers significantly more than Medicare fee for service. The consequences include lower taxable wages and escalating federal subsidies of health insurance.
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In this episode, Peter Wehrwein, managing editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, speaks with Dr. Rodrigo Cerda. Dr. Cerda has been recently promoted to the position of senior vice president of health services and chief medical officer of Independence Blue Cross in Philadelphia. He is also a member of Managed Healthcare Executive’s editorial advisory board. Peter and Dr. Cerda discuss his new role at the Independence Blue Cross, what it means to be a chief medical officer at an insurer these days, valued-based care, social determinants of health, and, of course, the pandemic.
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How to Avoid an ACO Exodus — or Having No Takers in the First Place
January 25th 2022Authors of an article in Health Affairs about a program for smaller and rural ACOs say their finding show those kinds of ACOs can generate major savings for Medicare, but apprehension about downside risk prompted an exodus from the program.
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COVID-19 and HIV: What Happens When Two Infectious Diseases Meet?
January 20th 2022Many of the darkest fears about COVID-19 affect on people with HIV have not come to pass. According to a recent review, some evidence suggests that people with HIV may be more likely to develop a severe case of COVID-19, although it isn’t certain. Antiretroviral therapy, especially Truvada, may provide some protection against infection and severity.
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Shots Added to the Best Shot for Preventing HIV
January 7th 2022The FDA approved Apretude (cabotegravir extended-release injectable suspension) for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) for HIV in December. Administered as an injection every other month, Apretude gives people at risk of contracting HIV a PrEP alternative to taking daily pills.
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How to Make Americans Better Shoppers of Healthcare
January 5th 2022U.S. healthcare is the most expensive healthcare in the world. Many of the policies and programs designed to rein in those costs have been predicated on the idea that information about quality and price would make Americans more discerning shoppers of healthcare — and with that shopping would come some market discipline.
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New Myasthenia Gravis Drug Could Create Some Price Competition
December 17th 2021The FDA approved efgartigimod on Friday (Dec. 17). The treatment, which is being sold under the brand name Vyvgart, could foment price competition with Soliris (eculizumab) and other treatments usually reserved for severe or refractory cases of myasthenia gravis. But there is a long way to go. According to one cost-effectiveness analysis, Soliris should be priced at between 2% and 3% of its current price.
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