Robert Calandra

L.A. Care Health Plan and Health Net are teaming up to provide care for 85,000 people in Los Angeles County who don’t have housing

Community health workers can improve health outcomes and lower costs. So why haven’t they been fully incorporated into the U.S. healthcare system?

A retrospective study found that chronic hepatitis B-related hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) patients with metabolic-associated fatty liver disease (MAFLD) had better outcomes than patients who did not have MAFLD.

Since the introduction of direct-acting antiviral therapies, which boast a 95% cure rate, the reported number of HCV cases has fallen.

That is the rate among those with health insurance. It is 1 in 6 among those without it. Prices have dropped but cost remains a barrier and there are other ones.

The answer is no. Research findings reported in JAMA Network Open show no association between hepatitis B status and poor birth outcomes among those who get pregnant with freeze-thaw embryo transfer whereas among natural births, hepatitis B infection in mothers is linked to miscarriage and preterm birth.

Researchers who analyzed telehealth for patients at federally qualified health centers document problems with everything from broadband access to digital literacy to poor translations.

Their study found an association between liver fibrosis and cognitive performance. Some research has suggested that neurotoxic metabolites produced in an injured liver may cross the blood-brain barrier.

Researchers found that only 9% of vaccine-eligible patients at HIV Centers in Dallas, Houston and San Antonio had completed the three-dose series in a 365-day time period.

Charles Rice’s work led to the development of antiviral cures of hepatitis C. Now his lab is turning to hepatitis B and a technique that uses pregenomic RNA.

The antiviral has not been approved by FDA. Gilead Sciences received a complete response letter late last year.

Dated notions and lack of an early connection to healthcare keep men from seeking care.

The administration unveiled the $11 billion plan in March. Now the hard part: Getting Congress to fund it.

Findings reported in JAMA Network Open don’t find racial disparities among those who meet the treatment criteria. But Black individuals were less likely than Asian or White individuals to be among those meet the criteria.

Researchers suggest future studies should compare interferon-based versus noninterferon-based treatment and the effects on hepatocellular carcinoma.

Social isolation loneliness is increasing and not just because of the COVID-19 pandemic. Research shows it can have devastating health consequences.

Other research has come to a similar conclusion, but this study used an insurance claims database to make a more rigorous comparison between transgender and gender-diverse (TGD) people and cisgender individuals.

The hepatitis A, B and C viruses are common in the U.S. , and hepatitis D is a fellow traveler with B. But the hepatitis E virus infects millions of people in the world each year, and the infection can be a serious illness. German researchers reported findings earlier this year that may pave the way for improved treatment of hepatitis E infections.

A modeling study involving people who are incarcerated and those that inject drugs in Australia shows that incarceration is a risk factor for transmission of the hepatitis C virus (HCV). The results highlight the importance of HCV programs targeting prison populations.

Thai researchers found that delaying endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatograpy was not associated with disease-related or ERCP-related complications.

Austrian study found that approximately one-quarter of patients with chronic liver disease and COVID-19 developed laboratory signs of cholestatic liver failure.

A review of 23 studies found that evidence of kidney disease before a liver transplant is the strongest predictor of kidney disease afterward.

A retrospective study published in JAMA Surgery shows that robotic liver resection for hepatocellular carcinoma is associated with shorter hospital stays and fewer admissions to the intensive care unit than open surgery, despite longer operating time and greater blood loss.

Results suggest that Veterans Health Administration’s outreach efforts to veterans with hepatitis C who had been previously incarcerated could serve as a model.

The nine models geared toward acute and specialty care produced better results than the 12 that focused on primary care and population health.

In the three cases documented by researchers, hepatitis B surface antigen (HBsAG) levels were reduced by more than 50% after Japan began its COVID-19 vaccination program.

A trio of leading hepatitis researchers survey the treatments in development for chronic hepatitis B. They end on a high note: That for the first time in 20 years, a cure is in sight.

Using survival after recurrence as the measure, most patients would benefit from reoperative hepatectomy or thermoablation, according to an algorithm developed by Italian researchers. The researchers stress that the algorithm would be used to guide decisions by physicians and patients, not replace them.

Some experts want to see more funding for hospice care in the home. Others say the advantages of hospice in a hospital or nursing home have been underrated.

The program implemented by the Trump administration is designed to put more Medicare Shared Savings Program ACOs into two-sided risk. An industry group has discouraged participation in the program.