MHE April 2021

Some of the usual suspects are on the list. And population health itself is trending as a competitive business and an area of study.

Paying attention to the social determinants of health may be a powerful way of improving cardiovascular outcomes.

Corticosteroids are a mainstay but the introduction of biologics has transformed the management of this severe form of asthma.

But many devices don’t communicate with a patient’s electronic health record.

The FDA approved proton beam radiation in 1988. But whether it is an improvement over conventional photon radiation as a treatment for many cancers remains an open question.

The four historically Black medical schools are part of the answer as U.S. healthcare reckons with racism and inequity. They are expanding and receiving record levels of donations.

Insurers are taking a hands-on approach to primary care, buying or partnering with practices or setting up their services.

The number of participants in the Medicare Shared Savings Program has tapered off, and the Direct Contracting Model may put accountable care organizations at a disadvantage. The National Association of ACOs wants the Biden CMS to make some changes.

The triptans, long the workhorses of migraine treatment, have been joined by monoclonal antibodies and small-molecule drugs that block calcitonin gene-related peptide. What’s lacking is a precision approach to treatment based on biomarkers.

Whether the cup of value-based care is half empty or half full may depend on your point of view. But the grail certainly isn’t full. Some of the leading lights at the Leonard Davis Institute (LDI) of Health Economics at the University of Pennsylvania have released recommendations to hasten the volume-to-value healthcare transformation.

A couple of years ago, there was a lot of chatter about the Amazonifcation of healthcare. Well, that hasn’t happened. But the company is breaking into a sector of the economy that accounts for almost 18% of the American gross domestic product. Perhaps healthcare’s journey of Amazonifcation has started but is going step by step.

The Biden administration put a hold on the new and pending rule changes that the outgoing Trump administration made, so whether the Medicare Coverage of Innovative Technology pathway will ever take effect is uncertain. But many providers and payers — and presumably most device makers — are keeping a close watch on the fate of the pathway.