FDA approved umeclidinium (Incruse Ellipta, GlaxoSmithKline) once-daily anticholinergic for long-term maintenance treatment of airflow obstruction in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), including chronic bronchitis and/or emphysema.
Assessing the clinical utility of diagnostic testing has always been a complicated undertaking. And as new genetic tests enter the equation, that complexity will only increase. To examine the issues surrounding clinical utility, I’d like to share a quick story.
Even if Medicare doesn't reimburse physicians for consultations, patients still want to talk about their care preferences
A dearth of informatics to confirm the intuitive benefits of wellness makes it difficult for a numbers-driven health insurance system to know how to invest its resources
Behind the political issues and the deep emotions is the reality that the United States must overhaul end-of-life care
States with all-payer claims databases and user-friendly websites earned Bs and Cs
Continuity of care cuts Medicare costs
Experts say directly comparing ACO models can be difficult because stakeholders often take different approaches to care management
More than 150 million now using the services
Rather than a big medical record in the sky a community is sharing information via a non-profit, public-private collaborative
Move from volume to value by fundamentally challenging the status quo
How quality programs for providers can be beneficial in an accountable care setting
Optimize benefit plans to motivate patients to take advantage of cost-effective drugs
FDA is holding a public workshop on its proposed prescription drug tracking system on May 8-9.
Patients who use statins are consuming more calories and fats than a decade earlier, increasing the risk of obesity, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease, according to a study published online in JAMA Internal Medicine.
Poor communication between care providers that leads to care gaps and medical errors is a serious problem within the healthcare system, but so is patient behavior outside the physician’s office
Pfizer said it offered to buy AstraZeneca for approximately $100 billion. If the deal materializes, it would represent the biggest-ever foreign takeover of a British business and allow Pfizer to pay a lower corporate tax rate of 20%, according to some reports.
The biggest challenge in tackling opioid abuse is lack of awareness and understanding of addictive diseases generally and specifically opioid use disorders, as well as misinformation and negative perceptions of medication-assisted therapies (MATs), according to a recent opinion article published in the New England Journal of Medicine.
Pharmacists who contacted high-risk patients within 72 hours of discharge from Massachusetts General Hospital, Boston, found more than half of the patients had medication-related issues. In a different group of high-risk patients who had received inpatient interventions, 35% of patients were found to have issues after a pharmacist reviewed their medications just prior to discharge, according to Laura Carr, PharmD.
Pharmacist-led care with prescribing authority substantially improved risk factors at 6 months among stroke survivors than nurse case managers who monitored patients and provided feedback to their primary care physicians, according to a report published in the Canadian Medical Association’s journal, CMAJ.
FDA approved the first HPV DNA test for women aged 25 years and older that can be used alone to help a healthcare professional assess the need for a woman to undergo additional diagnostic testing for cervical cancer. The test also can offer information about the patient’s risk for developing cervical cancer in the future.
Specialty medications accounted for six of the top 10 drugs in exchange claims data
FDA approved ramucirumab (Cyramza, Eli Lilly) to treat patients with advanced stomach cancer or gastroesophageal junction adenocarcinoma.
Community factors may be linked to hospital readmission rates, according to a study published in Health Services Research.
FDA is requiring that drug labels for injectable corticosteroids used to treat neck and back pain must be updated to include a warning of rare but serious adverse events, including vision loss, stroke, paralysis, and death, according to a recent FDA drug safety communication.
Measures of access to care explained almost half of variation in readmission by county
Consumer experience is a critical area of investment, with health plans increasing data analytics and virtual customer service
Implementation of a quality initiative has been linked to improvement in the time to treatment and a lower risk of in-hospital death, intracranial hemorrhage (bleeding in the brain), and an increase in the portion of patients discharged to their home, according to a study in the April 23/30 issue of JAMA.
MCOs experienced a 1.7% overall pharmacy trend in 2013, down from 1.9% in 2012.
Managed care organizations (MCOs) experienced a 1.7% drug overall trend, a 10.5% reduction from 2012 to 2013, according to Catamaran’s 2013 Drug Trend data. In 2012, MCO trend was 1.9%.
