News

Consumers expect more from healthcare

Consider tailored approaches for health management

Q&A with Charles Kennedy, MD

Ohio volunteer enrolls just two people in three months

Choose your goals before crunching numbers

Avoidable costs amount to more than $1 trillion

The medical community is using checklists to voluntarily cut costs

Coverage gaps lead to 40% higher costs

PBMs are moving products to non-covered status

Two oncologists are calling on fellow oncologists and the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) to support a single-payer healthcare system, according to an article published in the January issue of the Journal of Oncology Practice.

For patients in the early stages of multiple sclerosis (MS), low levels of vitamin D were found to strongly predict disease severity and hasten its progression, according to a study online January 20, 2014 in JAMA Neurology.

Pioneer and Shared Savings ACOs claim $274 million in payback for reducing costs

Ranbaxy Laboratories is being prohibited by FDA from manufacturing and distributing active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) from its Toansa, India, facility in order “to prevent substandard quality products from reaching U.S. consumers,” according to a news release.

More than 3 million Americans under aged 26 years have health insurance through their parents’ health plans. More than 9 million Americans have signed up for private health insurance or Medicaid coverage. And no American can be dropped or denied health insurance because of a pre-existing condition, said President Barack Obama about the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) during his fifth State of the Union address on January 28th.

Midterm elections have lawmakers shying away from more reforms

It's included in ACA Section 1331

The Commonwealth Fund outlines several models

Working-age adults-aged 18 to 64-with diabetes appear to have an increased risk of being hospitalized for influenza compared to similar-aged adults without diabetes, according to a study in Diabetologia.

The healthcare industry faces transformational change, and the claims systems of the recent past cannot keep up

High concentrations of serum long-chain omega-3 fatty acids may help reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes, according to a University of Eastern Finland study published recently in Diabetes Care. The sources of these fatty acids are fish and fish oils.

While same-day tonsillectomy may be one of the most common and cumulatively costly surgeries for children in the United States, there is substantial variability in the quality of care and outcomes, reports a study in Pediatrics.

TPA Christian Brothers Services does not have to comply

Test your system to manage the three main risks in the complex process

A recent study confirms cost recovery and long-term savings for morbidly obese patients undergoing bariatric surgery procedures. - See more at: http://formularyjournal.modernmedicine.com/formulary-journal/news/bariatric-surgery-demonstrates-cost-recovery-less-2-years-study#sthash.gdmwiTok.dpuf

Six states have alternative models

Diabetic patients who used an online patient portal to refill medications increased their medication adherence and improved cholesterol levels, according to a Kaiser Permanente study published in a recent issue of Medical Care.

Drug shortages remain a serious problem for patient safety, according to newly published results from a survey of pharmacy directors. Nearly half of the responding directors reported adverse events at their facilities resulting from drug shortages - including patient deaths.

It's still up to managed care to make the exchange products workable

Avoiding disclosure of sensitive information on EOBs could make coverage more appealing to young people.

Complementary alternative medication (CAM) including vitamins, herbals, supplements, homeopathy, and extracts seems to be as polarizing a topic as politics these days. Given that more than half of the US adult population uses at least 1 CAM, you can easily find passionate opinions on either side of the isle from the Herbal Tea Party and Abstinence Only factions.1 Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP) recently fueled the debate by publically declaring they would no longer provide CAM.2 Families wishing to continue these agents during hospitalization have to sign a waiver and provide the product. Some hospitals have long held this abstinence policy (perhaps sans waiver), but were less vocal in their withdrawal. The motivation for disallowing use is based on risks to the patients due to the inherent unknowns of CAM. Patients seem to be increasingly motivated to continue consuming, however, as self-management with CAM skyrockets.