Fourth Shot is Recommended for the Immunocompromised
March 10th 2022Getting boosted is now the rule, not the exception, when it comes to COVID-19 vaccination recommendations. The CDC now recommends that everyone, ages 12 and older, get a dose of an mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, either Pfizer’s or Moderna’s. For people who have gotten the two-shot Pfizer or Moderna series, the booster is their third jab. For those who got the single-dose Johnson & Johnson vaccine, it is the second.
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Direct Contracting Between Healthcare Providers, Individuals at Hint Health, per COO Mark Nolan
March 9th 2022Chief Operating Officer of Hint Health, Mark Nolan, discussed direct contracting in healthcare among his organization with Managing Editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein, in this week's episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite podcast.
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Study: Removing Naïve T Cells is a Promising Strategy for Reducing GVHD
March 8th 2022Results reported in the Journal of Clinical Oncology suggest filtering naïve T cells from peripheral blood stem cell transplants may decrease the risk of chronic graft-versus-host-disease. An accompanying editorial says a randomized trial is needed to provide definitive proof.
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Phase 3 Trial of First-line Treatment for Acute GVHD is Underway
March 8th 2022The 200-patient trial will test whether adding a monoclonal antibody called itolizumab to high doses of corticosteroids will improve outcomes for patients who develop acute graft-versus-host-disease after a stem cell transplant.
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MS Patients Warmed To Telehealth During the COVID-19 Pandemic
March 8th 2022Analysis of answers to online survey shows that telehealth use is high among people with multiple sclerosis (MS) amid the COVID-19 pandemic. Telehealth may be an appealing option for patients with MS who have physical impairments that make traveling to in-person appointments difficult.
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HIV Vaccine Trial Utilizing mRNA Underway
March 7th 2022The decades-long quest for a vaccine against HIV has been fruitless so far. Moderna hopes an HIV vaccine that uses its messenger RNA technology will break the losing streak. A phase 1 trial designed to include 56 volunteers has started.
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Study Shows State-Level Scope-of-Practice Laws Limit PrEP Prescribing by NPs, PAs
March 7th 2022Physicians who are reluctant or even opposed to broad use of pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) against HIV may keep physician assistants and nurse practitioners from prescribing the antivirals that can prevent infection and spread of HIV. Making PrEP an over-the-counter treatment would be one way of increasing access.
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Biosimilars to AMD Drugs: The Obstacles In Their Way
March 4th 2022Off-label Avastin, Eylea and Lucentis are the primary treatments for neovascular age-related macular degeneration (AMD), a leading cause of blindness. A recent review article looked at the impediments to the biosimilars for these drugs Ophthalmologists are wary about using biosimilars to Avastin (which was approved as a cancer drug) for AMD. Biosimilars to Eylea and Lucentis are not on the market yet. Manufacturers’ rebates and Medicare Part B “buy and bill” policies could make it difficult for them to compete against their brand-name “originator” products.
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Why Managed Care Cares About Prescription Drug Spending
March 4th 2022When managed care got started in the early ’80s, the focus was on physician and hospital services. Primary care doctors were positioned as gatekeepers, controlling referrals to specialists. Insurers came under a lot of criticism for shortening hospital stays. Now much of the managed care energy is trained on drug costs.
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The Innovations of Clinical Trials after the Pandemic
March 3rd 2022Like the entirety of the world, the COVID-19 pandemic exposed many issues in the medical industry. One area in particular: the clinical trials space developed many challenges as a result to the height and continuous battle of the pandemic.
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How Payers Can Align with Members on Consumer Engagement
March 2nd 2022Based on several reports in the last couple of years, it’s been a standout that healthcare consumers’ engagement in their own healthcare will drive better outcomes and reduce care costs. With that being said, consumer experience has come under major focus across the industry as a key business driver.
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New VCU Institute Aims to Transform Treatment of Liver Disease Care
March 2nd 2022One of the priorities of the new institute at Virginia Commonwealth University’s medical school will be research into nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH) as a key component in the emerging construct of metabolic health, says its leader, Arun J. Sanyal, M.D.
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FDA Clears New CAR-T Therapy for Multiple Myeloma
March 2nd 2022FDA approved Legend Biotech’s chimeric antigen receptor T-cell (CAR-T) treatment, Carvykti (ciltacabtagene autoleucel; cilta- cel), to treat relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) who have received four or more prior lines of therapy.
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Briana Contreras, editor of Managed Healthcare Executive spoke with Jason Warrelmann, global director of Healthcare and Life Sciences at UiPath, in this week's episode of Tuning In to the C-Suite podcast. In the discussion Jason addressed the incline of automation in healthcare, why it's necessary for patients and providers and how other healthcare organizations can better overcome the challenges of adopting automation within their health system.
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Employers Face Barriers With Adopting Biosimilars
March 1st 2022Despite the promise of savings billions of dollars in the United States, adoption of biosimilars has been slow. A roundtable discussion among employers highlighted some of the barriers, including formulary design and drug pricing and rebates.
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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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