Mary Caffrey

An effort by the University of Utah health system created an "opportunity index" to identify areas of cost variability that would show physicians where they could find savings and improve quality.

The authors said this is the first study to examine antihypertension nonadherence down to the county level. Recommendations include greater use of combination therapy to reduce pill counts for patients with multiple chronic conditions, and synchronizing pharmacy visits to avoid multiple trips.

While the report found that the obesity rate among service members had gone up steadily since 2001, it was still only a fraction of the rate among the US population overall.

Two new reports suggest that Medicaid block grants could lock in disparities in federal funding between states that spend a lot on the poor and those that do not.

The trial showed use of the flash glucose monitoring system dramatically reduced the number of finger sticks while significantly reducing hypoglycemia, including at night.

A group of patients receiving intensive diabetes management treatment lived 7.9 years longer and had fewer cardiovascular events, the study found.

The study supports earlier findings that warning labels affect parental choices of beverages for their children.

Pharmacy benefit manager Express Scripts said payers and employers are increasingly frustrated about paying in excess of $3000 a month for drugs that patients soon abandon, meaning they experienced little medical benefit.

The study is the first to show a protective benefit of having a vaginal delivery after a prior cesarean birth.

Uninsured rates are much higher in states that have not expanded Medicaid, according to a CDC report.

Pediatricians are advised to not simply focus on weight loss, but also to examine behaviors. Too rapid weight loss could be a sign of trouble and dieting in young teens often leads to being overweight later.

The poll, which the Kaiser Family Foundation has done at intervals since the Affordable Care Act passed in 2010, once again found Americans divided on how they felt about the healthcare law.

The state-by-state obesity figures revealed huge health disparities. Obesity rates for whites reached 35% in just 2 states, while the rates reached 35% for blacks in 34 states and the District of Columbia, and 11 states for Hispanics.

A diverse group of 1242 patients received diabetes self-management education either in-person or online and achieved lowered blood glucose and depression levels, had fewer symptoms of hypoglycemia, and exercised more.

Democratic lawmakers who signed a letter to Mylan this week say that the practice of offering coupons masks the high drug prices that are paid by commercial health plans. The practice is not allowed in Medicare or Medicaid.

Since New Jersey's Republican governor shares power with a Democratic legislature, acceptance-if not full-throated support of Medicaid expansion-was not a surprise in 2013. But this week's event was seen by political observers as a sign Christie wants to be compared with Ohio's John Kasich.

Researchers and patients alike are increasingly interested in therapies that do more to limit the day-to-day, and hour-to-hour fluctuations in blood glucose that consume the time and energy of those living with diabetes.

The authors are among those concerned that patients with diabetes may be given more medication than they can tolerate or afford to achieve small improvements in A1C, without any other health benefits.

CMS' new proposal to shore up the Affordable Care Act (ACA) marketplaces signals that federal officials have heard concerns that not enough has been done to prevent adverse selection or share risk for the sickest patients who gained coverage under the ACA.

Payer coverage has been cited as the most frequent barrier to patient access to obesity therapy. While most new obesity therapies have lower wholesale costs than SGLT2 inhibitors, lack of coverage puts them out of reach for most Americans, according to a new study.

Kentucky Governor Matt Bevin's updated Medicaid proposal relies on beneficiaries being active consumers in their healthcare, but evidence shows that will be unlikely, especially among those with low incomes.

Researchers found a dose-response relationship for several cancers involved in eating, meaning the higher the weight, the greater risk of cancer.

Researchers found that changing cooking methods could allow people at risk of developing diabetes to reverse damage done by things like grilling and frying their food.

The study in JAMA represents the largest effort to date to integrate mental health and primary care services across a health system and measure both clinical outcomes and savings.

For years, researchers have looked for a solution that would mean fewer injections for those with type 1 diabetes.

While Mylan has steadily increased the price of EpiPens since 2007, the uproar from consumers is more recent. This suggests that for several years, payers masked the cost of the product, but that has changed with the popularity of high deductible plans.

Governor Phil Bryant's opposition to expansion contrasts with his public support for other healthcare initiatives, such as a new diabetes research center and telehealth research.

The recommendation comes after a review of evidence of how sugar consumption affects children's health. FDA is scheduled to add information on added sugar to food labels in 2018.

A $245 million priority review voucher is essentially wasted, not over the therapy, but the delivery device.

Diabetes advocate Kelly Close of diaTribe and Close Concerns wrote in a blog post that those with diabetes can make a video to share with the FDA.