Implementing systemwide dissemination of feedback reports to primary care physicians in an integrated delivery system may be associated with changes in medical resource use.
In Medicare Part D, generic drug coverage was cost saving compared with no coverage in bipolar disorder and schizophrenia while improving health outcomes.
A community-based care management program for high-risk patients reduced hospital readmissions and also likely reduced admissions and Medicare parts A and B spending.
Older adults who prefer to delegate insurance decisions tend to be female and married, to have less Medicare knowledge, and to have someone in their lives they trust to make decisions for them.
This study determined that ICD-9 codes 433.X1, 434.XX, and V12.54 had positive predictive values >90%, and may be used to focus care on stroke patients.
An evaluation of the Multi-Payer Advanced Primary Care Practice Demonstration found mixed results in terms of quality of care provided to Medicare and Medicaid beneficiaries.
When aggregated data regarding health outcomes are shared, a clearer picture emerges of provider performance baselines and improvements with which payment models can be developed.
Clinical pathways have been emphasized as a means to deliver efficient, quality care and to ensure better outcomes at lower costs. The Oncology Medical Home takes this to the next, more comprehensive, step of quantifying and improving quality and value in cancer care while lowering overall costs.
Patients with an insomnia diagnosis have higher healthcare utilization and costs than a matched control group, both before and after the diagnosis.
The main reason given for receiving results online was time savings, reported by 77% of participants, followed by lowering the chance of missing the results (31%).
Coverage under Part D is comparable to that under non–Part D plans with respect to key features likely to be important to Medicare beneficiaries.
The promise of high-quality, affordable care aligning with the individual needs of patients remains elusive. Increasingly, the missing ingredient seems obvious: trust.
Hospitalization costs associated with heart failure averaged $23,077 and were higher when heart failure was a secondary rather than the primary diagnosis.
Hybrid approaches allow for clinician input into case finding for care management, but training and monitoring is required to protect against unintentional biases.
The authors audited a series of complex patients’ records longitudinally across their institution’s existing care management programs to improve the coordinated functioning of these programs.
Many patients stop taking medications for chronic conditions, thereby reducing the effectiveness of healthcare. An attempt to screen electronic VA healthcare records to identify patients as they discontinued a medication was not an efficient approach to this problem.
Primary care physician recruitment and retention must rely on not only increased financial remuneration, but also on a redesign of workflow and processes.
This study suggests that lower healthcare resource use and achieving low disease activity are associated with first-line abatacept compared with a first-line tumor necrosis factor-α inhibitor for patients with early rapidly progressive rheumatoid arthritis.
A survey completed by 100% of leaders of diverse care systems in Minnesota participating in an observational study showed little difference in approach to care coordination.
Value-based payment improved fidelity to key elements of the Collaborative Care Model—an evidence-based mental health intervention—and improved patient depression outcomes in Washington state.