Latest Conference Articles

Shared decision-making is very important when it comes to choosing biologics for patients, emphasized Nicola Hanania, MD, MS, pulmonary critical care physician and director, Airways Clinical Research Center, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas.

For pharmacy practices to effectively manage specialty drugs, an extensive staff of pharmacists with clinical and managed care expertise is needed, as well as a collaborative effort between all those involved in the care team.

In a panel discussion at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Nexus 2020 meeting, experts discussed driving factors of and barriers to the use of real-world evidence by payers in oncology decision-making.

Challenges remain, in light of new guidelines, when making treatment decisions for patients with severe asthma, noted Megan Althoff, MD, PhD, second year fellow, University of Colorado, Division of Pulmonary Sciences and Critical Care Medicine.

Abstracts presented at CHEST 2020 looked at improving diagnosis of acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) with machine learning and the development of intensive care unit delirium in hospitalized patients with ARDS.

In assessing a post–coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) world, several aspects may impact managed care pharmacy practices long-term, including self-administration of therapies and issues in pharmacy reimbursement spotlighted by the pandemic.

A panel discussion examined the changes in the health care landscape occurring due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, particularly around pharmacists’ scope of practice, and which changes are likely to persist after the pandemic.

Addressing pandemics requires preventing infections, controlling the spread of the disease, and minimizing deaths through the use of comprehensive plans, policies, and procedures.

Updated asthma guidelines touch on some challenging areas in disease management and treatment, noted Dan Ouellette, MD, MS, FCCP, of Henry Ford Hospital and Wayne State University School of Medicine.

Chronic cough is a problem that can have a major impact on quality of life for patients. In many cases, no cause can be found, but there are emerging therapies that could change treatment for these patients.

Marty Makary, MD, MPH, kicked off the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy Nexus 2020 meeting with a call to action around reducing overprescribing, increasing price transparency, and recapturing the public’s trust in the health care system.

Chronic cough is frustrating for patients and their families, especially during the pandemic, explained Krishna M. Sundar, MD, FCCP, clinical professor, Pulmonary Division, Department of Medicine, and medical director, Sleep-Wake Center, University of Utah.

Attendees at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Nexus 2020 meeting will hear a keynote from a surgeon who has become more visible over the past year and a half discussing what he says are “structural problems” behind the cost of US health care.

Clinician handoff is critical and can help reduce medical errors in the intensive care unit (ICU), according to a series of presentations on planning and communicating around ICU transitions.

We are still working to figure out why low levels of vitamin D are associated with worse outcomes in critical illness, noted Todd W. Rice, MD, FCCP, associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Nashville, Tennessee.

With the virtual format of this year’s Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Nexus 2020, there will be several sessions and novel features to look out for, including networking events, educational programming, and a keynote speech.

Tele–intensive care units (ICUs) address coverage gaps and improve quality outcomes, noted John Kazianis, MD, clinical associate professor, Yale School of Medicine, and medical director, InSight Tele-ICU, Yale New Haven Hospital.

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is unlike any pandemic the world has experienced in the last 100 years, said Anthony Fauci, MD, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, during his keynote.

A preview of some of the topics that will appear at next week’s Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) Nexus 2020 meeting, which will be held virtually.

The research looked at inpatients with migraine on erenumab, and overall, found that the incidence was similar to patients in real-world settings.

There is no question that posttraumatic headache and migraines are related, said the head of neurology research at the Mayo Clinic’s Arizona campus; the unknown issue is to what extent they are related.

The entry of a new class of migraine therapies has created a new wave of excitement. A presentation at the Migraine Trust International Symposium reviewed what clinicians now know about calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) blockers.

At a session Tuesday at the Migraine Trust International Symposium, one presentation delved into findings published this year in medication overuse headaches, prevention, and pathophysiology of migraine as well as cluster headaches.

Two neurologists discuss what is known and unknown in switching patients with migraine from one calcitonin gene-related peptide (CGRP) inhibitor to another.

In an open-label extension spanning 5 years, the safety profile of erenumab was consistent with the double-blind treatment phase of the study, and there were no increases in adverse event rates.

Speakers at Patient-Centered Oncology Care® highlighted injustices in the US health care system, the risk of financial toxicity, and how providers can do a better job to ensure their patients achieve health equity, during a panel discussion.

CMMI's Alexandra Chong, PhD, discusses COVID-19 related flexibilities under the Oncology Care Model, and a panel discusses its successor.

A gradual acceptance among physicians has been observed in adopting quality care initiatives that provide cost-saving, improved patient experience in cancer care, noted Kerin Adelson, MD, of Smilow Cancer Hospital at Yale New Haven/Yale Cancer Center.

Kassandra Munger, ScD, of the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health, discusses findings that vitamin D deficiencies are linked to a greater risk of multiple sclerosis.

The biggest difference between ocrelizumab and the recently approved ofatumumab is that ofatumumab can be taken at home for relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (MS), explained Patricia K. Coyle, MD.