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Though symptom checking apps and websites have been touted by some as the future of clinical diagnostics, a recent study has found that they are far less accurate than actual physicians at identifying the correct diagnosis when given a clinical vignette.

The use of low-value care and the associated cost is a significant concern in the US healthcare system. However, solutions to measure, identify, and eliminate low-value care are challenging and complex.

What we're reading, October 11, 2016: USPSTF recommendations maybe shouldn't be tied to insurance coverage; growing dispute over homeopathy research; and the harm of pharmaceutical companies' copay assistant programs.

Researchers at the University of Chicago have developed a clinically relevant patient-centered tool that can measure a patient’s risk for financial stress.

The findings are consistent with earlier work that show how soda companies spend heavily to promote their brands and thwart efforts to regulate or tax their products to address diabetes or obesity.

The second presidential debate, which took place Sunday night at Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, allowed candidates Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton to spar over a multitude of issues, including the future of healthcare in America.

A letter from CMS Acting Administrator Andy Slavitt that was made public said that Mylan had been warned repeatedly that it was not using the right classification for the EpiPen, at taxpayers' expense.

What we're reading, October 10, 2016: Anthem will not cover Exondys 51, the first drug approved for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy; big soda has sponsored 96 health and medical groups; and new Illinois program seeks to fill care gaps for working poor.

While previous studies have revealed concerning issues regarding workplace wellness programs, the industry has now crossed a line. The program chosen as the industry's best actually harmed employees.

While nivolumab failed to surpass the outcomes of chemotherapy as first-line treatment in programmed death ligand-1—expressing patients with non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), pembrolizumab bettered chemotherapy in improving survival in a similar cohort.

As part of the National Comprehensive Cancer Network's new clinical guidelines for myeloproliferative neoplasms, a group of rare blood cancers, Jakafi has been recommended for the treatment of myelofibrosis.

A large majorities of Americans favor a wide range of policy changes to curb prescription drug costs, including those that give government a greater role in negotiating or limiting drug prices, according to the latest Kaiser Family Foundation Health Tracking Poll.

Although hospitals in Medicare’s Value-Based Purchasing program already receive patient experience points based on achievement, improvement, and consistency, placing more emphasis on improvement points could benefit hospitals serving minority patients

Cost sharing for hospitalizations among nonelderly adults increased 37% between 2009 and 2013, more than the rate of medical inflation, according to a review of national hospital claims from 3 major commercial insurance plans.

Health is improving around the world, but 7 out of 10 deaths are now due to noncommunicable diseases, like stroke, diabetes, chronic kidney disease, and drug use disorders, according to a special issue of The Lancet.

Specialty pharmacy pipelines, healthy behaviors, and regulation took the stage at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP)’s 2016 Nexus conference, which was held October 3-6 in National Harbor, Maryland.

A retrospective analysis has found that longer term adjuvant treatment with tamoxifen significantly decreases the risk of contralateral breast cancer.

This week, the top managed care stories included conference coverage from the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy's 2016 Nexus, Bill Clinton courted controversy when discussing the Affordable Care Act, and research finds fear of a job loss can increase the risk of diabetes.

Nationally, nongroup marketplace premiums are 10% lower than the average employer-sponsored insurance premiums, according to an analysis by the Urban Institute.

A short online test evaluates respondents’ health status to determine their risk of having prediabetes. However, some doctors worry that too many people will fall into the high-risk category, contributing to an overuse of resources.

Highlights of our peer-reviewed research in the healthcare and mainstream press.

HHS has been banned from using a patient identifier but several organizations, including national payers, providers, and prescription drug networks, want this reversed.

What we’re reading, October 7, 2016: providers brace for Hurricane Matthew; lead exposure in children has dropped; and most physicians would not apologize to their patient after a mistake.

What we're reading, October, 6, 2016: UnitedHealth is sued for allegedly overcharging on prescription drugs; the Obama administration could point consumers to remaining insurance options as insurers leave the Affordable Care Act exchanges; and human life spans may have it a ceiling.

Persistent low income in young adulthood and middle age may raise the risk for worse cognitive function by age 50, according to a study of more than 3300 adults who were followed for more than 2 decades. In addition, the study suggested that poverty and perceived hardship may be important contributors to premature aging among disadvantaged populations.

The first winner of the Seema S. Sonnad Emerging Leader in Managed Care Research award in 2015 writes about winning the award and 3 dimensions of the experience that were particularly meaningful.

A study published in the Journal of Clinical Oncology found an increased rate of resection and a reduction in the probability of emergent resection for colorectal cancer (CRC) as a result of insurance expansion in Massachusetts.

States that have not expanded Medicaid are finding that rural hospitals struggle because they must still treat uninsured patients who show up for care, but they get less help from the federal government than in the past.

It is well known that the current A1C test could be more accurate. A group of researchers at Harvard believes they have found a way to personalize the test.

According to the 2016 Community Oncology Practice Impact Report, about 15 community practices in the United States have either closed or were acquired, each month since 2008.