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While the majority of physicians generally believe that social determinants of health, such as food insecurity and housing instability, matter for their patients, they do not believe that it is their responsibility to address them and do not feel well positioned to do so.

The survey found that the real cost of living with diabetes goes beyond what people spend out of pocket, and includes the toll the disease takes on relationships, work, and outside interests.

For true comprehensive community wellness to take place, barriers must end between the old silos of what is considered “healthcare” and what is considered public health, in order to improve health outcomes and curb rising costs, according to a new report from The Health Care Transformation Task Force and The Public Health Leadership Forum.

A look at telepsychiatry’s rapid expansion into nontraditional settings.

The authors say there has been a recent uptick in hosptial admissions from hypoglycemic events, and that a therapy to address this is needed.

Two recent studies evaluated the effects of asthma through addressing the costs and adherence to medications as well as the accessibility to certain resources for patients.

Oral arguments were held in a closely watched case involving Medicaid work requirements in Kentucky; an advisory panel to Francis Collins, MD, director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH), recommended ending a controversial $100 million study looking at the health effects of moderate drinking; the president of the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) is warning that migrant children who are forcibly taken from their parents are at risk of long-term health effects.

Patients with rare diseases often face a difficult and long diagnosis and treatment process. Express Scripts recently announced a new Rare Conditions Care Value program that includes the introduction of a support service known as Second Opinion, which offers guidance and expert case review for patients on an individual basis, with PinnacleCare.

Akcea Therapeutics has announced the publication of results from the Re-FOCUS study that sought to assess the burden of familial chylomicronemia syndrome (FCS) on patients and the impact of Akcea's proposed drug, volanesorsen, on disease burden.

Despite behavioral migraine treatment being effective, safe, and well-tolerated, less than one-third of eligible patients are referred for treatment and only half of those referred initiate treatment.

A new approach using gene editing technology could allow chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cells to target CD33 in patients with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) but prevent the cells from attacking healthy stem cells, too.

Health plans are under scrutiny to address social determinants of health, which include food insecurity and poor housing.

With the growing worldwide burden of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), researchers in Australia recently reviewed literature looking for the best models to predict this disease, in an effort to identify new preventive strategies. Out of thousands of articles, the common denominator boiled down to one thing: smoking.

While global maternal mortality rates (MMR), particularly in the developed nations, have been dropping, US MMR has seen a steady rise. Protecting the well-being of women, both during and after pregnancy, is vital. Here are some updates on the status of maternal care in the United States.

The FDA has approved the first generic version of Suboxone (buprenorphine and naloxone) sublingual film as medication-assisted treatment for those with opioid use disorder.

At its annual meeting, the American Medical Association's (AMA) House of Delegates voted to adopt new policies on a wide range of issues, including its stance on lockout provisions in Medicaid, how to achieve health equity, providing access to evidence-based substance use disorder treatment, and more.

A group of experts identified 6 high-need populations and dimensions of successful care models to improve outcomes and reduce spending for these populations.

The federal government does not have to pay insurers money as part of an Affordable Care Act (ACA) program that enticed them to participate in the markets; there is a hepatitis A outbreak among drug users and the homeless occurring in 6 states; teenagers in the United States are not only exhibiting less risky behaviors, such as smoking and doing drugs, but they are also drinking less milk.

This week, the top managed care stories include the CDC says the suicide rate is rising; lawmakers ask when drug prices will start falling; and a policy change will allow people in Medicare to use their smartphone to manage diabetes.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Last month, a retrospective observational study was published in PLOS One that investigated the safety and efficacy of rituximab in patients with progressive MS (PMS) and relapsing-remitting MS (RRMS) in a single tertiary care center in Switzerland.

Last year, the FDA expanded the indications of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) drug tocilizumab (Actemra) to include the treatment of cytokine release syndrome (CRS) caused by CAR T-cell therapy. Recently, 2 studies have identified another rheumatoid arthritis drug that could be more effective in the treatment of CRS.

The Paxman Scalp Cooling System is now indicated to reduce the likelihood of chemotherapy-induced alopecia in patients with solid tumors, such as ovarian, breast, colorectal, bowel, and prostate cancer.

A new study has shown that older female beneficiaries enrolled in Medicare, who undergo mammography screenings, have a greater likelihood of following up with other preventive tests. “It’s encouraging to see that women undergoing mammography may have increased awareness to other preventive screening measures,” said study author Stella Kang, MD, MSc, NYU School of Medicine.

As Puerto Rico begins to update mortality statistics from 2017 that strengthen prior reports that the death toll from Hurricane Maria was much higher than first reported, a recent article by the Commonwealth Fund says there are 3 factors that worsened the death toll in Puerto Rico after last year's hurricane: an inadequate response, a poorer health baseline, and inadequate funding.

Major medical groups as well as patient advocacy groups filed friend-of-the-court briefs Thursday in Texas v. Azar, the lawsuit that seeks to overturn the Affordable Care Act (ACA), warning about the damage that would occur to American healthcare if the ACA is reversed by the courts. In addition, legal experts who have previously disagreed with each other about legal and policy questions about the ACA united in another filing, saying the arguments of both "the plaintiff States and the United States on the severability of the insurance mandate from the other provisions of the ACA are inconsistent with settled law."

While the pilot study successfully explored the efficacy of timolol eyedrops, further research is necessary to identify patients who would benefit the most from this treatment and an appropriate dosage.

A recent study aimed to determine the clinical and laboratory parameters associated with increased fracture risk in patients on holidays from taking bisphosphonates (BP) for osteoporosis.

The Trump administration and advocacy groups meet in federal court Friday over whether the HHS secretary has the authority to allow Kentucky to set a work requirement and other conditions on people receiving Medicaid; the New England Journal of Medicine retracted a notable paper about the benefits of following a Mediterranean diet and replaced it with one with softer language; California’s nonprofit hospitals are providing significantly less free and reduced-cost medical care, a union report says.

Writing in a blog post for Health Affairs, a former Obama administration official for CMS urges the Trump administration to drop a budget proposal to allow states to end payment for the Medicaid non-emergency medical transportation benefit.