November 2009

Prostate-specific antigen screening was highest among African American men and those concerned about prostate cancer and lowest when physicians did not discuss the test.

Being actively treated for cancer increases the mean annual out-of-pocket medical expenditures by $1170 compared with not having cancer.

Children who used an electronic monitoring system had as many emergency department visits and hospitalizations for asthma as children who used a paper diary.

Cost-sharing for antihypertensive drugs had the most significant and negative relationship with adherence for low adherers.

This prospective trial suggests that specialized care coordination and health counseling for patients coping with advanced stages of 4 life-limiting illnesses can be beneficial.

Healthcare organizations and researchers should challenge themselves to provide increasingly timely data on cancer care disparities, until delays can be remedied as they happen.

Among older women in 5 integrated delivery systems, 14% experienced delayed radiotherapy for breast cancer, even though they had insurance and access to care.

Stakeholders in US healthcare are increasingly seeking to measure and improve efficiency. This article describes an efficiency concept and some practical measurement challenges.

Elderly patients prescribed drugs with a drug-laboratory black box warning (BBW) had lower rates of prescriber BBW compliance than patients prescribed drugs with a drug-disease warning.