August 2010

This study examines the clinical effects of care management and quality improvement interventions implemented by physician groups on pay-for-performance success.

Randomized trial data indicate that heart disease risk associated with elevated hsCRP can be cut by almost half with a safe, proven pharmacologic therapy.

A patient-centered medical home with intensive case management and a payer partner can significantly improve hospital utilization and may decrease total medical costs for a Medicare population.

Retrospective analysis of antihypertensive medication adherence and subsequent total healthcare costs demonstrated a significant, continuous, and inversely proportional effect of adherence on total healthcare costs.

The new indication for rosuvastatin is unlikely to have any significant impact on clinical practices because of questions about its clinical utility.

Introduction of drug-eluting stents resulted in improved clinical outcomes for patients and reduced overall procedural costs.

Higher cost-sharing levels reduced adherence to antidiabetic medications in patients with type 2 diabetes.

This review article discusses the issues surrounding the risks and costs of sleep disturbance as they relate to society and the individual.

A patient-centered medical home with intensive case management and a payer partner can significantly improve hospital utilization and may decrease total medical costs for a Medicare population.

Patients with inadequate response to depression treatment used increased resources, were less likely to be employed, and had more presenteeism than those with treatment response.

The utilization pattern of anticonvulsants after a change in preferred-formulary coverage resulted in health plan savings of $0.16 per member per month.

The willingness of employees to pay to prevent influenza demonstrates a strong preference to protect themselves and their household members; however, modifiable barriers to vaccination persist.

Google query data for 2 statins demonstrated association with temporal and geographic utilization benchmarks, suggesting that query data can be used to track real-time utilization.