August 2012

This study examines the association between cost-sharing and initiation of disease-modifying therapies among privately insured patients with multiple sclerosis.

Recognizing shared features of 2 Medicare payment reform strategies, premium support and global payment, may help us focus on, and resolve, the differences.

This study shows how cardiovascular prevention would be much more efficient if risk were used in treatment decisions, but that currently it plays no role.

This article reports a unique statewide initiative in Minnesota to improve orders for high-tech diagnostic imaging tests while reducing their overall frequency and costs.

This retrospective study measures primary nonadherence rates for 10 drug groups and identifies important factors of primary nonadherence for chronic and acute medications.

This framework suggests new meaningful use measures and guidance for prioritizing implementation of different health information technology functionalities, based on their expected financial effects.

Patients who often change medical groups have the highest healthcare costs. The improved coordination of an accountable care organization may reduce those costs.

Racial disparities are widespread in healthcare. Disparities can have a strong influence on diabetes care. This manuscript explores the source of such disparities.

Implementation of a point-of-care case management team consisting of a nurse, social worker, pharmacist, and health navigators reduced readmissions and associated costs.

Academic detailing coupled with a provider survey did not decrease the rate of new prescriptions for costly, on-patent second-generation antipsychotics in a VA hospital.

Despite increased enrollment, the role of Medicare managed care in explaining declines in preventable hospitalization rates diminished over time.

Randomized controlled trial of a home care program for managed care patients resulted in lower probability of hospital admission and greater patient satisfaction with care.

Savings claims for Community Care of North Carolina raise many questions, concerning both arithmetic/epidemiologic plausibility and omission of presumably authoritative but contradictory source materials/citations.

Standardized measurement of migraine, an underdiagnosed and perhaps underrecognized condition, is necessary for health plans to understand utilization of costly diagnostic and treatment services.