July 2016

Gobeille v. Liberty Mutual Insurance Company highlights the challenges in managing conflicting state and federal laws, and balancing patient privacy interests against the state’s interests in healthcare reform.

An enhanced risk model incorporating medication use, prior healthcare utilization, and mental health with comorbid health conditions predicts healthcare utilization better than health conditions alone.

Shared medical appointments have the potential to improve clinic efficiency, patient outcomes, and patient satisfaction when managing chronic rhinosinusitis.

In a National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey secondary analysis, privately and publicly insured patients with diabetes were both more likely to meet quality indicators than the uninsured.

Early attempts to measure awareness of Choosing Wisely showed promising results. As the campaign and associated activities have grown, greater awareness and acceptance of Choosing Wisely among clinicians is anticipated.

This is a letter clarifying some points in an article published in the February 2016 issue of AJMC by Berger et al on colorectal cancer screening guidelines.

A point of care medication delivery system improves medication adherence to cardiovascular medications without increasing costs.

Pilot testing demonstrates the use of a novel, personal health record—based framework used in primary care settings may improve presence and quality of advance care planning documentation in the electronic health record.

Analyzes whether hospital participation in accountable care organizations is associated with a hospital’s quality and cost improvement outcomes in other Medicare value-based payment programs.

Weekend cardiac catheterization availability for inpatients reduced length of stay and maintained quality of care (no excess hazard for weekend cases), but costs were similar.

Subscribers migrated to Affordable Care Act—compliant plans with modestly higher costs, but had higher levels of insurance coverage and stronger consumer protections.