Providers

A focus group consisting of patients with chronic kidney disease (CKD) as well as CKD providers and researchers shared what they deem necessary and helpful to include in future mobile CKD management applications.

In 2021, there were some changes to recommendations and an important FDA approval for patients with heart failure or who are at risk of heart disease.

Tech-driven connectivity and collaboration tools empower primary care providers (PCPs) to shepherd patient care, while simultaneously empowering patients to make more informed and strategic decisions about their own health and care journey.

Articles on treating and protecting patients with blood cancers from COVID-19 and the positive results of zanubrutinib to treat leukemia and lymphoma were among the most read of the year.

Data from the GLOW study of minimal residual disease evaluation following chemotherapy for chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) show the kinase inhibitor/B-cell lymphoma-2 inhibitor pair produced superior outcomes compared with the alkylating agent/monoclonal antibody combination.

Michael Thorpy, MD, director, Sleep-Wake Disorders Center, Montefiore, and professor of neurology, Albert Einstein College of Medicine, discusses treatment implications for clinicians managing chronic insomnia and potential comorbid conditions.

Epigenetics has a role in choosing the right medicine in lung cancer, artificial intelligence can predict outcomes in a highly aggressive cancer, and more.

A study found significant differences in the therapeutic and diagnostic approaches to atopic dermatitis used by allergists, dermatologists, and pediatricians, and those recommended by guidelines.

Adriaan Voors, MD, professor of cardiology and director of the Heart Failure Clinic, University Medical Center Groningen, the Netherlands, explains why patients provided sodium-glucose co-transporter 2 (SGLT2) inhibitors in hospitals may be unable to continue the medication after discharge.

Facing the challenges created by the COVID-19 pandemic, the US medical community has been forced to rapidly change and modernize the manner in which it delivers health care over the last year-and-a-half. 

Key opinion leaders discuss the state of mental health in the US workforce, persistent unmet needs, and efforts to improve coverage and uptake of behavioral health services.

Although the pandemic continued to rule health care headlines, a few other stories were noteworthy in 2021 for the AJMC.com audience, including articles about a wider indication for the glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist semaglutide and the heart failure drug Entresto.

This year’s most-read articles on pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) covered a range of topics, including nutrition, therapy switches, and patient education to improve treatment adherence. Improving patient outcomes is something they all had in common.

Childhood psoriasis was found to be significantly associated with environmental tobacco smoke exposure, whereas intrauterine smoking exposure was not associated with an increased risk in pediatric populations.

David R. Stukus, MD, FACAAI, of Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University College of Medicine, and a board member of the American College of Allergy, Asthma & Immunology, speaks on the difficulties of gaining coverage for newer biologic therapies in the treatment of atopic dermatitis.

Two posters presented at The Liver Meeting evaluated nonalcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD)–associated hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) to understand the burden and identify the risk for developing HCC.

This year the United States only approved 2 biosimilars, but the FDA did grant interchangeable status to the first biosimilar.

People experiencing teeth grinding or clenching during sleep, called sleep bruxism, were found to be more likely than the general population to report incidence of other sleep disorders, such as obstructive sleep apnea and restless leg syndrome.

Anne Barmettler, MD, an associate professor of ophthalmology, visual sciences, and plastic surgery at Montefiore Medical Center, discusses the cost of teprotumumab for thyroid eye disease.

The top 5 most-read psoriasis articles of 2021 on AJMC.com covered risk factors involved in the pathogenesis and treatment of psoriatic disease and cost considerations for treatment.

Physicians said it is in payers’ interest to use artificial intelligence to address social determinants of health, to cover tests, and to gather data. Doing so could let them stratify who needs certain screenings and diagnostic procedures and who doesn’t, which could lead to less consumption of health care.

Jeffrey Patton, MD, is the CEO of OneOncology, a national partnership of independent community oncologists based in Nashville, Tennessee. He is also executive chairman of the board, Tennessee Oncology, and a member of the board, Community Oncology Alliance.

Vertical integration of payers and pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) took flight with the mergers of Aetna and CVS Health and of Cigna and ExpressScripts. Panelists at Patient-Centered Oncology Care® said the shift has filtered down to affect access at the practice level.

Duncan Allen, MHA, introduced the audience to the OneR clinical research initiative, and Jeffrey Patton, MD, discussed how the hospital transparency law has bolstered the case for the value of community oncology.

Elizabeth Kwo, MD, MBA, MPH, is the deputy chief clinical officer, Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield, Boston, Massachusetts. Kwo is a faculty lecturer at Harvard Medical School and physician entrepreneur.