Health Care Delivery

In the aftermath of the Dobbs v Jackson Women’s Health Organization ruling, Anita Allen, PhD, highlights the challenges to abortion rights in the United States, emphasizing disparities faced by marginalized communities, outlining threats to reproductive health care, and calling for collective action and advocacy to defend constitutional privacy and uphold the dignity of all individuals.

A new analysis has determined potential risk factors for developing myasthenia gravis following COVID-19 vaccination, with symptoms likely to appear within 2 weeks of receipt of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Amazon Prime air service is testing delivery of medication within an hour or ordering; Surging insurance costs are affecting 150 million Americans; Opponents of President Joe Biden's mental health care proposal argue potential rules could hinder access to quality care.

"The racial and ethnic distribution of United States sperm donors differs significantly from the United States population, particularly for those of African American or Black descent,” Cassie Hobbs, MD, explained.

Two posters presented at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine (ASRM) 2023 Scientific Congress & Expo showed trends in funding and insurance coverage for individuals seeking fertility care.

Wiyatta Fahnbulleh, PsyD, and Pamela Blackwell, PsyD, LMSW, presented on the cultural limitations of the Personality Assessment Inventory and Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory for assessing individuals for third-party reproduction.

A 2022 yearlong initiative at Summa Health Cancer Institute saw 100% of its patients with head and neck cancer undergoing radiation treatment referred to an oncology dietician for nutritional support and/or speech and swallow therapy.

Nearly 50% of pregnancies worldwide are unplanned, leading to significant health, economic, and environmental consequences, Stephanie Page, MD, PhD, explains in her presentation at the American Society for Reproductive Medicine 2023 Scientific Congress & Expo.

School nurses play an overworked and understaffed role; Merck's immunotherapy Keytruda (pembroilzumab) has been granted approval for pre- and postsurgical treatment in lung cancer; the FDA is helping to curb tobacco-related health disparities.

Non–guideline-concordant care for ovarian cancer was associated with higher all-cause and cancer-specific mortality, increased health care utilization, and increased Medicare expenditures, highlighting opportunities for improving cancer care in this vulnerable group.

Kristine Slam, MD, FACP, Central Ohio Surgical Associates, addresses the importance of involving patients in decisions regarding their goals for treatment, emphasizing that this involvement is critical to uncover what they value, as well as their short- and long-term goals for treatment.

Medicare Advantage star ratings reveal shifts in plan quality and performance; Rite Aid seeks debt reduction and restructures amid financial challenges; workers secure improved wages and staffing

Pembrolizumab plus chemotherapy prior to surgery, followed by resection and single-agent pembrolizumab in the adjuvant setting, significantly improved overall survival (OS) vs neoadjuvant placebo plus chemotherapy followed by adjuvant placebo in patients with resectable stage II, IIIA, or IIIB (T3-4N2) non–small cell lung cancer, meeting the dual primary end point of the phase 3 KEYNOTE-671 trial.

Age, fecal calprotectin level, toxin B polymerase chain reaction cycle threshold, immunosuppression, sex, and creatinine levels were identified as independent risk factors for developing recurrent Clostridioides difficile infection.

Older patients often face financial challenges on fixed incomes with different payer systems like Medicare, Sarah Wall, MD, The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center, says. Accessing treatment centers far away is difficult due to support system disruptions, leading to increased stress and financial strain.

A European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology study explored the pathway from dermatologic consult to diagnosis to treatment and outcomes in the health care system.

David Adamson, MD, FRCSC, FACOG, FACS, reproductive endocrinologist, surgeon, founder and CEO of ARC Fertility, and past president of The American Society for Reproductive Medicine, discusses the importance of professional guidelines in reproductive medicine.

Patients with paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) had decreased quality of life (QOL) and worse fatigue that could be linked to lactate dehydrogenase levels.

According to the National Cancer Institute, in the year following a cancer diagnosis, the average cost of medical care plus medication exceeds $42,000, with some treatments having a price tag of more than $1 million.

Analysis of a single-specialty practice’s scheduled appointments and reviews of physicians finds that 1-star ratings have a limited but longitudinal influence on new patient volume.

Positive results from STEP-HFpEF indicate that semaglutide can improve quality of life and functional capacity in patients with obesity-related heart failure with preserved ejection fraction (HFpEF), but large outcomes trials are needed to confirm this, said Javed Butler, MD, MPH, MBA.

The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of remote cancer care, in which notable gaps in care should be addressed, according to a new study.

The preoperative risk assessment algorithm can identify ovarian lesions with a strong likelihood of being non-cancerous and suitable for ovary-preserving surgery.

Modest spending on integrated mental health services in primary care, facilitated by use of new collaborative care billing codes, did not increase overall health care costs.

Director Takiyah Durham, MBA, and Margaret Larkins-Pettigrew, MD, share how the program is improving maternal and infant care in Pittsburgh, PA, at Highmark Health.

Both the second and first patients dosed in the study received the lower of the 2 doses of the gene therapy that Taysha Gene Therapies is evaluating in the phase 1/2 REVEAL trial.

Compared with White patients, Black male patients had a higher prevalence of palmoplantar psoriasis, according to one study.

During a podcast hosted by Permanente Medicine, Sandra Fryhofer, MD, chair-elect of the Board of Trustees for the American Medical Association and a liaison to the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices, discussed the importance of vaccines for the fall and winter seasons.

Fabric Health is transforming laundry time into an opportunity for community well-being, engaging families in laundromats to address health needs and connecting them with health care experts and needed social services. Adaptable and problem-solving oriented, the social-impact startup helps to bridge pandemic-exacerbated disparities by meeting people where they are, fostering health equity.

Significant increases in clinical staging for colorectal cancer were found when evaluating the extended timeframes beyond pre– and post–COVID-19 periods.