Health Care Delivery

Given the cost and impact of chronic diseases on the US health care system, health technology like digital coaching for chronic diseases is increasingly being looked at as a way to offer personalized therapies on a wide scale.

Researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital identified new targets for small molecule drugs to counter Clostridioides difficile colonization and infection (CDI) in the gut and provide a new approach to rapidly define microbial metabolism for other applications.

Perampanel, a novel antiepileptic drug, was associated with a reduction in seizure frequency of at least 50% in more than half of children and adolescents in a meta-analysis.

The new recommendations from the World Health Organization (WHO) urge viewing the totality of evidence when evaluating biosimilar products.

Samyukta Mullangi, MD, MBA, oncology fellow at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and incoming medical director at Thyme Care, spoke on financial toxicity, heterogeneity of cancer, and other complex factors in oncology care systems that may perpetuate disparities in health care outcomes and delivery among patients.

Patients with complex chronic disease can be grouped by varying propensity for health care continuity patterns, which could be harnessed to personalize health care utilization interventions.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with Jennifer Schneider, MD, co-founder and chief executive officer of Homeward, a value-based care provider aiming to improve access to high-quality care in rural communities through tech-enabled clinical services, partnerships with local physicians and health plans, and community-level demographic data.

The growth in telehealth utilization continued an increase begun in November 2022.

The Association of Community Cancer Centers (ACCC) 49th Annual Meeting and Cancer Center Business Summit will feature presentations and interactive workshops centered on the latest in technology, care delivery, and payment issues in oncology.

A recent study found that a latent cytomegalovirus infection can have a negative effect on mRNA vaccine responsiveness to COVID-19 infection.

Carolina Blood and Cancer Care Associates’ No One Left Alone initiative works to dismantle cancer health disparities and increase health care equity among its rural patient population. Sashi Naidu, MD, director of research, discusses delivering next-generation sequencing testing to patients.

Kirk Campbell, MD, FASN, vice chair for diversity, equity, and inclusion in the Department of Medicine at Mount Sinai Health System in New York, spoke on health equity efforts by his organization to improve clinical outcomes through demographic data collection, educational research, and workforce training.

The new report found polygenic risk scores likely will not help identify patients at highest risk.

Researchers retrospectively analyzed data from patients who visited 2 myeloma centers between March and October 2020, before vaccines were widely available but during large-scale implementation of regular screening processes.

This new study evaluated the potential impact of unmet social needs on risk of severe asthma in children.

The study also showed, despite an existing association between discrimination based on sexual orientation and HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) use, increased resilience reduced the effects of such discrimination on PrEP use.

Potential disparities in care highlight the great need for tailored cardiovascular health (CVH) interventions among bisexual female individuals, according to a recent study.

Eric Rackow, MD, cofounder and executive chairman of eFamilyCare, discusses the importance of virtual support for family caregivers.

Incidence of medication problems and their harm potential following hospital discharge among pediatric patients with epilepsy were not significantly different for individuals who received discharge medication education and those who did not.

Seeking to speed up the execution of evidence-based care practices, the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) announced the 42 health systems across the country who will join a 5-year program to build capacity and implementation to improve health care outcomes.

Medicaid expansion deal proposed in North Carolina; FDA gains new leverage over quick drug approvals; Walgreens announces it will not dispense abortion pills in several states where it’s legal.

The 2 therapies, a 1-food and a 6-food elimination diet both used for eosinophilic esophagitis (EoE), were compared for outcomes after 6 weeks.

Joneigh Khaldun, MD, MPH, FACEP, vice president and chief health equity officer for CVS Health, speaks on the launch of her organization’s Community Equity Alliance that aims to address structural barriers to equitable care in underserved communities through partnerships with local academic and health care institutions.

Manmeet Ahluwalia, MD, MBA, Miami Cancer Institute, discussed efforts being taken by his organization’s Center for Equity in Cancer Care & Research to address disparities in clinical trial enrollment of minority patients in the United States.

Incidence rates of health care-associated Clostridioides difficile infection were 3 times higher in patients with COVID-19 than those without coronavirus infection in a Serbian hospital.

Stephen M. Schleicher, MD, MBA, chief medical officer at Tennessee Oncology, discusses the present state of value-based oncology care and what the future may bring when the Enhancing Oncology Model kicks off on July 1.

Eric Rackow, MD, cofounder and executive chairman of eFamilyCare, discusses eFamilyCare's role for family caregivers and how the system can help overcome social determinants of health that may impact patient outcomes.

Patients treated with 5-mg midazolam nasal spray were more likely than those given placebo to remain seizure free for 6 hours after treatment or have their seizure terminated within 10 minutes, with no recurrence seen from 10 minutes to 6 hours after the treatment.

Study results presented at this year’s American Academy of Allergy Asthma & Immunology annual meeting displayed dupilumab efficacy in children aged 6 months to 5 years who had atopic dermatitis (AD).

Outcomes from the loop diuretics were compared in this analysis, with study participants from the TRANSFORM-HF trial matched 1:1, all having been hospitalized for either do novo disease or worsening chronic disease.