Policy

Between 2012 and 2016, insulin costs for patients nearly doubled while utilization remained flat; the pharmaceutical industry's lead lobbying group spent a record amount in 2018; and alcohol-associated liver disease has surpassed hepatitis C as the top cause of liver transplants.

With a number of difference payment programs being tested, it’s important to have a sophisticated evaluation of these programs to really understand their impact on quality and cost, said Allison Brennan, MPP, senior vice president of government affairs for the National Association of ACOs.

Publicly reported Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organization (ACO) data can be analyzed to identify cost and medication-related quality performance improvement opportunities to support pharmacist integration into ACO population health services.

The mean 24-week cost per participant was $5416 for extended-release injectable naltrexone (57% detoxification, 37% medication, 6% provider/patient) and $4148 for buprenorphine-naloxone (64% detoxification, 12% medication, 24% provider/patient).

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

As levels of disability increased among patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), cost of illness increased and health-related quality of life decreased.

In a longitudinal study, the authors find that food insecurity is associated with greater emergency department visits, inpatient admissions, and length of stay. Check out our website’s new table/figure pop-up feature! Click on the name of a table or figure in the text to see it in your browser.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Health system leaders, policy makers, payers, and consumer advocates should use multiple synergistic levers to reduce the use of care that does not provide clinical benefit.

Despite the presumption that larger practices that have more resources and are therefore better at providing care and improving outcomes, new research shows that they spend more on and have higher readmission rates for Medicare beneficiaries than smaller practices.

Researchers have found that transitional care management (TCM) services are associated with reductions in mortality and total Medicare costs; however, adoption of these services has remained low since the implementation of TCM payment codes in 2013.

Individuals, families, and local, state, and federal government all have incurred costs as a result of the opioid epidemic, explained Dennis P. Scanlon, PhD, professor, Health Policy and Administration, and director, Center for Health Care and Policy Research, Pennsylvania State University.

Care strategies updates from the American Society of Clinical Oncology's Annual Meeting, held June 2018.

Critics of healthcare consolidation have cited higher costs of chemotherapy administration as an example of how mergers drive up costs. A new study in The American Journal of Managed Care®finds that while drug administration costs in hospitals are higher, chemotherapy drug spending among Medicare patients is lower, driven by less frequent use of therapy.

Adherence to newly initiated biologic therapy for rheumatoid arthritis is important for long-term adherence.

Two years after initiating a high-touch customer model to better serve their members, WEA Trust has achieved a 31% reduction in readmission rates, resulting in savings of $1.9 million, as well as a 7.1% reduction in emergency room use, translating to $2.4 million in savings.

The American Medical Group Association has endorsed a set of 14 value measurements to streamline the reporting process and reduce costs while also improving care by offering a standard set of measures for value-based contracts with payers.

Coverage of our peer-reviewed research and news reporting in the healthcare and mainstream press.

Cancer patients are agreeing to treatment plans lacking a fundamental understanding of the impacts on their finances, explained Ellen Miller Sonet, MBA, JD, chief strategy and policy officer, CancerCare.

Advances in medicine have produced breakthroughs in the treatment of a number of rare diseases, but these advances often come at a high cost. A multi-stakeholder panel at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research 23rd Annual International Meeting, in Baltimore, Maryland, addressed the question of how to define value in the always evolving and ever more expensive treatment landscape.

In a Monday panel convened at the International Society for Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR) 23rd Annual International Meeting in Baltimore, Maryland, stakeholders grappled with the role that value assessments play—or should play—in US private payer coverage and formulary decisions.

While incentives and penalties are effective at getting people to complete health risk assessments, the assessments do not lower costs or increase wellness.

At the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy’s Managed Care & Specialty Pharmacy Annual Meeting, experts addressed the cost of treating patients with hemophilia and the importance of care coordination to ensure a more holistic approach toward caring for these patients.

Reimbursement models, novel gene therapy–based treatments, and price transparency: these were some of the topics covered by presenters and panelists at the annual meeting of the Community Oncology Alliance.