AJMC® in the Press, March 2, 2018

A study published in The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®) was highlighted in 2 of Business Insider’s digital health briefings. The study, “Association Among Change in Medical Costs, Level of Comorbidity, and Change in Adherence Behavior,” found that comorbidity burden and the direction of behavioral change influence the relationship between adherence and medical spending, which could affect the cost-benefit considerations of medication adherence programs.

An article in The Hill included a 2012 study published in AJMC^® that assessed the impact of the MDVIP personalized preventive care model on hospital utilization. The study, “Personalized Preventive Care Leads to Significant Reductions in Hospital Utilization,” found that personalized preventive care significantly lowered hospital utilization rates and reduced overall healthcare spending by an average of $2551 per patient while reducing emergency room visits and urgent hospitalizations by 50% to 80%.

Medscape and West Virginia Public Broadcasting articles centered around a study published in AJMC^® assessing variation markups. The study, “Variation in Markups on Outpatient Oncology Services in the United States,” found that disparities in access to high-quality cancer care and rising treatment costs continue to worsen the problem of patients' out-of-pocket expenses for cancer care, and there is significant variation in markup of services by hospitals across oncology specialties. The study was also included in OBR Oncology’s morning brief on Wednesday.

The study, “Medicare Accountable Care Spending Patterns: Shifting Expenditures Associated With Savings,” published in AJMC^®’s sister journal, The American Journal of Accountable Care, was mentioned in a HealthExec article. The study found that from 2013 to 2016, successful Medicare Shared Savings Program accountable care organizations reduced spending by shifting expenditures from the inpatient and postacute care setting to the physician office setting.

Monday’s National Pharmaceutical Council CER Daily Newsfeed included an AJMC^® interview with Robert Dubois, MD, PhD, chief science officer and executive vice president, National Pharmaceutical Council. During the interview, Dubois discussed tradeoffs when allocating healthcare resources and likened the healthcare spending situation to the film Groundhog Day.

Tuesday’s CER Daily Newsfeed included 3 articles from AJMC^®. The article, “Value-Based Contracts Significantly Decrease Price of Co-Pays for Medications,” reported on a study that found that commercially insured individuals with health plans with value-based contracts for diabetes, high cholesterol, and HIV medicines had average co-pays that were 28% lower for those prescription medications compared with people on other plans. The articles, “FDA Moves to Era of Active Participant in Drug Development” and “Via Oncology’s Lokay on Real-World Impact of Digital Decision-Support Solutions,” from AJMC^®’s Patient Centered Oncology Care 2017 recap issue covered regulatory changes and digital technology updates from the conference.

Thursday’s CER Daily Newsfeed featured AJMC^®’s article, “Precision Medicine Research Subject to Bias in Datasets and Outcomes.” The article reported on findings from a report that sought to better understand how bias could impact biomedical research into precision medicine. The report concluded that, although precision medicine has the potential to transform healthcare for the better, there remains work ahead to ensure that structural determinants of health are acknowledged and addressed and to institute policies that will keep data from being used to marginalize vulnerable people.