AJMC® Research Roundup: June 2019

Hi, I’m Christina Mattina for The American Journal of Managed Care^®. Here are 5 findings from research published in the June issue.

US Care Pathways: Continued Focus on Oncology and Outstanding Challenges

1. An update to a 2016 study assessing the care pathway landscape reviewed the newest evidence on pathway development and implementation. There is now more integration with value-based initiatives, but greater efforts are needed to educate patients on care pathways.

Enhanced Care Coordination Improves HIV Viral Load Suppression Rates

2. A cohort study of a Medicaid managed care plan’s care coordination program found that targeting members with HIV using intensified outreach and peer support was associated with a greater likelihood of achieving viral load suppression.

Health Insurance Design and Conservative Therapy for Low Back Pain

3. Benefit design can affect whether patients with new-onset low back pain choose primary care or more conservative treatment, such as physical therapy or chiropractic care. Patients with the least restrictive insurance plan type were more likely to choose conservative therapy.

Cancer Care Spending and Use by Site of Provider-Administered Chemotherapy in Medicare

4. A claims analysis found that risk-adjusted spending on nonchemotherapy outpatient services was slightly lower for patients initiating chemotherapy in a hospital outpatient department, but those who started chemotherapy in a physician office had lower inpatient spending.

Association of Decision Support for Hospital Discharge Disposition With Outcomes

5. When clinicians followed the recommendation of a clinical decision support algorithm that suggested a location for hospital discharge, such as home or a postacute care facility, patients had lower spending and fewer readmissions, with no change in emergency department use.

To read all of these studies and more, visit AJMC.com.