AJMC® in the Press, November 22, 2017

A Southern California Public Radio segment on Obamacare’s effects on preventive cardiovascular care highlighted a study published in The American Journal of Managed Care^® (AJMC^®). The study, “Changes in Cardiovascular Care Provision After the Affordable Care Act,” found that since the Affordable Care Act lowered out-of-pocket costs for preventive care, diabetes screenings, tobacco use screenings, aspirin therapy among men, and hypertension screenings were used more frequently by physicians.

An article in Medical Xpress cited 2 different studies on antibiotic prescribing for acute sinusitis published in AJMC^®. The first study, “Improving Antibiotic Stewardship: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial,” found that provider education and clinical decision support (CDS) improved antibiotic stewardship and changed diagnosis patterns. The second cited study, “Low-Value Antibiotic Prescribing and Clinical Factors Influencing Patient Satisfaction,” found that patient satisfaction scores are slightly lower when antibiotics are not prescribed for acute sinusitis, but 75% of those encounters still received favorable satisfaction scores

The study, “Improving Antibiotic Stewardship: A Stepped-Wedge Cluster Randomized Trial,” published in AJMC^® was also highlighted in Pasadena Now, The Los Angeles Business Journal, and Managed Care Magazine. Study findings also included: CDS integrated in an electronic health record (EHR) can discourage inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, provider education is unlikely to have a sustained effect of antibiotic prescribing, and the effectiveness of education and CDS will vary based on differences among locations.

Home Health Care News, a publication dedicated to news in the senior in-home care industry, mentioned an AJMC^® published study in its article on the increase of home health providers’ involvement in Medicare Advantage (MA) plans. The study, “Does Medicare Advantage Enrollment Affect Home Healthcare Use?” found that MA beneficiaries use less home healthcare than their fee-for-service counterparts, but there is a marked regional variation in use by both groups.

An EHR Intelligence article focused on the study, “Electronic Reminder’s Role in Promoting Human Papillomavirus Use,” published in AJMC^®. Authors of the study found that physicians with clinical reminder functions were more likely to order HPV vaccines, and clinical reminder functions were effective at increasing HPV vaccine use among adolescent males especially. The authors also concluded that EHR-driven clinical reminders have the potential to increase preventive care among at-risk, but often neglected, subpopulations.

An article in The Heartland Institute mentioned an AJMC^® published study on personalized preventive care. The 5-year study, “Personalized Preventive Care Leads to Significant Reductions in Hospital Utilization,” found that the MDVIP model of personalized preventive care allows the physician to take a more proactive approach. The authors of the study believe that the increased physician interaction is the reason for the lower hospital utilization and ultimately lower healthcare costs.