Insights From Top 5 AJMC.com Contributor Articles of 2016

Contributors to AJMC.com bring fresh insight from their real-world experiences to discuss important subjects in managed care, which this year included topics like accountable care organizations (ACOs), telehealth, and urgent care prescribing. Here are the top 5 most-read articles written by contributors in 2016.

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5. Through the Eyes of One ACO: Deciding on Next Generation ACO

Travis Broome of Aledade discussed the long-term thinking behind the decision to keep Aledade’s largest ACO in the Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP) instead of transitioning to the Next Generation ACO model. An ACO looking for instant reward might prefer Next Generation, but, Broome wrote that the MSSP program is a better fit for this particular ACO as it “uses a multi-year benchmark and rewards regional efficiency over the long term."

4. Hospital or Home: Building a Better US Maternity Care System

In response to a New England Journal of Medicine paper on out-of-hospital birth outcomes, Katy B. Kozhimannil, PhD, MPA, contributed this piece that explains the unique risks and benefits women must weigh when deciding to give birth at home or in a hospital. Kozhimannil suggested that the US maternity care system should emulate other countries by working toward structural integration across birth settings.

3. Telemedicine: A Game Changer for Senior Healthcare

Telemedicine has the potential to transform care for the elderly by reducing wait time, spending, hospitalizations, and readmissions, while allowing seniors to maintain their independence at home, according to Julie Potyraj. Of course, telehealth cannot replace in-person healthcare entirely, but Potyraj envisioned a bright future as increasing numbers of payers and providers begin to “embrace this exciting revolution in healthcare delivery.”

2. The Quality of US Healthcare Compared With the World

This infographic, which explored America’s performance on various healthcare quality metrics as compared to 16 other countries, was developed by the Master of Health Administration program at George Washington University (MHA@GW) and submitted by Potyraj, the community manager for MHA@GW. It showed, for instance, that the United States has a lower-than-average number of practicing physicians and hospital beds per 1000 people, although it spends significantly more on healthcare per capita.

1. What Type of Medication Can an Urgent Care Doctor Prescribe?

In this article outlining the scope of an urgent care physician’s prescribing duties, Aiden Spencer highlighted how this unique setting impacts the types of medications that are most appropriate for urgent care patients. Doctors at these clinics often prescribe a onetime dose to treat conditions like asthma, infections, or stomach issues, but they generally avoid prescribing more long-term drugs like psychiatric medications or opioid painkillers, according to Spencer.