Author: Emily Immer

Study: More Medicare Patients Dying At Home

The Medicare Advantage program continues to grow in popularity with both consumers and health plans.

At least one-third of seniors are estimated to be in an MA plan rather than fee-for-service Medicare. As baby boomers retire in large numbers, health plans are competing to capture the Medicare Advantage market.

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4 States With Big Drop in Opioid Prescriptions

Although needle exchanges and safe injection sites have numerous studies backing their effectiveness in fighting opioid addiction, a recent study revealed many Americans oppose both — a stigma that could harm the nation’s response to the opioid epidemic, Vox reports.

The study, published in Preventive Medicine, analyzed data from over 1,000 Americans. In a survey, the researchers queried respondents’ attitudes on needle exchanges, (where people can dispose of used syringes and get sterile ones), safe injection sites (where people can use drugs under medical supervision) and broader opinions on addiction.

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Valued-based care

The State of Value-Based Care in 2018

The promises of value-based payment models came to life within the last 12+ months with results of real world tests. They quickly move to the implementation of useful models and processes. With ramped-up implementations overcoming value-based care barriers step out as real things.

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Social Stigma Concerning Opioid Use Hinders Fight

Although needle exchanges and safe injection sites have numerous studies backing their effectiveness in fighting opioid addiction, a recent study revealed many Americans oppose both — a stigma that could harm the nation’s response to the opioid epidemic, Vox reports.

The study, published in Preventive Medicine, analyzed data from over 1,000 Americans. In a survey, the researchers queried respondents’ attitudes on needle exchanges, (where people can dispose of used syringes and get sterile ones), safe injection sites (where people can use drugs under medical supervision) and broader opinions on addiction.

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BCRA, AHCA, Healthcare reform

How Can Medicaid Coverage Combat Opioids?

CMS has released new resources describing how states can leverage Medicaid services and health IT tools to support beneficiaries battling opioid addiction.

The organization released an Informational Bulletin to guide states on how to cover critical treatment services for Medicaid eligible infants with Neonatal Abstinence Syndrome (NAS), a postnatal drug withdrawal syndrome occurring primarily among babies exposed to opioids during gestation or shortly after birth.

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Medicare Drug Prices Up Despite Decrease in Prescriptions

The Medicare Advantage program continues to grow in popularity with both consumers and health plans.

At least one-third of seniors are estimated to be in an MA plan rather than fee-for-service Medicare. As baby boomers retire in large numbers, health plans are competing to capture the Medicare Advantage market.

Read More »
telehealth

Telehealth Success Variables

A new survey exams the attitudes, perspectives, and plans of healthcare leadership that are shaping telemedicine’s application, value, and potential. The research explored telehealth services adoption rates and drivers, budgets and ROI, the technology’s role in delivering care, and the factors important to executives when selecting a solution for their organization.

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Healthy Options: Tech Companies Reduce Chronic Pain

Hinge Health, a San Francisco startup that developed a 12-week remote monitoring program to reduce chronic knee pain and back pain, has published the results of a randomized control study to illustrate the effectiveness of its program for chronic knee pain. The program is intended to provide a noninvasive alternative to surgery to reduce chronic musculoskeletal pain.

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Population Health Management

Social Determinants of Health Generate Drastic Cost Reductions

New research released by WellCare Health Plans, Inc. and the University of South Florida (USF) College of Public Health, Tampa, and published in Population Health Management, reports that healthcare spending is substantially reduced when people are successfully connected to social services that address social barriers, or social determinants of health, such as secure housing, medical transportation, healthy food programs, and utility and financial assistance.

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Efforts Against Opioid

CDC: America’s Uninsured Rate Rising During Trump’s First Year

The Trump Administration released “American Patients First,” the President’s blueprint to lower drug prices and reduce out-of-pocket costs. When it comes to the cost of prescription drugs, our healthcare system faces four major challenges: high list prices for drugs; seniors and government programs overpaying for drugs due to lack of the latest negotiation tools; out-of-pocket costs for consumers; and foreign governments free-riding off of American investment in innovation.

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