Latest Conference Articles

Plenary lecturer Stephen I. Katz, MD, PhD, director of the National Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases, and adjunct investigator in the Dermatology Branch of the National Cancer Institute opened the 25th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress in Vienna, Austria, with a discussion on past and future advances in dermatology.

Reimbursement issues surrounding Mohs surgery are getting worse, which provides a challenge for surgeons who would perform the procedure, explained Aleksandar L. Krunic, MD, PhD, during the 25th European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology Congress.

While there has been some recent progress, bias pervades healthcare when it comes to obesity treatment. This gives patients less access to care than they receive for other chronic conditions, even though obesity causes some of those conditions.

More than 3500 sites offer diabetes self-management education, and speakers at the annual meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators discussed how this system could be engaged to bring the Diabetes Prevention Program to all 50 states.

Despite recent progress by advocates, children with type 1 diabetes still face discrimination at school. A panel at the meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators spelled out what laws apply, what plans schools must have, and how certified diabetes educators can help allay fears and misunderstanding.

An administrator and a dietitian presented their blueprint for shared appointments, which they said offer patients both individual attention and group support.

The transition to a value-based payment system may ultimately reward diabetes educators, but right now these professionals see challenges on the front lines.

Payers are making investments in care coordination to halt the overuse of services and medication. Certified diabetes educators (CDEs) are ideal candidates for this role, since so much of high healthcare spending is due to chronic disease.

A study found that certified diabetes educators embedded in a primary practice, while consulting with an endocrinologist, were able to dramatically improve A1C in a short time by overcoming clinical inertia.

Getting diabetes self-management education within reach of the target audience means putting trainers into primary care practices. A program from the University of Washington shows how to transport lessons from an academic center into local clinics.

The importance of care coordination and the role of diabetes educators in the primary care practice is a theme of the 2016 meeting of the American Association of Diabetes Educators, taking place in San Diego, California.

Using an algorithm to recommend insulin dosing, both in and out of the hospital, was shown to improve glycemic control and aid population health management.

The diabetes advocacy community has long sought Medicare coverage for continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) systems, but the technology has been deemed "precautionary." Abstracts presented at last week's ADA Scientific Sessions could help build a case for updating FDA's clearance to use CGM for dosing, removing a hurdle to Medicare coverage.

The pair of studies evaluating the technology were presented at the American Diabetes Association and simultaneously published in the Journal of Diabetes Science and Technology.

Reseachers are studying whether drugs that have been approved for treating type 2 diabetes can be used in combination with insulin to avoid both variablity in blood glucose and weight gain.

A packed session greeted the highly anticipated results of the LEADER trial, which found that the GLP-1 receptor agonist liraglutide has cardiovascular benefits in high-risk patients with diabetes.

Data from CDC consistently show that low-income, minority groups are at higher risk for diabetes, for genetic but especially for environmental reasons.

Evidence presented Sunday at the 76th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association comes as competition is heating up over a pair of therapies that combine insulin with a GLP-1 receptor agonist.

Poster presentations at the American Diabetes Association Scientific Sessions compared canagliflozin, an SGLT2 inhibitor, to sitagliptin, a popular DPP-4 inhibitor, using claims data.

Intarcia Therapeutics anticipates filing for FDA approval at the end of the third quarter of 2016. At this year's ADA presentation, Julio Rosenstock, MD, said the insertion method for the novel therapy delivery device continues to improve.

In an ADA session called "Follow the Money," panelists led by Joslin Diabetes Center's Robert A. Gabbay, MD, PhD, FACP, discussed the diabetes cost burden, insulin costs, and payment models.

Speakers at the 76th Scientific Sessions of the American Diabetes Association discussed current donor transplant successes and engineering challenges of efforts to generate islet cells in the laboratory.

A poster at an ADA session on barriers and facilitators to novel care found that top concerns of patients with diabetes often have nothing to do with the disease. Other studies looked at which comorbidities contribute the most to readmissions or length of stay, and how an intervention that focused on transitions of care reduced A1C in patients with uncontrolled diabetes.

Robert M. Anderson, EdD, of the University of Michigan, has spent his career spreading a message that patients respond best when education programs address what they want, not what an expert thinks they need.

A group in Israel presented a study that evaluated the price trend of 30 anticancer agents following their launch, and found that prices may increase by as much as 44% even after adjusting for inflation.

A poster presented at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) found that the cost per median month of survival for daratumumab was lower compared with 2 other novel treatments in multiple myeloma.

With value frameworks still in their infancy, Michael Kolodziej, MD, national medical director for oncology strategy at Aetna, doesn't see how his company can use them just yet. In fact, these frameworks may never be used by insurers, but only for shared decision making between the patient and provider.

A session at the ongoing annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) provided an overview of ASCO's recently updated value framework and their quality program, the Quality Oncology Practice Initiative.

While several clinical trials have tried to identify a programmed death-1 or programmed death ligand-1 expression—dependent response, it’s been an uphill task. During one of the sessions at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology, researchers were tasked with sharing their data on any breakthroughs or leads with biomarker-based treatment.

CancerCare provides oncology patients with many services that offer both educational and financial support as well as any help the patient may need with his or her family, such as child care and housekeeping needs. However, Patricia Goldsmith, CEO of CancerCare, explained that there are many financial challenges, including transportation and high out-of-pocket costs, that oncology patients continue to face.