Cardiovascular Disease Recap: Hospitalization, Prevalence, and Outcomes
October 25th 2012Although there has been a concentrated focus on pulmonary vascular diseases at this year's CHEST conference, there have also been a number of studies released that pertain to cardiovascular events, such as congestive heart failure, atrial fibrillation, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Here are some of the highlights in these areas.
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Late-Breaking Research Focuses on Pulmonary Vascular Diseases
October 24th 2012Although there have been a wide variety of disease states covered at this year's CHEST conference, much of the focus has been on those under the umbrella of pulmonary vascular disease, such as pulmonary arterial hypertension and deep vein thrombosis. Here are some of the new study highlights related to pulmonary vascular disease.
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VIDEO: Robert Frantz, MD, FACC, Discusses Costs Associated With Pulmonary Arterial Hypertension
October 24th 2012Robert Frantz, MD, FACC, Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic, Mayo Clinic, says that the issue of cost is an important factor in treating patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension.
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VIDEO: Edward Zawada, MD, Discusses the Purpose of the Tele-Intensive Care Program
October 23rd 2012Edward Zawada, MD, MACP, Vice President of Scientific Affairs, Medical Director, Intensivist Program, Medical Director, eICU Program, Avera Medical Group Nephrology, says that the Tele-Intensive Care Program provides the skill set required to care for critically ill patients.
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VIDEO: Robert Frantz, MD, Talks About Bloodstream Infection Rates
October 22nd 2012Robert Frantz, MD, FACC, Director, Pulmonary Hypertension Clinic, Mayo Clinic, discusses the rate of bloodstream infections in patients with pulmonary arterial hypertension treated with Veletri. Dr Franz also talks about the PROSPECT registry analysis.
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VIDEO: Brian Carlin, MD, FCCP, Discusses Challenges in Reducing Readmission Rates
October 22nd 2012Brian Carlin, MD, FCCP, Allegheny General Hospital, discusses the challenges in reducing 30-day readmission rates, specifically as they apply to congestive heart failure, pneumonia, and COPD. The biggest challenge is setting up a coordinated team care effort, says Dr Carlin.
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Optimizing Patient Outcomes With Phone-Based Medication Therapy Management Services
October 5th 2012There exists a need for a standard of care to ensure that each patient's medications are appropriate, effective, safe, and able to be taken as intended. Medication therapy management (MTM) is a professional service that can help meet this need. Although the practice of providing comprehensive MTM services by phone has many positive attributes, there are many challenges associated with this type of intervention.
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VIDEO: Brian Sweet, RPh, MBA, Discusses the Integration of Clinical Data Elements and Claims Data
October 5th 2012Brian Sweet, RPh, MBA, Executive Director, Health Care Alliances, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, talks about the progress that has been made to-date in integrating clinical data elements with administrative claims data.
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Evaluating the Value of New Medications Through Evidence-Based Assessments
October 5th 2012Medication assessments directly impact the way a drug is covered, and drugs with better quality data with a higher level of certainty are more favorably covered. Accurately assessing the evidence for new medications will help payers summarize a drug's benefit-to-risk ratio.
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VIDEO: David Nau, PhD, Speaks About The Data Challenges Involved With Medication Adherence Measures
October 4th 2012In this video, David Nau, PhD, talks about data challenges as they relate to medication adherence measures. "One data challenge that Medicare plans face is getting all of the prescription field data from the pharmacist," says Dr. Nau.
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Age-Related Eye Disease: Opportunities for Managed Care Pharmacy
October 4th 2012Managed care pharmacists can help optimize outcomes in patients with age-related eye disease by addressing concerns regarding affordability of therapy, instructing patients on proper eye drop instillation, and evaluating the effects of different therapies. Ophthalmologists and optometrists should take part in managed care formulary discussions to help achieve optimal patient care.
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VIDEO: Mark Zitter, MBA, Discusses Implications of Co-Pay Offset Programs for Managed Care
October 4th 2012In this video, Mark Zitter, MBA, talks about the implications of Co-Pay Offset Programs for managed care. "Co-pay programs affect managed care very differently depending on the nature of the program," says Zitter. "These programs are tremendously varied."
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Deciphering Heterogeneity: Using Clinical Diversity to Improve Drug Therapy Decision Making
October 4th 2012During a preconference session at the Academy of Managed Care Pharmacy (AMCP) 2012 Educational Conference in Cincinnati, Ohio, industry experts met to discuss the ways in which heterogeneity shapes therapeutic decisions, patient outcomes, and coverage policies.
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VIDEO: Len Nichols, PhD, Addresses Medicaid Expansion
September 13th 2012Len Nichols, PhD, Professor of Health Policy and Director, GMU Center for Health Policy Research and Ethics, College of Health and Human Services, George Mason University, says that if states do not expand their Medicaid programs half of the uninsured will continue without coverage. States will continue to pay for healthcare inefficiently while patients receive suboptimal care.
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Although there are contentions regarding its mechanisms, health policy and managed care authorities agree that the ultimate goal of healthcare reform is to increase access, improve quality, decrease costs, and measure progress. The initiative of further integrating digital health systems and implementing health information technology continues to receive substantial support and growth in a positive direction.
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VIDEO: Peter Cunningham, PhD, Answers How Medicaid Delivery Systems Improve Patient Care
September 13th 2012Peter Cunningham, PhD, Senior Fellow and Director of Quantitative Research, Center for Studying Health System Change, says that delivery systems should be moved more towards care management in order to deal with the high levels of wasteful care and emergency room use associated with Medicaid.
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VIDEO: Robert Berenson, MD, FACP, Discusses the Need for New Healthcare Delivery Models
September 12th 2012Robert Berenson, MD, FACP, Institute Fellow, Health Policy Center, Urban Institute, thinks that new healthcare delivery models are inevitable due to the behavior of physicians and providers who have abused fee-for-service. Dr. Berenson says that there has been unacceptable growth in the bias of fee-for-service activities, and new delivery models are necessary to improve quality and costs in healthcare.
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