V-BID Changes Insurance Framework for Specialty Medications
June 6th 2014With specialty pharmaceuticals carrying extremely high-and rising-costs, nonadherence and discontinuation of therapy is becoming even more commonplace. The value-based insurance design (V-BID) model, so termed by A. Mark Fendrick, MD, Dean Smith, PhD, and Michael Chernew, MD, promotes personalized patient care by easing access to specialty medications while reducing the number of prescribed treatments of lesser value as a replacement.
Read More
Nanotubes to Destroy Pancreatic Tumors from Within
June 6th 2014Pristine nanotubes produced through a new process can be modified to carry drugs to tumors through gaps in blood-vessel walls that larger particles cannot fit through. The nanotubes may then target and infiltrate the cancerous cells' nuclei, where the drugs can be released through sonication.
Read More
Medicaid Enrollment Surges By More Than 1 Million In April
June 5th 2014Medicaid enrollment surged by more than 1 million people in April, bringing the total growth in the state-federal health insurance program for the poor since September to about 6 million, the Obama administration said Wednesday.
Read More
Panel Discussion: The Role of Heath Plans and Payers in Patient Care
June 5th 2014This panel, led by moderator Dennis Scanlon, PhD, Penn State University, asks the question, "Why should a payer or a plan be involved in patient care?" Dr Scanlon is joined by panelists Teresa Pearson, MS, RN, CDE, FAADE; Deneen Vojta, MD; Todd Prewitt, MD, FAAFP; and Amy Tenderich.
Watch
Five States Face Costly HIX Challenges
June 5th 2014Health insurance exchanges continue to be a work in progress, at least for several states that are facing ongoing challenges. In particular, 5 states-Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Nevada, and Oregon-estimate that it will cost $240 million to fix their existing exchanges, or to transition to using the federal exchange.
Read More
ASCO to Help Cancer Docs Evaluate Treatment Value
June 5th 2014The American Society of Clinical Oncology's algorithm to help oncologists evaluate the clinical benefits, side effects and costs of a cancer drug or therapy will be fine-tuned over the summer and should be available for public comment by the fall, said Dr. Lowell Schnipper, chair of the society's Value in Cancer Care Task Force.
Read More
Carl June Receives 2014 Taubman Prize for his Pioneering Work in Adoptive Cell Transfer
June 5th 2014A physician-scientist who developed a personalized immunotherapy for leukemia using patients' own T cells is the recipient of the 2014 Taubman Prize for Excellence in Translational Medical Science, awarded by the A. Alfred Taubman Medical Research Institute at the University of Michigan Medical School.
Read More
Keynote: Future Thinking in Diabetes Care: The Impact of New Practice Models Robert Gabbay
June 4th 2014Robert Gabbay, MD, PhD, discusses the changes he wishes to see in the healthcare system that he calls a "journey toward quality," and with his work at the Joslin Diabetes Center, he dreams of ridding the world of diabetes by implementing innovation.
Watch
Phase 3 Studies of Lilly's CYRAMZA (ramucirumab): Significant Improvement in NSCLC Survival
June 4th 2014Lilly's CYRAMZA (ramucirumab) significantly improved overall survival in phase 3 non-small cell lung cancer study. Results from the REVEL trial were published in The Lancet and also presented at ASCO 2014.
Read More
Practicing Up to Your License: The Next Generation of Diabetes Caregivers
June 4th 2014Starlin Haydon-Greatting, MS, BSPharm, claims that pharmacist education has changed; by furthering education and credentials, a pharmacist's role in the healthcare world can extend far beyond what were once thought to be the traditional roles of the pharmacist. Pharmacists' involvement in programs such as the Medication Therapy Management, for example, can have a positive impact on health management in general.
Watch
Overcoming Socioeconomic Disparities in Diabetes Care
June 4th 2014Nadia S. Islam, PhD, shares her experiences with overcoming ethnic disparities in diabetes care regarding her work in the Asian American communities of New York City. She explains that her research primarily relies upon the active participation of community members and academia, focusing more specifically on the extraordinarily diverse Asian American population.
Watch
In The Literature: Improved Coverage Translates into Imrpoved Outcomes in Young Cancer Patients
June 4th 2014The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) will likely improve insurance coverage for most young adults, but subsets of young adults in the United States will face significant premium increases in the individual market. We examined the association between insurance status and cancer-specific outcomes among young adults.
Read More
Racing to the Finish Line with Ironman Triathlete Jay Hewitt
June 4th 2014Special Guest Speaker Jay Hewitt, an Ironman triathlete who was diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in 1991, capped Thursday night's sessions with a personal account of living with diabetes. Mr Hewitt provided important insight to the importance of appropriate diabetes management.
Watch
Latest CMS Data Drop Shows Regional Variation in Spending on Inpatient, Post-Acute Care
June 4th 2014The CMS' release of per capita spending for Medicare beneficiaries shows that some states, particularly in the South, Midwest and Mid-Atlantic, are spending significantly more on inpatient and post-acute care than northern and western states.
Read More