August 2016

The authors found that comorbidity burden and the direction of behavioral change influence the relationship between adherence and medical spend. This could affect the cost-benefit considerations of medication adherence programs.

The authors apply HHS’s payment taxonomy framework to acute unscheduled care and describe how payment reform supports delivery innovation.

Adopting a patient-centered medical home model in safety net practices can effectively reduce emergency department use and increase the use of office visits among Medicaid patients.

Antibiotic prescribing has become viewed as a patient safety and quality-of-care issue. The authors analyzed quality measures related to appropriate antibiotic prescribing and testing.

Over 4 years, rates of personal health record use increased rapidly across the board, but a digital divide remained evident.

The authors review empirical evaluations of drug exclusion policies to examine their impact on patients and on healthcare costs.

A letter on reducing unnecessary spinal imaging through the introduction of an a priori threshold before an MRI, CT, or bone scan would be considered in patients with spinal pain, with a reply from Dr Gidwani, of the original February 2016 article.

The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program has had a major impact on hospital leaders’ efforts to reduce readmission rates; however, important concerns about the program remain.

Although team-based care improved cardiovascular disease risk factors, it had a negative financial impact on a primary care practice.

Using longitudinal Medicare claims data, this study quantified the association of the Medicare Part D coverage gap with medication adherence among beneficiaries with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.