Measures of ED Utilization in a National Cohort of Children
Through analysis of multistate Medicaid data, this study identifies differences in 2 commonly used measures of emergency department (ED) utilization, ED visit count and ED reliance.
Effect of High-Deductible Insurance on Health Care Use in Bipolar Disorder
High-deductible health plan members with bipolar disorder experienced a reduction in nonpsychiatrist mental health provider visits but no changes in other utilization.
Hopes, Worries for US Health Care in Wake of COVID-19: A Q&A With Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP
June 15th 2020To mark the 25th anniversary of the journal, each issue in 2020 will include an interview with a healthcare thought leader. For the June issue, we turned to Donald M. Berwick, MD, MPP, president emeritus and senior fellow at the Institute for Healthcare Improvement and former administrator of CMS.
General Medical Claims for Behavioral Health Patients in Japan
June 15th 2020This Japanese cohort shows that behavioral health service users had health care costs higher than those of individuals who did not use behavioral health services, yet lower than the costs demonstrated by studies in US populations.
Claims Identification of Patients With Severe Cancer-Related Symptoms
The authors established a claims-based mechanism for identifying patients with lung cancer with more severe patient-reported cancer-related symptoms who could benefit from engagement with health care programs.
Value-Based Insurance Design in Louisiana: Blue Cross Blue Shield’s Zero Dollar Co-pay Program
Enrollment in a value-based insurance design program that eliminated pharmacy co-pays for 4 chronic disease drug classes was associated with a large decline in health care spending.
FASStR: A Framework for Ensuring High-Quality Operational Metrics in Health Care
Through literature review and collaborative design, we propose the Focus, Activity, Statistic, Scale type, and Reference (FASStR) framework to provide a systematic approach to health care operation metric definition and use.
Among patients with type 2 diabetes (T2D), concurrent cardiovascular-, heart failure–, or renal-related hospitalization presents significant disease burden leading to poor quality of life.
Standardization Improves Postoperative Patient Handoff Experience for Junior Clinicians
Standardization of operating room to intensive care handoff with a “time-out for sign-out” process for health care providers was beneficial for junior clinicians.