Coverage of our peer-reviewed research in the healthcare and mainstream press.
The American Pharmacists Association shared an article discussing a study published in the March issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® (AJMC®). In “Impact of a Pharmacy-Based Transitional Care Program on Hospital Readmissions,” researchers determined that a pharmacist intervention program reduced 30-day and 180-day readmission rates by 28% and 31.9%, respectively, compared with usual care after discharge. "The evidence is clear that community-based pharmacists can reduce health costs," said study author Jeffrey McCombs, PhD, in the American Pharmacists Association’s news release. The research was also highlighted in an article from Science Daily.
Amid ongoing efforts to repeal the Affordable Care Act (ACA), the March issue of AJMC® included an article that examined whether the access and quality of care had improved after the law’s implementation. The study, “Improvements in Access and Care Through the Affordable Care Act,” was summarized by PatientEngagementHIT.com. “Overall, the researchers found that the ACA has increased the number of patients who are visiting a regular primary care physician, being encouraged to quit smoking, and who feel confident in having a provider to visit in a medical emergency,” it concluded.
The recent AJMC® supplement issue, “Beyond Charitable Illness: Sustainable Strategies for Providing Access to Critical Medications,” included an article about specialty drug access under Medicare Part D titled “Reducing Out-of-Pocket Cost Barriers to Specialty Drug Use Under Medicare Part D: Addressing the Problem of ‘Too Much Too Soon’” that was highlighted in a number of publications. Specialty Pharmacy Times, Science Daily, and Youth Health all published articles discussing the study’s findings and proposed policy solutions.
An article published by Pacific Standard, “The Promise and Peril of Free-Market Health-Care Reform,” referenced an AJMC® study on the effects of high-deductible and consumer-driven health plans. According to the Pacific Standard article, “a team of researchers affiliated with RAND, a think tank that analyzes policies and programs, found that families who enrolled in these plans for the first time spent 14 percent less than families on traditional insurance plans.” The AJMC® study, “Healthcare Spending and Preventive Care in High-Deductible and Consumer-Driven Health Plans,” was published in 2011.
Urticaria Diagnosis Challenged by Overlapping Pruritic Skin Conditions
April 23rd 2025Urticaria is complicated to diagnose by its symptomatic overlap with other skin conditions and the frequent misclassification in literature of distinct pathologies like vasculitic urticaria and bullous pemphigus.
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New Research Challenges Assumptions About Hospital-Physician Integration, Medicare Patient Mix
April 22nd 2025On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Brady Post, PhD, lead author of a study published in the April 2025 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care®, challenges the claim that hospital-employed physicians serve a more complex patient mix.
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Personalized Care Key as Tirzepatide Use Expands Rapidly
April 15th 2025Using commercial insurance claims data and the US launch of tirzepatide as their dividing point, John Ostrominski, MD, Harvard Medical School, and his team studied trends in the use of both glucose-lowering and weight-lowering medications, comparing outcomes between adults with and without type 2 diabetes.
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ACOs’ Focus on Rooting Out Fraud Aligns With CMS Vision Under Oz
April 23rd 2025Accountable care organizations (ACOs) are increasingly playing the role of data sleuths as they identify and report trends of anomalous billing in hopes of salvaging their shared savings. This mission dovetails with that of CMS, which under the new administration plans to prioritize rooting out fraud, waste, and abuse.
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