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Edmund Pezalla, MD, Discusses How Consumers Can Have a More Active Role in Healthcare Decision Making
Edmund J. Pezalla, MD, MPH, national medical director, Aetna Pharmacy Management, says Aetna engages consumers in decision-making in a variety of ways.
Edmund J. Pezalla, MD, MPH, national medical director, Aetna Pharmacy Management, says Aetna engages consumers in decision-making in a variety of ways. The insurer provides tools for the employed population, which include virtual people and other digital programs about benefit designs. They also offer tools for the general population, which include iTriage to help them find a provider or facility. All of the health plan’s tools increase consumers’ access and allow them to compare costs.
“For patients who are in the exchanges, both the public and the private exchanges, [these tools] help them to make decisions about what kind of benefit will work for them in their point of life,” Dr Pezalla says. “There’s a lot of things that can help them to choose a plan—and it’s not just a matter of cost or choosing just on ‘I’ve heard of that doctor and hospital’—but choosing a plan that will work for them, both in terms of their medical situation and their financial situation.”
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"The Barriers Are Real": Antoine Keller, MD, on Geography and Cardiovascular Health
April 18th 2025Health care disparities are often driven by where patients live, explained Antoine Keller, MD, as he discussed the complex, systematic hurdles that influence the health of rural communities.
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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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Empowering Teams Begins With Human Connection: Missy Hopson, PhD
April 16th 2025Missy Hopson, PhD, Ochsner Health, discussed in detail the challenges of strengthening the patient-centered workforce, the power of community reputation for encouraging health care careers, and the influence of empowered workforces on patient outcomes.
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