- Center on Health Equity & Access
- Clinical
- Health Care Cost
- Health Care Delivery
- Insurance
- Policy
- Technology
- Value-Based Care
What We're Reading: AMA Issues Mobile Health Guidelines
What we’re reading, November 21, 2016: 1 in 4 US children do not have access to essential healthcare, even though many are insured; the American Medical Association has released guidelines for the safe use of mobile health devices and applications; the FDA will delay finalization of its policy on the regulation of laboratory-developed tests.
Though the number of uninsured children in the United States has dropped to a record low 3.3 million, a recent report by the Children’s Health Fund has found that 1 in 4 children do not have access to essential healthcare. The study reported that even children with insurance can encounter barriers that prevent them from receiving primary care or specialty care, including financial obstacles and geographic barriers. According to the study, repealing the Affordable Care Act could exacerbate the problem by leaving over 3 million children suddenly uninsured.
The American Medical Association (AMA) has released guidelines on the safe and effective use of mobile health tools, which include mobile applications, fitness trackers, and other digital devices. The AMA recommends that digital tools should follow evidence-based best practices and support patient-centered care. It also said that physicians should receive legal counsel on patient privacy standards and educate patients on the possible privacy risks of some unregulated health apps.
The FDA had previously said that it would release its final guidelines on the regulation of laboratory-developed tests by the end of 2016, but a spokesperson recently announced that no final policy would be issued until the new administration of President-elect Donald J. Trump is in effect. Those in favor of applying medical device regulations to these unregulated tests have expressed concerns that the tests could produce inaccurate results and lead to unnecessary treatment.
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.
Read More
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.
Listen
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.
Listen
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.
Read More
