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Community-based program decreases ED visits, hospitalizations and increases primary care use

Researchers at the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus have found that a community-based program aimed at high users of hospital emergency departments (EDs), reduced ED visits and hospital admissions, while increasing use of primary care providers.

3 Oct 2017

Why glaring quality gaps among nursing homes are likely to grow if Medicaid is cut

Nursing homes that rely the most on Medicaid tend to provide the worst care for their residents — not just the people covered by the program but also those who pay privately or have Medicare coverage.

30 Sep 2017

Podcast: ‘What the health?’ Repeal and replace is dead. What now?

As predicted, the last-ditch GOP effort to "repeal and replace" the Affordable Care Act ended the way its predecessors did this week — in failure.

30 Sep 2017

Out-of-pocket costs often keep pricey new cholesterol drugs out of reach, study finds

Access to powerful new cholesterol-lowering drugs is so tightly controlled and patients' out-of-pocket costs are so high that fewer than a third of people whose doctors prescribe the drugs get them, a new study found.

30 Sep 2017

Why glaring quality gaps among nursing homes are likely to grow if Medicaid is cut

28 Sep 2017

Genetic testing can improve safety of common blood thinner, study shows

Warfarin is a blood thinner that is commonly prescribed to patients to prevent life-threatening blood clots. Despite its longtime use, warfarin remains tricky to dose because a person's genetic makeup influences how the drug is processed in the body.

27 Sep 2017

The GOP repeal bill is imploding. Here are 5 things left hanging on Obamacare

Republicans officially pulled the plug on their last-ditch effort to repeal and replace the Affordable Care Act on Tuesday.

26 Sep 2017

Emergency departments write shorter duration and smaller-dose opioid prescriptions, study shows

Opioid prescriptions from the emergency department are written for a shorter duration and smaller dose than those written elsewhere, shows new research led by Mayo Clinic.

26 Sep 2017

Emergency patients who are prescribed opioids less likely to become long-term users

Compared to other medical settings, emergency patients who are prescribed opioids for the first time in the emergency department are less likely to become long-term users and more likely to be prescribed these powerful painkillers in accordance with The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention guidelines.

26 Sep 2017

Medicaid has a bull’s-eye on its back, which means no one is entirely safe

When high levels of lead were discovered in the public water system in Flint, Mich., in 2015, Medicaid stepped in to help thousands of children get tested for poisoning and receive care.

25 Sep 2017

Chemotherapy may increase survival for advanced colon cancer patients with dementia, study suggests

A pre-existing diagnosis of dementia was associated with increased risk of death for older patients with advanced colon cancer; however, some of the effects of dementia on survival could be mediated by receipt of chemotherapy.

22 Sep 2017

Opioid epidemic likely applies to high-risk dialysis population, study shows

A new analysis indicates that the US opioid epidemic likely applies to the unique population of dialysis patients. The study, which appears in an upcoming issue of the Journal of the American Society of Nephrology, also found links between higher opioid drug prescription and increased risks of dialysis discontinuation, hospitalization, and early death.

22 Sep 2017

Bemoaning budget cuts, navigators say feds don’t appreciate scope of the job

The Trump administration says many of the organizations that help people enroll in health plans on the federal insurance marketplaces don’t provide enough bang for the buck, sometimes costing thousands of dollars to sign up each customer.

19 Sep 2017

Beta blockers offer no additional benefit for heart attack patients who take other drugs

A new study from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill finds beta blockers are not needed after a heart attack if heart-attack survivors are taking ACE inhibitors and statins.

19 Sep 2017

Study investigates depression treatment among older people with dementia

A high prevalence of depression among older individuals with dementia is prompting researchers at the University of Arizona College of Pharmacy and Banner Alzheimer's Institute to investigate depression treatment among this population.

19 Sep 2017

Without price breaks, rural hospitals struggle to stock costly, lifesaving drugs

Hospital pharmacist Mandy Langston remembers when Lulabelle Berry arrived at Stone County Medical Center's emergency department last year.

18 Sep 2017

Doctors and older patients should work together to dial back diabetes treatment, study suggests

Anyone with diabetes who takes blood sugar medication knows their doctor prescribed it to help them. After all, the long-term effects of elevated blood sugar can harm everything from the heart and kidneys to the eyes and feet.

15 Sep 2017

Reporter’s notebook: In health care, a good price is hard to find

A recent story about why Northern California is the most expensive place in the country to have a baby began as a tip from an obstetrician. Dr. Sarah Azad told me that insurers were paying her just a third of what they pay doctors employed by large hospital systems in her town of Mountain View, Calif.

14 Sep 2017

Podcast: ‘What the Health?’ health plans busting out all over

In a busy health week for Congress, Republicans and Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee agreed on a proposal to fund the Children's Health Insurance Program for five more years, while Republicans and Democrats at the Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee continued to pursue a joint plan to stabilize the individual health insurance market.

13 Sep 2017

Automated messages, telemonitoring effective in improving CPAP adherence among OSA patients

Patients with obstructive sleep apnea(OSA) are more likely to use CPAP, or continuous positive airway pressure, when their use is telemonitored and they receive individualized, automated messages that reinforce therapy adherence, according to a randomized, controlled trial published in the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine.

13 Sep 2017

Medicare News and Research

Community-based program decreases ED visits, hospitalizations and increases primary care use

Why glaring quality gaps among nursing homes are likely to grow if Medicaid is cut

Podcast: ‘What the health?’ Repeal and replace is dead. What now?

Out-of-pocket costs often keep pricey new cholesterol drugs out of reach, study finds

Why glaring quality gaps among nursing homes are likely to grow if Medicaid is cut

Genetic testing can improve safety of common blood thinner, study shows

The GOP repeal bill is imploding. Here are 5 things left hanging on Obamacare

Emergency departments write shorter duration and smaller-dose opioid prescriptions, study shows

Emergency patients who are prescribed opioids less likely to become long-term users

Medicaid has a bull’s-eye on its back, which means no one is entirely safe

Chemotherapy may increase survival for advanced colon cancer patients with dementia, study suggests

Opioid epidemic likely applies to high-risk dialysis population, study shows

Bemoaning budget cuts, navigators say feds don’t appreciate scope of the job

Beta blockers offer no additional benefit for heart attack patients who take other drugs

Study investigates depression treatment among older people with dementia

Without price breaks, rural hospitals struggle to stock costly, lifesaving drugs

Doctors and older patients should work together to dial back diabetes treatment, study suggests

Reporter’s notebook: In health care, a good price is hard to find

Podcast: ‘What the Health?’ health plans busting out all over

Automated messages, telemonitoring effective in improving CPAP adherence among OSA patients

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