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Influence of psychiatric comorbidities on all-cause readmissions following elective spine surgery

Winner of the Robert Florin Resident Award, Owoicho Adogwa, MD, presented his research, Association Between Baseline Affective Disorders and 30-day Readmission Rates in Patients Undergoing Elective Spine Surgery, during the 2016 American Association of Neurological Surgeons Annual Scientific Meeting.

3 May 2016

New oral cancer drugs getting more expensive over time, study shows

New cancer drugs taken in pill form have become dramatically more expensive in their first year on the market compared with drugs launched 15 years ago, a University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill study has found. The findings call into question the sustainability of a system that sets high prices at market entry in addition to rapidly increasing those prices over time.

30 Apr 2016

Increasing number of sickest liver transplant candidates delisted from wait list, study finds

The sickest liver transplant candidates should be first in line when a donor liver becomes available, but transplant centers are increasingly removing these individuals from the waiting list, considering them "too sick to transplant," an analysis of nationwide transplant data finds. The study appears online as an "article in press" on the Journal of the American College of Surgeons website in advance of print publication.

29 Apr 2016

Nurse scientist asks health-care systems to set patients up for mortality cliff

Longer lifespans, due to advances in medicine and public health, mean people are living longer with multiple chronic conditions.

28 Apr 2016

New study explores factors that affect Medicare patient’s adherence to psoriasis biologic therapies

About half of Medicare patients who start taking biologic therapies for moderate to severe plaque psoriasis stop within a year, according to a new study led by researchers from the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

26 Apr 2016

Higher levels of neighborhood greenness linked to lower chronic disease risk

A new study of a quarter-million Miami-Dade County Medicare beneficiaries showed that higher levels of neighborhood greenness, including trees, grass and other vegetation, were linked to a significant reduction in the rate of chronic illnesses, particularly in low-to-middle income neighborhoods.

22 Apr 2016

Georgetown researchers report first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in HIV-positive individual

Georgetown University researchers are reporting the first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in an HIV-positive individual. The finding in a 71-year-old man triggers a realization about HIV survivors now reaching the age when Alzheimer's risk begins to escalate.

18 Apr 2016

False-positive mammogram results may have varied effects on subsequent screening behavior of women

Depending on when they received their last mammogram, women who receive a false-positive result are more or less likely to get screened at recommended intervals, according to preliminary findings from a University of North Carolina Comprehensive Cancer Center study.

18 Apr 2016

Study shows Americans live longer, but in poor health

Americans are living longer but in poorer health, according to a new study. The USC-led study examined life expectancy trends and disability rates in a 40-year period, from 1970 to 2010. The analysis of U.S. vital statistics found that the average total lifespan increased for men and women in those 40 years, but so did the proportion of time spent living with a disability.

18 Apr 2016

Older men receiving testosterone therapy less likely to return to hospital

A new large-scale population-based study from The University of Texas Medical Branch at Galveston showed for the first time that older men using testosterone therapy were less likely to have complications that require them to go back to the hospital within a month of being discharged than men not using this therapy. The study is currently available in Mayo Clinic Proceedings.

16 Apr 2016

New study links high-volume lung transplant centers with lower costs, readmissions

High-volume lung transplant centers have lower transplantation costs and their patients are less likely to be readmitted within 30 days of leaving the hospital following surgery, according to a new study of more than 3,000 Medicare patients who received lung transplants.

16 Apr 2016

National plan outlines milestones, strategies for Alzheimer's patient care and caregiver support

The National Alzheimer's Project Act (NAPA) was signed into law in 2011. Over the past five years milestones have been identified to meet the plan's biomedical research goal. However, similar milestones have not been created for the goals on patient care and caregiver support.

13 Apr 2016

Study reveals low rates of targeted drug use among older black women with early-stage breast cancer

The advent of targeted drugs for a specific type of breast cancer - HER2 positive - has dramatically improved survival rates for women with the disease. But a study led by researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center reveals low rates of use of a targeted drug among older women with early-stage breast cancer of this type, and even lower rates for older black women.

13 Apr 2016

Weekend effect in hospitals affect kidney stone treatment, outcomes

Patients with severe cases of kidney stones are 26 percent less likely to receive timely treatment when they're admitted to the hospital on the weekend, according to a study by researchers at Loyola Medicine and Loyola University Chicago Stritch School of Medicine.

12 Apr 2016

New app can improve patients' choices of nursing home

A new app created at the University of California, Irvine can improve a patient's choice of a nursing home. This is important, because when rating quality measures for nursing homes, patients and experts at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services usually don't agree on what is best, leading UCI researchers to conclude that patients may benefit from a more personalized approach to choosing a nursing home.

5 Apr 2016

Frequent TAVR to replace damaged aortic heart valve improves patient outcomes

The more frequently a hospital performs a minimally invasive technique called transcatheter aortic valve replacement, or TAVR, to replace a damaged aortic heart valve, the better patients fare, on average, immediately after the procedure, researchers reported at the American College of Cardiology's 65th Annual Scientific Session.

4 Apr 2016

New report offers startling statistics about chronic kidney disease in the U.S.

A sweeping new report assessing chronic kidney disease in the United States offers startling statistics about a condition that affects almost 14 percent of the U.S. population and costs billions in Medicare spending each year.

30 Mar 2016

High out-of-pocket costs linked to lower use of specialty drugs

"Specialty drugs" have become important treatment options for many serious and chronic diseases, and in some conditions like cancer they represent the only chance for long-term survival.

29 Mar 2016

Endocrine Society issues recommendations to improve care for people with diabetes

To provide integrated care for people who have diabetes and may be at risk of developing related medical complications, the U.S. health care system needs to continue building effective multidisciplinary care team models, according to new recommendations issued by the Endocrine Society today.

23 Mar 2016

Increased travel distance to cancer treatment facility affects receipt of RT

Increased travel distance to a cancer treatment facility negatively impacts the likelihood that patients with stage II/III rectal cancer will receive radiation therapy (RT) to treat their disease, according to a study analyzing 26,845 patient records from the National Cancer Data Base that was published in the March 2016 issue of International Journal of Radiation Oncology • Biology • Physics, the official scientific journal of the American Society for Radiation Oncology .

22 Mar 2016

Medicare News and Research

Influence of psychiatric comorbidities on all-cause readmissions following elective spine surgery

New oral cancer drugs getting more expensive over time, study shows

Increasing number of sickest liver transplant candidates delisted from wait list, study finds

Nurse scientist asks health-care systems to set patients up for mortality cliff

New study explores factors that affect Medicare patient’s adherence to psoriasis biologic therapies

Higher levels of neighborhood greenness linked to lower chronic disease risk

Georgetown researchers report first case of Alzheimer's disease diagnosed in HIV-positive individual

False-positive mammogram results may have varied effects on subsequent screening behavior of women

Study shows Americans live longer, but in poor health

Older men receiving testosterone therapy less likely to return to hospital

New study links high-volume lung transplant centers with lower costs, readmissions

National plan outlines milestones, strategies for Alzheimer's patient care and caregiver support

Study reveals low rates of targeted drug use among older black women with early-stage breast cancer

Weekend effect in hospitals affect kidney stone treatment, outcomes

New app can improve patients' choices of nursing home

Frequent TAVR to replace damaged aortic heart valve improves patient outcomes

New report offers startling statistics about chronic kidney disease in the U.S.

High out-of-pocket costs linked to lower use of specialty drugs

Endocrine Society issues recommendations to improve care for people with diabetes

Increased travel distance to cancer treatment facility affects receipt of RT

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