Journal of general internal medicine
-
Randomized Controlled Trial Multicenter Study
Efficacy and Safety of Massage for Osteoarthritis of the Knee: a Randomized Clinical Trial.
Current treatment options for knee osteoarthritis have limited effectiveness and potentially adverse side effects. Massage may offer a safe and effective complement to the management of knee osteoarthritis. ⋯ Efficacy of symptom relief and safety of weekly massage make it an attractive short-term treatment option for knee osteoarthritis. Longer-term biweekly dose maintained improvement, but did not provide additional benefit beyond usual care post 8-week treatment.
-
Medications are one of the fastest growing sources of costs in the health system and the cornerstone of disease management. Despite extensive attention around drug pricing, medications have largely been excluded from CMS-derived, value-based payment models. In this perspective, we synthesize evidence about the impact of three prominent models-primary care-based redesign, ACOs, and bundled payment programs-on medication use, adherence, and costs. ⋯ New CMS-based models are starting to allow greater flexibility in pharmacy benefit design and reward improved medication therapy management. Additionally, health plans, pharmacies, and pharmacy benefit managers are beginning to partner on collaborative value-based pharmacy initiatives. Taken together, these efforts encourage a paradigm shift around drug cost management that more deeply integrates pharmacy into payment and delivery reform with the goal of improving quality and reducing the total cost of care.
-
Observational Study
Army and Navy ECHO Pain Telementoring Improves Clinician Opioid Prescribing for Military Patients: an Observational Cohort Study.
Opioid overdose deaths occur in civilian and military populations and are the leading cause of accidental death in the USA. ⋯ Patients treated by PCCs who opted to participate in ECHO Pain had greater declines in opioid-related prescriptions than patients whose PCCs opted not to participate.
-
Abstract
-
In response to the landmark report "Beyond Bias and Barriers: Fulfilling the Potential of Women in Academic Science and Engineering," the NIH Office of Research on Women's Health issued a request for applications that funded 14 R01 grants to investigate causal factors to career success for women in STEM. Following completion of the 4-year grants, the grant PIs formed a grassroots collaborative, the Research Partnership on Women in Science Careers. ⋯ Cultural transformation is needed to address the barriers to career advancement for women. Implementing the best practices noted of the work of the Research Partnership can help to achieve this goal.