The American journal of managed care
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Observational Study
Healthcare utilization and costs in persons with insomnia in a managed care population.
To better understand the direct costs of insomnia. Our study aimed to compare healthcare costs and utilization of patients diagnosed with insomnia who received care in a managed care organization with a set of matched controls. ⋯ These outcomes suggest the need to look beyond the direct cost of insomnia to how its interaction with comorbid conditions drives healthcare cost and utilization.
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To demonstrate the feasibility and utility of using administrative claims data from commercial health plans to establish a high-risk indicator in a statewide immunization registry for enrollees with chronic conditions. ⋯ A total of 93% of children with chronic conditions identified through administrative claims were successfully matched with the statewide registry. Less than one-third of children received the seasonal influenza vaccine in either the 2008-2009 (29%) or 2009-2010 (32%) seasons; 30% of children received the H1N1 vaccination in 2009-2010. Most children in the 2008-2009 (63%) and 2009-2010 (63%) seasons had at least 1 missed opportunity for seasonal influenza vaccination. Younger children had the highest percentage of missed opportunities while adolescents had the lowest rate of missed opportunities for vaccination. Conclusions It is feasible to identify children with chronic conditions using administrative data and to link them with a statewide immunization registry. Low influenza vaccination rates and high occurrences of missed opportunities among children with chronic conditions suggest the utility of integrating administrative claims data with statewide registries to support various outreach mechanisms, including physician-focused and parent-targeted reminder/recall, based on target age to improve vaccination rates.
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To analyze the impact of waiting time on patient satisfaction scores; not only of satisfaction with the provider in general, but also with the specific perception of the quality of care and physician abilities. ⋯ The clinical ambulatory patient experience is heavily influenced by time spent waiting for provider care. Not only are metrics regarding the likelihood to recommend and the overall satisfaction with the experience negatively impacted by longer wait times, but increased wait times also affect perceptions of information, instructions, and the overall treatment provided by physicians and other caregivers.
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Randomized Controlled Trial
Effect of management strategies and clinical status on costs of care for advanced HIV.
To determine the association between preexisting characteristics and current health and the cost of different types of advanced human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) care. ⋯ The association between health status and cost depended on the type of care. Indicators of poor health were associated with higher inpatient and concomitant medication costs and lower cost for ART medication. Although ART has supplanted hospitalization as the most important cost in HIV care, some patients continue to incur high hospitalization costs in periods when they are using less ART. The cost of interventions to improve the use of ART might be offset by the reduction of other costs.
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Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) is a systemic inflammatory form of arthritis characterized by joint inflammation, pain, swelling, and stiffness. While contemporary treatment strategies based on early diagnosis, aggressive treatment, and regular monitoring have helped a significant number of patients achieve evidence-based treatment goals, RA still presents substantial management challenges to both clinicians and patients, and has the potential to lead to severe disability over time. In addition to its significant clinical consequences, RA has important economic implications. ⋯ With the myriad of treatment options both available and emerging, managed care organizations are faced with difficult decisions surrounding the most clinically and cost-effective allocation of treatments designed to improve disease outcomes for patients with RA. It is vital that managed care clinicians and providers analyze both the overall burden and the specific costs of RA. This will allow a better understanding of how costs and issues relating to healthcare utilization affect the treatment of patients with RA and impact individualized therapy, care coordination, and outcomes.