The American journal of managed care
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Three different out-of-pocket (OOP) maximums in Medicare Part D have been proposed: $2000 by the House of Representatives, $3100 by the Senate Finance Committee, and the beginning of catastrophic coverage by the Medicare Payment Advisory Commission. However, little is known about how beneficiaries would be affected. ⋯ As currently drafted, proposed OOP maximums would reduce OOP spending for a small population of Part D beneficiaries, with savings concentrated among beneficiaries with the very highest costs who are taking specialty medications.
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Empiric segmentation is a rapidly growing, learning health system approach that uses large health care system data sets to identify groups of high-risk patients who may benefit from similar interventions. We aimed to review studies that used data-driven approaches to segment high-risk patient populations and describe how their designs and findings can inform health care leaders who are interested in applying similar techniques to their patient populations. ⋯ Empiric segmentation can yield clinically relevant groups of patients with complex medical needs. Segmentation results are context dependent, suggesting the need for careful design and interpretation of segmentation models to ensure that results can inform clinical care and program design in the target setting.
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To understand real-world implementation of the updated CDC HIV diagnostic testing algorithm. ⋯ Our study findings suggest that the CDC HIV diagnostic algorithm is complex and may pose suboptimal testing efficiency. Opportunities to improve diagnostic efficiency by reducing indeterminate results and repeat tests are warranted.
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To contribute to the literature of best-practice approaches to promote full mu agonist chronic opioid analgesic therapy (COAT) cessation in a population with chronic, noncancer pain by describing initial and extended follow-up outcomes from a limited group program that utilized a standardized, multidisciplinary curriculum containing robust complementary care access in a private practice setting. ⋯ This pilot study contributes to the literature by documenting a successful and potentially generalizable strategy to promote COAT cessation, and by providing unusually lengthy follow-up for postintervention COAT cessation monitoring.
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Existing literature indicates that multimorbidity, mental health (MH) conditions, substance use disorders (SUDs), and social determinants of health are hallmarks of high-need, high-cost patients. Health Resources and Services Administration-funded health centers (HCs) provide care to nearly 30 million patients, but data on their patients' complexity and utilization patterns are limited. We identified subgroups of HC patients based on latent concepts of complexity and utilization. ⋯ Our examination of complexity and utilization indicated distinct HC patient populations. Managing the care of each group may require different targeted intervention approaches such as multidisciplinary care teams that include MH providers or specialists.