The American journal of managed care
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The primary aim was to examine the association of social risks with avoiding/delaying health care after controlling for sociodemographic covariates, and the secondary aim was to examine the association of social risks with emergency department (ED) visits after controlling for avoiding/delaying health care and sociodemographic covariates. ⋯ Social risks are important factors in patients' decisions to avoid/delay health care and are associated with increased odds of any ED visits. To reduce ED visits, policy-level efforts need to be made to address these social challenges.
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As home-based care utilization rises, an exploration of potential unintended consequences is necessary. The authors focus on support gaps, informal caregiving, and failure to meaningfully engage clinicians.
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Pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH) is a rare, progressive disorder associated with a poor prognosis if not treated appropriately. Fortunately, new treatment options have significantly improved survival rates and prognosis. Despite these advances, many patients do not receive the diagnosis until years into their disease or are inappropriately diagnosed. ⋯ Pharmacologic therapies carry a very high cost for PAH; however, extensive utilization of management strategies may hinder access to medication and may lead to disease progression. Cost containment strategies may help to facilitate care coordination for earlier diagnosis and initiation of treatment, adherence to PAH medications, and patient education to ensure they are using medications appropriately to optimize therapy. Managed care pharmacists can play a crucial role in the multidisciplinary team in terms of medication safety, adherence, patient education, and follow-up to improve patient engagement that leads to improved outcomes.
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To describe real-time changes in medical visits (MVs), visit mode, and patient-reported visit experience associated with rapidly deployed care reorganization during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic. ⋯ COVID-19 required prompt organizational transformation to optimize the patient experience.
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To ensure that value assessment accounts for patient needs, we need a better understanding of the outcomes that are most important to patients, write authors from COVIA Health Solutions and the University of Washington School of Pharmacy.