AJMC Lists Top Managed Care Articles for First Half of 2015

PLAINSBORO, N.J. (PRWEB) July 26, 2015

Changing behavior--among both patients and physicians--tops the list of what interests managed care readers so far in 2015, based on page views from the publications of The American Journal of Managed Care, which is midway through a celebration of its 20th year of publication.

Of the articles published in 2015, the top 10 from January 1 through June 30, 2015, are:

1. Leveraging Remote Behavioral Health Interventions to Improve Medical Outcomes and Reduce Costs, AJMC, February. Reena L. Pande, MD, MSc, was the lead author of this study, which found that patients who had eight weekly counseling sessions from a coach or social worker were less likely to be readmitted to the hospital after a cardiovascular event than those in a control group.

2. Changing Physician Behavior: What Works? AJMC, January. This study, by Fargol Mostofian, BHSc; Cynthiya Ruban, BSc; Nicole Simunovic, MSc; and Mohit Bhandari, MD, PhD, FRCSC, covered 14 reviews of a range of interventions to change clinical practice; researchers found active approaches worked best.

3. A Multidisciplinary Intervention for Reducing Readmissions Among Older Adults in a Patient-Centered Medical Home, AJMC, February. This study, led by Paul M. Stranges, PharmD, found that multidisciplinary methods create more opportunities to identify risks that might lead to hospital readmission among older adults.

4. Employers Should Disband Employee Weight Control Programs, AJMC, February. In this article, Alfred Lewis, JD; Vikram Khanna, MHS; and Shana Montrose, MPH, stated that the lack of evidence that corporate weight loss programs help employees to lose weight indicates that they aren't worth the cost; additionally, the connection between weight loss and productivity is weak. The authors called for replacing these programs with efforts to make the work environment healthy for all.

5. Care Fragmentation, Quality, and Costs Among Chronically Ill Patients, AJMC, May. This article discussed the authors' creation of a "fragmentation index"--a measure to document the connection between the lack of coordination of care and the resulting cost--receiving noteworthy press attention for its innovation and important findings. Brigham R. Frandsden, PhD, was the lead author of the study.

6. Results From a National Survey on Chronic Care Management by Health Plans, AJMC, May. This study by Soeren Mattke, MD, DSc, Aparna Higgins, MA, and Robert Brook, MD, ScD, found that management programs for those with chronic conditions are now standard in health plans, but there isn't always a good match between the program and the patient.

7. ASCO Demands Medicaid Reform, Evidence-Based Oncology, February. This story by Managing Editor Surabhi Dangi-Garimella, PhD, discusses a position statement from the American Society of Clinical Oncology that calls for Medicaid patients to have access to cancer care on par with those who have commercial insurance.

8. Toujeo and Afrezza: New and Improved Insulins, Limited by FDA Labeling Constraints, Evidence-Based Diabetes Management, May. This story by Andrew Smith explores the gap between some benefits of new insulins, which were demonstrated in clinical trials, and what the FDA permitted on the label.

9. Redefining and Reaffirming Managed Care for the 21st Century, AJMC, April. In this installment from our AJMC commentary series for the 20th anniversary, David Blumenthal, MD, MPP; and David Squires, MA, of The Commonwealth Fund, outline how the term "managed care" has evolved and what its essential elements are today.

10. Limited Effects of Care Management for High Utilizers on Total Healthcare Costs, AJMC, April (web exclusive). This article by Brent C. Williams, MD, MPH, examines the reasons for, and implications of, the sharp contrast between the results of randomized and nonrandomized trials of care management to lower total healthcare costs.

About the Journals

The American Journal of Managed Care celebrates its 20th year in 2015 as the leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to issues in managed care. Other titles in the franchise include The American Journal of Pharmacy Benefits, which provides pharmacy and formulary decision makers with information to improve the efficiency and health outcomes in managing pharmaceutical care, and The American Journal of Accountable Care, which publishes research and commentary on new healthcare delivery models facilitated by the 2010 Affordable Care Act. AJMC's news publications, the Evidence-Based series, bring together stakeholder views from payers, providers, policy makers, and pharmaceutical leaders in oncology and diabetes management. To order reprints of articles appearing in AJMC publications, please call (609) 716-7777, x 131.

Contact: Nicole Beagin (609) 716-7777 x 131
nbeagin(at)ajmc(dot)com
ajmc.com

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