Published in The American journal of managed care
Referrals from primary to specialty care are a critical first step in coordination of specialty care, but shortcomings in the appropriateness, clarity, or completeness of referrals are common. We examined (1) whether 3 tools to coordinate specialty care are associated with better referral characteristics and (2) whether greater perceived helpfulnes...
Published in The American journal of managed care
To evaluate how changes in generic drug prices and the incidence of abrupt price increases varied with the number of manufacturers supplying each drug. Analysis of 2005 to 2016 monthly wholesale acquisition costs (WACs) and University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Health Plan counts of pharmacy claims for National Drug Codes (NDCs) for generic drugs...
Published in The American journal of managed care
We describe online portal account adoption and feature access among subgroups of patients who traditionally have been disadvantaged or represent those with high healthcare needs. Retrospective cohort study of insured primary care patients 18 years and older (N = 20,282) receiving care from an integrated health system. Using data from an electronic ...
Published in The American journal of managed care
To estimate the costs of providing extended-release injectable naltrexone (XR-NTX) and buprenorphine-naloxone (BUP-NX) following inpatient detoxification using data derived from a multisite randomized controlled trial at 8 US community-based treatment programs. Cost data were collected for 3 intervention phases: program start-up, inpatient detoxifi...
Published in The American journal of managed care
The management of peanut allergy involves strict avoidance, prompt recognition of allergic reactions, and rapid initiation of epinephrine and other supportive therapy for anaphylaxis. Avoidance presents several challenges and burdens to quality of life and daily activities. Currently, no treatment options are available for peanut allergy apart from...
Published in The American journal of managed care
Peanut allergy is one of the most common food allergies in children, with a prevalence that has been increasing over the past several decades. The allergy is a type I, immunoglobulin E (IgE)-mediated reaction that commonly presents in childhood and can be associated with an anaphylactic response. There are many theories that attempt to explain the ...
Published in The American journal of managed care
The prevalence of peanut allergies, the most common food allergy in children, has tripled in the past 2 decades. Today, up to 2.5% of the pediatric population has been diagnosed with a peanut allergy. Peanut allergies result in significant medical, out-of-pocket, and opportunity costs to payers, parents, and employers. They are also a leading cause...
Published in The American journal of managed care
To compare the prices paid to physicians by employer-sponsored Medicare Advantage (MA) plans with those paid by traditional Medicare (TM) and to determine whether the relationship between MA and TM prices is affected by the generosity of MA benchmarks. Descriptive analysis of medical claims data from the 2014-2015 MarketScan Medicare Claims Databas...
Published in The American journal of managed care
This exploratory study used outpatient laboratory test results from electronic health records (EHRs) for patient risk assessment and evaluated whether risk markers based on laboratory results improve the performance of diagnosis- and pharmacy-based predictive models for healthcare outcomes. Observational study of a patient cohort over 2 years. We u...
Published in The American journal of managed care
The asthma medication ratio (AMR) (number of controller medications / [number of controller medications + number of rescue medications]) can be calculated using claims data. This measure has not previously been studied longitudinally. Our objective is to conduct a longitudinal examination of the AMR in a large national cohort of children with asthm...
