Managed Care Cast

The COVID-19 pandemic has led to an unprecedented boom in telehealth use, especially when it comes to services provided for mental health. With the combined toll of a global pandemic, economic hardships, and protracted grief, Americans’ mental health has jumped to the forefront of the national conversation. A recent analysis, published by Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, illustrates this s...

An author of a study in the May 2021 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® describes how the COVID-19 pandemic, the aging of America, and already-existing workforce shortages will further threaten the dual-eligible population unless policy makers reform scope-of-practice laws.

Vaccine hesitancy may be one of the contributing factors if the United States does not reach herd immunity to the virus that causes COVID-19. Such hesitancy presents itself in different ways and forms, ranging from outright refusal in conservative rural areas to fears in communities of color, to skepticism of science elsewhere. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Patricia Salber, MD, MBA, of The...

This podcast is brought to you by Insulet. Today we are bringing you part 2 of a 2-part, sponsored podcast series discussing insulin delivery for patients with diabetes. In part 1, Mary Caffrey, associate editorial director of The American Journal of Managed Care, spoke with Greg Forlenza, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist at the Barbara Davis Center at the University of Colorado, about prepivotal d...

With unprecedented pauses in air pollution emissions seen around the world in the spring of 2020 and virus mitigation behaviors being implemented for over a year, the COVID-19 pandemic has presented a unique opportunity to better understand the impact of poor air quality on human health. In particular, exposure reduction due to mask-wearing and stay-at-home orders has contributed to anecdotal repo...

This podcast is brought to you by Insulet. Today, we are bringing you part 1 of a 2-part sponsored podcast series discussing insulin delivery for patients with diabetes. In part 1, Mary Caffrey, associate editorial director of The American Journal of Managed Care, speaks to Greg Forlenza, MD, a pediatric endocrinologist, about the evolution of diabetes care technology and standards for automated i...

This week, the top managed care news included COVID-19 vaccine eligibility opens to all adults nationwide; a spotlight on payment models and value-based care; barriers to mental health care for children and teenagers.

The United States is now 5 months into its national vaccine rollout. Although hundreds of millions of doses have been successfully administered, the process has hit several snags along the way, including, but not limited to, disparities in administration and a failure to collect racial data on nearly half of those vaccinated at the national level. But to achieve this feat, health systems have had...

The authors of a study in the April 2021 issue of The American Journal of Managed Care® discuss the possible reasons behind the link between care fragmentation and hospitalizations in veterans with diabetes, as well as potential opportunities to address disjointed care in the context of the widespread telehealth uptake seen during the COVID-19 pandemic.

On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with the chief strategy officer for Well Being Trust, one of the authors of a recent report about how well health insurers and state Medicaid programs are covering mental health care for children and compliance with federal law. We discuss the unique challenges that youth face, the health disparities, racism, and community trauma that has been experie...

This week, the top managed care news included a pause in distribution of J&J’s COVID-19 vaccine; FDA clears first AI device to find possible cancerous hot spots during colonoscopies; lessons from years of public health budgetary neglect.

Neglecting public health in state budgets for more than 10 years created an environment that was ill-suited to deal with the challenges of COVID-19 as well as other issues. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, we speak with one of the authors of a recent paper that examined state funding trends from 2008 to 2018 and discuss what could be done in the future to avoid past mistakes. In an article pu...

This week, the top managed care news included a European safety committee finding very rare blood clot links with AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine; new report predicts shifts in the cancer landscape by 2040; the connected nature of type 1 diabetes with other autoimmune diseases.

The Centre for Sexual Health and HIV/AIDS Research Zimbabwe, or CeSHHAR, was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Harare (hurrahree), Zimbabwe. CeSHHAR conducts evidence-based research related to HIV/AIDS, its prevention, and policy making, along with providing and implementing sexual and reproductive health education and interventions among several at-risk populations. On this episode of Manag...

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Boehringer Ingelheim. Today, we are bringing you part 2 of a 2-part podcast series discussing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In part 2, moderator Neil Minkoff, MD, chief medical officer of Coeus Healthcare, leads a discussion with a panel of experts about personalized approaches to COPD management and treatment efficacy.

This week, the top news in managed care included COVID-19 cases surging as vaccine eligibility expands nationwide; Senate bill seeks to limit use of step therapy in employer health plans; a look into local and global awareness of the ongoing HIV/AIDS epidemic.

Early on in the pandemic, having the ability to predict where outbreaks were going to take place was something to be desired. Cotiviti developed a COVID-19 tracker map using big data models and artificial intelligence (AI) technologies, which can accurately predict where in the United States new COVID-19 outbreaks would occur and show the relative risk of infection for people with underlying healt...

This week, the top managed care news included efficacy data on AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine questioned; coverage from the NCCN 2021 Virtual Annual Conference; COVID-19 poses risks to children with poorly controlled type 1 diabetes.

Addressing vaccine hesitancy, which may take the form of refusing a vaccine or putting oneself in the “wait and see” camp while thinking it over, has never been more urgent as health authorities race to try and vaccinate as much of the population as possible against the virus that causes COVID-19 in 2021. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Pat Salber, MD, MBA, of the Doctor Weighs In, discusses...

This week, the top managed care news included AstraZeneca refuting blood clot links to COVID-19 vaccine; 2021 V-BID Summit celebrates 20 years of policy achievements for value-based insurance design; Managed Care Cast discusses 4 strategies payers can use to ensure opioid use disorder care.

The upheaval created by the pandemic over the past year has particularly affected individuals struggling with opioid use disorder (OUD) and other substance use issues in the United States, which set an unfortunate record in the first half of last year. More than 81,000 people died of drug overdoses between June 2019 and May 2020, largely driven by illicit fentanyl, as synthetic opioid overdose dea...

This week, the top news in managed care included CDC guidance on safe activities for fully vaccinated individuals; American Rescue Plan signed into law; new lung cancer screening criteria expand eligibility.

This activity is supported by an educational grant from Boehringer Ingelheim. Today, we are bringing you part 1 of a 2-part podcast series discussing chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In part 1, moderator Neil Minkoff, MD, chief medical officer of Coeus Healthcare, leads a discussion with a panel of experts about the burden of COPD, available treatments, and more.

This week, the top managed care news included President Biden updating production timeline for nationwide vaccine availability; efforts by the National Quality Forum to measure telehealth quality and value; FDA approves first treatment for rare genetic metabolic pediatric disorder.

As the COVID-19 pandemic has led to a nation-wide boom in telehealth use, new questions are emerging regarding reimbursement, accessibility, data protection, and quality measurement. Although the practice has greatly aided in maintaining care for many Americans throughout the past year, several challenges have been reported. To create a measurement framework linking quality of care delivered by te...