JAMA : the journal of the American Medical Association
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Bundled Payments for Care Improvement (BPCI) is a voluntary initiative of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services to test the effect of holding an entity accountable for all services provided during an episode of care on episode payments and quality of care. ⋯ In the first 21 months of the BPCI initiative, Medicare payments declined more for lower extremity joint replacement episodes provided in BPCI-participating hospitals than for those provided in comparison hospitals, without a significant change in quality outcomes. Further studies are needed to assess longer-term follow-up as well as patterns for other types of clinical care.
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Comment
Blood Measurement of Carcinoembryonic Antigen Level for Detecting Recurrence of Colorectal Cancer.
What is the trade-off between sensitivity and specificity at specific carcinoembryonic antigen (CEA) thresholds for detecting recurrent colorectal cancer? ⋯ To detect colorectal cancer recurrence, the sensitivity of CEA ranges from 68% for a threshold of 10 µg/L to 82% for a threshold of 2.5 µg/L and the specificity ranges from 97% for a threshold of 10 µg/L to 80% for a threshold of 2.5 µg/L.