American journal of preventive medicine
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Tobacco cessation remains a critical challenge in healthcare, with evidence-based interventions often underutilized due to misaligned economic incentives and inadequate training. This study aims to quantify the economic impact of missed billing opportunities for tobacco cessation in a healthcare system, thereby assessing potential revenue loss and evaluating the effectiveness of systems-based approaches to enhancing tobacco cessation efforts. ⋯ The study reveals a significant gap between the potential and actual billing for tobacco cessation services, highlighting not only the financial implications of missed opportunities but also a validation of a health system's public health impact. Underbilling contributes to considerable annual revenue loss and undermines primary prevention efforts against tobacco-related diseases. The findings illuminate the need for enhanced billing practices and systemic changes, including policy improvements that influence proper billing to promote public health benefits through improved tobacco cessation interventions.
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Universal Basic Income (UBI) policies have the potential to promote a wide range of public health objectives by providing those who qualify with direct cash payments. One overlooked mechanism of particular importance to health researchers is the possibility that guaranteed income might increase consultation of primary and preventive care (e.g., annual doctors' visits; regular vaccination against infectious disease) by providing people with both the time and monetary resources to do so, thereby improving general health. ⋯ Enhanced UBI payments ought to be thought about as a form of health policy, as they have the potential to advance a wide range of health objectives related to preventive care.
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Social vulnerability, race, and place are three important predictors of fatal police shootings. This research offers the first assessment of these factors at the zip code level. ⋯ Social vulnerability and racial composition of a zip code are associated with fatal police shooting, both independently and when considered together. What drives deadly police shootings in the United States is not one single factor, but rather complex interactions between social-vulnerability, race, and place that must be tackled synchronously. Action must be taken to address underlying determinants of disparities in policing.
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Unexpected out-of-pocket (OOP) costs for preventive care reduce future uptake. Because adherence to service guidelines differs by patient populations, understanding the role of patient demographics and social determinants of health (SDOH) in the incidence and size of unexpected cost-sharing is necessary to address these disparities. This study examined the associations between patient demographics and cost-sharing for common preventive services. ⋯ The likelihood and size of OOP costs for preventive care varied considerably by patient demographics; this may contribute to inequitable access to high-value care.