The American journal of managed care
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Observational Study
Healthcare utilization and costs in persons with insomnia in a managed care population.
To better understand the direct costs of insomnia. Our study aimed to compare healthcare costs and utilization of patients diagnosed with insomnia who received care in a managed care organization with a set of matched controls. ⋯ These outcomes suggest the need to look beyond the direct cost of insomnia to how its interaction with comorbid conditions drives healthcare cost and utilization.
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Observational Study
Pharmacogenetic-guided psychiatric intervention associated with increased adherence and cost savings.
Pharmacogenetic testing as a means of guiding treatment decisions is beginning to see wider clinical use in psychiatry. The utility of this genetic information as it pertains to clinical decision making, treatment effectiveness, cost savings, and patient perception has not been fully characterized. ⋯ The data show the utility of pharmacogenetic testing in everyday psychiatric clinical practice, as it can lead to improved patient adherence and decreased healthcare costs.
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Electronic health records (EHRs) have potential to improve quality and safety of healthcare. However, EHR users have experienced safety concerns from EHR design and usability features that are not optimally adapted for the complex work flow of real-world practice. Few strategies exist to address unintended consequences from implementation of EHRs and other health information technologies. ⋯ These tools, referred to as the Safety Assurance Factors for EHR Resilience (SAFER) guides, could be used to self-assess safety and effectiveness of EHR implementations, identify specific areas of vulnerability, and create solutions and culture change to mitigate risks. A variety of audiences could conduct these assessments, including frontline clinicians or care teams in different practices, or clinical, quality, or administrative leaders within larger institutions. The guides use a multifaceted systems-based approach to assess risk and empower organizations to work with internal or external stakeholders (eg, EHR developers) on optimizing EHR functionality and using EHRs to drive improvements in the quality and safety of healthcare.