The American journal of managed care
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To mark the 25th anniversary of the journal, each issue in 2020 will include an interview with a healthcare thought leader. For the May issue, we turned to Larry Levitt, MPP, executive vice president for health policy for the Kaiser Family Foundation.
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To determine whether health literacy, numeracy, and graph literacy are associated with all-cause hospitalizations or mortality in community-dwelling veterans. ⋯ This study did not show associations of health literacy, numeracy, or graph literacy scores with lower risk of all-cause hospitalization or mortality. Further research is needed with random sampling in a broader spectrum of healthcare settings to better understand what roles health literacy, numeracy, and graph literacy might play in healthcare utilization and clinical outcomes.
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To implement a project of linked pharmacist-provider new patient visits and then evaluate the impact on the productivity of the provider and pharmacist. ⋯ The linked visits between the pharmacist and provider allowed for increased provider productivity at 1 of the sites. Based on these results and provider feedback from both sites, this project was viewed as a positive initiative. Scheduling challenges were a barrier to project success at site B.
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To assess the effect of medical home enrollment on acute care use and healthcare spending among Medicaid beneficiaries with mental and physical illness. ⋯ Among Medicaid beneficiaries with comorbid mental and physical illness, medical home enrollment appears to increase outpatient healthcare use and has mixed effects on acute care use. For individuals in this population who previously had no engagement with the healthcare system, use of the medical home model may represent an investment in providing improved access to needed outpatient services with cost savings potential for beneficiaries with depression.
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To examine healthcare resource utilization (HRU) and costs in a population of managed care enrollees who experienced an osteoporotic fracture. ⋯ These findings suggest a significant economic burden associated with fractures, including a high total all-cause cost of care. Early identification and treatment of patients at high risk of fractures are of paramount importance to reduce fracture risk and associated healthcare costs.