This Week in Managed Care—Telemedicine Use During COVID-19 and Other Health News

07/11/20 • 8 min

Every week, The American Journal of Managed Care® recaps the top managed care news of the week. This week, the top managed care news included CMS planning to pay more for at-home dialysis equipment; ACR supports continued use of telemedicine after the COVID-19 pandemic passes; coverage of AIDS 2020, the 23rd International AIDS Conference. Read more about the stories in this podcast: CMS Seeks Incentives for At-Home Dialysis in Wake of COVID-19: https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/cms-seeks-incentives-for-athome-dialysis-in-wake-of-covid19 ACR Position Statement Supports Use of Telemedicine After COVID-19 Crisis: https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/acr-position-statement-supports-use-of-telemedicine-after-covid19-crisis Telehealth Growth in April Suggests Continuing Impact of COVID-19: https://www.ajmc.com/contributor/robin-gelburd-jd/2020/07/telehealth-growth-in-april-suggests-continuing-impact-of-covid19 Study Results Show Possible Link Between Medicaid Expansion, Drop in Advanced Breast Cancer: https://www.ajmc.com/newsroom/study-results-show-possible-link-between-medicaid-expansion-drop-in-advanced-breast-cancer- AIDS 2020: Virtual: https://www.ajmc.com/conferences/aids-2020 A Timeline of COVID-19 Developments in 2020: https://www.ajmc.com/focus-of-the-week/a-timeline-of-covid19-developments-in-2020 Physician and Patient Tools to Improve Chronic Kidney Disease Care: https://www.ajmc.com/journals/issue/2018/2018-vol24-n4/physician-and-patient-tools-to-improve-chronic-kidney-disease-care

Previous Episode

What Barriers Inhibit Oral Anticancer Medication Use?

Medication access barriers and nonadherence significantly impact medication underuse in the United States. This issue is estimated to cost the country’s healthcare system between $100 billion to $290 billion annually, as patients who underuse medication are more likely to have complications, which can result in costly health care utilization. Recently, The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA) and National Pharmaceutical Council (NPC) announced 2 research grants funding studies of patients’ real-world medication access barriers. Leveraging the framework devised by the PQA and NPC released in March 2019, researchers at The Johns Hopkins Hospital and University of Rhode Island will investigate this problem and release their findings in 2021. Oral anticancer therapies have become popular alternatives to more traditional care, such as chemotherapy. However, research shows that adherence to oral anti-cancer therapies can range from 20% to 100%. Several factors contribute to medication non-adherence and access barriers. To learn more, we spoke with Ami Vyas, PhD, an assistant professor of pharmacy practice, specializing in health outcomes research, at The University of Rhode Island.

Next Episode

Continuation of Routine Screenings, Care Is Crucial During COVID-19 Pandemic

Routine preventive screenings and vaccination rates have decreased due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, while the Director of the National Cancer Institute recently warned delays in cancer screenings are likely to result in thousands of excess deaths. At the same time, a recent study found the pandemic could create losses of up to $15 billion for primary care practices. To find out what can be done about these setbacks, and to learn why it is so critical to continue screenings during the pandemic, we spoke with Andrea Gelzer, MD, senior vice president and corporate chief medical officer for AmeriHealth Caritas. On this episode of Managed Care Cast, Dr. Gelzer discusses the vital role telehealth has played during the pandemic, and how providers and payers can work together to encourage patients to continue routine care.