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Top 10 Disruptive Trends to Watch For in Managed Care

There is growing evidence that social determinants of health (SDoH) have a negative effect on health outcomes. SDoH are “the conditions in which people are born, grow, live, work, and age,” and they play an important role in a patient’s overall health status. This is considered by many to be the top disruptive trend impacting […]

Opioid Use Before Joint Replacement Surgery: Adverse Outcomes

Preoperative opioid use before elective surgery brings elevated risk and costs. Patients who take opioids preoperatively have elevated risk during and after joint replacement surgery, according to new research by Meridith Peratikos, M.S., director of enterprise research at axialHealthcare in Nashville, Tennessee, and biostatistician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. In study results published in Pain

Poor outcomes seen in elective total joint arthroplasty patients who take opioids preoperatively

According to recently published results, there was a significant correlation between increased health care costs and adverse perioperative surgical outcomes in patients who used opioids prior to total joint arthroplasty. “For orthopedic surgeons, I believe that the key takeaway here is that preoperative opioid use is associated with poor outcomes for the patients [those] orthopedists

Machine learning tool may determine opioid use disorder risk

Using data found on health care claims, researchers developed a machine learning tool that resulted in a “high level of predictive accuracy” to determine who is at risk for future opioid use disorder in the next 12 months, according to findings presented at PainWeek. “Manual review of health care records by pain practitioners for [opioid use disorder]

PQA Endorses Three New Quality Performance Measures for Opioids

The Pharmacy Quality Alliance (PQA), through a majority vote of its members, has endorsed three new performance measures that evaluate initial opioid prescriptions: at high dosage, for long duration, or for long-acting or extended-release opioids. The measures are aligned with the CDC Guideline for Prescribing Opioids for Chronic Pain and retrospectively evaluate health plan performance

Taking Opioids Before Joint Replacement Increases Length of Stay, Total Costs

The analysis showed the opioid cessation rate at 18 months after surgery was 64% among those who used the pain medication before joint replacement, and 95% among those who did not. Abuse of prescription opioids is a known culprit in the rise of the current opioid epidemic, which the CDC said claims 130 lives a day; researchers

The Impact of Preoperative Opioid Use on Patient Outcomes

A new study looked at the effects of front-end opioid prescribing for patients in need of knee, hip, or shoulder joint replacement, and it builds a growing evidence base that shows better patient outcomes and lower payer cost when opioids are tapered prior to surgery. “Despite the many risks of opioid use, about 40% of

axialHealthcare Runs HIPAA-Compliant Virtual Contact Center on Amazon Connect

It’s no secret that America is in the grip of an opioid-addiction crisis. In 2017, 11.4 million people misused prescription opioids at least once; 2.1 million people misused opioids chronically; and 47,600 died from opioid overdoses—more than 130 per day. Many companies and organizations exist to help people recover from addiction. But what if opioid

Where’s the Evidence? Barriers to Analyzing Digital Health’s Impact

By Meridith Peratikos, Director of Enterprise Research The digital health industry continues to grow at an unprecedented rate. In 2018, venture funding for digital health companies approached a record $8.1B in funding, according to Rock Health. These companies are striving to address important healthcare issues by developing products and service offerings in various categories like

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