research
Protecting affordability in a pandemic — Experts find fair prices for remdesivir between $10 and $4,500
In a nation hungry for good news in fighting the COVID-19 pandemic, remdesivir has emerged as a first ray of hope. The FDA has quickly approved the drug for emergency use with seriously ill patients. However there are concerns that the data supporting remdesivir’s effectiveness has not been published or peer reviewed by independent scientists…
Read MoreCT 7th best at social distancing, Fairfield leads CT counties
Last week, Connecticut residents did better than most Americans in maintaining social distance according to a University of Maryland model. (We slipped a bit on Saturday – to 18th among states.) The aggregate score uses the percent of us who stay home and reductions in trips per person. 35% of Connecticut residents stayed home last…
Read MoreWords matter – Unintended consequences of rush for COVID-19 treatment and poor communication
Scientists are under great pressure, internal and external, to find successful treatments for people seriously ill with the new coronavirus. Scientists are heroes, working with exceptional “vigor and speed” to find options. Unfortunately, sometimes that pressure results in early results being misunderstood and misused. Research conducted during a pandemic is not optimal for rigorous science…
Read MoreCTNJ: The recession is here, and healthcare is in the center of it
After the longest economic recovery in US history, we’ve been expecting a recession for a long time. We knew when it came, Connecticut healthcare would be hit hard. But no one expected this. Connecticut didn’t fare well in the last recession and we took longer than other states to build back the jobs we lost.…
Read MoreCommunity health center quality behind the rest of Medicaid
Download the report The good news is that Medicaid health outcome quality measures generally improved in all practice setting from 2016 through 2018. Unfortunately, community health centers (FQHCs) are not doing as well as their counterparts, either other Patient-Centered Medical Home practices (PCMHs), or non-PCMH practices in serving Medicaid members. This data comes from CHNCT’s…
Read MoreNew state health data updates – over one in six CT residents have high medical cost burden
According to State Health Compare’s updated data, 18.1% of Connecticut residents had out-of-pocket health costs that were more than 10% of their family income in 2018. That is up from 17.8% the year before while the burden on the rest of the US went down. While Connecticut’s rate is bad, it’s better than the US…
Read MoreICER and Donaghue Foundation highlight the power of patient engagement in assessing value; ICER to report on novel opioid addiction interventions
Steve Pearson, President of the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review (ICER), has published two pieces for Connecticut’s Donaghue Foundation Soapbox on the importance of meaningful patient engagement in value assessments and an exciting new initiative to move beyond the usual rhetoric and integrate patient priorities into the value assessment outcomes. Patients are usually left…
Read MoreMedicaid switch from MCOs saving taxpayers billions
Download the brief here If Medicaid per member per month costs had held steady at 2012 levels, taxpayers would have spent $2.25 billion more by last year. As with most health care in Connecticut, Medicaid spending was rising quickly before 2012 growing by almost half over the prior four years. But in 2012, Connecticut made…
Read MoreIs CT healthy or not? Different rankings with different messages
Health rankings are all about definitions and what you measure — an important lesson with broad implications. A new health ranking of US cities by Wallet Hub is not great news for Connecticut. Of America’s 174 most populous cities, Bridgeport is #88 and New Haven is #98. Five cities in surrounding states are healthier than…
Read MoreUS overdose deaths down but no change for Connecticut
Americans’ life expectancy increased in 2018 for the first time since 2014. From 2014 through 2017, life expectancy fell 0.3 years, twice as much for American men as women. The drop was largely attributed to the sharp rise in overdose deaths during those years. Nationally, overdose deaths fell from 21.7 to 20.7 per 100,000 population…
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