Publications by authors named "Alexander Liang"
Objectives: In 2016, Dallas Nephrology Associates recognized that the economic, humanistic, and societal burden of end-stage kidney disease was unsustainable and the fee-for-service model of reimbursement did not support a value-based care approach. We decided to be proactive by creating new workflows, education, and disease management so that patients could make well-informed choices, ultimately resulting in better outcomes.
Methods: Our shift toward value-based care focused on patient engagement, education, integrated infrastructure, collaboration, and monitoring of metrics associated with improved outcomes.
Purpose: To investigate the mediators of health-related quality of life (HR-QoL) in colorectal cancer (CRC) patients and effect on overall survival.
Methods: We analyzed baseline (within 1 year of diagnosis) SF-12v1 questionnaire data from 3734 CRC patients and assessed the differences in mental composite scores (MCS) and physical composite scores (PCS) by socio-demographics and risks of poor HR-QoL by these factors. Hazard ratios were generated using univariate Cox regression for MCS and PCS dichotomized using the normalized scoring-based mean of 50 and survival estimates generated using the Kaplan-Meier method.
Background: Malnutrition-inflammation complex syndrome and anorexia, common conditions in maintenance dialysis patients, are strongly associated with higher mortality and hospitalization and lower quality of life (QoL) in this population. Megestrol acetate, 800 mg/day, has been shown to increase appetite and food intake and to mitigate inflammation in cachectic AIDS and cancer patients, leading to weight gain, but it is also associated with side effects at this dose.
Methods: We evaluated the efficacy of the oral solution of megestrol acetate in half of its conventional dose in improving the nutritional state and inflammation in 10 hypoalbuminemic dialysis patients (albumin < 3.