Publications by authors named "Asch D"

Background: Therapists and their patients increasingly discuss digital data from social media, smartphone sensors, and other online engagements within the context of psychotherapy.

Objective: We examined patients' and mental health therapists' experiences and perceptions following a randomized controlled trial in which they both received regular summaries of patients' digital data (eg, dashboard) to review and discuss in session. The dashboard included data that patients consented to share from their social media posts, phone usage, and online searches.

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Traditional approaches for evaluating the impact of scientific research - mainly scholarship (i.e., publications, presentations) and grant funding - fail to capture the full extent of contributions that come from larger scientific initiatives.

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The long-term complications of COVID-19, known as the post-acute sequelae of SARS-CoV-2 infection (PASC), significantly burden healthcare resources. Quantifying the demand for post-acute healthcare is essential for understanding patients' needs and optimizing the allocation of valuable medical resources for disease management. Driven by this need, we developed a heterogeneous latent transfer learning framework (Latent-TL) to generate critical insights for individual health systems in a distributed research network.

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Rationales: Atherosclerotic Cardiovascular Disease (ASCVD) is the leading cause of morbidity and mortality in the United States. Suboptimal control of hypertension and hyperlipidemia are common factors contributing to ASCVD risk. The Penn Medicine Healthy Heart (PMHH) Study is a randomized clinical trial testing the effectiveness of a system designed to offload work from primary care clinicians and improve patient follow-through with risk reduction strategies by using a centralized team of nonclinical navigators and advanced practice providers, remote monitoring, and bi-directional text messaging, augmented by behavioral science engagement strategies.

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Article Synopsis
  • HCW anxiety and depression increased during the pandemic, leading to the rise of digital mental health platforms like Cobalt that provide online assessments and access to resources.
  • This study analyzed the use of Cobalt within a large health system to see if there was any connection between platform usage and COVID-19 impact over three years.
  • The findings showed a high volume of anonymous user sessions and assessments on Cobalt, but no significant link was found between COVID-19 case numbers and the platform's use or assessment results.
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Article Synopsis
  • The study explores the effectiveness of Maya, a mobile app providing cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety in young adults aged 18 to 25, addressing the common issue of anxiety disorders among this demographic.
  • Participants engaged in a 6-week program and were divided into three groups, each receiving different text message incentives to encourage involvement, while their anxiety levels were measured using the Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale.
  • Results showed a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms after the intervention, with participants maintaining improvement even 12 weeks post-treatment, highlighting the potential of digital mental health tools for this age group.
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Background: Text messaging has emerged as a popular strategy to engage patients after hospital discharge. Little is known about how patients use these programs and what types of needs are addressed through this approach.

Objective: The goal of this study was to describe the types and timing of postdischarge needs identified during a 30-day automated texting program.

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Importance: Serious illness conversations (SICs) that elicit patients' values, goals, and care preferences reduce anxiety and depression and improve quality of life, but occur infrequently for patients with cancer. Behavioral economic implementation strategies (nudges) directed at clinicians and/or patients may increase SIC completion.

Objective: To test the independent and combined effects of clinician and patient nudges on SIC completion.

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Importance: Hypertension management has traditionally been based on office visits. Integrating remote monitoring into routine clinical practices and leveraging social support might improve blood pressure (BP) control.

Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of a bidirectional text monitoring program focused on BP control and medication adherence with and without social support in adults with hypertension.

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Article Synopsis
  • Health care workers face high levels of depression and anxiety, prompting the need for effective mental health support.
  • A 9-month randomized clinical trial tested the effectiveness of digital mental health interventions compared to usual care among health care workers with smartphone access.
  • Results showed significant reductions in depression and anxiety scores in the intervention group at both 6 and 9 months, highlighting the potential benefits of remote mental health support.
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Objectives: Racial disparities in kidney transplant access and posttransplant outcomes exist between non-Hispanic Black (NHB) and non-Hispanic White (NHW) patients in the United States, with the site of care being a key contributor. Using multi-site data to examine the effect of site of care on racial disparities, the key challenge is the dilemma in sharing patient-level data due to regulations for protecting patients' privacy.

Materials And Methods: We developed a federated learning framework, named dGEM-disparity (decentralized algorithm for Generalized linear mixed Effect Model for disparity quantification).

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Background & Aims: Mailed outreach for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening increases uptake but it is unclear how to offer the choice of testing. We evaluated if the active choice between colonoscopy and fecal immunochemical test (FIT), or FIT alone, increased response compared with colonoscopy alone.

Methods: This pragmatic, randomized, controlled trial at a community health center included patients between ages 50 and 74 who were not up to date with CRC screening.

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Importance: Postdischarge outreach from the primary care practice is an important component of transitional care support. The most common method of contact is via telephone call, but calls are labor intensive and therefore limited in scope.

Objective: To test whether a 30-day automated texting program to support primary care patients after hospital discharge reduces acute care revisits.

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Importance: Antivaccine sentiment is increasingly associated with conservative political positions. Republican-inclined states exhibit lower COVID-19 vaccination rates, but the association between political inclination and reported vaccine adverse events (AEs) is unexplored.

Objective: To assess whether there is an association between state political inclination and the reporting rates of COVID-19 vaccine AEs.

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Importance: Numerous Black individuals experience racism persistently throughout their lives, with repercussions extending into health care settings. The perspectives of Black individuals regarding emergency department (ED) care, racism, and patient-centered approaches for dismantling structural racism remain less explored.

Objective: To qualitatively explore the perspectives and experiences of Black patients related to race, racism, and health care following a recent ED visit.

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Background: Increased breast density augments breast cancer risk and reduces mammography sensitivity. Supplemental breast MRI screening can significantly increase cancer detection among women with dense breasts. However, few women undergo this exam, and screening is consistently lower among racially minoritized populations.

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Objective: To assess the safety and utility of deferring estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR) testing before contrast-enhanced CT (CECT) in low-risk emergency department (ED) patients.

Methods: A new question was added to CECT order screens, allowing ordering ED providers to defer eGFR testing in patients deemed low risk for contrast-induced acute kidney injury (AKI). Low risk was defined as no known chronic kidney disease (CKD) or risk factors for AKI or CKD.

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Background: Germline genetic testing is recommended by the National Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) for individuals including, but not limited to, those with a personal history of ovarian cancer, young-onset (< 50 years) breast cancer, and a family history of ovarian cancer or male breast cancer. Genetic testing is underused overall, and rates are consistently lower among Black and Hispanic populations. Behavioral economics-informed implementation strategies, or nudges, directed towards patients and clinicians may increase the use of this evidence-based clinical practice.

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Adverse reactions to contrast media, although uncommon, are often high-acuity events and potentially life-threatening. Nonetheless, these events are treatable, and radiologists may be called on to manage a contrast media reaction. However, because these events are infrequent, they are prone to management errors.

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Background: Heart failure (HF) is one of the most common reasons for hospital admission and is a major cause of morbidity, mortality, and increasing health care costs. The EMPOWER study was a randomized trial that used remote monitoring technology to track patients' weight and diuretic adherence and a state-of-the-art approach derived from behavioral economics to motivate adherence to the reverse monitoring technology.

Objective: The goal was to explore patient and clinician perceptions of the program and its impact on perceived health outcomes and better understand why some patients or clinicians did better or worse than others in response to the intervention.

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Objective: A 2021 international consensus statement defined type 2 diabetes remission as A1C <6.5% measured at least 3 months after cessation of glucose-lowering therapy. We aimed to investigate whether retrospective claims-based data can assess remission based on this definition, whether three increasingly strict alternative definitions affect the prevalence of remission and characteristics of remission cohorts, and how cohorts with and without sufficient data to assess for remission differ.

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Objective: To determine whether updated guidance by the ACR in 2017 advocating use of intravenous (IV) premedication in emergency department (ED) patients and inpatients with reported iodinated contrast allergy was associated with a change in clinical practice.

Methods: An anonymous survey was distributed via e-mail in October 2020 to practicing radiologist members of the ACR interrogating use of corticosteroid premedication for two clinical vignettes: an indicated routine (perform within 24 hours) inpatient contrast-enhanced CT (CE-CT) and an indicated urgent (perform within 6 hours) ED CE-CT. In both scenarios, the patient had a prior moderate hypersensitivity reaction to iodinated contrast media.

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