State adoption of paid sick leave and cardiovascular disease mortality among adults in the United States, 2008-2019.

Cardiovascular diseases (CVD) are the leading cause of death in the United States and may be prevented through improved working conditions. The United States does not guarantee paid sick leave (PSL) at the federal level. We used quasi-experimental event study methods to examine the relationship between state-level PSL policies and county-level CVD mortality among working-age adults aged 15 to 64 over time (2008 to 2019).

The Economic Effect of Peer Recovery Support Services: A Review of the Literature.

Peer Recovery Support Services (PRSS) have the potential to be an economically valuable intervention. To investigate this potential, we conducted a scoping review to summarize existing research on the economic impact of PRSS. We searched relevant electronic databases for peer-reviewed articles and grey literature between January 2000 and February 2023 that examined an economic outcome related to PRSS.

Toward Safer Opioid Prescribing in HIV care (TOWER): a mixed-methods, cluster-randomized trial.

Background: The 2016 U.S. Centers for Disease Control Opioid Prescribing Guideline (CDC Guideline) is currently being revised amid concern that it may be harmful to people with chronic pain on long-term opioid therapy (CP-LTOT).

Cost-effectiveness analysis of a large jail-based methadone maintenance treatment continuation program in New Mexico.

The U.S. has the second-highest incarceration rate in the world and spends more than $80 billion annually to house inmates.

Reduced Sexual Risk Behaviors Among Persons With HIV After Release From the Criminal Justice System.

Background: HIV prevalence is 3 times greater for those in the criminal justice system than the general population, with an assumed increase in sexual risk behaviors (SRBs) postrelease. HIV viral suppression impacts HIV transmission; however, studies of SRBs among persons with HIV leaving the criminal justice system are limited, and no studies have examined viral suppression in relation to SRBs in persons leaving the criminal justice system.

Methods: Data were examined from 2 double-blind placebo-controlled trials of extended-release naltrexone among persons with HIV and alcohol use or opioid use disorder.

The economic costs of jail-based methadone maintenance treatment.

Background: The US has the highest incarceration rate in the world and spends $40-$80 billion to house inmates per year. It is well-known that a significant correlation is present between substance use and crime, especially over recent years as opioid use disorder (OUD) has grown exponentially. To mitigate OUD, methadone maintenance treatment (MMT) has demonstrated effectiveness in numerous randomized and quasi-experimental studies.

An economic cost analysis of an expanding, multi-state behavioural telehealth intervention.

Introduction: In this paper the economic costs associated with a growing, multi-state telepsychiatry intervention serving rural American Indian/Alaska Native populations were compared to costs of travelling to provide/receive in-person treatment.

Methods: Telepsychiatry costs were calculated using administrative, information-technology, equipment and technology components, and were compared to travel cost models. Both a patient travel and a psychiatrist travel model were estimated utilising ArcGIS software and unit costs gathered from literature and government sources.

Benefit-cost analysis of SBIRT interventions for substance using patients in emergency departments.

Screening, brief intervention, and referral to treatment (SBIRT) has been widely implemented as a method to address substance use disorders in general medical settings, and some evidence suggests that its use is associated with decreased societal costs. In this paper, we investigated the economic impact of SBIRT using data from Screening, Motivational Assessment, Referral, and Treatment in Emergency Departments (SMART-ED), a multisite, randomized controlled trial. Utilizing self-reported information on medical status, health services utilization, employment, and crime, we conduct a benefit-cost analysis.

What Happens to High-Cost Patients? An Analysis of the Trajectories of Billed Charges Over Time.

A growing literature documents the substantial burden that a small proportion of high-cost, medically complex patients impose on health care systems. However, it is not clear whether high-cost patients remain costly over time. This study looks at the monthly distribution of billed charges for a cohort of high-cost, medically complex patients enrolled in an intensive care management program in a university health care system, and finds that the billing trajectory is heterogeneous and highly nonlinear, characterized by a substantial spike in billed charges prior to identification, followed by a considerable drop prior to enrollment and a sustained drop thereafter.

The Economic Impact of Intensive Care Management for High-Cost Medically Complex Patients: An Evaluation of New Mexico's Care One Program.

High-cost, medically complex patients have been a challenging population to manage in the US health care system, in terms of both improving health outcomes and containing costs. This paper evaluated the economic impact of Care One, an intensive care management program (data analysis, evaluation, empanelment, specialist disease management, nurse case management, and social support) designed to target the most expensive 1% of patients in a university health care system. Data were collected for a cohort of high-cost, medically complex patients (N = 753) who received care management and a control group (N = 794) of similarly complex health system users who did not receive access to the program.

A cost comparison of travel models and behavioural telemedicine for rural, Native American populations in New Mexico.

Objective: The purpose of this study was to model the cost of delivering behavioural health services to rural Native American populations using telecommunications and compare these costs with the travel costs associated with providing equivalent care.

Methods: Behavioural telehealth costs were modelled using equipment, transmission, administrative and IT costs from an established telecommunications centre. Two types of travel models were estimated: a patient travel model and a physician travel model.

The economic impact of project MARS (motivating adolescents to reduce sexual risk).

Objective: The purpose of this study was to economically evaluate Project MARS (Motivating Adolescents to Reduce Sexual Risk; T. J. Callahan, E.