RESNA position on the application of dynamic seating.

Dynamic Seating is an intervention used as a part of a manual or power wheelchair to provide movement against resistance in response to client force. This technology can be used for various clinical applications including preventing client injury and equipment breakage; dissipating extensor forces; providing movement for sensory input, calming, and increased alertness; increasing muscle strength, trunk and head control; and other medical benefits. The purpose of this RESNA Position Paper is to provide a definition for this technology in relation to other seating and wheeled mobility technologies as well as present clinical indicators for this seating intervention including literature to substantiate these claims.

Detection and characterization of the new synthetic cannabinoid APP-BINACA in forensic casework.

New psychoactive substances (NPS) continue to emerge around the world. APP-BINACA (or APP-BUTINACA), a novel synthetic cannabinoid, was first reported in Europe in January 2019 and later in the United States in March 2019. APP-BINACA was identified in the United States for the first time in blood sample extracts from forensic casework by liquid chromatography quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF-MS).

4F-MDMB-BINACA: A New Synthetic Cannabinoid Widely Implicated in Forensic Casework.

This is the first report regarding the characterization of the new synthetic cannabinoid 4F-MDMB-BINACA. 4F-MDMB-BINACA was first analytically confirmed in seized drug material using gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS), liquid chromatography-quadrupole time-of-flight mass spectrometry (LC-QTOF), and nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy. Subsequent to this characterization, 4F-MDMB-BINACA was detected in biological specimens collected as part of forensically relevant casework, including medicolegal death investigations and drug impaired driving investigations, from a variety of regions in the United States.

Thanks to CMS Rule Change, MA Takes SDOH to a Whole New Level.

CMS and insurers talked about what needed to be done to better address the social determinants of health (SDOH) for beneficiaries. That led to a policy, implemented last year by CMS, that allows for the provision of daily maintenance care using nonskilled in-home providers, the kind of services usually given in assisted-living facilities.

Hail, Not Frail! MA's Wellness Reach Expands.

There was a time when insurers were accused (often rightly) of using wellness to lure healthier beneficiaries into MA. Now, the issue is whether wellness can help health plans manage medical spending. "To the degree they do minimize medical spending, the beneficiaries will presumptively be better off healthwise," says Joseph Newhouse of Harvard.

A Conversation with Jennifer Graff, National Pharmaceutical Council VP. Real-World Evidence Might Take a Decade to be Fully Established.

"The private sector will play an important role in the 10-year time frame. Patients are downloading their data from patient portals and sharing their information between their specialists. Provider groups and clinical societies will become more adept at using data to inform care pathways.

Why the new opioid bill won't really change the way insurers approach the epidemic.

Not that plans won't be taking a close look at some innovative approaches such as addiction recovery medical homes. One model includes bundled payments and performance bonuses, nationally recognized quality metrics, and the placement of treatment and recovery providers close to where patients with substance use disorder live.

HIV/AIDS treatment drastically reduces mortality and helps limit transmission.

Death rates from HIV/AIDS plummeted in the United States from 41,699 in 1995 to 6,456 in 2015. Today, people newly diagnosed with HIV who take their medicine can survive for decades, not just months or years. It's one of medicine's great achievements.

The App as a Remedy for Health Care's Inbetweenies.

Harvard Pilgrim Health Plan offers some beneficiaries an app that allows them to stay in contact with the health plan's nurse practitioners. It seems tailored-made for patients with chronic conditions, but it can be applied to almost everything a person might need to go to the hospital for.

Ah, Look at All the Lonely People (And Resultant Health Problems Thereof).

Robin Caruso, the chief togetherness officer at CareMore, knows that acute loneliness results in poor outcomes, increasing the risk of someone's mortality by 45%. Her team engages in "organic" conversations with CareMore's elderly beneficiaries to make them more engaged in their care, more socially connected, and more likely to exercise.

Karl Brown's Hardscrabble Roots Prepared Him for His Medicaid Mission.

The CMO of Molina Healthcare of Utah grew up, let's say, not rich. He says that and a varied background-including a stint in the Air Force-helps him deal with changing policies involving a challenging population.

Opioid Deaths Among Women Not Getting the Attention They Warrant.

Deaths of women from opioid addiction spiked 400%, according to CDC data. Alison Colbert of Duquesne University argues for a gender-specific approach.

Efficiency of extraction and conversion of pseudoephedrine to methamphetamine from tamper-resistant and non-tamper-resistant formulations.

Clandestine chemists have demonstrated an ability to convert commercially available pseudoephedrine formulations to methamphetamine. Some of these formulations have properties that manufacturers claim limit or block the extraction of pseudoephedrine and its direct conversion to methamphetamine. In this study, 3 commercially available pseudoephedrine formulations were evaluated for ease of extraction and conversion to methamphetamine using a common chemistry technique called the one-pot method that is frequently employed by clandestine chemists.

Harvard Pilgrim's Patrick Cahill Tries To Make Sense of It All.

The 40-year-old vice president of regional markets for eastern Massachusetts wants enrollees and, especially, employers to know that there will continue to be a lot of public policy change as the ACA evolves. His course? Keep strengthening ties with providers.

Optum's Lisa Tseng Keep Entrepreneurial Ball Rolling.

The 37-year-old has a title: executive vice president of Optum. But she wears many hats, including running a division that sells affordable hearing aids.

Cigna's Eva Borden Champions 'The Stepchild': Behavioral Health.

The insurer's general manager of behavioral and EAP services wants to make mental health care more mainstream. Only 17% of American adults function with optimal mental health. "We talk about it as if it's them over there, but 83% of us have a need.

Anthem's Geoffrey B. Crawford Wants To Fix Wellness Programs.

The 35-year-old medical director of the plan's office of medical policy and technology assessment has broad interests, but he's particularly keen on wellness because it "ties into the evidentiary component of my position-evaluating the scientific literature to support evidence-based medicine." His take: Rely less on active patient participation.

Theresa Blanco Often Manages Beyond Molina's Benefits Package.

For instance, say something a patient needs is not covered by Medicaid or an ACA plan. Blanco helps members find what they need by working with Molina's Community Connectors (community health workers) who help connect members to local community and not-for-profit organizations.

Possible Employee Wariness Stifles Telehealth's Acceptance.

A lot hinges on this question: Do you feel comfortable getting a diagnosis or being treated for a condition by someone on a screen?

Integrated Plans Fertile For Real-world Evidence.

But most insurers are taking a wait-and-see attitude even though in some clinical areas, such as diabetes, real-world evidence (RWE) has been a true game-changer. Payers have a pessimistic view that RWE can help them. It doesn't help that respected voices in health care agree.

PCPs, Health Plan Executives Differ About Value's Chances.

Doctors maintain that they simply do not have all the tools they need to make value-based care happen, even if they wanted it to happen. Health insurance executives counter that the situation is not that bad. There's some agreement, however, about quality measures being too complex.