A Model for Estimating the Burden of Disease of Transfusion-Transmitted Infection.

Objectives: Blood transfusion is an important mode of infectious disease transmission in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs). This study describes a model to determine the prevalence of transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) and the associated burden of disease.

Methods: A five-step model was developed to determine the TTI-related burden of disease measured by disability-adjusted life years (DALYs).

Medicare Drug Pricing Negotiations: Assessing Constitutional Structural Limits.

A series of structural constitutional arguments lodged in multiple cases against Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services' (CMS) authorities to negotiate prescription drug prices via the 2022 Inflation Reduction Act threaten the legitimacy of CMS program and federal agency powers.

Evaluating network adequacy of oral health services for children on Medicaid in Arizona.

Purpose: Inadequate networks can prevent patients from being able to see the providers that they trust and depend upon, especially for children insured through Medicaid. To improve our understanding of poor oral health care outcomes, we conducted a test of network adequacy among Medicaid pediatric dental providers in Arizona through a "secret shopper" phone survey.

Methods: This study tested multiple components of children's access to oral health care, including reliability of provider directory information, appointment availability at the practice level for children covered under Medicaid versus commercial insurance, and compliance with regulatory standards.

Recovery support specialists inside the jail: a program description of treatment engagement for opioid use disorder.

Purpose: People living with opioid use disorder (OUD) disproportionately encounter the criminal justice system. Although incarcerated individuals with OUD face higher risk for withdrawals, relapses and overdoses, most jails fail to offer comprehensive medications for OUD (MOUD), including recovery support services and transition of care to a community provider. The purpose of this paper is to describe the development and implementation of a comprehensive MOUD program at a large county jail system in Maricopa County, Arizona.

Innovations in U.S. Health Care Delivery to Reduce Disparities in Maternal Mortality Among African American and American Indian/Alaskan Native Women.

Despite spending more on health care than any other country, the United States has the worst maternal mortality rate among all developed nations. African American and American Indian/Alaskan Native women have the worst outcomes by race, representing a stark health disparity within the country. Contributing factors disproportionately experienced by these minority populations include challenges of access to consistent and high-quality prenatal care, prevalence of underlying conditions, toxic stress due to systemic racism, and unconscious bias in health care.

Discordance in Perceptions of Barriers to Breast Cancer Treatment Between Hispanic Women and Their Providers.

Despite comparable screening and incidence rates that are 26% below that of non-Hispanic Whites, Hispanic women present with breast cancer at more advanced stages of disease, representing a continuing and troubling health disparity for this population. Reducing these disparities warrant more innovative research approaches to better understand perspectives of Hispanic patients regarding barriers to treatment and how these perspectives compare to those of their providers. A pilot qualitative study was conducted at a major urban cancer center in Arizona that measured both patient and provider perspectives regarding barriers to treatment.