Identification of Functional, Social, and Health Needs of Older Residents in Nonurban Settings: A Community Risk Assessment.

We examined functional, social, and health needs and service delivery gaps among a geographically expansive and economically diverse population of older adults to identify service priorities. We conducted analyses based on 1280 respondents aged 60 years and older surveyed for an 8-county needs assessment. We identified three distinct risk profiles using two-step cluster analysis.

Using a randomized controlled trial to test whether modifications to contingency management improve outcomes for heavy drinkers with serious mental illness.

Background: In contingency management (CM), individuals receive rewards for alcohol abstinence. CM is associated with reduced alcohol use in adults with co-occurring serious mental illnesses (SMI). Pre-treatment urine ethyl glucuronide (uEtG) levels equivalent to daily heavy drinking (uEtG >349ng/mL) are associated with poor response to CM.

Connecting Patients to Prescription Assistance Programs: Effects on Emergency Department and Hospital Utilization.

Background: Manufacturer prescription assistance programs (PAPs) have been developed to provide medications at little or no cost to eligible patients. There are over 200 PAPs available from pharmaceutical companies, and each may have different eligibility requirements and assistance guidelines. A formalized community-based patient prescription coordinator can help patients navigate these programs by reviewing an applicant's financial information and medication requirements to identify which PAPs are most appropriate.

The effect of serious mental illness on the risk of rehospitalization among patients with diabetes.

Background: Medical-surgical rehospitalizations within a month after discharge among patients with diabetes result in tremendous costs to the US health care system.

Objective: The study's aim was to examine whether co-morbid serious mental illness diagnoses (bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or other psychotic disorders) among patients with diabetes are independently associated with medical-surgical rehospitalization within a month of discharge after an initial hospitalization.

Methods: This cohort study of all community hospitals in Washington state evaluated data from 82,060 adults discharged in the state of Washington with any International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision, Clinical Modification diagnosis indicating diabetes mellitus between 2010 and 2011.