Music medicine and music therapy in neonatal care: a scoping review of passive music listening research applications and findings on infant development and medical practice.

Background: In recent years, the use of music as a therapeutic and developmental tool for infants, especially within neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), has seen a surge in interest. Despite a growing body of research underscoring the potential benefits of music therapy and music medicine in enhancing infant development and aiding medical practices, the specific characteristics of music that maximize these benefits remain poorly understood.

Objectives: This scoping review aims to provide a comprehensive foundation by mapping the existing literature on passive music listening and identifying gaps, trends, and patterns that are crucial precursors to the development of best practices.

Accountable care organization changes in equity of ambulatory care quality by patient race and ethnicity, 2019-2022.

There is limited information about accountable care organization (ACO) variation in equity of ambulatory care quality. We examine whether equity of care changed for racial and ethnic minority patients from 2019 to 2022 and the extent to which equity of care performance varied for 11 ACOs in Massachusetts over time. We analyzed ACO-level changes in equity of care for 8 ambulatory care quality measures for Asian, Black, and Hispanic patients, measured as the percentage point difference between each group and the majority non-Hispanic White patient group.

Launching Financial Incentives for Physician Groups to Improve Equity of Care by Patient Race and Ethnicity.

Unlabelled: Policy Points What are the facilitators and barriers of physician group participation in a performance-based financial incentive program aimed at improving equity of care by patient race and ethnicity? Launching financial incentives to improve racial equity has required extensive organizational change management for participating physician groups, including major investments to improve quality management systems. Carefully designing financial incentives to encourage equity improvement while managing unintended consequences, and considering physician groups' populations served, baseline maturity of quality management systems, and efforts to assess and address patients' social risk factors have been central to prepare physician groups for financial incentives to improve equity of care. Given the major investments required of physician groups to prepare for financial incentives that reward equity improvement, alignment of equity of care measure specifications and reporting requirements across payers could facilitate physician group engagement.