Background: Medication costs can lead to financial burdens for patients, creating barriers to effective medication use. Health care provider use of real-time benefit tools (RTBTs) may facilitate cost conversations with patients. We sought to explicate patient views on how RTBTs could be used to improve cost considerations in prescribing decisions.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFInt J Environ Res Public Health
August 2022
Children across all races/ethnicities and income levels experience adverse childhood experiences (ACEs); however, historically excluded children and families must contend with added adversities across ecological levels and within higher-risk conditions due to systemic inequality. In this grounded theory study, the authors examined how health and social service providers ( = 81) from rural and urban counties in Tennessee provided services to low-income families, children exposed to opioids, and children of immigrants. Guided by an intersectional framework, the authors examined how rural and urban settings shaped higher risk conditions for ACEs and impeded access to resources at the individual, group, and community levels.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFHigh medication prices can create a financial burden for patients and reduce medication initiation. To improve decision making, public policy is supporting development of tools to provide real-time prescription drug prices. We reviewed the literature on medication cost conversations to characterize the context in which these tools may be used.
View Article and Find Full Text PDF: Medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) improve outcomes for pregnant women and infants. Our primary aim was to examine disparities in maternal MOUD receipt by family sociodemographic characteristics. : This retrospective cohort study included mother-infant dyads with Medicaid-covered deliveries in Tennessee from 2009 to 2016.
View Article and Find Full Text PDFEmergency Medical Service (EMS) alternative destination programs may lead to improved care quality among those experiencing mental health crises but the association with cost and emergency department (ED) recidivism remains unexamined. We compare rates of post-discharge health services use and Medicaid spending among patients transported to an ED or community mental health center (CMHC) finding higher ED recidivism for patient treated in the ED, compared to those treated in a CMHC (68% vs 34%, p < 0.001).
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