Healthcare performance for patients with heart failure in Iran: addressing the tip of the iceberg.

Background: Chronic diseases, such as heart failure with reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF), remain significant factors in the healthcare burden in Iran. Healthcare systems must have comprehensive data on the current usage, costs, and quality of care to tackle these challenges and formulate strategic plans effectively.

Methods: The study included 209 patients with a mean age of 58 years (SD = 16.

Relationship of hub and treatment characteristics with client outcomes in the initial Washington State hub and spoke cohort.

Introduction: Washington State's Hub and Spoke (HS) approach aims to improve availability of opioid use disorder (OUD) treatment. Washington initially funded six hubs with expertise in medications for opioid use disorder (MOUD) that built care networks with referral and treatment partners (spokes). We assessed outcomes for the initial HS cohort, considering the role of HS and treatment characteristics.

Veteran Preferences and Willingness to Share Patient-Generated Health Data.

Background: Technologies, including mobile health applications (apps) and wearables, offer new potential for gathering patient-generated health data (PGHD) from patients; however, little is known about patient preferences for and willingness to collect and share PGHD with their providers and healthcare systems.

Objective: Describe how patients use their PGHD and factors important to patients when deciding whether to share PGHD with a healthcare system.

Design: Cross-sectional mailed longitudinal survey supplemented with administrative data within the Veterans Health Administration (VHA).

Pregnancy Intendedness Among Racial and Ethnically Minoritized Women with Disabilities.

A limited number of studies have examined the prevalence of unintended pregnancy among disabled women. However, no studies to date have examined the association between pregnancy intention and disability, in combination with race and ethnicity. We analyzed data from the National Survey of Family Growth from the period 2011-2019 to estimate the prevalence of pregnancy intendedness among women with disabilities 15-45 years of age.

Medicaid managed care restrictions on medications for the treatment of opioid use disorder.

Objective: To examine whether Medicaid managed care plan (MCP) utilization management policies for buprenorphine-naloxone and injectable naltrexone are related to key state Medicaid program policy decisions.

Data Sources And Study Setting: We abstracted data on state Medicaid regulatory and policy information from publicly available sources and publicly available insurance benefit documentation from all 241 Medicaid MCPs operating in 2021.

Study Design: In this cross-sectional study, we used bivariate and multivariate analyses to examine whether Medicaid MCP prior authorization and quantity limits on receipt of buprenorphine and injectable naltrexone were associated with key state Medicaid choices to leverage federal funds to expand coverage and eligibility (Medicaid expansion, 1115 waivers) and to regulate Medicaid MCPs (uniform preferred drug lists, medical loss ratio remittance).

Costs and resource distribution of direct services for HIV in Uganda.

Objective: In high HIV-burden countries like Uganda, financing and resource allocation for HIV services have rapidly evolved. This study aimed to employ time-driven activity-based costing (TDABC) to examine the allocation of resources and associated costs for HIV care throughout the country.

Design: A cross-sectional study.

Disparities in healthcare-seeking behaviors and associated costs between Venezuelan migrants and Colombians residing in Colombia.

Background: Colombia, which hosts over 3 million of the Venezuelan diaspora, is lauded for its progressive approach to social integration, including providing migrants access to its universal health coverage system. However, barriers to healthcare persist for both migrant and host populations, with poorly understood disparities in healthcare-seeking behaviors and associated costs. This is the first study to link healthcare-seeking behaviors with costs for Venezuelan migrants in Colombia, encompassing costs of missing work or usual activities due to healthcare events.

Medical Cannabis Dosing Trajectories of Patients: Evidence From Sales Data.

Purpose: Medical cannabis use is rising with limited high-quality clinical trial data to guide dosing. This study relies on real-world, longitudinal medical cannabis purchase data to provide information on Δ-9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) and cannabidiol (CBD) dosing trends for patients with qualifying medical conditions.

Methods: A retrospective study of purchases by 16,727 patients obtaining medical cannabis from dispensaries located in New York between 2016 and 2019, recorded in point-of-sale data.

Disparities in Alcohol Treatment Use at the Intersection of Race, Ethnicity, Gender, and Insurance.

Background: Treatment for alcohol use disorder (AUD) has the potential to improve health and quality of life. Little is known about disparities in AUD treatment utilization at the intersection of race and gender. We examined disparities in AUD treatment utilization among those diagnosed with AUD in a community sample, by race, ethnicity, and gender, and whether disparities varied by insurance.

Photovoice and Health Perception in a Group of Early-Career Nurses.

Nurses' perceptions of health are essential to decision making and communicating with clients. However, little is known about their own perceptions of this phenomenon. This study focuses on health-related beliefs among young nurses enrolled in a master's-level nursing program using a modified photovoice methodology.

The quality of home-based primary care delivered by nurse practitioners: A national Medicare claims analysis.

Background: As the US population ages, there is an increasing demand for home-based primary care (HBPC) by those with Alzheimer's/dementia, multiple chronic conditions, severe physical limitations, or those facing end-of life. Nurse practitioners (NPs) are increasingly providing HBPC, yet little is known about their quality of care in this unique setting.

Methods: This observational study uses Medicare claims data from 2018 to assess the quality of care for high-intensity HBPC users (5 or more visits/year) based on provider type (NP-only, physician (MD)-only, or both NP and MDs).

PrEP Stigma as a Minority Stressor among Black Sexual Minority Men: A Mixed-Methods Study.

Black sexual minority men (BSMM) remain disproportionately affected by HIV, yet Pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) uptake in this population remains relatively low. Informed by minority stress theory, PrEP stigma may manifest in and exacerbate societal marginalization based on sexuality and race. We used an exploratory sequential mixed-methods approach to determine if PrEP-specific stigma was associated with reduced PrEP uptake among BSMM, and qualitatively explored how PrEP use is stigmatized among BSMM.

Universal coverage for oral health care in 27 low-income countries: a scoping review.

Background: Low-income countries bear a growing and disproportionate burden of oral diseases. With the World Health Organization targeting universal oral health coverage by 2030, assessing the state of oral health coverage in these resource-limited nations becomes crucial. This research seeks to examine the political and resource commitments to oral health, along with the utilization rate of oral health services, across 27 low-income countries.

Does poor health influence residential selection? Understanding mobility among low-income housing voucher recipients in the Moving to Opportunity Study.

Housing mobility programs and housing choice vouchers provide low-income families with a potentially-transformative opportunity to move to low-poverty neighborhoods. However, families often face barriers to attaining upward residential mobility; poor health may be one important barrier, although few studies have examined this hypothesis. We used the experimental Moving to Opportunity (MTO) Study, constructed residential trajectories, and linked neighborhood opportunity measures to over 14,000 addresses of 3526 families across 7 years.

Estimating dengue disease and economic burden to inform municipal-level policymakers: Method for a pragmatic city-level observational cohort study.

Background: Recent trials have confirmed the effectiveness of promising dengue control technologies - two vaccines and . These would generally be applied at the municipal level. To help local officials decide which, if any, control strategy to implement, they need affordable, timely, and accurate data on dengue burden.

Pharmacy Naloxone Standing Order and Community Opioid Fatality Rates Over Time.

Importance: Despite the proliferation of pharmacy standing-order naloxone dispensing across many US states before the change to over-the-counter status, few policy analyses have evaluated the implementation of pharmacy naloxone standing orders in addressing opioid overdose fatality among communities.

Objective: To determine whether the implementation of pharmacy standing-order naloxone was associated with lower opioid fatality rates compared with communities without pharmacies with standing-order naloxone.

Design, Setting, And Participants: This retrospective multisite study was conducted with an interrupted time series analysis across 351 municipalities in Massachusetts over 24 quarters (from January 1, 2013, through December 31, 2018).

Medications for Alcohol Use Disorder: Rates and Predictors of Prescription Order and Fill in Outpatient Settings.

Background: Alcohol use disorders (AUD) are prevalent and responsible for substantial morbidity and mortality; yet efficacious treatments are underused. Previous studies have identified demographic and clinical predictors of medication fills, yet these studies typically do not include patients who were prescribed a medication but did not fill it.

Objectives: To examine rates of and factors associated with prescription order and prescription fill for medications for AUD (MAUD) among individuals diagnosed with AUD in outpatient settings.

Non-COVID Respiratory Infections Related Emergency Room Visits Among Autistic Adults in the United States.

Introduction: This is a retrospective study that examines the risk of non-COVID-19 respiratory infection (RI)-related emergency department (ED) visits and hospitalizations among autistic adults. The study compares these findings to non-autistic adults using the 2018 Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project Nationwide Emergency Department Sample.

Methods: The data were analyzed in 2022 using the ICD-10-CM codes to extract 46,996 case records that included an autism diagonosis matched by age and sex (140,997) records that did not include an autism diagnosis in a 1:3 case-control ratio.

Views and experiences of involuntary civil commitment of people who use drugs in Massachusetts (Section 35).

Background: Involuntary civil commitment (ICC) is a court-mandated process to place people who use drugs (PWUD) into substance use treatment. Research on ICC effectiveness is mixed, but suggests that coercive drug treatment like ICC is harmful and can produce a number of adverse outcomes. We qualitatively examined the experiences and outcomes of ICC among PWUD in Massachusetts.

Start-Up and Implementation Costs for the Trust Based Relational Intervention.

Capturing costs associated with prevention activities related to substance use disorders (SUD) and mental health (MH) is critical. In this study, Trust Based Relational Intervention (TBRI®), an attachment-based, trauma-informed intervention, is conceptualized as a preventive intervention to reduce substance and opioid use among youth involved with the legal system. When implemented alongside community reentry, TBRI leverages family systems as youth transition from secure residential care into communities through emotional guidance and role modeling.

Hospital-Skilled Nursing Facility Integration and Participation in a Bundled Payment Initiative.

Importance: Reduced institutional postacute care has been associated with savings in alternative payment models. However, organizations may avoid voluntary participation if participation could threaten their own revenues.

Objective: To characterize the association between hospital-skilled nursing facility (SNF) integration and participation in Medicare's Bundled Payments for Care Improvement Advanced (BPCI-A) program.