The findings of low patient adherence and the impact of adherence on relapses and healthcare resource utilization strongly suggest opportunities to reduce healthcare resource utilization and healthcare costs among RRMS patients taking interferon-beta therapy. Efforts should be undertaken to understand and improve medication-taking behaviour in this population so as to minimize the negative impacts of RRMS on patients while reducing unnecessary direct and indirect costs to treat disease exacerbations.
Currently, the needle-free jet injection of lidocaine device and injection of buffered lidocaine appear to provide the most cost-effective alternatives to pediatric ED physicians.
This study tests the hypothesis that high hospice enrollment is associated with lower Medicare inpatient mortality. The results show that Medicare inpatient mortality in a state can be explained by hospice enrollment and a host of demographic and market environment variables. An increase in hospice population by 100 individuals is associated with a reduction of 28 inpatient deaths, ceteris paribus. The results suggest, among other things, that opportunities exist for greater expansion of hospice capacity in low-use states to reduce deaths in the expensive hospital setting and improve the quality of end-of-life care for terminally ill patients.
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