Hyperlipidemia Not Associated With Cardiovascular Risk in Older Adults
Recent findings suggest that elevations in low-density lipoprotein cholesterol levels may not confer additional risk in populations 75 or older.
DCRI Study Finds New Predictor of Health Care Costs
New findings from the DCRI suggest that how military service members interpret their pain may be able to predict pain-related costs and total medical costs.
Warfarin Control Measures May Not Accurately Predict Risk in Atrial Fibrillation Patients
A metric typically used to determine doses of warfarin in patients with atrial fibrillation, international normalized ratio (INR), was once thought to be a potential indicator of future risk levels for bleeding or thrombotic events. However, research published recently in JAMA Cardiology by the DCRI’s Sean Pokorney, MD, MBA, suggests that historical INR values may not be the most accurate predictor of future events.
ARLG Study Employs Innovative Model to Test Diagnostics for Extragenital Gonorrhea
Molecular diagnostic assays have transformed the field of infectious diseases, allowing for swift and sensitive detection of organisms previously challenging to diagnose, but it can be difficult to study how these new tests perform. Members of the Antibacterial Resistance Leadership Group (ARLG), which is facilitated by the DCRI, recently conducted a study of several assays used to detect extragenital gonorrhea and Chlamydia trachomatis. They say their latest research will help to quell the transmission of these infections and could change the landscape for how diagnostic tests are studied.
Data Suggest Results From FDA-Mandated Testing Often Not Implemented in Clinical Practice
Investigators were unsure how they would use genetic information to choose treatment choices, then often failed to follow through on their pre-stipulated plan to use this information.
Study Examines Predictors of Transplant or Death in IPF Patients
Researchers examined clinical factors at the time of a patient’s enrollment in the IPF-PRO registry that might predict lung transplant or death.
Use of supportive palliative care lags for heart patients
While heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States, relatively few of these patients receive a referral to palliative care, focusing on quality of life and value-based treatment
Few people with heart failure take guideline-recommended drug
DCRI researchers found that heart failure patients are much more likely to take a guideline-recommended medication if they are started on the drug while still in the hospital.
Study finds lower death rates for TAVR centers that do more procedures
Hospitals that perform the highest volume of transcatheter-aortic valve replacement (TAVR) procedures have significantly lower mortality rates than centers that do fewer of the minimally invasive surgeries, according to an analysis by a collaboration that included the DCRI. The finding, published April 3 in the New England Journal of Medicine, comes as the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services is reconsidering the procedure’s coverage parameters, which established a center’s volume as a key criterion for reimbursement.
Large accountable care organizations committed to overhauled Medicare program
While most Accountable Care Organizations (ACOs) have committed to continue participating in the recently overhauled flagship Medicare Shared Savings Program (MSSP), physician-led ACOS are leaving at a higher rate than in 2017, new research from the Duke-Margolis Center for Health Policy and Leavitt Partners shows. Highlights of this research were published this month in Health Affairs. The DCRI’s Donald Taylor, PhD, is one of the study’s authors.