Results from a recent survey found that the 7 largest health insurers in the United States significantly reduced their claim denial rates and improved their transparency and accuracy of contracted rates. However, they had an average claims processing accuracy rate of 80.7%, down from 82.7% last year. The decrease led to an estimated $1.5 billion in unnecessary administrative costs, according to the American Medical Association (AMA).

As of January 1, 2011, Americans covered by Medicare were able to begin taking advantage of benefits and savings available through the Affordable Care Act. According to a report from the US Department of Health and Human Services, >150,000 seniors and people with disabilities have taken advantage of the improvements offered by the new law, particularly in the area of preventive services. The report was published online [www.HealthCare.gov/center/reports/prevention03162011a.pdf].

Physical and social functioning following serious illness has been shown to correlate with patient expectations for recovery. However, evidence showing the impact of expectations on clinical outcomes is limited. Prior studies have examined the links between recovery expectations and rehabilitation outcomes, including self-reported well-being, functional status, and return to work, but there are few studies documenting possible associations between expectations and subsequent clinical events.

There are >2.5 million eye injuries each year in the United States, and 50,000 people permanently lose all or part of their vision. Of those injuries, 44.1% occur at home, 800,000 are work related, and 14.7% of eye injuries among children ages 5 to 14 years are sports related. It is estimated that >90% of all eye injuries are preventable with the use of protective eyewear.

According to a Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation report from the Kaiser Commission on Medicaid and the Uninsured, states offering a single online application process for Medicaid, the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), and insurance exchanges reduce barriers to access, decrease their administrative burden, and position themselves for compliance with provisions of the Affordable Care Act that require states to implement an online application process for these programs by 2014.

San Diego—An open-label, randomized trial found that patients with type 2 diabetes who took insulin degludec in a flexible regimen had similar glycemic control, rates of hypoglycemia, insulin dose, and weight gain compared with patients who took insulin glargine at the same time each day according to the product’s labeling. The authors concluded that insulin degludec can be injected at different times each day and still not compromise glycemic control or safety.

Results were presented at the ADA meeting in a late-breaking poster titled Flexible Once-

San Diego—During a symposium at the ADA meeting, a pharmaceutical industry executive and a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) official provided their views on the pharmaceutical industry and how regulations and an increased concern with safety will affect drug development.

San Diego—Patients with type 2 diabetes who underwent an intensive dietary intervention showed significant improvement in glycemic control compared with those who received normal care. However, among the patients who had the diet intervention, those who also were part of an exercise regimen did not receive an added benefit from exercising.

Results of the multicenter, parallel-group, randomized, controlled Early ACTID (Activity in Type 2 Diabetes) trial were presented at the ADA meeting and simultaneously published online in The Lancet [doi:10.1016/50140-6736(11)60442-x].

San Diego—The annual costs associated with managing patients with type 2 diabetes through a structured lifestyle intervention decreased during a 4-year period, according to results of an ongoing multicenter, randomized controlled trial. Ping Zhang, PhD, from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s Division of Diabetes Translation, presented the findings at the ADA meeting in an oral abstract session.

San Diego—A retrospective analysis of 212,061 patients with type 2 diabetes found that those taking sulfonylureas, insulin, or other oral antidiabetic agents such as meglitinide and alpha-glucosidase were at the highest risk of hypoglycemia. They also had a significantly higher risk if they received metformin or thiazolidinediones compared with a placebo group. However, dipeptidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors and exenatide were not associated with a higher risk.

Chicago—A study of patients with progressive metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) who had previously used ketoconazole and then took abiraterone acetate showed that the 2 drugs could be used as sequential therapy. The researchers concluded that ketoconazole did not result in permanent adrenal dysfunction, and it did not affect the safety of abiraterone acetate.

Chicago—A randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled phase 3 trial found that patients with advanced nonsquamous non–small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) taking pemetrexed continuation maintenance therapy had a significantly improved progression-free survival compared with a placebo group. Luis Paz-Ares, MD, PhD, the study’s lead author, presented the results at the ASCO meeting in an oral abstract session.

Chicago—A retrospective cohort study of patients taking clopidogrel who underwent elective colonoscopy at the Dallas Veterans Affairs (VA) Medical Center concluded that the cardiovascular risks associated with temporarily discontinuing treatment outweigh the risk of bleeding following polypectomy. Lead investigator Fatema S. Uddin, MD, a gastroenterologist with the University of Texas Southwestern/Dallas VA Medical Center, presented findings at the DDW meeting.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) infections are one of the most common causes of disease in the healthcare setting. The most common problems include ventilator-associated pneumonia, bloodstream infection associated with central venous catheters, and surgical-site infections.

The US Department of Health and Human Services (DHHS) is considering changing the regulations governing research involving human study participants, according to a July 22, 2011, press release from DHHS. The federal government is considering “various ways of enhancing” the current regulations, known as the Common Rule, in place since 1991. DHHS is asking for input from the public on issues relating to the ethics, safety, and oversight of human research.

Among patients with osteoporosis, the use of bisphosphonates reduces the overall risk of fracture with long-lasting beneficial effect. However, there have been reports of atypical fractures associated with the use of bisphosphonates. In published case reports that classified femoral fractures as stress fractures or nonstress fractures according to their radiographic appearance, among patients admitted to tertiary centers, such stress fractures (atypical femoral fractures) were more common in patients who had received bisphosphonates than in those who did not.

In 2008, study results demonstrated that compared with watchful waiting, radical prostatectomy decreased the risk of metastases, the rate of death from prostate cancer, and the rate of death from any cause. Although the participants in the Scandinavian Prostate Cancer Group Study Number 4 trial were predominantly men whose prostate cancers were detected on the basis of symptoms, rather than by elevated prostate-specific antigen levels, the researchers have noted that prostate cancer events have occurred during the extended follow-up period in men with low-risk disease.

In 1998, the multidetector row computed tomographic pulmonary angiography (CTPA) was introduced, changing the way physicians approach pulmonary embolism (PE). The test was expected to improve outcomes of PE by detecting and allowing treatment of emboli that had been overlooked with earlier tests, including ventilation-perfusion scans and invasive pulmonary angiography.

Age was the strongest predictor of 90-day mortality among patients with ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI) for reperfusion, according to results of a recent study [Arch Intern Med. 2011;171(6):559-567].

A randomized Korean study found percutaneous coronary intervention (PCI) with sirolimus-eluting stents noninferior to coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) in patients with unprotected left main coronary stenosis. Despite PCI’s apparent effectiveness, the study was not sufficiently powered to inform practice decisions, and CABG remains the treatment of choice.