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Study defines spending trends among dual-eligible beneficiaries By Jill Clendening While there has been much effort to control spending for individuals eligible for both Medicaid and Medicare in the United States, for the first time a team of Vanderbilt University health policy researchers have analyzed spending trends for this population over a multi-year period in order to gain a much clearer understanding of exactly how much is being spent and by whom.

Summary: Physicians and teaching hospitals in the United States receive approximately $7 billion from the pharmaceutical industry annually.1 These payments have been associated with higher-cost, brand-name pharmaceutical prescribing.2-4 Whether industry payments are associated with physician treatment choice in oncology is uncertain. We examined the association between oncologists’ receipt of payments from pharmaceutical manufacturers and drug selection in 2 situations where there are multiple treatment options. Citation: 

Key Points Question  Does Medicare Accountable Care Organization (ACO) enrollment drive changes in appropriateness of screening for breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer?