Key study: ACOs haven't reduced cancer cost. Why? 1 Complicated care 2 Expensive drugs 3 Lack of ACO focus on cancer 4 Cancer value initiatives already reduced cost I'd bet on 2 bit.ly/2PROpSC Journal of Clinical Oncology Miranda Lam Jose Figueroa, MD, MPH Ashish K. Jha @dukemargolis Duke Forge

The Joint Commission accrediting hospitals is supposed to adjudicate quality of care, promote safety and lead to better patient outcomes. A new studiy questions that bmj.com/content/363/bm… The BMJ #OA Miranda Lam Ashish K. Jha et al wsj.com/articles/study… by Stephanie Armour The Wall Street Journal

Our The BMJ study finds that private accreditation (including The Joint Commission) is not consistently associated with better patient outcomes than when reviewed by state agencies. Time for new metrics to improve value? Ashish K. Jha Jose Figueroa, MD, MPH Yevgeniy Feyman 🟣 Kim Reimold

I'm sensing a new wave of reports on cancer "overtaking" or "surpassing" heart disease as leading cause of death in the US. Here's your friendly reminder that this is a story about which cause of death is decreasing more quickly.

The #homeless crisis is worsening in US cities. Our new study finds that hospitalizations among homeless adults are also rising. Despite greater policy focus, mental illness & substance use disorders remain the primary drivers (>50%) of hospitalization. bit.ly/2DXzWlC

An otherworldly explanation of counterfactuals and diff in diff by the always on point @laura_tastic . #HMSHCP 30th Anniversary Symposium

**New study in JAMA** We find that implementation of the Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program was associated with ⬆ 30-day post-discharge mortality among patients hospitalized w/ heart failure or pneumonia, but not AMI. Robert W. Yeh Karen Joynt Maddox bit.ly/2BzaQpD

Interesting and important publication. IMO, large databases are better suited to characterize patterns of care, rather than comparing treatment efficacy. Too many unknown confounders for the latter.

Thanks JAMA Oncology for publishing our work on reasons for non-insurance in cancer survivors.TBL: the ACA was successful in increasing insurance rates among cancer survivors - any dismantling of the ACA could be detrimental. @Beam_Doc Miranda Lam Shaalan Beg MD MBA FASCO jamanetwork.com/journals/jamao…

Population Health Management is all the rage....so I wrote about it for JAMA Forum. What's it about? And what's the evidence? In short -- do it because it might save lives, not because it will save money. newsatjama.jama.com/2019/06/26/jam…

Congrats to our awesome #mri guided #radiotherapy team Brigham and Women's Hospital /Dana-Farber for scanning our first #cancer patient for treatment planning on the cutting edge MRI-guided linear accelerator (first in New England)! Amazing work! looking forward to first treatments in 2 weeks!

Excited to present our work on ACOs and cancer care at AJMC future of oncology value based care meeting Ashish K. Jha Jose Figueroa, MD, MPH

Nice piece about cancer care in ACOs I missed! Among cancer patients, no significant declines in spending associated with ACOs. Speaks to debate on if global payment is enough, or if we need to tailor programs for some high-cost groups. Miranda Lam ascopubs.org/doi/pdf/10.120…

Thanks @sprakermdphd! We were surprised by the results of our study led by Devarati Mitra & will be treating more scalp/face #angiosarcomas w/ VMAT. Great initial results for your clinical trial w/ chemoRT. Agree we need to continue to improve outcomes for these patients! #CTOS2019

So I wrote an op-ed in The Boston Globe about surprise billing I hate it. I Its a moral corruption of our profession Yes its complex. Yes there are times when insurers don't negotiate in good faith But often surprise billing is a business model. And it undermines trust in doctors

Cardiologists are increasingly leaving smaller practices and joining larger practices over time. Recent health reform efforts (⬆️ regulation, ⬆️ value-based contracts, ⬆️ need for “quality” reporting) likely playing a role. Our new JACC Journals work Karen Joynt Maddox Miranda Lam

New research: Medicaid expansion associated with decreased mortality among newly diagnosed breast, colorectal and lung cancer patients: ms.spr.ly/6016Thp3o via JAMA Network Open Miranda Lam Ashish K. Jha Brigham and Women's Hospital Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health

Prioritizing health equity in radiation oncology: Miranda Lam, MD MBA (Miranda Lam), of Dana-Farber and Brigham and Women’s Radiation Oncology and Parsa Erfani (Parsa Erfani) explore ways to protect vulnerable populations within the @CMSGove radiation oncology model @astro_org: ms.spr.ly/6014VS58j

Alternative payment models can and should incentivize reduction of health disparities. We argue how the Radiation Oncology Model CMSGov can be reformed before 2022 to help close the cancer gap in the US. 🙏Miranda Lam Jose Figueroa, MD, MPH redjournal.org/article/S0360-…

Know anyone interested in health policy/health services research? We are hiring for a research assistant position Harvard Health Policy and Management Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Pre-grad/pre-meds welcome to apply! Thomas Tsai, MD, MPH Renee N Salas, MD, MPH Laura Burke Miranda Lam Austin Frakt sjobs.brassring.com/TGnewUI/Search…