Data Mining Reveals Potential New Alzheimer’s Treatment

October 15, 2021 - A retrospective study of brain tissue samples and FDA-approved may have stumbled on an existing therapy for Alzheimer's disease.

Commonly Used Pill Gives Hope for Individuals with Alzheimer’s

In a study by the National Institute on Aging (NIA), researchers have found that a commonly available oral diuretic pill approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration is a potential treatment option for those at genetic risk of Alzheimer’s disease, advancing precision medicine.

The research indicates that those who took bumetanide had a significantly lower prevalence of Alzheimer’s disease compared to those who did not take the drug. The researchers analyzed information from databases of brain tissue samples and FDA-approved drugs. The team then examined human population studies to identify bumetanide as a leading potential drug treatment for Alzheimer’s.

“Though further tests and clinical trials are needed, this research underscores the value of big data-driven tactics combined with more traditional scientific approaches to identify existing FDA-approved drugs as candidates for drug repurposing to treat Alzheimer’s disease,” said NIA Director Richard J. Hodes, MD. READ MORE

Consumers Expect an Increasingly Digital Patient Experience

Having a good online presence and digital patient experience is more important than ever, with patients making healthcare access decisions after extensive research looking into cost, convenience, and online provider reviews, according to data from Kyruus in partnership with Wakefield Research.

The annual survey, now in its fifth iteration, was emailed to journalists and revealed key insights into patient preferences for digital and online presence. Patients want their healthcare providers and payers to be online, to offer online appointment scheduling, and to offer some virtual care options as in-person care access remains elusive for some, the survey of 1,000 healthcare consumers showed.

A majority of healthcare consumers (60 percent) are now researching potential healthcare providers online before booking with them. Another 58 percent of respondents said they also looked up ad hoc services like vaccines, testing, or urgent care online before accessing, too. READ MORE

Medicare Cuts to Impact Physician Compensation, Staffing

Healthcare organizations are planning to reconsider physician compensation, hiring, and other initiatives if Congress does not stop looming Medicare payment cuts.

Almost half (47 percent) of medical groups and integrated health systems recently polled by AMGA said they would redesign physician compensation if the cuts totaling nearly 10 percent of Medicare payments to physicians are enacted on January 1st. Another 43 percent said they would put a freeze on hiring.

Generally, the healthcare workforce would take the biggest hit from the cuts, including a 4-percent statutory pay-as-you-go (PAYGO) cut, 2-percent cut for Medicare sequestration, and a 3.75-percent cut due to evaluation and management (E/M) policy changes in the Physician Fee Schedule.

If all three payment cuts go into effect, about a quarter of respondents said they would have to furlough or lay off non-clinical staff, while nearly 20 percent would let go of clinical staff. About one in five organizations would also stop hiring specialties that are highly dependent on Medicare fee-for-service. READ MORE

Employers Expect a Return to Normal Benefits Spending in 2022

In 2022, health benefits spending will return to normal, pre-pandemic levels in 2022 by increasing by an average of 4.7 percent over 2021 healthcare costs, employers anticipated in Mercer’s National Survey of Employer-Sponsored Health Plans 2021.

The organization has surveyed slightly over 1,500 employers since June 2020 to assess the state of employer healthcare coverage. The return to normal levels is motivated mainly by a return to normal healthcare utilization levels among employees. Health benefit spending dropped in 2020 due to the dramatic decline in healthcare utilization during the pandemic as in-person care shut down.

Half of the larger employers surveyed and 65 percent of all companies with 20,000 employees or more stated that one of their goals for the next three to five years was lowering healthcare costs for employees. READ MORE

AstraZeneca Reveals Positive Results of COVID-19 Antibody Therapy

AstraZeneca recently announced that its COVID-19 antibody, AZD7442, reduced severe COVID-19 or death compared to placebo in non-hospitalized patients with mild-to-moderate symptomatic coronavirus.

The TACKLE Phase 3 COVID-19 treatment trial enrolled 903 participants to receive 600 milligrams of AZD7442 or placebo. Researchers found that AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing severe COVID-19 or death by 50 percent compared to placebo. Notably, there were 18 adverse events in the AZD7442 group compared to 37 in the placebo group.

Additionally, a prespecified analysis of participants who received treatment within five days of symptom onset found that AZD7442 reduced the risk of developing severe COVID-19 or death by 67 percent compared to placebo. About 90 percent of participants enrolled were from populations at high risk of progression to severe COVID-19, including those with co-morbidities. READ MORE

Kaiser, Mayo, and Other Form Home Health Consortium

Several large health systems have formed a coalition to support telehealth and remote patient monitoring strategies to provide acute care for patients at home.

The Advanced Care at Home Coalition builds on the surge in remote patient monitoring programs during the pandemic and the Acute Hospital at Home Program, launched in late 2020 by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. That program, which now involves more than 100 hospitals and health systems across the country, offers CMS waivers for a home-based care management plan to treat patients who would otherwise require hospitalizations for a broad range of acute conditions, including asthma, congestive heart failure, pneumonia and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Treatment plans combine RPM and telehealth with in-person care.

The coalition was launched by the Mayo Clinic, Medically Home, and Kaiser Permanente and includes Adventist Health, ChristianaCare, Geisinger Health, Integris, Johns Hopkins Medicine, Michigan Medicine (the University of Michigan), Novant Health, ProMedica, the Sharp Rees-Stealy Medical Group, UNC Health, and UnityPoint Health. READ MORE