Todd H Wagner

..This study analyzed spending for treatment of mental health and substance use disorders in the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) in fiscal years (FYs) 2000 through 2007...

..In this paper, we describe the study and compare participants' baseline characteristics to non-participants who received CABG surgery in the VA...

..This study compared the cost and quality of life for patients randomized to either radial artery or saphenous vein grafts...

..Stroke is a leading cause of disability. Rehabilitation robotics have been developed to aid in recovery after a stroke. This study determined the additional cost of robot-assisted therapy and tested its cost-effectiveness...

..The goal of this study was to assess whether NCI's CIRB was associated with lower effort, time, and cost in processing adult phase III oncology trials...

..2 million) of VA health care users had 3 or more of the 29 chronic conditions. These individuals accounted for 73 percent of the total cost. Overall, VA health care users have more chronic diseases than the general population...

..Encounter-level costs were then calculated by multiplying the average per diem cost by the number of days of stay in the fiscal year. The national cost estimates are more reliable than the local cost estimates...

..To learn how age and chronic illness affect costs in the Veterans Affairs healthcare system...

..Although FIM scores were associated with LOS, FIM scores accounted for little variance in cost after controlling for LOS. These results are most applicable to researchers conducting cost-effectiveness analyses...

..Recent regulatory changes and a few high-profile problems have prompted proposals for greater investments in IRBs...

..To determine what types of consumers use the Internet as a source of health information...

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..Health care system managers may not be influenced by research suggesting that the costs of SUD treatment are more than fully offset because they bear the cost of providing treatment while the savings largely accrue to other systems...

..The Internet is a source of health information and advice for individuals with chronic conditions and shows promise for helping individuals manage their conditions and improve their quality of life...

..Because medical centers with RTPs provided more services, this offset the per diem savings, resulting in no significant differences in total costs between medical centers with and without RPTs...

..They discuss the method's limitations and application in other health care systems...

..Results from this survey suggest that the internet may be a valuable health communication and education tool for populations who are affected by stigmatized illnesses...

..This provides a unique setting to study the ways that people who had not previously obtained Internet access use the Internet when it becomes available to them...

..We sought to determine the impact of a rapid response system on cardiac arrest rates and mortality in a United States veteran population...

..The efficacy of the radial artery graft is less clear...

..Chronic upper extremity impairment due to stroke has significant medical, psychosocial, and financial consequences, but few studies have examined the effectiveness of rehabilitation therapy during the chronic stroke period...

..The potential for PHRs to facilitate patient-centered care and health system transformation underscores the importance of embracing a broader perspective on PHR research...

..Forthcoming outcome data will provide much needed insights into the best practices for helping these veterans restore vocational goals and improve overall quality of life...

..The data show that this sample of patients with TBI consistently used a wide array of outpatient services over time with considerable variation in cost. Further study regarding economic aspects of care for patients with TBI is warranted...

..Effective rehabilitative therapies are needed for patients with long-term deficits after stroke...

..This knowledge gap is acute given the US Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA's) deployment of a major patient portal/personal health record system...

..Electronic personal health record (PHR) systems are proliferating but largely have not realized their potential for enhancing communication among patients and their network of care providers...

..Realigning the co-payments with cost-effectiveness data, also known as value-based insurance design, warrants further investigation...

..We reviewed existing methods for identifying patients with neck and back pain in administrative data. We compared these methods using data from the Department of Veterans Affairs...

..Overall, the VA reduced the average cost (per VA user) of specialized mental health care by 22 percent while it increased the number of users of these services by 35 percent...

..This randomized controlled trial evaluated and compared the total cost and cost per follow-up of a tailored outreach intervention plus usual care with the total cost and cost per follow-up of usual care alone...

..This is typically not done but it may be critical for study design and for interpreting CEA results...

..We examined consumers' search for information about health insurance choices and their use of the Internet for that search and to manage health benefits...

..Policy debates should consider the potential savings from large IRBs, perhaps by encouraging small IRBs to merge, although this may result in less local review, control, and oversight...

..Available estimates of use and impact vary widely. Without accurate estimates of use and effects, it is difficult to focus policy discussions or design appropriate policy activities...

..These consequences entail significant economic costs, of which a large percentage will be incurred by health plans. To the extent that OAB causes these consequences, there may be significant savings from effectively treating OAB...