With the number of opioid-related overdose deaths in the U.S. reaching a record high last year, it’s time for our nation to fully embrace evidence-based treatment options that best support our communities, loved ones, friends and families in their recovery efforts. One growing approach—often considered as the gold standard of treatment—is medication-assisted treatment (MAT). MAT…
For healthcare providers, prior authorization (PA) via fax or telephone is the second most costly medical administrative function. On average, medical staff spend two business days per week on PA. Automating PA while maintaining clinical excellence is essential for better care delivery. With a focus on leveraging digital solutions and fostering data-enabled decisions, Magellan Healthcare…
One suicide is too many. Yet more than 47,000 Americans die each year as a result of suicide. Because suicide is the 10th leading cause of death in our nation, we at Magellan Health believe it is nothing short of a public health crisis. Thankfully many experts and organizations agree. Recently, Magellan had the privilege…
Prior authorization (PA) goes by many names—preauthorization, preapproval, advance notification, precertification and preadmission, to name a few. All these terms refer to the utilization management (UM) process used by many U.S. health insurance companies to ensure patients receive the right services, equipment and prescriptions at the right time and place. PA requires healthcare providers to…
The Magellan Rx Management Medical Pharmacy Trend ReportTM is an annually published resource highlighting medical drug trend and analytics. The Trend Report includes primary and secondary analyses of provider-administered drugs, which are infused or injected and paid under the medical benefit. The data comprise the results from Magellan Rx’s 2018 survey, including responses from 45…
Nearly 2 decades after measles was declared “eliminated” in the United States (US), we find ourselves in the midst of an unprecedented measles outbreak in the modern era of vaccination. As of July 25, 2019, a total of 1,164 active cases of measles have been confirmed in 30 states. As one of the most contagious…
As we observe National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month we sat down with Dr. Diane Felder, Medical Director, Magellan Healthcare of Texas. Magellan Health Insights: Dr. Felder, thank you for speaking with us today. Of course, everyone’s mental health is critical, but why is it important to pay particular attention to minority mental health?…
Two patients, both 73-year-old males with newly diagnosed congestive heart failure, are seen by the same provider and prescribed the same therapeutic regimen. Despite the similarities, the 2 patients experienced drastically different therapeutic outcomes. These divergent outcomes were not attributable to the clinical care they received but instead to non-clinical factors surrounding each patient’s circumstances….