Department of Health Policy

May 12, 2020

Study finds newborn opioid withdrawal rates show evidence of stabilizing

Rates of neonatal abstinence syndrome (NAS) have plateaued after 20 years of increasing frequency across the country, according to a new study published in Health Affairs. NAS is a withdrawal syndrome experienced by some opioid-exposed newborns after birth.

By VUMC News and Communications
May 7, 2020

Rheumatoid arthritis patients on Medicare seeing increased out-of-pocket costs for specialty medications

After a sharp drop in out-of-pocket costs between 2010 and 2011, Medicare patients who use specialty biologic medications for rheumatoid arthritis have seen higher out-of-pocket spending for those same drugs because of gradual price increases, a new study finds.

By Jake Lowary
April 22, 2020

Safeguarding opioids a concern as children may have more access with families at home due to COVID-19

A new poll from the Vanderbilt Center for Child Health Policy found that few Tennessee parents take steps to safeguard opioids at home, an important concern when children are spending more time indoors due to COVID-19 social distancing recommendations.

By Jake Lowary
April 9, 2020

Vanderbilt Health Policy COVID-19 model finds evidence of flattening curve, recommends distancing policies continue

Vanderbilt University Medical Center researchers have found evidence of the rate of COVID-19 infection slowing in Tennessee, which reduces the chance that the state will run out of hospital capacity for patients.

By Jake Lowary
April 9, 2020

VUMC study named as JAMA Surgery’s top paper

The world’s No.1 ranked surgery journal, JAMA Surgery, has announced that a June 2019 study led by researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center was the journal’s top paper of the year as measured by Altmetric Attention Score.

By Paul Govern
April 6, 2020

Vanderbilt team develops COVID-19 predictive model for Tennessee

A team including health economists, epidemiologists and a biostatistician at Vanderbilt University Medical Center and Vanderbilt University are amassing and processing data to develop a complex predictive model of the spread of COVID-19 within Tennessee, with region-specific projections, as well as a model of projected resource use during response to the pandemic.

By Jill Clendening
March 12, 2020

Clinical investigation society lauds Vanderbilt scientists

Five faculty members of Vanderbilt University School of Medicine are among 80 physician-scientists who will be inducted this year into the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), an elite honor society of physician-scientists from the upper ranks of academic medicine and industry. They are:
By Bill Snyder
March 4, 2020

Analysis finds Affordable Care Act has dented health care cost curve

A decade after the passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) of 2010, there is evidence that the landmark health care legislation has contributed to slower growth of U.S. health care spending.
By Jake Lowary
January 6, 2020

Study links Medicaid expansion and recipients’ health status

In Southern states that expanded their Medicaid programs under the Affordable Care Act, adults experienced lower rates of decline in both physical and mental health, according to research published this month in the journal Health Affairs.
By Jake Lowary
December 20, 2019

Tennessee Receives Grant from Federal Government to Address Opioid Crisis

The Division of TennCare will partner with VUMC as part of the MOM program focusing on 26 rural and urban counties to improve the outcomes for women with opioid use disorder and their infants.
By Holly Fletcher
October 23, 2019

New podcast seeks to explain health care system’s many mysteries

Everyone wants to fix the massive and complex U.S. health care system. But the truth is there is no silver bullet that will seamlessly reform the industry that consumes one-fifth the world’s largest economy.
By Jake Lowary
October 10, 2019

Project seeks to enhance opioid care for infants

The number of opioid-exposed infants who were connected, along with their families, to outside resources upon discharge from the hospital surged in a recent six-month pilot.
By Holly Fletcher
October 9, 2019

Vaccine study seeks to halt flu’s most severe side effects

Vanderbilt University Medical Center is leading a multicenter national study to evaluate the effectiveness of the influenza vaccine for preventing the flu’s most serious side effects — admission to an intensive care unit (ICU), organ failure and death.
By Nancy Humphrey
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