On the pulse

Lower levels of testing and higher positivity rates, higher rates of dangerous drug combination use, and increases in fatal and non-fatal overdoses during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic reveal a need for more resources to address the opioid epidemic in the United States.

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This KCast features Jeanne Sheffield, MD, Director of Maternal-Fetal Medicine at John Hopkins Medicine, and Aparna Sridhar, MD, MPH, an ob/gyn at UCLA Health as they discuss COVID's impact on testing, telehealth, and care accessibility.

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Have payer disparities seemed to grow worse during the pandemic, especially with telehealth? Take the poll now.

The scoping review revealed target areas that require additional research, as well as a need for more variety in study designs, populations, and locations.

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Some women are unable to choose noninvasive prenatal testing (NIPT), due to lack of insurance coverage, according to a pilot study in the Journal of Community Genetics.

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Office of the Inspector General recommends CMS conduct targeted hospital reviews for possible upcoding violations.

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Since 2012, when South Carolina's Medicaid program became the first state Medicaid program to separate payment for the immediate postpartum placement of long-acting reversible contraception (LARC) from global maternity payment, a significantly greater number of mothers are using LARC, especially among adolescents.

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Diverse Voices: COVID-19 and the Health of Women, a virtual speaker series run by the NIH Office of Research on Women’s Health (ORWH), presented compiled research on sex and gender disparities during the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition to identifying issues of concern, the webinar offered actions to improve women’s health despite sex and gender disadvantages.

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A narrative review identified gaps in knowledge and considerations for informing sexually transmitted infection (STI) screening guidelines and treatment to improve the health of pregnant women and children.

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