Among the typical employer's workforce, there are employees with various physical and psychological conditions that may affect their healthcare costs and productivity. One such condition, bipolar disorder, is especially costly. Despite many available treatments, a large portion of bipolar...

When adults become ill they typically use more than just medical care services. They often miss time from work or incur periods of short term disability. In some cases, they also use workers' compensation, occupational health or long term disability programme services and, in some situations,...

Recently, the US FDA has expanded its efforts to move prescribed drugs onto over-the-counter (OTC) status. This approach is consistent with the movement towards `consumerism' in healthcare, which reflects the belief that enhanced consumer autonomy will increase choice and control costs without...

Objective: To compare health expenditures among elderly Medicaid patients with asthma or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) who used either nebulized levalbuterol (levosalbutamol) or racemic albuterol (salbutamol) for bronchodilation. Methods: A retrospective, quasi-experimental study...

Many employers in the US are investing in new programmes to improve the quality of medical care and simultaneously shifting more of the healthcare costs to their employees without understanding the implications on the amount and type of care their employees will receive. These seemingly...

Objective: To compare the expected costs of treating patients with asthma with versus without inhaled anti-inflammatory medications, adjusting for other factors that also influence medical care expenditures. Design: Nonlinear exponential regression analyses were used to estimate relationships...