Dear John,

Next week, the new issue of Health Affairs will be released, featuring articles on Medicare, COVID-19, and more.

Check out an ahead-of-print article from Carter Nakamoto and coauthors in which Medicare data was used to explore the association of greater telemedicine use across health systems with utilization, spending, and quality.

In the April Perinatal Mental Health And Well-Being issue, Constance Guille and colleagues at the Medical University of South Carolina explore how text and telephone screening and referral showed improvements in detection and treatment of maternal mental health conditions.

This study demonstrated that text- and telephone-based screening and referral systems may improve rates of screening, identification, and attendance to treatment for perinatal mental health disorders compared with traditional in-person screening and referral systems.

In order to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality associated with perinatal mental health disorders, system-level changes to support adoption of effective text- and telephone-based screening and referral programs are needed.

More on Telehealth

• Medicare And Telehealth: Delivering On Innovation’s Promise For Equity, Quality, Access, And Sustainability by Meena Seshamani
• For Telehealth To Succeed, Privacy And Security Risks Must Be Identified And Addressed by Joseph L. Hall and Deven McGraw
• A Health Podyssey: Caitlin Hicks on Telemedicine and Care Inequities

Alison Stuebe on Cultivating Vital Conditions For Perinatal Well-Being

Health Affairs' Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil interviews Alison Stuebe of University of North Carolina School of Medicine on her recent paper exploring steps to take to cultivate vital conditions for perinatal well-being and how this can lead to a sustained commitment to reproductive justice.

From “Price Controls” To Robust Public Conversation: How CMS Can Move Drug Price Negotiation Into The Light

Daniel A. Ollendorf et al.

Final Rule Rescinds Trump-Era Association Health Plans

Sabrina Corlette

On May 9, Health Affairs Editor-in-Chief Alan Weil will be joined by the current National Coordinator, Micky Tripathi, and several of his predecessors for a look back at the achievements of the ONC on electronic health records, interoperability, meaningful use, and a look forward at the opportunities and challenges ahead in health information technology, including harnessing artificial intelligence, improving data analytics, and expanding digital health.

The current list of participants is:

• Micky Tripathi (2021- ), National Coordinator for Health IT

• David Brailer (2004-2006), Chief Medical Officer, The Cigna Group

• Rob Kolodner (2006-2009), Vice President and Chief Medical Officer, ViTel Net

• David Blumenthal (2009-2011), Professor of the Practice of Public Health and Health Policy, Department of Health Policy and Management, Harvard’s Chan School of Public Health

• Karen DeSalvo (2014-2016), Chief Health Officer, Google

• Donald Rucker (2017-2021), Chief Strategy Officer, 1upHealth