Emory Healthcare

Previous reports have suggested concurrence of cervical dystonia (CD) and chronic migraine (CM); however, the extent of the burden is unclear. This analysis estimated the prevalence of comorbid CD and CM (CD + CM) and described patient characteristics and health care costs among real-world patients with CD + CM. This retrospective cohort study used administrative claims data from the Merative MarketScan (January 1, 2017–December 31, 2021) and Optum® Market Clarity databases (January 1, 2017–September 30, 2021). Adults with CD and/or CM were identified using ICD-10-CM diagnosis codes. Outcomes were summarized descriptively and included prevalence of CD, CM, and CD + CM; relative risk of comorbid CD + CM; patient characteristics stratified by cohort and botulinum neurotoxin (BoNT) exposure status; and health care costs for CD + CM. In 2017–2021, numbers of patients identified as above annually ranged from 10.5 million to 16.3 million. The relative risk of CM among patients with CD, and of CD among patients with CM, was 31.8 and 39.5, respectively. Among patients with CD, the overall prevalence of CD + CM from 2017 to 2021 was 12.6

Objective:This study explored how administering an innovation contest was associated with work experiences among nurses, providers, and staff in primary care.Background:Innovation contests offer structured ways for employees to share ideas and engage in organizational problem-solving. Given high burnout and turnover in US primary care, such interventions may foster a more supportive work environment.Methods:All 778 employees across a health system's primary care network were invited to submit and vote on ideas to improve recruitment, retention, and workflow. Senior leaders implemented ideas selected through voting. A follow-up survey measured feeling heard, organizational identification, job satisfaction, and burnout.Results:Employees aware of the contest reported greater organizational identification. Those who observed winning ideas being implemented reported higher levels of feeling heard, identification, and job satisfaction. Simply submitting or voting was not associated with differences.Conclusions:Acting on employee-generated ideas may improve workplace engagement and satisfaction in primary care.

Importance:Artificial intelligence (AI)-enabled scribes have been proposed to reduce electronic health record (EHR) burden and improve clinician satisfaction. There is limited evidence about their associated results across multiple sites and relative benefits for different clinician groups. Objective:To assess the association of AI scribe adoption with changes in EHR time expenditure and visit volume and how associations vary by clinician characteristics. Design, Setting, and Participants:Multisite, longitudinal cohort study of AI scribe adoption conducted at 5 US academic health care institutions that introduced AI scribes to their clinicians between June 2023 and August 2025. Participants were ambulatory clinicians. Exposures:AI scribe adoption, defined as receiving access to an AI scribe. This was determined by opt-in decisions by eligible physicians at 4 of the 5 sites. Main Outcome and Measures:Total time spent on the EHR, time spent on documentation, and time spent on the EHR outside scheduled hours or on unscheduled days, all normalized to 8 scheduled patient hours; weekly visit volume. Results:The sample comprised 8581 clinicians, including 1809 AI scribe adopters. Participants were 57.1% female and were split between primary care (24.4%), medical (62.4%), and surgical (13.2%) specialties. Most (74.1%) were attending physicians, with 18.1% advanced practice clinicians and 7.8% resident physicians. In a difference-in-differences analysis, AI scribe adoption was associated with 13.4 (95% CI, 9.1-17.7) fewer minutes of EHR time, 16.0 (95% CI, 13.7-18.3) fewer minutes of documentation time, and 0.49 (95% CI, 0.17-0.81) additional weekly visits delivered. Electronic health record time outside work hours did not change significantly. Changes associated with AI scribe adoption were greatest for primary care specialists, advanced practice clinicians, female clinicians, and clinicians who used AI scribes in 50% or more of visits. Conclusions and Relevance:AI scribe adoption was associated with modest decreases in total EHR time and documentation time and with a modest increase in weekly visit volume.

Atopic dermatitis (AD), is a chronic, relapsing inflammatory skin disorder that can pose a significant burden to patients and their caregivers and decrease their quality of life. Although substantial advances have been made in the safety and effectiveness of treatments for moderate to severe AD, opportunity for improvement remains. To better understand the patient journey and to consider the management of both current and emerging treatments, AMCP Market Insights virtually convened an expert panel of managed care stakeholders in November 2025. This article provides a qualitative summary of the panel discussion. Key insights include that delayed diagnosis and limited access to dermatology specialists are top gaps in the provision of equitable care in moderate to severe AD and that despite treatment advances, more effective and affordable options are needed. Additionally, treatment adherence and positive outcomes in moderate to severe AD are multifactorial and may be affected by elements such as timely access, care coordination, disease severity and variability, and medication coverage and costs. Emerging agents show promise for a more durable response with less frequent dosing than current therapies, but payers are waiting for additional data to demonstrate long-term safety and efficacy and real-world outcomes. These findings can support informed clinical and coverage decisions, can offer practical actions for payers, and may inform future work.