NEJM Catalyst

📢 In the June issue: public health misinformation, high-quality emergency care, deterioration response, chronic disease care, obesity care, cervical cancer screening, missed patient appointments, AI deployment, and patient storytelling. nej.md/4eVibUP 🧵👇

This program successfully eliminates barriers and provides effective, accessible, and evidence-based weight management care to patients disproportionately impacted by the obesity epidemic: nej.md/4uooMfg

More than one half of patients who attend at least four visits achieve 5% weight loss, and more than one third achieve 10% weight loss.

🧵 Obesity disproportionally impacts North Carolina, with rates exceeding national rates, especially in rural areas. Lack of access to care is a barrier to treatment nationally, excessively impacting those most vulnerable to the risks and consequences of obesity.

The Promise of Health Solutions Science: nej.md/3R1QI9Q

This case study demonstrates that integrating predictive modeling with IVR outreach can serve as a low-cost, scalable solution for improving appointment completion, increasing clinic efficiency, enhancing health equity, and generating revenue: nej.md/4dCm1jm

Based on the results of the trial, the intervention was immediately implemented at scale. Follow-up data from over 244,000 high-risk patients over a 6-month period demonstrate that the improved appointment completion rates were sustained.

🧵 Missed outpatient appointments (or no-shows) pose a significant challenge to health systems by reducing access to care, wasting resources, and negatively impacting patient outcomes.

"Toward a Healthier Future - Building a Science of Health Beyond Biomedical Discovery" - a new supplemental issue published in partnership with the Doris Duke Foundation Collective to Strengthen Pathways for Health Research: nej.md/4up0th0