Blog Post

LDI Research Blogs That Caught Your Attention in 2022

A Wide Range of Health Policy Issues Drew Interest

January 9, 2023

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LDI Staff

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In addition to the accomplishments captured in our 2022 Year in Review, we want to highlight noteworthy and popular research blog posts from the past year. They were:

The Origins of the Opioid Epidemic
State policies played a surprisingly large role in the opioid epidemic, concluded Abby Alpert and colleagues. States that made doctors file extra prescribing documents with drug enforcers had far fewer overdose deaths and much less drug marketing. Alpert showed how many lives were lost from the opioid makers’ aggressive marketing.
Can Telemedicine be Equitable?
Care by phone can be more convenient and accessible for some, but it may not work for very young patients and those without digital access. In a series of studies, LDI researchers found that telemedicine closed some disparities in access, but critical gaps remain.
Volkswagen Emissions Scandal Affected Infant and Child Health
Each cheating vehicle per 1,000 cars led to about 10% more exhaust, Diane Alexander and colleagues found. And that additional pollution was linked to worse infant and child health outcomes.
When They Can’t Buy Flavored Tobacco, Kids Are Less Likely to Smoke or Vape
Flavored tobacco that smells of fruit, mint, or candy are known for enticing young users. But city bans on those products dramatically reduced youth smoking, vaping, and retail sales, Andy Tan and colleagues found.
Pre-Pandemic Hospital Conditions and Nurse Burnout
Over 40% of RNs reported high burnout even before the pandemic, Karen Lasater and Rachel French found. The authors call for minimum nurse staffing rules to improve working conditions so more RNs will go to where they are needed.
How a Federal Policy for Pharmacoequity Keeps Falling Short
The 340B Program gives drug discounts to safety net hospitals and pharmacies, enabling them to turn around and make more money from insurers. But the program appears to benefit wealthy hospitals and pharmacies in high-income areas, and should be reformed, researchers found.
Neighborhoods with More Tree Cover Have Fewer Shootings
A study by Eugenia South and colleagues found that urban areas with more tree cover had less firearm violence, providing more evidence that the built environment affects health and that environmental investments should be part of public health solutions.
Do Medicaid DSH Funds Go to the Hospitals That Need Them Most?
There’s room to improve the targeting of Disproportionate Share Hospital (DSH) payments to help the program better support the health care safety net, Paula Chatterjee and colleagues found.
Racial Differences in Access to Medicare Plans Have Health Consequences
Norma Coe, Rachel M. Werner, and Sungchul Park, now at Korea University, found that hospitalizations for ambulatory care-sensitive conditions were lower in higher-rated Medicare Advantage plans and, because Black enrollees have reduced access to highly rated plans, they had significantly more avoidable hospitalizations than white enrollees.