Happy 4th! #nephbbq

I had the privilege of writing a commentary in @jamanetworkopen.com on this very interesting qualitative study re: Medicare Advantage advertising in dialysis In short, the flurry of ads are often misleading to patients, and it's unclear if patients are shortchanged 🧵 1/

My daughter is too cute

How do out-of-pocket (OOP) costs at the point of pharmacy affect access to medications? In a paper @JAMAHealthForum (with Jillian Caldwell & others), we examine @CMSGov TDAPA policy and show that it improved access to calcimimetics likely by reducing OOP 🧵1/ (LINK at end)

Nom nom nom #nephbbq

Money shot below ⬇️ Compare to pts with FULL rx subsidies (who pay $0), pts with pts with Part D but NO subsidies had 10pp more rx fills, and pts with PARTIAL subsidies had 2pp more rx fills post-TDAPA. i.e., the more you paid pre-TDAPA, the more meds you filled post-policy

Latest publication! 🚨 TL;DR: 1) MANY patients on dialysis pay high OOP costs for drugs 💸 -- nearly 20% have NO PART D plan -- 25% have NO rx subsidies 2) Covering calcimimetics in Part B via TDAPA instead of Part D INCREASED rx fills 📈 Check out @eugelin06.bsky.social's 🧵 & our paper ⬇️

Shout out again @jilliancaldwell.bsky.social - she's a PHENOM and an all-star research fellow This project wasn't easy: she stitched together multiple complex datasets and studied a very complex policy I don't know when she's going on the market, but folks need to pay attention to her

How do out-of-pocket (OOP) costs at the point of pharmacy affect access to medications? In a paper @JAMAHealthForum (with Jillian Caldwell & others), we examine @CMSGov TDAPA policy and show that it improved access to calcimimetics likely by reducing OOP 🧵1/ (LINK at end)

🚨 Registration is open for Nephro-Economics 2025! Join ASN and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, Division of Nephrology, for key insights on kidney care trends, policy updates, and more. 🗓️ May 30 | 10:00 a.m. – 3:30 p.m. EDT Register now! 🔗 bit.ly/NephroEcon25

I cannot believe a restaurant just upcharged me 5% for OPERATING COSTS Never going to Bottega Louie again

Thanks to my coauthors Khristina Lung, Derick Rapista, Leanne Kuo, Desi Peneva, Darius Lakdawalla, Karen Van Nuys @keckmedicineusc.bsky.social @schaeffer.usc.edu LINK: jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... FIN/

How do patients select dialysis facilities? Proximity? Quality? Preserving care continuity with their nephrologist? Our latest in @JAMAHealthForum suggests patients value proximity and care continuity. Quality gets sacrificed 🧵(link at end) 1/

Patients often start #dialysis at their nephrologist's primary facilities, even when they are of low quality, finds a new @jama.com Health Forum study from Schaeffer Scholar @eugelin06.bsky.social. jamanetwork.com/journals/jam...

We need to stop using the 2728 form for research. We also need to stop expecting facilities to do our research for free. The form keeps getting bigger, and the data in it have never been adjudicated. In my opinion, anything the facility can’t easily collect in 2 seconds is suspect

Thrilled to share a special moment w/my daughter Bella w/her research poster @nkf-professionals.bsky.social Huge thank you to Dr. Ladan Golestaneh for mentoring so many aspiring young scientists! 🧡 It was also inspiring to connect w/others who fuel passion for science! #NKFClinicals

#NKFClinicals Congrats on an amazing conference and see yall next year! @NKF_NephPros

Congrats to all the @nkf-professionals.bsky.social #nkf2025 awardees!

❤️ @nkf-professionals.bsky.social #nkfclinicals

How do patients select dialysis facilities? Proximity? Quality? Preserving care continuity with their nephrologist? Our latest in @JAMAHealthForum suggests patients value proximity and care continuity. Quality gets sacrificed 🧵(link at end) 1/

While health regulations are usually well intentioned they often are poorly implemented Dialysis is a prime example of regulation perpetuating a consolidated industry with no market competition, poor outcomes &price gouging New in HealthAffairs Forefront 🧵1/ (link at end) x.com/Health_Affai...

On Saturday, UKRO hosted a mixer at Pitfire Pizza Pasadena for students from USC KDSAP and faculty from @keck.usc.edu. Students had the opportunity to network & learn about novel research approaches to address #kidneydisease. Thank you to all who came!

Really fun collaborating with Ge Bai and Erin Trish on this one!

While health regulations are usually well intentioned they often are poorly implemented Dialysis is a prime example of regulation perpetuating a consolidated industry with no market competition, poor outcomes &price gouging New in HealthAffairs Forefront 🧵1/ (link at end) x.com/Health_Affai...

Can’t decide what’s worse: The downer from vacation being over or the downer from needing to catch up on missed email

Sad my Disney cruise is over But excited for spring clinicals! Who’s going to be there? @nkf-professionals.bsky.social

My daughter asked me what is a one followed by a googolplex zeroes, and i don’t know 😭 I don’t think ai knows either

Expanding access to obesity drugs would lead to significant increases in life expectancy & disease-free years, a new Schaeffer Center white paper finds. This investment would yield returns to society of over 13% annually, even after factoring in treatment costs. schaeffer.usc.edu/research/obe...

Hi all! Better late than never? Will occasionally post about nephrology, policy, economics, and #nephbbq !