Primary Care Provider Medicaid Participation Across the United States, 2016.

PURPOSE: To understand primary care provider participation in Medicaid programs across states and provider specialties and professions. METHODS: We examined the 2016 Medicaid claims data across 45 states and territories from the Transformed Medicaid Statistical Information System (T-MSIS). RESULTS: Of the 616,182 primary care providers we identified, 111,152 (18.0%) saw no Medicaid patients, 88,723 (14.4%) providers saw one to 10 Medicaid patients, 163,806 (26.6%) saw 11 to 100 Medicaid patients, and 252,501 (41.0%) saw more than 100 Medicaid patients in 2016. The proportion of providers who saw more than 100 Medicaid patients ranged from 22.9% in Virginia to 56.1% in New Mexico. Medicaid participation also differed by specialty, from 78.4% among pediatricians to 61.2% among nurse practitioners. This study lays the foundations for using T-MSIS data to identify communities at the highest risk for access barriers and support targeted policy responses.

Statin Use in Prostate Cancer: An Update.

3-Hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase inhibitors, known as statins, are commonly prescribed for the treatment of hypercholesterolemia and cardiovascular disease. A systematic review was conducted using the keywords "statin and prostate cancer" within the title search engines including PubMed, Web of Science, and the Cochrane Library for relevant research work published between 2004 and December 2015. Although still premature, accumulating clinical evidence suggests that statin use may be beneficial in the prevention and/or treatment of prostate cancer. These human studies consist of meta-analyses of secondary endpoints obtained from randomized, controlled cardiovascular disease clinical trials of statins, patient database, observational studies, and a few, small case-control studies, directly addressing statin use on prostate cancer pathology and recurrence. This review summarizes and discusses the recent clinical literature on statins and prostate cancer with a recommendation to move forward with randomized, placebo-controlled clinical trials, investigating the use of statins. Additional preclinical testing of statins on prostate cancer cell lines and in vivo models is needed to elucidate pathways and determine its efficacy for prevention and/or treatment of prostate cancer, more specifically, the difference in the effectiveness of lipophilic versus hydrophilic statins in prostate cancer.