Dear John,

Join us on January 16 for a Journal Club event featuring author Hankyung Kate Jun of Harvard University discussing a paper exploring trends in nursing home staffing and how the share of immigrant certified nursing assistants has grown while that of US-born staff has decreased.

Assessing Physicians’ FDA Knowledge

The newly released January issue of Health Affairs features an article by Sanket Dhruva of the University of California San Francisco and his team of coauthors that assesses physicians’ knowledge of Food and Drug Administration (FDA) drug approval processes.

The researchers find that US physicians have a limited understanding of how the FDA approves drugs and medical devices, with about 40 percent reporting moderate or better understanding of the drug approval process, and 17 percent reporting understanding the FDA’s medical device approval process.

The researchers determine that “oncologists were most likely to report confidence in their understanding of drug approval, and cardiologists of device approval.”

Dhruva and his coauthors determine that gaps in medical education might explain the lack of understanding of drug and medical device approval among physicians, and that revised accreditation standards might address this knowledge gap.

It may also ensure that more physicians could adequately advise patients about the evidence for an approved drug or device and related benefits and risks.

To Prepare For The Next Pandemic, We Must Spend Now On TB And Other Major Diseases

Shan Soe-Lin et al.

An Innovation-Driven Future For The Food And Drug Administration

Brian J. Miller et al.

Due to the ongoing support from Arnold Ventures, we are able to reissue our call for submissions for our Forefront series "Accountable Care For Population Health."

We will accept submissions through December 2024.

Let's take a look back at the series, which has featured policy analysis, proposals, and commentary that will inform policies on the state and federal levels to understand and advance models for accountable care.

• Engaging Specialists In Accountable Care: Tailoring Payment Models Based On Specialties And Practice Contexts (December 2023)
• Less Is More: Quality Measurement In Primary Care (June 2023)
• ACO Benchmarks Based On Area Deprivation Index Mask Inequities (February 2023)

With today's featured journal article focusing on FDA approval process and medical research, get the full story by exploring our extensive archive of podcasts on these topics.

Take a look below at a few highlighted episodes:

• Research and Justice For All: Leveraging Data to Drive Outcomes in Health Equity (October 2023)
• Health Affairs This Week: The Long and Winding Road of Regulating Laboratory Developed Tests (August 2023)
• A Health Podyssey: Jennifer Kao on Drug Repurposing (March 2023)