Project description:ObjectiveTo identify and describe racial/ethnic disparities in overall diabetes management.Data source/study settingElectronic health record data from calendar year 2010 were obtained from all primary care clinics at one large health system in Minnesota (n = 22,633).Study designWe used multivariate logistic regression to estimate the odds of achieving the following diabetes management goals: A1C <8 percent, LDL cholesterol <100 mg/dl, blood pressure <140/90 mmHg, tobacco-free, and daily aspirin.Principal findingsBlacks and American Indians have higher odds of not achieving all goals compared to whites. Disparities in specific goals were also found.ConclusionsAlthough this health system has above-average diabetes care quality, significant disparities by race/ethnicity were identified. This underscores the importance of stratifying quality measures to improve care and outcomes for all.
Project description:ObjectivesWe sought to assess the rate of unplanned hospital visits among patients undergoing ambulatory surgery.Summary background dataThe majority of surgeries performed in the United States now take place in outpatient settings. Post-discharge hospital visit rates have been shown to vary widely, suggesting variation in surgical or discharge care quality. Complicating efforts to address quality, most facilities and surgeons are unaware of their patients' hospital visits after surgery since patients may present to a different hospital.MethodsWe used state-level, administrative data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from California to assess unplanned hospital visits after ambulatory surgery. To compare rates across centers, we determined the age, sex, and procedure-adjusted rates of hospital visits for each facility using 2-level, hierarchical, generalized linear models using methods similar to existing Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services measures.ResultsAmong a total of 1,260,619 ambulatory same-day surgeries from 440 surgical facilities, the risk adjusted 30-day rate of unplanned hospital visits was 4.8%, with emergency department visits of 3.1% and hospital admissions of 1.7%. Several patient characteristics were associated with increased risk of unplanned hospitals visits, including increased age, increased number of comorbidities (using the Elixhauser score), and type of procedure (p<0.001).ConclusionsThe overall rate unplanned hospital visits within 30 days after same-day surgery is low but variable, suggesting a difference in the quality of care provided. Further, these rates are higher among specific patient populations and procedure types, suggesting areas for targeted improvement.
Project description:PurposePlanovalgus foot deformity is common in diplegic and quadriplegic patients. Surgery is the definitive treatment to restore the alignment of the talus, calcaneus, and navicular bones. We aimed, in the current study, to compare the effectiveness of subtalar fusion and calcaneal lengthening, and to assess the recurrence in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy.MethodsThis is a retrospective study of 78 patients (138 feet diagnosed with planovalgus deformity) who underwent surgical correction using subtalar fusion or calcaneal lengthening. Range of motion, radiographic indices, kinematic, and pedobarographic data were used to examine the deformity and the outcome of surgery. A repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the study hypothesis.ResultsMost of the patients were diplegic (87.2 %) and the mean age at surgery was 11.9 ± 2.9 years (range from 4.7 to 18.3 years), with a mean follow-up of 5 ± 4.4 years (range from 1 to 15.4 years). Sixty-three feet were treated with calcaneal lengthening, while 75 were treated with subtalar fusion. The feet treated with subtalar fusion were more severe preoperatively. However, both surgery groups showed improvement postoperatively. Among 12 cases of recurrence, medial column fusion was the main surgery performed to correct the deformity.ConclusionsSurgery is effective in the treatment of planovalgus deformity in ambulatory children with cerebral palsy. Severe and rigid planovalgus feet can be treated effectively with subtalar fusion. Feet with milder deformity show good results, with calcaneal lengthening. Surgery provides good correction in young patients, but there is a higher recurrence rate.
Project description:BackgroundThe purpose of this study was to evaluate the influence of socioeconomic factors on access to congenital hand surgery care, hospital admission charges, and analyze these geographic trends across regions of the country.MethodsRetrospective cohort study was conducted of congenital hand surgery performed in the United States from 2010 through 2020 using the Pediatric Health Information System. Multivariate regression was used to analyze the impact of socioeconomic factors.ResultsDuring the study interval, 5531 pediatric patients underwent corrective surgery for congenital hand differences, including syndactyly repair (n = 2439), polydactyly repair (n = 2826), and pollicization (n = 266). Patients underwent surgery at significantly earlier age when treated at above-median case volume hospitals (P < .001). Patients with above-median income (P < .001), non-white race (P < .001), commercial insurance (P < .001), living in an urban community (P < .001), and not living in an underserved area (P < .001) were more likely to be treated at high-volume hospitals. Nearly half of patients chose to seek care at a distant hospital rather than the one locally available (49.5%, n = 1172). Of those choosing a distant hospital, most patients chose a higher-volume facility (80.9%, n = 948 of 1172). On multivariate regression, white patients were significantly more likely to choose a more distant, higher-volume hospital (P < .001).ConclusionsSocioeconomic and geographic factors significantly contribute to disparate access to congenital hand surgery across the country. Patients with higher socioeconomic status are more likely to be treated at high-volume hospitals. Treatment at hospitals with higher case volume is associated with earlier age at surgery and decreased hospital admission charges.
Project description:There is ample evidence to demonstrate that discrimination against several population subgroups interferes with their ability to receive optimal surgical care. This bias can take many forms, including limited access to medical services, poor quality of care, and inadequate insurance coverage. While such inequalities will require numerous cultural, ethical, and sociological solutions, artificial intelligence-based algorithms may help address the problem by detecting bias in the data sets currently being used to make medical decisions. However, such AI-based solutions are only in early development. The purpose of this commentary is to serve as a call to action to encourage investigators and funding agencies to invest in the development of these digital tools.
Project description:ObjectiveThe aim of this study was to estimate the direct medical cost per episode and the annual cost for acute diarrhea (AD) in children under five years of age in Ambulatory Care Centers of the Ministry of Public Health (MOPH) of Ecuador.MethodsA cost of illness study with a provider perspective was carried out through a micro-costing of health resources and valuated in international dollars. Medical consultations and laboratory tests were valued using the tariff framework of services for the National Health System and for the prescribed medications, a reported cost registry of pharmacy purchases made in the year of study was used.ResultsA total of 332 electronic health records of children under five years of age were included in the analysis. Laboratory tests were performed on 37.95% (126/332), medications were prescribed to 93.67% (311/332) of the children, and antimicrobials were prescribed to 37.35% (124/332) of the children, representing an antibiotic prescription rate of 26.51% (88/332) and an antiparasitic prescription rate of 10.84% (36/332). The mean cost of the MOPH per child per episode of AD was US$45.24 (2019 dollars) (95% CI:43.71 to 46.76).ConclusionThe total estimated cost of AD in children under five years of age for the MOPH in 2019 was about US$6,645,167.88 million (2019 dollars) (95% CI: 6,420,430.77 to 6,868,436.12). A high proportion of the direct medical cost of AD in children under five years of age in outpatient settings is due to unnecessary laboratory tests.
Project description:BackgroundEnd-of-life (EOL) care is associated with high resource utilization. Recognizing and effectively communicating that EOL is near promotes more patient-centered care, while decreasing futile interventions. We hypothesize that provider assessment of futility during the surgical intensive care unit (SICU) admission would result in higher rates of Do Not Resuscitate (DNR).MethodsWe performed a retrospective review of a prospective SICU registry of all deceased patients across a health system, 2018-2022. The registry included a subjective provider assessment of patient's expected survival. We employed multivariable logistic regression to adjust for clinical factors while assessing for association between code status at death and provider's survival assessment with attention to race-based differences.Results746 patients-105 (14.1%) traumatically injured and 641 (85.9%) non-traumatically injured-died over 4.5 years in the SICU (mortality rate 5.9%). 26.3% of these deaths were expected by the ICU provider. 40.9% of trauma patients were full code at the time of death, compared with 15.6% of non-traumatically injured patients. Expected death was associated with increased odds of DNR code status for non-traumatically injured patients (OR 1.8, 95% CI 1.03 to 3.18), but not for traumatically injured patients (OR 0.82, 95% CI 0.22 to 3.08). After adjusting for demographic and clinical characteristics, black patients were less likely to be DNR at the time of death (OR 0.49, 95% CI 0.32 to 0.75).Conclusion20% of patients who died in our SICU had not declared a DNR status, with injured black patients more likely to remain full code at the time of death. Further evaluation of this cohort to optimize recognition and communication of EOL is needed to avoid unnecessary suffering.Level of evidenceLevel III/prognostic and epidemiological.
Project description:Background Ambulatory follow-up for all patients with heart failure (HF) is recommended within 7 to 14 days after hospital discharge to improve HF outcomes. We examined postdischarge ambulatory follow-up of patients with comorbid diabetes and HF from a low-income population in primary and specialty care. Methods and Results Adults with diabetes and first hospitalizations for HF, covered by Alabama Medicaid in 2010 to 2019, were included and the claims analyzed for ambulatory care use (any, primary care, cardiology, or endocrinology) within 60 days after discharge using restricted mean survival time regression and negative binomial regression. Among 9859 Medicaid-covered adults with diabetes and first hospitalization for HF (mean age, 53.7 years; SD, 9.2 years; 47.3% Black; 41.8% non-Hispanic White; 10.9% Hispanic/Other [Other included non-White Hispanic, American Indian, Pacific Islander and Asian adults]; 65.4% women, 34.6% men), 26.7% had an ambulatory visit within 0 to 7 days, 15.2% within 8 to 14 days, 31.3% within 15 to 60 days, and 26.8% had no visit; 71% saw a primary care physician and 12% a cardiology physician. Black and Hispanic/Other adults were less likely to have any postdischarge ambulatory visit (P<0.0001) or the visit was delayed (by 1.8 days, P=0.0006 and by 2.8 days, P=0.0016, respectively) and were less likely to see a primary care physician than non-Hispanic White adults (adjusted incidence rate ratio, 0.96 [95% CI, 0.91-1.00] and 0.91 [95% CI, 0.89-0.98]; respectively). Conclusions More than half of Medicaid-covered adults with diabetes and HF in Alabama did not receive guideline-concordant postdischarge care. Black and Hispanic/Other adults were less likely to receive recommended postdischarge care for comorbid diabetes and HF.
Project description:BackgroundThe COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption of telemedicine in cardiology clinics. Early in the pandemic, there were sociodemographic disparities in telemedicine use. It is unknown if these disparities persisted and whether they were associated with changes in the population of patients accessing care.MethodsWe examined all adult cardiology visits at an academic and an affiliated community practice in Northern California from March 2019 to February 2020 (pre-COVID) and March 2020 to February 2021 (COVID). We compared patient sociodemographic characteristics between these periods. We used logistic regression to assess the association of patient/visit characteristics with visit modality (in-person vs telemedicine and video- vs phone-based telemedicine) during the COVID period.ResultsThere were 54,948 pre-COVID and 58,940 COVID visits. Telemedicine use increased from <1% to 70.7% of visits (49.7% video, 21.0% phone) during the COVID period. Patient sociodemographic characteristics were similar during both periods. In adjusted analyses, visits for patients from some sociodemographic groups were less likely to be delivered by telemedicine, and when delivered by telemedicine, were less likely to be delivered by video versus phone. The observed disparities in the use of video-based telemedicine were greatest for patients aged ≥80 years (vs age <60, OR 0.24, 95% CI 0.21, 0.28), Black patients (vs non-Hispanic White, OR 0.64, 95% CI 0.56, 0.74), patients with limited English proficiency (vs English proficient, OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.46-0.59), and those on Medicaid (vs privately insured, OR 0.47, 95% CI 0.41-0.54).ConclusionsDuring the first year of the pandemic, the sociodemographic characteristics of patients receiving cardiovascular care remained stable, but the modality of care diverged across groups. There were differences in the use of telemedicine vs in-person care and most notably in the use of video- vs phone-based telemedicine. Future studies should examine barriers and outcomes in digital healthcare access across diverse patient groups.
Project description:PurposeThe purpose of this study is to compare the outcome of patients with displaced tibial tubercle fractures treated surgically who spent one or more nights in the hospital after surgery with that of patients treated in an ambulatory setting with no perioperative hospitalization. We hypothesized that tibial tubercle fractures have a low rate of complications and that most patients do well without an overnight hospital stay for observation.MethodsWe retrospectively reviewed all pediatric tibial tubercle fractures treated operatively by a single surgeon over a 13.5-year period. Fractures treated in an inpatient setting, defined as at least one night of overnight hospitalization postoperatively, were compared with fractures treated in an ambulatory setting with no perioperative hospitalization.ResultsSeventy-one fractures in 70 patients were analyzed. All fractures were treated with open reduction and internal fixation with unicortical screws. Thirty-five fractures (49.3%) were fixed in an ambulatory setting, while 36 (50.7%) were inpatient. There were no significant differences between inpatient demographics (age, gender, body mass index, fracture type). Average operative time was significantly longer in the inpatient group compared with the ambulatory group (97.8 min versus 58.8 min, p < 0.001). There was no significant difference in the incidence of complications between inpatient and ambulatory groups (25.0% versus 11.4%, p = 0.22). No cases of compartment syndrome were noted.ConclusionAmbulatory surgical treatment of select tibial tubercle fractures with same-day discharge is safe and efficient. Not all patients with surgically treated tibial tubercle fractures need to stay overnight in the hospital.