The use of ambulatory blood pressure monitoring among Medicare beneficiaries in 2007–2010

The US Centers for Medicaid and Medicare Services reimburses ambulatory blood pressure monitoring (ABPM) for suspected white coat hypertension. We estimated ABPM use between 2007 and 2010 among a 5% random sample of Medicare beneficiaries (≥65 years). In 2007, 2008, 2009, and 2010, the percentage of beneficiaries with ABPM claims was 0.10%, 0.11%, 0.10%, and 0.09%, respectively. A prior diagnosis of hypertension was more common among those with versus without an ABPM claim (77.7% vs. 47.0%). Among hypertensive beneficiaries, 95.2% of those with an ABPM claim were taking antihypertensive medication. Age 75–84 versus 65–74 years, having coronary heart disease, having chronic kidney disease, having multiple prior hypertension diagnoses, and having filled multiple classes of antihypertensive medication were associated with an increased odds for an ABPM claim among hypertensive beneficiaries. ABPM use was very low among Medicare beneficiaries and was not primarily used for diagnosing white coat hypertension in untreated individuals.     

Prevalence,expenditures, and complications of multiple chronic conditions in the elderly

BACKGROUND: The prevalence, health care expenditures, and hospitalization experiences are important considerations among elderly populations with multiple chronic conditions. METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis was conducted on a nationally random sample of 1 217 103 Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries aged 65 and older living in the United States and enrolled in both Medicare Part A and Medicare Part B during 1999. Multiple logistic regression was used to analyze the influence of age, sex, and number of types of chronic conditions on the risk of incurring inpatient hospitalizations for ambulatory care sensitive conditions and hospitalizations with preventable complications among aged Medicare beneficiaries. RESULTS: In 1999, 82% of aged Medicare beneficiaries had 1 or more chronic conditions, and 65% had multiple chronic conditions. Inpatient admissions for ambulatory care sensitive conditions and hospitalizations with preventable complications increased with the number of chronic conditions. For example, Medicare beneficiaries with 4 or more chronic conditions were 99 times more likely than a beneficiary without any chronic conditions to have an admission for an ambulatory care sensitive condition (95% confidence interval, 86-113). Per capita Medicare expenditures increased with the number of types of chronic conditions from $211 among beneficiaries without a chronic condition to $13 973 among beneficiaries with 4 or more types of chronic conditions. CONCLUSIONS: The risk of an avoidable inpatient admission or a preventable complication in an inpatient setting increases dramatically with the number of chronic conditions. Better primary care, especially coordination of care, could reduce avoidable hospitalization rates, especially for individuals with multiple chronic conditions.     

Medicaid and family wealth transfer

PURPOSE: This study examines whether the relationship between making familial wealth transfers and becoming a Medicaid recipient sheds light on the current debate about Medicaid estate planning, whereby some elders transfer their assets to their families to qualify for Medicaid. DESIGN AND METHODS: Using the Health and Retirement Study, we tracked a national sample of community-based elders who did not receive Medicaid at the 1993 baseline interview but became Medicaid recipients during a 10-year time period and examined wealth transfers for these new Medicaid beneficiaries. RESULTS: Among elders aged 70 or older who did not receive Medicaid in 1993, 16.4% became Medicaid recipients over 10 years. Among these new Medicaid recipients, 17.9% transferred their wealth to family members before receiving Medicaid benefits, with an average transfer amount of $8,507 during the 2 years prior to receiving Medicaid benefits. In addition, 15.2% of community-residing elders entered a nursing home during the 10-year period, and 26.3% of these were covered by Medicaid. Of these new Medicaid recipients living in nursing homes, 12.6% transferred wealth to their families in the mean amount of $4,112. IMPLICATIONS: Familial wealth transfers do occur before changes in Medicaid eligibility in a small, but nontrivial, number of cases, but the amount transferred is modest, especially among nursing home residents. This finding implies that policies to reduce Medicaid long-term-care expenditures by limiting such transfers may not be very effective.     

The course and correlates of high hospital utilization in sickle cell disease: Evidence from a large,urban Medicaid managed care organization

Although most patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) are hospitalized infrequently and manage painful crises at home, a small subpopulation is frequently admitted to emergency departments and inpatient units. This small group accounts for the majority of health care expenses for patients with SCD. Using inpatient claims data from a large, urban Medicaid MCO for 5 consecutive years, this study sought to describe the course of high inpatient utilization (averaging four or more admissions enrolled per year for at least 1 year) in members with a diagnosis of SCD and a history of hospitalizations for vaso‐occlusive crisis. High utilizers were compared with the other members with SCD on demographics, medical and psychiatric comorbidity, and use of other health care resources. Members who were high utilizers had more diagnostic mentions of sickle cell complications than low utilizers. However, the pattern of high inpatient utilization was likely to moderate over successive years, and return to the pattern after moderation was uncommon. Despite this, a small subpopulation engaged in exceptional levels of inpatient utilization over multiple years. Am. J. Hematol., 2009. © 2009 Wiley‐Liss, Inc.     

The association between non-ventilator associated hospital acquired pneumonia and patient outcomes among U.S. Veterans

BackgroundNon-ventilator associated hospital acquired pneumonia (NV-HAP) affects approximately 1 in 100 hospitalized patients yet risk-adjusted outcomes associated with developing NV-HAP are unknown.MethodsRetrospective cohort study with propensity score matched populations (NV-HAP vs no NV-HAP), using ICD-10 codes for bacterial pneumonia not present on admission. Outcomes included the patient level probability of NV-HAP developing among acute care non-transfer admissions in 133 Veterans Affairs hospitals and subsequent mortality, length of stay, inpatient sepsis, and 12-month costs.ResultsNV-HAP occurred in 0.6% of Veteran admissions. Among admissions that developed NV-HAP, the mean length of stay of 26.3 days (6.72 days among non-NV-HAP), 30-day mortality was 18.4% (4.5% among non-NV-HAP), 1-year mortality was 47.8% (21.4% among non-NV-HAP), and total median 12-month direct medical costs were $138,136.32 ($64,357.21 among non-NV-HAP). Inpatient sepsis occurred in approximately 20% of NV-HAP admissions (0.7% among non-NV-HAP). Data available at admission was insufficient to identify high and low risk patient groups.ConclusionsNV-HAP is associated with severely worse patient outcomes and increased costs of care up to 12 months post-episode. Since population risk stratification is not feasible, prevention efforts should be directed at the full population of hospitalized Veterans.     

Prevalence of current DSM-IV alcohol use disorders in short-stay,general hospital admissions,United States, 1994

BACKGROUND: This study provides, to our knowledge, the first national prevalence estimates of Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV), alcohol use disorders based on a structured, diagnostic instrument for inpatient admissions to US general hospitals. Existing prevalence estimates for inpatient admissions came from studies conducted in 1 or 2 hospitals and therefore do not support national inference. METHODS: A multistage probability sample was designed to represent acute care admissions to nonfederal, short-stay, general hospitals in the contiguous United States; 2040 admissions (1613 males and 427 females) in 90 hospitals participated. RESULTS: An estimated 1.8 million (95% confidence interval, 1.3-2.2 million) annual hospital admissions met the criteria for a current (ie, in the past 12 months) DSM-IV alcohol use disorder. Overall prevalence was estimated to be 7.4% (95% confidence interval, 5.6%-9.1%). Among current-drinking admissions, estimated prevalence was 24.0% (95% confidence interval, 18.7%-29.4%), and males and females had similar rates. Pairwise comparisons showed significant elevations in the prevalence of alcohol use disorders in current-drinking admissions who were younger, black, unmarried, of a lower socioeconomic status, on Medicaid or without health insurance, smokers, or drug users. Prevalence of alcohol use disorders was also significantly higher in current-drinking admissions in hospitals that were government owned, had medical school affiliations, or had a high number of emergency department visits per day. CONCLUSIONS: The prevalence of alcohol abuse or dependence in current-drinking admissions was substantial, suggesting that hospitalization offers a unique opportunity to identify alcohol use disorders. Further research is needed to determine factors that may be associated with significant pairwise results, especially for race or ethnicity. We recommend alcohol screening of all hospitalized drinkers, followed, as appropriate, by diagnostic evaluation and referral or intervention.     

Characteristics and long-term outcome of patients with acute chest pain or other symptoms raising suspicion of acute myocardial infarction in relation to whether they were hospitalized or directly discharged from the emergency department

AIM: To describe the characteristics and outcome of patients who came to the emergency department due to chest pain or other symptoms raising suspicion of acute myocardial infarction (AMI) in relation to whether they were hospitalized or directly discharged from the emergency department. METHODS: All patients arriving to the emergency department in one single hospital due to chest pain or other symptoms raising suspicion of AMI during a period of 21 months were followed for 10 years. RESULTS: In all, 5362 patients fulfilled the given criteria on 7157 occasions; 3381 (63%) were hospitalized and 1981 (37%) were directly discharged. Patients who were hospitalized were older and had a higher prevalence of previous cardiovascular diseases. The mortality during the subsequent 10 years was 52.1% among those hospitalized and 22.3% among those discharged (P < 0.0001). Risk indicators for death were similar in the two cohorts. However, many of these risk indicators including age, a history of myocardial infarction, angina pectoris, congestive heart failure, hypertension, initial degree of suspicion of AMI, a pathologic electrocardiogram on admission and a confirmed AMI as underlying etiology were more strongly associated with the prognosis among patients directly discharged than among those hospitalized. Ten (0.5%) of the patients who were directly discharged from the emergency department were found to have a diagnosis of confirmed or possible AMI, making up 1% of all patients given such a diagnosis. These patients had a 10-year mortality of 80.0% compared with 65.7% among patients with a confirmed or possible AMI who were hospitalized. CONCLUSION: Of patients who came to the emergency department with acute chest pain or other symptoms suggestive of AMI about a third were directly discharged. Their mortality during the subsequent 10 years was half that of patients hospitalized. Various risk indicators for death were more strongly associated with prognosis in the patients who were directly discharged from the emergency department compared to those hospitalized. Of all patients given a diagnosis of confirmed or possible AMI, 1% were discharged from the emergency department. Their long-term mortality was high, maybe even higher than among AMI patients hospitalized.     

Attitudes and practices of resident physicians regarding hypertension in the inpatient setting

Hypertension is prevalent in the population at large and among hospitalized patients. Little has been reported regarding the attitudes and patterns of care of physicians managing nonemergent elevated blood pressure (BP) among inpatients. Resident physicians in internal medicine (IM), family medicine (FM), and surgery were surveyed regarding inpatient BP management. One hundred eighty-one questionnaires were completed across 3 sites. Respondents generally considered inpatient BP control a high priority. A majority of IM and FM residents indicated following the Seventh Report of the Joint National Committee on Prevention, Detection, Evaluation, and Treatment of High Blood Pressure (JNC 7) consensus guidelines for inpatients compared to 20% of surgery residents (P<.001). While trainees did not appear to strictly follow JNC 7 guidelines for goal BP of 140/90 mm Hg, they did report making frequent BP medication changes (～51% reported changing regimens for >50% of hypertensive patients). Overall ～90% indicated that discharging a hypertensive patient on a drug regimen established during hospitalization is preferable to reverting to the regimen in place at the time of admission. Resident physicians regard elevated BP inpatient management as important, but attitudes and practice vary between specialties. JNC 7 guidelines may not be appropriate for inpatient use. Future research should focus on developing functional diagnostic criteria for hypertension in the inpatient setting and determining best practices inpatient BP management.     

The observation unit: a new interface between inpatient and outpatient care

PURPOSE: Observation units for patients who present to emergency departments with chest pain have become common. We describe our 3-year experience with a multipurpose observation unit in which chest pain accounts for only a minority of patients' presenting clinical syndromes. SUBJECTS AND METHODS: We analyzed the effects of a 12-bed observation unit on inpatient admissions for common clinical syndromes, as well as its overall effects on inpatient medical admissions during its first 3 years of operation (1996 to 1998) compared with the 3 years preceding its creation (1993 to 1995). RESULTS: Among 7,507 patients admitted to the observation unit in 1996 to 1998, 6,334 (85%) were discharged home within 23 hours. Total inpatient medical admissions fell by a similar number (n = 5,366) during the 3 years of operation of the observation unit when compared with the 3 preceding years (39,569 admissions in 1996 to1998 versus 44,935 in 1993 to 1995). Analysis of local area trends suggested that the use of the observation unit contributed to reduced hospital admissions, rather than vice versa. CONCLUSION: Observation units can serve patients with diverse clinical syndromes and may reduce inpatient admissions. This novel "point of care" deserves further evaluation.     

The relative benefits and cost of medicaid home- and community-based services in Florida

PURPOSE: We compared inpatient days, nursing home days, and total Medicaid claims for five Medicaid-funded home- and community-based services (HCBS) programs for in-home and assisted living services in Florida. DESIGN AND METHODS: We studied a single cohort of Medicaid enrollees in Florida aged 60 and older, who were enrolled for the first time in any of five Medicaid HCBS programs and who had at least one assessment (N=6,014). In this 3-year longitudinal study, we used a two-stage probit regression and ordinary least squares regression in order to test the independent effects of explanatory variables on outcomes and cost. RESULTS: After controlling for differences in frailty, chronic health conditions, presence of dementia, and available caregiver, we found that Medicaid HCBS programs had a differential effect on hospital and nursing home utilization and cost. IMPLICATIONS: Medicaid HCBS programs serve very impaired populations at a wide range of costs to Medicaid. The rates for Medicaid HCBS programs could be adjusted upward or downward in order to better reflect the level of need in each program. At the same time, providers could use titration techniques based on the relative costs of these needs in order to budget for the costs of meeting the needs of particular elders.