Comparison of Hospital Costs and Length of Stay for Community Internists,Hospitalists, and Academicians

BACKGROUND The model of inpatient medical management has evolved toward Hospitalists because of greater cost efficiency compared to traditional practice. The optimal model of inpatient care is not known. OBJECTIVE To compare three models of inpatient Internal Medicine (traditional private practice Internists, private Hospitalist Internists, and Academic Internists with resident teams) for cost efficiency and quality at a community teaching hospital. DESIGN Single-institution retrospective cohort study. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS Measurements were hospital cost, length of stay (LOS), mortality, and 30-day readmission rate adjusted for severity, demographics, and case mix. Academic Internist teams had 30% lower cost and 40% lower LOS compared to traditional private Internists and 24% lower cost and 30% lower LOS compared to private Hospitalists. Hospital mortality was equivalent for all groups. Academic teams had 2.3–2.6% more 30-day readmissions than the other groups. CONCLUSIONS Academic teams compare favorably to private Hospitalists and traditional Internists for hospital cost efficiency and quality.     

A Practice-Based Intervention to Improve Primary Care for Falls, Urinary Incontinence, and Dementia

OBJECTIVES: To determine whether a practice-based intervention can improve care for falls, urinary incontinence, and cognitive impairment.
DESIGN: Controlled trial.
SETTING: Two community medical groups.
PARTICIPANTS: Community-dwelling patients (357 at intervention sites and 287 at control sites) aged 75 and older identified as having difficulty with falls, incontinence, or cognitive impairment.
INTERVENTION: Intervention and control practices received condition case-finding, but only intervention practices received a multicomponent practice-change intervention.
MEASUREMENTS: Percentage of quality indicators satisfied measured using a 13-month medical record abstraction.
RESULTS: Before the intervention, the quality of care was the same in intervention and control groups. Screening tripled the number of patients identified as needing care for falls, incontinence, or cognitive impairment. During the intervention, overall care for the three conditions was better in the intervention than the control group (41%, 95% confidence interval (CI)=35–46% vs 25%, 95% CI=20–30%, P <.001). Intervention group patients received better care for falls (44% vs 23%, P <.001) and incontinence (37% vs 22%, P <.001) but not for cognitive impairment (44% vs 41%, P =.67) than control group patients. The intervention was more effective for conditions identified by screening than for conditions identified through usual care.
CONCLUSION: A practice-based intervention integrated into usual clinical care can improve primary care for falls and urinary incontinence, although even with the intervention, less than half of the recommended care for these conditions was provided. More-intensive interventions, such as embedding intervention components into an electronic medical record, will be needed to adequately improve care for falls and incontinence.     

Measuring Continuing Medical Education Outcomes: A Pilot Study of Effect Size of Three CME Interventions at an SGIM Annual Meeting

BACKGROUND  The ACCME is phasing in new criteria for accreditation from 2008 to 2012. These criteria require CME providers to assess the impact of their interventions. OBJECTIVES  To assess the feasibility of measuring outcomes at a national meeting, the SGIM evaluation committee conducted a pilot assessment of two workshops and one precourse. DESIGN AND PARTICIPANTS  Session coordinators prepared a five-item questionnaire to assess the knowledge and confidence of participants. The questionnaire was administered pre, immediately post, and 9 months after the educational sessions. MEASUREMENTS  Changes in performance were calculated as a standardized difference, or effect size. RESULTS  All three sessions demonstrated initial knowledge acquisition with effect sizes ranging from 0.39 (small) to 0.99 (large) immediately after the sessions. One session demonstrated sustainment of knowledge over the subsequent 9 months while the other two demonstrated decay. Confidence levels decreased following one of the sessions with an effect size of −0.72 (modest effect). CONCLUSIONS  Effect size measurement of sessions provides quantitative information about their impact on learning and is one way to achieve ACCME compliance. The method, however, poses methodological and logistical challenges that raise questions about the feasibility of tracking learning and retention following a national meeting. The opinions or assertions contained herein are the private views of the author and should not be construed as official or as necessarily reflecting the views of the United States Army or the Department of Defense.     

Development of a Web-based Resident Profiling Tool to Support Training in Practice-based Learning and Improvement

Multiple factors are driving residency programs to explicitly address practice-based learning and improvement (PBLI), yet few information systems exist to facilitate such training. We developed, implemented, and evaluated a Web-based tool that provides Internal Medicine residents at the University of Virginia Health System with population-based reports about their ambulatory clinical experiences. Residents use Systems and Practice Analysis for Resident Competencies (SPARC) to identify potential areas for practice improvement. Thirty-three (65%) of 51 residents completed a survey assessing SPARC’s usefulness, with 94% agreeing that it was a useful educational tool. Twenty-six residents (51%) completed a before–after study indicating increased agreement (5-point Likert scale, with 5=strongly agree) with statements regarding confidence in ability to access population-based data about chronic disease management (mean [SD] 2.5 [1.2] vs. 4.5 [0.5], p < .001, sign test) and information comparing their practice style to that of their peers (2.2 [1.2] vs. 4.6 [0.5], p < .001).     

Quality and safety in residential aged care: an evaluation of a national quality indicator programme

Background

In Australia, 243 000 individuals live in approximately 2700 residential aged care facilities yearly. In 2019, a National Aged Care Mandatory Quality Indicator programme (QI programme) was implemented to monitor the quality and safety of care in facilities.

Aim

To examine the validity of the QI programme indicators using explicit measure review criteria.

Methods

The QI programme manual and reports were reviewed. A modified American College of Physicians Measure Review Criteria was employed to examine the QI programme's eight indicators. Five authors rated each indicator on importance, appropriateness, clinical evidence, specifications and feasibility using a nine-point scale. A median score of 1–3 was considered to not meet criteria, 4–6 to meet some criteria and 7–9 to meet criteria.

Results

All indicators, except polypharmacy, met criteria (median scores = 7–9) for importance, appropriateness and clinical evidence. Polypharmacy met some criteria for importance (median = 6, range 2–8), appropriateness (median = 5, range 2–8) and clinical evidence (median = 6, range 3–8). Pressure injury, physical restraints, significant unplanned weight loss, consecutive unplanned weight loss, falls and polypharmacy indicators met some criteria for specifications validity (all median scores = 5) and feasibility and applicability (median scores = 4 to 6). Antipsychotic use and falls resulting in major injury met some criteria for specifications (median = 6–7, range 4–8) and met criteria for feasibility and applicability (median = 7, range 4–8).

Conclusions

Australia's National QI programme is a major stride towards a culture of quality promotion, improvement and transparency. Measures' specifications, feasibility and applicability could be improved to ensure the programme delivers on its intended purposes.     

Trial of a New Diabetes Education Model: Closing the Gap in Health Disparity for People with Diabetes

Background:Quality measures relating to diabetes care in America have not improved between 2005 and 2016, and have plateaued even in areas that outperform national statistics. New approaches to diabetes care and education are needed and are especially important in reaching populations with significant barriers to optimized care.Methods:A pilot quality improvement study was created to optimize diabetes education in a clinic setting with a patient population with significant healthcare barriers. Certified Diabetes Care and Education Specialists (CDCES) were deployed in a team-based model with flexible scheduling and same-day education visits, outside of the traditional framework of diabetes education, specifically targeting practices with underperforming diabetes quality measures, in a clinic setting significantly impacted by social determinants of health.Results:A team-based and flexible diabetes education model decreased hemoglobin A1C for individuals participating in the project (and having a second A1C measured) by an average of −2.3%, improved Minnesota Diabetes Quality Measures (D5) for clinicians participating in the project by 5.8%, optimized use of CDCES, and reduced a high visit fail rate for diabetes education.Conclusions:Diabetes education provided in a team-based and flexible model may better meet patient needs and improve diabetes care metrics, in settings with a patient population with significant barriers.     

Care and Respect for Elders in Emergencies Program: A Preliminary Report of a Volunteer Approach to Enhance Care in the Emergency Department

Older adults who present to an emergency department (ED) generally have more‐complex medical conditions with complicated care needs and are at high risk for preventable adverse outcomes during their ED visit. The Care and Respect for Elders with Emergencies (CARE) volunteer initiative is a geriatric‐focused volunteer program developed to help prevent avoidable complications such as falls, delirium and use of restraints, and functional decline in vulnerable elders in the ED. The CARE program consists of bedside volunteer interventions ranging from conversation to various short activities designed to engage and reorient high‐risk, older, unaccompanied individuals in the ED. This article describes the development and characteristics of the CARE program, the services provided, the experiences of the elderly patients and their volunteers, and the growth of the program over time. CARE volunteers provide elders with the additional attention needed in an often chaotic, unfamiliar environment by enhancing their care, improving satisfaction, and preventing potential decline.     

Paying the Price: The Pressing Need for Quality,Cost, and Outcomes Data to Improve Correctional Health Care for Older Prisoners

Despite a recent decline in the U.S. prison population, the older prisoner population is growing rapidly. U.S. prisons are constitutionally required to provide health care to prisoners. As the population ages, healthcare costs rise, states are forced to cut spending, and many correctional agencies struggle to meet this legal standard of care. Failure to meet the healthcare needs of older prisoners, who now account for nearly 10% of the prison population, can cause avoidable suffering in a medically vulnerable population and violation of the constitutional mandate for timely access to an appropriate level of care while incarcerated. Older prisoners who cannot access adequate health care in prison also affect community healthcare systems because more than 95% of prisoners are eventually released, many to urban communities where healthcare disparities are common and acute healthcare resources are overused. A lack of uniform quality and cost data has significantly hampered innovations in policy and practice to improve value in correctional health care (achieving desired health outcomes at sustainable costs). With their unique knowledge of complex chronic disease management, experts in geriatrics are positioned to help address the aging crisis in correctional health care. This article delineates the basic health, cost, and outcomes data that geriatricians and gerontologists need to respond to this crisis, identifies gaps in the available data, and anticipates barriers to data collection that, if addressed, could enable clinicians and policy‐makers to evaluate and improve the value of geriatric prison health care.     

Using Patient-Reported Outcomes toAssess Healthcare Quality: Toward Better Measurement of Patient-Centered Care in Cardiovascular Disease

Patient-reported outcomes (PROs) are elicited directly from patients so they can describe their overall health status, including their symptoms, function, and quality of life. While commonly used as end points in clinical trials, PROs can play an important role in routine clinical care, population health management, and as a means for quantifying the quality of patient care. In this review, we propose that PROs be used to improve patient-centered care in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases given their importance to patients and society and their ability to improve doctor- provider communication. Furthermore, given the current variability in patients’ health status across different clinics and the fact that PROs can be improved by titrating therapy, we contend that PROs have a key opportunity to serve as measures of healthcare quality.     

Use of Social Media at Cardiovascular Congresses: Opportunities for Education and Dissemination

Social Media includes different forms of online communication from Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, podcasts, YouTube etc. and has advanced how information is exchanged. A notable use is engaging on Twitter at medical conferences, both for those attending the conference and the global audience who are not able to attend. It is also increasingly used as an educational tool similar to e-learning. The objective of this paper is to: 1) highlight the impact of using Twitter at cardiovascular congresses as an interactive platform for active learning as compared to passively listening to a presentation; 2) present perspectives from not only clinicians, researchers but also patients on how this information is interpreted; 3) provide recommendations for conference organizers for best practice live tweeting to share the information and knowledge beyond those in attendance; with potential for not only engagement but also educating our global community.     

Predictors,costs, and causes of readmission after surgery for sinonasal cancer: a national perspective

Background

Hospital readmissions are an increasingly scrutinized marker of surgical care delivery and quality. There is a paucity of information in the literature regarding the rate, risk factors, and common causes of readmission after surgery for sinonasal cancer.

Methods

We analyzed the Nationwide Readmissions Database for patients who underwent surgery for a diagnosis of sinonasal cancer between 2010 and 2014. Rates, causes, and patient‐, procedure‐, and hospital‐level risk factors for 30‐day readmission were determined. Multivariate logistic regression was used to identify predictors of 30‐day readmission.

Results

Among the 4173 cases, the 30‐day readmission rate was 11.6%, with an average cost per readmission of $18,403. The most common readmission diagnoses were wound complications (15.3%) and infections (13.4%). On multivariate regression, significant risk factors for readmission were chronic renal failure (odds ratio [OR], 2.95; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.41‐6.17), involvement of the skull base or orbit (OR, 1.67; 95% CI, 1.11‐2.51), nonelective initial surgical admission (OR, 2.35; 95% CI, 1.42‐3.89), and length of stay ≥7 days (OR, 1.87; 95% CI, 1.14‐3.05).

Conclusion

Through the use of a large national database, we found that approximately 1 in 9 patients undergoing surgery for sinonasal cancer was readmitted within 30 days. Readmissions were most commonly associated with wound complications and infections. Factors related to procedural complexity were more important predictors of readmission than patients’ demographics or comorbidities.

     

Quality of care and outcomes in internal medicine patients bedspaced to noninternal medicine units

Hospital overcrowding has led to a practice known as bedspacing (in which admitted patients are placed on a different specialty''s inpatient ward), yet little is known about the impact of this practice on healthcare quality.We investigated whether hospital outcome measures differ between bedspaced general internal medicine (GIM) patients vs nonbedspaced patients.Our retrospective study included patients admitted to GIM wards at 2 academic hospitals (2012–2014), comparing bedspaced to nonbedspaced patients, and identifying adverse events from the hospital''s Electronic Patient Record.We compared these groups with respect to actual length of stay vs the expected length of stay (% ELOS), which is defined as length of stay (LOS) divided by expected length of stay (ELOS), 30-day readmission, adverse events (falls, medication-related incidents, equipment-related incidents, first treatment related incidents, laboratory-related incidents, and operative/invasive events), and in-hospital mortality.There were 22,519 patients analyzed with 15,985 (71%) discharged from a medical ward and 6534 (29%) discharged from a non-medical ward. Bedspaced patients had shorter lengths of stay (4.1 vs 6.2 days, P < .001) and expected lengths of stay (ELOS) (6.1 vs 6.4 days, P < .001). Bedspaced patients had a lower percentage of ELOS (% ELOS) than nonbedspaced patients (70% vs 91%, P < .001), similar readmission rates (9.8 vs 10.3 events per 100 patients, P = .24), lower in-hospital mortality rates (2.6 vs 3.3 events per 100 patients, P = .003) and fewer adverse events (0.20 vs 0.60 events per 100 patient days, P < .01).Bedspacing of patients is common. Patients who are bedspaced to off-service wards have better outcomes. This may relate to preferential allocation practices.     

A Randomized,Controlled Study to Evaluate the Role of an In-Home Asthma Disease Management Program Provided by Respiratory Therapists in Improving Outcomes and Reducing the Cost of Care

Background and purpose. Asthma management programs (AMP) may reduce costs and improve outcomes in patients with moderate to severe asthma. However, it is not known which personnel are best able to deliver such interventions and what settings are most effective. The purpose of this study was to compare the effects of an in-home AMP provided by respiratory therapists (RTs) to an AMP provided by nurses (RNs) and to usual care (UC) provided in physician offices or clinics. Methods. Subjects (age 18–64) who had been admitted to the emergency department (ED) or hospital for acute asthma exacerbation were randomized to three groups: AMP-RT, AMP-RN or UC. The AMP groups received five () weekly home visits to provide assessment and instruction; the UC group was instructed to return to their physician for routine follow-up. Outcomes assessed at 6 months included hospitalizations, in patient days, hospitalization cost, ED visits and cost, clinic visits, pulmonary function, symptoms, health related quality of life (HRQOL), asthma episode self-management score (AESM), environmental assessment, and patient satisfaction (PS). Variables were compared using ANOVA with a Neuman-Keuls follow-up for multiple comparisons using an intent-to-treat approach. Results. Upon enrollment, (n = 159) there were no differences (p >. 05) between groups for age, gender, pulmonary function or HRQOL (SF-36 and St. Georges Respiratory Questionnaire – SGRQ). At 6 months, both AMP groups (AMP-RN n = 54; AMP-RT n = 46) had significantly fewer (p < 0.05) hospitalizations and in-patient days, lower hospitalization costs, and greater HRQOL physical component summary change scores (PCS) and PS than UC (n = 59). AMP-RT also had greater PEFR, SGRQ Total and SGRQ Symptoms change scores when compared to UC and significantly better AESM and PS scores as compared to AMP-RN and UC. Conclusions. An in-home asthma management program can be effectively delivered by respiratory therapists and may reduce hospitalizations, in-patient days, cost and improve measures of HRQOL and PS in a population prone to asthma exacerbation.     

脑卒中生存质量量表中译本信度和效度及敏感度的初步研究

目的　引进并修订了Williams等编制的脑卒中生存质量量表 (SS QOL) ,并在我国脑卒中人群中进行信度、效度和敏感度的初步研究。方法　信度检验用加权kappa系数和Cronbach’sα系数来评价。采用人为推理判断方法评价内容效度 ;以Rankin量表分级作为外在效标来评估辨别效度 ;采用聚类分析方法考核量表的结构效度 ;通过相关分析考察量表的效标效度。各领域敏感度通过标准化效应大小 (SES)来评估 91例患者。结果　 3个月时实际随访评定 80例。SS QOL中译本各领域的重测信度和评定者间信度的kappa系数均在 0 .82～ 1.0 0之间 ;内容一致信度的Cronbach’sα系数在 0 .76以上 ,显示了良好的信度。以Rankin量表为外在效标的分组中 ,得分具有显著差异 ,具有良好的辨别效度。通过聚类分析将 12个领域聚为 6类。除“社会角色 (0 .10 )”和“视力 (0 .17)”领域外 ,SS QOL中译本各领域均显示了与对应的“准金标准”呈适度的相关性 (相关系数 0 .30～ 0 .84 ,P <0 .0 0 1)。大多数领域显示了理想的敏感度。结论　SS QOL中译本在轻、中度脑卒中患者中具有良好的信度、效度及敏感度 ,可用于脑卒中结局测量。