Preventable Admissions on a General Medicine Service: Prevalence, Causes and Comparison with AHRQ Prevention Quality Indicators-A Cross-Sectional Analysis

The spectrum of hospitalization-associated harm in the elderly

Acutely ill patients are not infrequently referred to the hospital and admitted, when they could be diagnosed and managed in the ambulatory setting or by hospital-level care at home. Avoidable admissions are particularly regrettable when the wide spectrum of hospitalization-associated patient harm is considered. It includes acute discomfort to the patient due to multiple disturbing hospital stressors; an emotional trauma; the burden of multiple redundant tests begetting false-positive and incidental findings triggering further testing and cascades; highly prevalent adverse events and serious harm associated with medical care, such as nosocomial infections, delirium, falls, and adverse drug events; and a complex array of post-discharge complications including significant physical and functional decline; cognitive decline; flawed transitions of care; common post-discharge adverse events; and a substantial risk of readmission, restarting the vicious cycle and compromising patient well-being, safety, and outcomes. Elderly patients are especially vulnerable, but in-hospital patient harm is not limited to older adults and is associated with increased length of stay, escalating costs, and mortality. The myriad types of harm that often accompany hospital admission is often not fully appreciated. Better awareness may result in better preventive strategies, in finding alternatives to hospital admission in some cases, and may contribute towards an improved patient experience and safety when hospitalization is mandatory, and the provision of enhanced care in the vulnerable post-discharge period.

Potentially avoidable admissions to general internal medicine at an academic teaching hospital: an observational study

BACKGROUND

Identifying potentially avoidable admissions to Canadian hospitals is an important health system goal. With general internal medicine (GIM) accounting for 40% of hospital admissions, we sought to develop a method to identify potentially avoidable admissions and characterize patient, provider and health system factors.

METHODS

We conducted an observational study of GIM admissions at our institution from August 2019 to February 2020. We defined potentially avoidable admissions as admissions that could be managed in an appropriate and safe manner in the emergency department or ambulatory setting and asked staff physicians to screen admissions daily and flag candidates as potentially avoidable admissions. For each candidate, we prepared a case review and debriefed with members of the admitting team. We then reviewed each candidate with our research team, assigned an avoidability score (1 [low] to 4 [high]) and identified contributing factors for those with scores of 3 or more.

RESULTS

We screened 601 total admissions and staff physicians flagged 117 (19.5%) of these as candidate potential avoidable admissions. Consensus review identified 67 candidates as potentially avoidable admissions (11.1%, 95% confidence interval 8.8%-13.9%); these patients were younger (mean age 65 yr v. 72 yr), had fewer comorbidities (Canadian Institute for Health Information Case Mix Group+ 0.42 v. 1.14), had lower resource-intensity weighting scores (0.72 v. 1.50) and shorter hospital lengths of stay (29 h v. 105 h) (p < 0.01). Common factors included diagnostic and therapeutic uncertainty, perceived need for short-term monitoring, government directive of a 4-hour limit for admission decision-making and subspecialist request to admit.

INTERPRETATION

Our prospective method of screening, flagging and case review showed that 1 in 9 GIM admissions were potentially avoidable. Other institutions could consider adapting this methodology to ascertain their rate of potentially avoidable admissions and to understand contributing factors to inform improvement endeavours.

Reasons for Hospitalization while Receiving Dementia Care Coordination through Maximizing Independence at Home

OBJECTIVES

Persons living with dementia (PLWD), particularly those with higher levels of functional impairment, are at increased risk of hospitalization and higher hospital-associated health care costs. Our objective was to provide a nuanced description of reasons for hospitalizations over a 12-month period among community-living persons with dementia taking part in a dementia care coordination study using caregiver-reported data and to describe how reasons varied by disease stage.

DESIGN

Retrospective descriptive analysis of pooled data from 2 concurrent studies of PLWD receiving the MIND at Home dementia care coordination program.

SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS

Four hundred ninety-four community-dwelling PLWD with a family caregiver in the Greater Baltimore and Central Maryland region, 2015‒2019.

METHODS

PLWD sociodemographic, clinical, functional, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics were assessed during an in-home baseline visit. Caregiver-reported hospitalizations and primary reasons for events were recorded every 4.5 months by research staff and by memory care coordinators during program delivery for a 12-month period. Hospitalization event data were subsequently reviewed, reconciled, and coded by a trained investigator.

RESULTS

One hundred seventy PLWD (34.4%) had at least 1 hospitalization within 12 months of enrollment, with 316 separate events. The most common primary reason for hospitalization according to caregivers was infection (22.4%), falls (16.5%), and cardiovascular/pulmonary (12.4%). Top reasons for hospitalization were falls among persons with mild and moderate functional impairment (17.7% and 21.9% respectively) and infection among PLWD with severe impairment (30.3%).

CONCLUSIONS AND IMPLICATIONS

Infections and falls were the most common caregiver-reported reasons for hospitalization in PLWD receiving dementia care coordination. Reasons for hospitalization varied based on severity of functional impairment. Greater understanding of reasons for hospitalization among PLWD receiving dementia care management interventions, from multiple important perspectives, may help programs more effectively address and prevent hospitalization.

Measuring medically unjustified hospitalizations in Switzerland

Background

Inappropriate use of acute hospital beds is a major topic in health politics. We present here a new approach to measure unnecessary hospitalizations in Medicine and Pediatrics.

Methods

The necessity of a hospital admission was determined using explicit criteria related to the recorded diagnoses. Two indicators (i.e. “unjustified” and “sometimes justified” stays) were applied to more than 800,000 hospital stays and a random sample of 200 of them was analyzed by two clinicians, using routine data available in medical statistics. The validation of the indicators focused on their precision, validity and adjustment, as well as their usefulness (i.e. interest and risk of abuse).

Results

Rates, adjusted for case mix (i.e. age of patient, admission planned or not), showed statistically significant differences among hospitals. Only 6.5% of false positives were observed for “unjustified stays” and 17% for “sometimes justified stays”. Respectively 7 and 12% of stays had an unknown status, due to a lack of sufficiently precise data. Considering true positives only, almost one third of medical and pediatric stays were classified as not strictly justified from a medical point of view in Switzerland. Among these stays, about one fifth could have probably been avoided without risk. To enable a larger ambulatory shift, recommendations were made to strengthen the ambulatory care, notably regarding post-emergency follow-up, cardiac and pulmonary functions’ monitoring, pain management, falls prevention, and specialized at-home services that should be offered.

Conclusion

We recommend using “unjustified stays” and “sometimes justified stays” indicators to monitor inappropriate hospitalizations. The latter could help the planning of reinforced ambulatory care measures to pursue the ambulatory shift. Nonetheless, we clearly advise against the use of these two indicators for hospitals financing purposes.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12913-022-07569-3.

Impact of underlying malignancy on emergency department utilization and outcomes

PURPOSE

Cancer patients frequently utilize the emergency department (ED) for a variety of diagnoses both related to and unrelated to their cancer, yet ED outcomes for cancer patients are not well documented. This study sought to define risks and identify predictors for inpatient admission and hospital mortality among cancer patients presenting to the ED.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

We utilized the National Emergency Department Sample to identify patients with and without a diagnosis of cancer presenting to the ED between January 2016 and December 2018. We used multivariable mixed-effects logistic regression models to assess the influence of cancer on outcomes of hospital admission after the ED visit and hospital mortality for the whole patient cohort and individual presenting diagnoses.

RESULTS

There were 340 million weighted ED visits, of which 8.3 million (2.3%) were associated with a cancer diagnosis. Compared to non-cancer patients, patients with cancer had an increased risk of inpatient admission (64.7% vs. 14.8%; p < 0.0001) and hospital mortality (4.6% vs. 0.5%; p < 0.0001). For each of the top 15 presenting diagnoses, cancer patients had increased risks of hospitalization (odds ratio [OR] range 2.0-13.2) or death (OR range 2.1-14.4). Although our dataset does not contain reliable estimation of stage, cancer site was the most robust individual predictor associated with the risk of hospitalization or death compared to other clinical or system-related factors.

CONCLUSIONS

Cancer patients in the ED have high risks for hospital admission and death when compared to patients without cancer. Cancer patients represent a distinct population and may benefit from cancer-specific risk stratification or focused interventions to improve outcomes.

What Is the Return on Investment of Caring for Complex High-need, High-cost Patients?

Randomized controlled trials to improve care for complex, high-need, high-cost patients have not consistently demonstrated a relative decrease in acute care utilization or cost savings. However, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has been able to glean lessons from these trials and generate realistic expectations for success. Lessons include the following: (1) combining population management tools (e.g., risk scores) and clinician judgment is more effective than either alone to identify the patients best suited for intensive management; (2) treatment adherence and engagement may contribute more to preventable emergency department visits and hospitalizations than care coordination; and (3) efforts should focus on assessing for and treating those risk factors that are most amenable to intervention. Because it is unlikely that cost savings can fund add-on intensive management programs, the VHA Office of Primary Care plans to incorporate those intensive management practices that are feasible into existing patient-centered medical homes as a high reliability organization.

Integrated quality assessment for diabetes care in Portuguese primary health care using prevention quality indicators

AIMS

This study evaluates the prevention quality indicators (PQI) for Diabetes Mellitus (DM) in Portugal using contemporary data and explores their variability according to Primary Health Care (PHC) quality indicators.

METHODS

We conducted a retrospective observational analysis of secondary data comprising Portuguese PHC indicators by health centres group (ACES) and the National Hospital Morbidity Database. We calculated and analysed age-sex-adjusted rates for each PQI. Worse-performing ACES were identified using the 2017 median PQI values as an assessment cut-off. A multivariate logistic analysis was carried to find variables associated with the likelihood of being a worse-performing ACES for the biennium.

RESULTS

The median values of the indicator PQI93 - Prevention Quality Diabetes Composite were 79 and 65.2 hospitalizations per 100 000 pop, in 2016 and 2017 respectively. Diabetes long term complications (PQI 03) accounted for most of the hospitalizations. The quality indicator in PHC with greater influence on PQI93 was the proportion of DM patients with <65 years with test results for HbA1c < = 6.5%.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that some PHC quality indicators are closely related to DM care, and so their monitoring is of high importance. Diabetes long term complications (PQI 03) demand greater attention from PHC professionals.

Spatial Patterns in Hospital-Acquired Infections in Portugal (2014-2017)

BACKGROUND

Hospital-Acquired Infections (HAIs) represent the most frequent adverse event associated with healthcare delivery and result in prolonged hospital stays and deaths worldwide.

AIM

To analyze the spatial patterns of HAI incidence from 2014 to 2017 in Portugal.

METHODS

Data from the Portuguese Discharge Hospital Register were used. We selected episodes of patients with no infection on admission and with any of the following HAI diagnoses: catheter-related bloodstream infections, intestinal infections by Clostridium difficile, nosocomial pneumonia, surgical site infections, and urinary tract infections. We calculated age-standardized hospitalization rates (ASHR) by place of patient residence. We used empirical Bayes estimators to smooth the ASHR. The Moran Index and Local Index of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) were calculated to identify spatial clusters.

RESULTS

A total of 318,218 HAIs were registered, with men accounting for 49.8% cases. The median length of stay (LOS) was 9.0 days, and 15.7% of patients died during the hospitalization. The peak of HAIs (n = 81,690) occurred in 2015, representing 9.4% of the total hospital admissions. Substantial spatial inequalities were observed, with the center region presenting three times the ASHR of the north. A slight decrease in ASHR was observed after 2015. Pneumonia was the most frequent HAI in all age groups.

CONCLUSION

The incidence of HAI is not randomly distributed in the space; clusters of high risk in the central region were seen over the entire study period. These findings may be useful to support healthcare policymakers and to promote a revision of infection control policies, providing insights for improved implementation.

Landscapes on Prevention Quality Indicators: A Spatial Analysis of Diabetes Preventable Hospitalizations in Portugal (2016-2017)

Preventable hospitalizations due to complications of diabetes mellitus (DM), represented by the related prevention quality indicators (PQI), are ambulatory care-sensitive conditions that can be prevented and controlled through effective primary health care (PHC) treatment. It is important to reduce mortality and promote the quality of life to diabetic patients in regions with higher hospitalization rates. The study aims to analyze the results of the DM age-sex-adjusted PQI, by groups of health centers (ACES), distributed in the Portuguese territory. The most representative PQI at a national level were identified, and the trends were mapped and analyzed. Also, it presents the ACES with the highest age-adjusted rates of avoidable hospitalizations for DM. The absolute number of preventable hospitalizations for all DM complications in Portugal has decreased by 20%, thus passing from the rate of 79 in 2016 to 65.2/100,000 inhabitants in 2017. Despite the improvement in results for PQI 03, 20 of 48 ACES that were above the national 2017 median rate in 2016, achieved better results the following year, and for the overall preventable diabetes hospitalizations (PQI 93) only 11 out 39, revealing the need for further studies and PHC actions to improve the diabetic quality of life.

Burden and Outcomes of Fragmentation of Care in Hospitalized Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases: A Nationally Representative Cohort

BACKGROUND

Fragmentation of care (FoC) may adversely impact health care quality in patients with chronic diseases. We conducted a US nationally representative cohort study to evaluate the burden and outcomes of FoC in hospitalized patients with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD).

METHODS

Using Nationwide Readmissions Database 2013, we created 2 cohorts of superutilizer patients with IBD with 2 hospitalizations (cohort 1: FoC, defined as readmission to nonindex hospital vs no FoC) or 3 hospitalizations (cohort 2: multiple episodes of fragmentation vs single episode of fragmentation vs no FoC) between January and June 2013, which were followed through December 2013. We evaluated burden, pattern, and outcomes of fragmentation (6-month risk of readmission, risk of surgery, and inpatient mortality).

RESULTS

In cohort 1, of 6073 patients with IBD with 2 admissions within 6 months, 1394 (23%) experienced FoC. Fragmentation of care was associated with modestly higher risk of readmission within 6 months (31% vs 28%, P < 0.01; adjusted relative risk, 1.11 [1.01-1.21]), without differences in risk of surgery (2.8% vs 4.3%, P = 0.19) or in-hospital mortality (0.2% vs 0.5%, P = 0.22). In cohort 2, of 1717 patients with 3 hospitalizations within 6 months, the number of patients with multiple episodes of fragmentation was associated with higher risk of readmission compared with patients with single episode of fragmentation or no FoC (52% vs 49% vs 43%, P = 0.03).

CONCLUSIONS

In a US cohort study, FoC is associated with a modestly higher risk of readmission, without higher risk of surgery or mortality in superutilizer patients with IBD. Future studies focusing on impact of outpatient care and postdischarge coordination are warranted in superutilizer patients.

Evaluation of Hospitalizations Preventable with Idealized Outpatient Care and Continuity of Care

BACKGROUND

Unnecessary hospitalizations may pose the risk of iatrogenic complications, suboptimal patient experience, and increased cost. Administrative data lack granularity to understand the proportion and causes of hospitalizations preventable through optimizing care continuum (HPOCC). We aim to identify the incidence and causes of HPOCC through clinician-adjudicated chart review.

METHODS

A retrospective review was performed for inpatient admissions from the emergency department (ED) over 1 week. Each admission was reviewed by a clinician to determine whether it is an HPOCC defined as not requiring inpatient care with the assumption of idealized outpatient care and social support.

RESULTS

Of the 515 patients admitted from the ED, 31 (6.0%) patients were judged to have had an HPOCC. Causes of HPOCC include urgent diagnostics (9, 29.0%), unnecessary transfer from a long-term facility (7, 23.0%), needing IV therapy (5, 16.0%), benign incidental finding (5, 16.0%), diagnostic uncertainty in complex chronic illness (3, 10.0%), and lack of access to care for disposition (2, 6.0%).

CONCLUSION

Hospitalizations preventable through optimizing care continuum account for about 1 in every 15 hospitalizations in an urban academic medical center. The need for urgent diagnostics accounts for a plurality of HPOCC and could be an important target for quality improvement.

Hospitalists as Triagists: Description of the Triagist Role across Academic Medical Centers

From the hospitalist perspective, triaging involves the evaluation of a patient for potential admission to an inpatient service. Although traditionally done by residents, many academic hospitalist groups have assumed the responsibility for triaging. We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 235 adult hospitalists at 10 academic medical centers (AMCs) to describe the similarities and differences in the triagist role and assess the activities and skills associated with the role. Eight AMCs have a defined triagist role; at the others, hospitalists supervise residents/advanced practice providers. The triagist role is generally filled by a faculty physician and shared by all hospitalists.We found significant variability in verbal communication practices (P = .02) and electronic communication practices (P < .0001) between the triagist and the current provider (eg, emergency department, clinic provider), and in the percentage of patients evaluated in person (P < .0001). Communication skills, personal efficiency, and systems knowledge are dominant themes of attributes of an effective triagist.

Towards a patient journey perspective on causes of unplanned readmissions using a classification framework: results of a systematic review with narrative synthesis

BACKGROUND

Several literature reviews have been published focusing on the prevalence and/or preventability of hospital readmissions. To our knowledge, none focused on the different causes which have been used to evaluate the preventability of readmissions. Insight into the range of causes is crucial to understand the complex nature of readmissions. We conducted a systematic review to: (1) evaluate the range of causes of unplanned readmissions in a patient journey, and (2) present a cause classification framework that can support future readmission studies.

METHODS

A literature search was conducted in PUBMED and EMBASE using "readmission" and "avoidability" or "preventability" as key terms. Studies that specified causes of unplanned readmissions were included. The causes were classified into eight preliminary root causes: Technical, Organization (integrated care), Organization (hospital department level), Human (care provider), Human (informal caregiver), Patient (self-management), Patient (disease), and Other. The root causes were based on expert opinions and the root cause analysis tool of PRISMA (Prevention and Recovery Information System for Monitoring and Analysis). The range of different causes were analyzed using Microsoft Excel.

RESULTS

Forty-five studies that reported 381 causes of readmissions were included. All studies reported causes related to organization of care at the hospital department level. These causes were often reported as preventable. Twenty-two studies included causes related to patient's self-management and 19 studies reported causes related to patient's disease. Studies differed in which causes were seen as preventable or unpreventable. None reported causes related to technical failures and causes due to integrated care issues were reported in 18 studies.

CONCLUSIONS

This review showed that causes for readmissions were mainly evaluated from a hospital perspective. However, causes beyond the scope of the hospital can also play a major role in unplanned readmissions. Opinions regarding preventability seem to depend on contextual factors of the readmission. This study presents a cause classification framework that could help future readmission studies to gain insight into a broad range of causes for readmissions in a patient journey.

Predicting Risk of Potentially Preventable Hospitalization in Older Adults with Dementia

OBJECTIVES

Reducing potentially preventable hospitalization (PPH) among older adults with dementia is a goal of Healthy People 2020, yet no tools specifically identify patients with dementia at highest risk. The objective was to develop a risk prediction model to identify older adults with dementia at high imminent risk of PPH.

DESIGN

A 30-day risk prediction model was developed using multivariable logistic regression. Patients from fiscal years (FY) 2009 to 2011 were split into development and validation cohorts; FY2012 was used for prediction.

SETTING

Community-dwelling older adults (≥65 years of age) with dementia who received care through the Veterans Health Administration.

PARTICIPANTS

There were 1 793 783 participants.

MEASUREMENTS

Characteristics associated with hospitalization risk were (1) age and other demographic factors; (2) outpatient, emergency department, and inpatient utilization; (3) medical and psychiatric diagnoses; and (4) prescribed medication use including changes to psychotropic medications (eg, initiation or dosage increase). Model discrimination was determined by the C statistic for each of the three cohorts. Finally, to determine whether predicted 30-day risk strata were stable over time, the observed PPH rate was calculated out to 1 year.

RESULTS

In the development cohort, .6% of patients experienced PPH within 30 days. The C statistic for the development cohort was .83 (95% confidence interval [CI] = .83-.84) and .83 in the prediction cohort (95% CI = .82-.84). Patients in the top 10% of predicted 30-day PPH risk accounted for more than 50% of 30-day PPH admissions in all three cohorts. In addition, those predicted to be at elevated 30-day risk remained at higher risk throughout a year of follow-up.

CONCLUSION

It is possible to identify older adults with dementia at high risk of imminent PPH, and their risk remains elevated for an entire year. Given the negative outcomes associated with acute hospitalization for those with dementia, healthcare systems and providers may be able to engage these high-risk patients proactively to avoid unnecessary hospitalization. J Am Geriatr Soc 67:2077-2084, 2019.

Obesity Is Independently Associated With Higher Annual Burden and Costs of Hospitalization in Patients With Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

BACKGROUND & AIMS

Approximately 15%-40% patients with inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) are obese. There is an inconsistent association between obesity and IBD phenotype and course. We conducted a nationally representative cohort study to estimate and compare the burden, costs, and causes for hospitalization in obese vs non-obese patients with IBD.

METHODS

Using the Nationwide Readmissions Database 2013, we identified obese (based on administrative claims code) and non-obese patients who had been hospitalized at least once, from January through June 2013, and followed them for re-hospitalization until December 2013. We compared annual burden (total days spent in hospital), costs, causes, and outcomes of hospitalization between obese and non-obese patients after 1:1 propensity score matching.

RESULTS

We identified 42,285 patients with IBD, of which 12.4% were obese. After propensity score matching, we included 5128 obese and 5128 non-obese IBD patients in our analysis. Compared to non-obese patients, obese patients spent more days in hospital annually (median, 8 vs 5 days) (P < .01), with higher hospitalization-related costs (median, $17,277 vs $11,847) (P < .01); this pattern persisted in subsets of high-need and high-cost patients. Compared to non-obese patients, obese patients were more likely to be hospitalized with preventable admissions (19% vs 15%) or cardiopulmonary complications (16% vs 12%).

CONCLUSIONS

In an analysis of data on patients with IBD from the Nationwide Readmissions Database 2013, we found obesity to be independently associated with higher burden and costs of hospitalizations. Strategies should be considered to target obesity as adjunctive therapy for patients with IBD.

Annual Burden and Costs of Hospitalization for High-Need, High-Cost Patients With Chronic Gastrointestinal and Liver Diseases

BACKGROUND & AIMS

We estimated the annual burden and costs of hospitalization in patients with chronic gastrointestinal and liver diseases, and identified characteristics of high-need, high-cost patients, in a nationally representative sample.

METHODS

Using Nationwide Readmissions Database 2013, we identified patients with at least 1 hospitalization between January and June 2013, and a diagnosis of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBDs), chronic liver diseases (CLDs), functional gastrointestinal disorders (FGIDs), gastrointestinal hemorrhage, or pancreatic diseases, with 6 months or more of follow up. We calculated days spent in hospital/month and estimated costs of the entire cohort, and identified characteristics of high-need, high-cost patients (top decile of days spent in hospital/month).

RESULTS

Patients with IBD (n = 47,402), CLDs (n = 376,810), FGIDs (n = 351,583), gastrointestinal hemorrhage (n = 190,881), or pancreatic diseases (n = 98,432), hospitalized at least once, spent a median of 6 to 7 days (interquartile range, 3-14 d) in the hospital each year (total for all diseases). Compared to patients in the lowest decile (median, 0.13-0.14 d/mo spent in the hospital), patients in the highest decile spent a median 3.7-4.1 days/month in hospital (total for all diseases), with hospitalization costs ranging from $7502/month to $8925/month and 1 hospitalization every 2 months. Gastrointestinal diseases, infections, and cardiopulmonary causes were leading reasons for hospitalization of these patients. Based on multivariate logistic regression, high-need, high-cost patients were more likely to have Medicare/Medicaid insurance, lower income status, index hospitalization in a large rural hospital, high comorbidity burden, obesity, and infection-related hospitalization.

CONCLUSIONS

In a nationwide database analysis of patients with IBD, CLD, FGID, gastrointestinal hemorrhage, or pancreatic diseases hospitalized at least once, we found that a small fraction of high-need, high-cost patients contribute disproportionately to hospitalization costs. Population health management directed toward these patients would facilitate high-value care.

The relationship between workload and length of stay in Singapore

Prior studies link higher workload with longer length of stay (LOS) in the US. Unlike U.S. hospitals, Singaporean hospitals, like other major hospitals in the Asia-Pacific, are partially occupied by patients with non-acute needs due to insufficient alternative facilities. We examined the association between workload and length of stay (LOS) and the impact of workload on 30-day re-hospitalization and inpatient mortality rates in retrospective cohort in this setting. We defined workload as the daily number of patients per physician team. 13,097 hospitalizations of 10,000 patients were included. We found that higher workload was associated with shorter LOS (coefficient, -0.044 [95%CI, -0.083, -0.01]), especially for patients with longer stays (hazard ratios, not significantly greater than 1 before Day 4, 1.04 [95%CI, 1.01, 1.07] at Day 4 and 1.16 [95%CI, 1.10, 1.24] at Day 10), without affecting inpatient mortality (odds ratio (OR), 1.03 [95%CI, 0.99, 1.05]) or 30-day re-hospitalization (OR, 1.01 [95%CI, 0.99, 1.04]). This result differs from studies in the US and may reflect regional differences in the use of acute hospital beds for non-acute needs.

Characterizing Potentially Preventable Admissions: A Mixed Methods Study of Rates, Associated Factors, Outcomes, and Physician Decision-Making

BACKGROUND

Potentially preventable admissions are a target for healthcare cost containment.

OBJECTIVE

To identify rates of, characterize associations with, and explore physician decision-making around potentially preventable admissions.

DESIGN

A comparative cohort study was used to determine rates of potentially preventable admissions and to identify associated factors and patient outcomes. A qualitative case study was used to explore physicians' clinical decision-making.

PARTICIPANTS

Patients admitted from the emergency department (ED) to the general medicine (GM) service over a total of 4 weeks were included as cases (N = 401). Physicians from both emergency medicine (EM) and GM that were involved in the cases were included (N = 82).

APPROACH

Physicians categorized admissions as potentially preventable. We examined differences in patient characteristics, admission characteristics, and patient outcomes between potentially preventable and control admissions. Interviews with participating physicians were conducted and transcribed. Transcriptions were systematically analyzed for key concepts regarding potentially preventable admissions.

KEY RESULTS

EM and GM physicians categorized 22.2% (90/401) of admissions as potentially preventable. There were no significant differences between potentially preventable and control admissions in patient or admission characteristics. Potentially preventable admissions had shorter length of stay (2.1 vs. 3.6 days, p < 0.001). There was no difference in other patient outcomes. Physicians discussed several provider, system, and patient factors that affected clinical decision-making around potentially preventable admissions, particularly in the "gray zone," including risk of deterioration at home, the risk of hospitalization, the cost to the patient, and the presence of outpatient resources. Differences in provider training, risk assessment, and provider understanding of outpatient access accounted for differences in decisions between EM and GM physicians.

CONCLUSIONS

Collaboration between EM and GM physicians around patients in the gray zone, focusing on patient risk, cost, and outpatient resources, may provide an avenues for reducing potentially preventable admissions and lowering healthcare spending.

Infections and Cardiovascular Complications are Common Causes for Hospitalization in Older Patients with Inflammatory Bowel Diseases

BACKGROUND AND AIMS

Prevalence of inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) in older patients is increasing. Risk-benefit trade-offs of therapy are poorly understood in older patients, who may be at higher risk of nonIBD and/or treatment-related complications, rather than disease-related complications. We conducted a nationally representative cohort study to estimate and compare annual burden, costs, and causes for hospitalization in older versus younger patients with IBD.

METHODS

Using the Nationwide Readmissions Database 2013, we created a cohort of 47,402 patients with IBD who had been hospitalized at least once between January-June 2013 and followed for rehospitalization until December 2013. We estimated annual burden (total days spent in hospital), costs, and causes (based on primary discharge diagnosis) of hospitalization in older (>64y, n = 15,428), middle-age (40-64y, n = 18,476), and younger (<40y, n = 13,498) patients.

RESULTS

Older patients with IBD spent more days in hospital annually [median interquartile range : 7 (3-13) days] than middle-age [6 (3-12) days], and younger patients [5 ([3-11) days], with significantly higher hospitalization-related costs $15,078 (7423-30,955) vs $12,921 (6367-28,182) vs.. $10,070 (5192-22,100), P < 0.01. Older patients were significantly more likely to be hospitalized due to serious infections (14.6% vs 10.6% vs 8.4%; P < 0.01) and cardiovascular complications (9.9% vs 4.3% vs 0.8%; P < 0.01), and they were less likely due to IBD-related complications (11.8% vs 23.5% vs 41.4%; P < 0.01).

CONCLUSIONS

Older IBD patients have higher burden and costs of hospitalization than younger patients, mainly attributed to serious infections and cardiovascular complications, rather than disease-related complications. Careful assessment of comparative risks-benefits of different IBD therapies in older patients is warranted to identify the optimal treatment approach.

Continuity of Care and Health Care Utilization in Older Adults With Dementia in Fee-for-Service Medicare

IMPORTANCE

Poor continuity of care may contribute to high health care spending and adverse patient outcomes in dementia.

OBJECTIVE

To examine the association between medical clinician continuity and health care utilization, testing, and spending in older adults with dementia.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This was a study of an observational retrospective cohort from the 2012 national sample in fee-for-service Medicare, conducted from July to December 2015, using inverse probability weighted analysis. A total of 1 416 369 continuously enrolled, community-dwelling, fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries 65 years or older with a claims-based dementia diagnosis and at least 4 ambulatory visits in 2012 were included.

EXPOSURES

Continuity of care score measured on patient visits across physicians over 12 months. A higher continuity score is assigned to visit patterns in which a larger share of the patient's total visits are with fewer clinicians. Score range from 0 to 1 was examined in low-, medium-, and high-continuity tertiles.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

Outcomes include all-cause hospitalization, ambulatory care sensitive condition hospitalization, emergency department visit, imaging, and laboratory testing (computed tomographic [CT] scan of the head, chest radiography, urinalysis, and urine culture), and health care spending (overall, hospital and skilled nursing facility, and physician).

RESULTS

Beneficiaries with dementia who had lower levels of continuity of care were younger, had a higher income, and had more comorbid medical conditions. Almost 50% of patients had at least 1 hospitalization and emergency department visit during the year. Utilization was lower with increasing level of continuity. Specifically comparing the highest- vs lowest-continuity groups, annual rates per beneficiary of hospitalization (0.83 vs 0.88), emergency department visits (0.84 vs 0.99), CT scan of the head (0.71 vs 0.83), urinalysis (0.72 vs 1.09), and health care spending (total spending, $22 004 vs $24 371) were higher with lower continuity even after accounting for sociodemographic factors and comorbidity burden (P < .001 for all comparisons). The rate of ambulatory care sensitive condition hospitalization was similar across continuity groups.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Among older fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries with a dementia diagnosis, lower continuity of care is associated with higher rates of hospitalization, emergency department visits, testing, and health care spending. Further research into these relationships, including potentially relevant clinical, clinician, and systems factors, can inform whether improving continuity of care in this population may benefit patients and the wider health system.