Impact of the integrated comprehensive care program post-thoracic surgery: A propensity score-matched study

Medicaid Expansion Under the Affordable Care Act and Early Mortality Following Lung Cancer Surgery

Importance

Medicaid expansion under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act is associated with gains in health insurance coverage, earlier stage diagnosis, and improved survival among patients with cancer.

Objective

To examine the association of Medicaid expansion with changes in early mortality among adults undergoing surgical resection of non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC), a setting in which access to care is a major determinant of survival.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cohort study used the National Cancer Database to identify 14 984 adults 45 to 64 years of age who underwent surgical resection of NSCLC between 2008 and 2019. Analysis was conducted between March 28, 2021, and September 1, 2023.

Exposure

State of residence Medicaid expansion status.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Descriptive statistics were used to compare study population characteristics by Medicaid expansion status of patients' state of residence. Difference-in-differences analyses were used to evaluate the association between Medicaid expansion and postoperative mortality before implementation of the ACA (2008-2013) vs after (2014-2019).

Results

Among 14 984 adults included, the mean (SD) age was 56.3 (5.1) years, 54.6% were women, and 62.1% lived in Medicaid expansion states. Both 30-day (from 0.97% to 0.26%) and 90-day (from 2.63% to 1.32%) postoperative mortality decreased from before the ACA to after among patients residing in Medicaid expansion states (both P < .001) but not in nonexpansion states (30-day mortality before the ACA, 0.75% vs after the ACA, 0.68%; P = .74; and 90-day mortality before the ACA, 2.43% vs after the ACA, 2.20%; P = .57), leading to a difference-in-differences of -0.64 percentage points (95% CI, -1.19 to -0.08; P = .03) for 30-day mortality and -1.08 percentage points (95% CI, -2.08 to -0.08; P = .03) for 90-day mortality. The difference-in-differences for in-hospital mortality was not significant (P = .34) between expansion states (1.41% before the ACA to 0.77% after the ACA; 0.63 percentage point decrease; P = .004) and nonexpansion states (1.49% before the ACA to 1.20% after the ACA; 0.30 percentage point decrease; P = .29).

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cohort study of patients with NSCLC, Medicaid expansion was associated with declines in 30- and 90-day postoperative mortality following hospital discharge. These findings suggest that Medicaid expansion may be an effective strategy for improving access to care and cancer outcomes in this population.

Decreased ER visits and readmissions after implementation of a standardized perioperative toolkit for children with IBD

BACKGROUND

Pediatric inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) carries significant morbidity and requires extensive medical and often surgical intervention. The aim of this study was to evaluate the impact of a dedicated Multidisciplinary clinic on the outcomes of children with IBD.

METHODS

A retrospective review of a prospective database, established to track quality and outcomes of children undergoing an abdominal operation for IBD, was performed. Children who were managed before (09/2017-03/2019) and after (04/2019-06/2020) establishment of the multidisciplinary clinic were examined. The clinic instituted several care process protocols including early recovery (ERAS) and garnered additional resources for patients (wound ostomy, nutrition, social work, etc.) Primary outcomes were unanticipated return to the operating room, length of stay, ER visits within 30 days of surgery and hospital readmissions within 30 days of surgery.

RESULTS

We identified 41 children who underwent a total of 80 major abdominal operations; 46.3% of procedures occurred before and 53.7% occurred after instituting our clinic. There were no notable changes in disease distribution (e.g., ulcerative colitis vs. Crohn's), disease severity, medication exposure, or case urgency (elective vs. emergent). ER visits within 30 days of surgery decreased (4 (9.3%) vs. 10 (27%), p = 0.04) as did readmissions within 30 days of surgery (1 (2.3%) vs. 9 (24.3%), p = 0.005).

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of a dedicated multidisciplinary clinic for IBD and its attendant focus on protocols and appropriate use of adjunctive resources was associated with decreased emergency department visits and hospital readmissions in the post-operative setting.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

III.