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Silber JH, Rosenbaum PR, Reiter JG, Hill AS, Jain S, Wolk DA, Small DS, Hashemi S, Niknam BA, Neuman MD, Fleisher LA, Eckenhoff R. Alzheimer's Dementia After Exposure to Anesthesia and Surgery in the Elderly: A Matched Natural Experiment Using Appendicitis. Ann Surg 2022; 276:e377-e385. [PMID: 33214467 PMCID: PMC8437105 DOI: 10.1097/sla.0000000000004632] [Citation(s) in RCA: 3] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 10/22/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE The aim of this study was to determine whether surgery and anesthesia in the elderly may promote Alzheimer disease and related dementias (ADRD). BACKGROUND There is a substantial conflicting literature concerning the hypothesis that surgery and anesthesia promotes ADRD. Much of the literature is confounded by indications for surgery or has small sample size. This study examines elderly patients with appendicitis, a common condition that strikes mostly at random after controlling for some known associations. METHODS A matched natural experiment of patients undergoing appendectomy for appendicitis versus control patients without appendicitis using Medicare data from 2002 to 2017, examining 54,996 patients without previous diagnoses of ADRD, cognitive impairment, or neurological degeneration, who developed appendicitis between ages 68 through 77 years and underwent an appendectomy (the ''Appendectomy'' treated group), matching them 5:1 to 274,980 controls, examining the subsequent hazard for developing ADRD. RESULTS The hazard ratio (HR) for developing ADRD or death was lower in the Appendectomy group than controls: HR = 0.96 [95% confidence interval (CI) 0.94-0.98], P < 0.0001, (28.2% in Appendectomy vs 29.1% in controls, at 7.5 years). The HR for death was 0.97 (95% CI 0.95-0.99), P = 0.002, (22.7% vs 23.1% at 7.5 years). The HR for developing ADRD alone was 0.89 (95% CI 0.86-0.92), P < 0.0001, (7.6% in Appendectomy vs 8.6% in controls, at 7.5 years). No subgroup analyses found significantly elevated rates of ADRD in the Appendectomy group. CONCLUSION In this natural experiment involving 329,976 elderly patients, exposure to appendectomy surgery and anesthesia did not increase the subsequent rate of ADRD.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey H. Silber
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- The Departments of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Health Care Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Paul R. Rosenbaum
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Joseph G. Reiter
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Alexander S. Hill
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Siddharth Jain
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - David A. Wolk
- Department of Neurology, The Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania
| | - Dylan S. Small
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Sean Hashemi
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Bijan A. Niknam
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Mark D. Neuman
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- Center for Perioperative Outcomes Research and Transformation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Lee A. Fleisher
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- Center for Perioperative Outcomes Research and Transformation, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Roderic Eckenhoff
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
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Measuring quality of care in moderate and late preterm infants. J Perinatol 2022; 42:1294-1300. [PMID: 35354940 PMCID: PMC9522891 DOI: 10.1038/s41372-022-01377-7] [Citation(s) in RCA: 5] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/26/2021] [Revised: 02/22/2022] [Accepted: 03/17/2022] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To examine quality measures for moderate and late preterm (MLP) infants. STUDY DESIGN By prospectively analyzing Vermont Oxford Network's all NICU admissions database, we adapted Baby-MONITOR, a composite quality measure for extremely/very preterm infants, for MLP infants. We examined correlations between the adapted MLP quality measure (MLP-QM) in MLP infants and Baby-MONITOR in extremely and very preterm infants. RESULT We studied 376,219 MLP (30-36 weeks GA) and 57,595 extremely/very preterm (25-29 weeks GA) infants from 465 U.S. hospitals born from 2016 to 2020. MLP-QM summary scores in MLP infants had weak correlation with Baby-MONITOR scores in extremely and very preterm infants (r = 0.47). There was weak correlation among survival (r = 0.19), no pneumothorax (r = 0.35), and no infection after 3 days (r = 0.45), but strong correlation among human milk at discharge (r = 0.79) and no hypothermia (r = 0.76). CONCLUSION Modest correlation among hospital care measures in two preterm populations suggests the need for MLP-specific care measures.
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Suls J, Salive ME, Koroukian SM, Alemi F, Silber JH, Kastenmüller G, Klabunde CN. Emerging approaches to multiple chronic condition assessment. J Am Geriatr Soc 2022; 70:2498-2507. [PMID: 35699153 PMCID: PMC9489607 DOI: 10.1111/jgs.17914] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/12/2021] [Revised: 04/25/2022] [Accepted: 05/07/2022] [Indexed: 01/01/2023]
Abstract
Older adults experience a higher prevalence of multiple chronic conditions (MCCs). Establishing the presence and pattern of MCCs in individuals or populations is important for healthcare delivery, research, and policy. This report describes four emerging approaches and discusses their potential applications for enhancing assessment, treatment, and policy for the aging population. The National Institutes of Health convened a 2-day panel workshop of experts in 2018. Four emerging models were identified by the panel, including classification and regression tree (CART), qualifying comorbidity sets (QCS), the multimorbidity index (MMI), and the application of omics to network medicine. Future research into models of multiple chronic condition assessment may improve understanding of the epidemiology, diagnosis, and treatment of older persons.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jerry Suls
- Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research/Northwell Health (previously National Cancer Institute)New York CityNew YorkUSA
| | | | | | | | | | - Gabi Kastenmüller
- Helmholtz Zentrum MünchenInstitute for Computational BiologyOberschleißheimGermany
| | - Carrie N. Klabunde
- Office of Disease PreventionNational Institutes of HealthBethesdaMarylandUSA
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Vincent BM, Molling D, Escobar GJ, Hofer TP, Iwashyna TJ, Liu VX, Rosen AK, Ryan AM, Seelye S, Wiitala WL, Prescott HC. Hospital-specific Template Matching for Benchmarking Performance in a Diverse Multihospital System. Med Care 2021; 59:1090-1098. [PMID: 34629424 PMCID: PMC8802232 DOI: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001645] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/27/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Hospital-specific template matching is a newer method of hospital performance measurement that may be fairer than regression-based benchmarking. However, it has been tested in only limited research settings. OBJECTIVE The objective of this study was to test the feasibility of hospital-specific template matching assessments in the Veterans Affairs (VA) health care system and determine power to detect greater-than-expected 30-day mortality. RESEARCH DESIGN Observational cohort study with hospital-specific template matching assessment. For each VA hospital, the 30-day mortality of a representative subset of hospitalizations was compared with the pooled mortality from matched hospitalizations at a set of comparison VA hospitals treating sufficiently similar patients. The simulation was used to determine power to detect greater-than-expected mortality. SUBJECTS A total of 556,266 hospitalizations at 122 VA hospitals in 2017. MEASURES A number of comparison hospitals identified per hospital; 30-day mortality. RESULTS Each hospital had a median of 38 comparison hospitals (interquartile range: 33, 44) identified, and 116 (95.1%) had at least 20 comparison hospitals. In total, 8 hospitals (6.6%) had a significantly lower 30-day mortality than their benchmark, 5 hospitals (4.1%) had a significantly higher 30-day mortality, and the remaining 109 hospitals (89.3%) were similar to their benchmark. Power to detect a standardized mortality ratio of 2.0 ranged from 72.5% to 79.4% for a hospital with the fewest (6) versus most (64) comparison hospitals. CONCLUSIONS Hospital-specific template matching may be feasible for assessing hospital performance in the diverse VA health care system, but further refinements are needed to optimize the approach before operational use. Our findings are likely applicable to other large and diverse multihospital systems.
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Affiliation(s)
| | - Daniel Molling
- VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Gabriel J. Escobar
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA
| | - Timothy P. Hofer
- VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Theodore J. Iwashyna
- VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
- Survey Research Center, Institute for Social Research, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Vincent X Liu
- Division of Research, Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, CA
| | - Amy K. Rosen
- VA Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, VA Boston Healthcare System, Boston, MA
| | - Andrew M. Ryan
- Department of Health Management and Policy, School of Public Health, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
| | - Sarah Seelye
- VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI
| | | | - Hallie C. Prescott
- VA Center for Clinical Management Research, Ann Arbor, MI
- Department of Internal Medicine, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI
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Heng S, O'Meara WP, Simmons RA, Small DS. Relationship between changing malaria burden and low birth weight in sub-Saharan Africa: A difference-in-differences study via a pair-of-pairs approach. eLife 2021; 10:e65133. [PMID: 34259625 PMCID: PMC8279759 DOI: 10.7554/elife.65133] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.3] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 11/24/2020] [Accepted: 06/05/2021] [Indexed: 11/13/2022] Open
Abstract
Background According to the World Health Organization (WHO), in 2018, an estimated 228 million malaria cases occurred worldwide with most cases occurring in sub-Saharan Africa. Scale-up of vector control tools coupled with increased access to diagnosis and effective treatment has resulted in a large decline in malaria prevalence in some areas, but other areas have seen little change. Although interventional studies demonstrate that preventing malaria during pregnancy can reduce the rate of low birth weight (i.e. child's birth weight <2500 g), it remains unknown whether natural changes in parasite transmission and malaria burden can improve birth outcomes. Methods We conducted an observational study of the effect of changing malaria burden on low birth weight using data from 18,112 births in 19 countries in sub-Saharan African countries during the years 2000-2015. Specifically, we conducted a difference-in-differences study via a pair-of-pairs matching approach using the fact that some sub-Saharan areas experienced sharp drops in malaria prevalence and some experienced little change. Results A malaria prevalence decline from a high rate (Plasmodium falciparum parasite rate in children aged 2-up-to-10 (i.e. PfPR2-10) > 0.4) to a low rate (PfPR2-10 < 0.2) is estimated to reduce the rate of low birth weight by 1.48 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 3.70 percentage points reduction, 0.74 percentage points increase), which is a 17% reduction in the low birth weight rate compared to the average (8.6%) in our study population with observed birth weight records (1.48/8.6 ≈ 17%). When focusing on first pregnancies, a decline in malaria prevalence from high to low is estimated to have a greater impact on the low birth weight rate than for all births: 3.73 percentage points (95% confidence interval: 9.11 percentage points reduction, 1.64 percentage points increase). Conclusions Although the confidence intervals cannot rule out the possibility of no effect at the 95% confidence level, the concurrence between our primary analysis, secondary analyses, and sensitivity analyses, and the magnitude of the effect size, contribute to the weight of the evidence suggesting that declining malaria burden can potentially substantially reduce the low birth weight rate at the community level in sub-Saharan Africa, particularly among firstborns. The novel statistical methodology developed in this article-a pair-of-pairs approach to a difference-in-differences study-could be useful for many settings in which different units are observed at different times. Funding Ryan A. Simmons is supported by National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (UL1TR002553). The funder had no role in study design, data collection and interpretation, or the decision to submit the work for publication.
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Affiliation(s)
- Siyu Heng
- Graduate Group in Applied Mathematics and Computational Science, School of Arts and Sciences, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
- Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
| | - Wendy P O'Meara
- Global Health Institute, School of Medicine, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
| | - Ryan A Simmons
- Global Health Institute, School of Medicine, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
- Department of Biostatistics and Bioinformatics, School of Medicine, Duke UniversityDurhamUnited States
| | - Dylan S Small
- Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of PennsylvaniaPhiladelphiaUnited States
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Hatchimonji JS, Kaufman EJ, Young AJ, Smith BP, Xiong R, Reilly PM, Holena DN. High-Performance Trauma Centers in a Single-State Trauma System : Big Saves or Marginal Gains? Am Surg 2020; 86:766-772. [PMID: 32723186 DOI: 10.1177/0003134820934415] [Citation(s) in RCA: 2] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/16/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Trauma centers with low observed:expected (O:E) mortality ratios are considered high performers; however, it is unknown whether improvements in this ratio are due to a small number of unexpected survivors with high mortality risk (big saves) or a larger number of unexpected survivors with moderate mortality risk (marginal gains). We hypothesized that the highest-performing centers achieve that status via larger numbers of unexpected survivors with moderate mortality risk. METHODS We calculated O:E ratios for trauma centers in Pennsylvania for 2016 using a risk-adjusted mortality model. We identified high and low performers as centers whose 95% CIs did not cross 1. We visualized differences between these centers by plotting patient-level observed and expected mortality; we then examined differences in a subset of patients with a predicted mortality of ≥10% using the chi-squared test. RESULTS One high performer and 1 low performer were identified. The high performer managed a population with more blunt injuries (97.2% vs 93.6%, P < .001) and a higher median Injury Severity Score (14 vs 11, P < .001). There was no difference in survival between these centers in patients with an expected mortality of <10% (98.0% vs 96.7%, P = .11) or ≥70% (23.5% vs 10.8%, P = .22), but there was a difference in the subset with an expected mortality of ≥10% (77.5% vs 43.1%, P < .001). CONCLUSIONS Though patients with very low predicted mortality do equally well in high-performing and low-performing centers, the fact that performance seems determined by outcomes of patients with moderate predicted mortality favors a "marginal gains" theory.
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Affiliation(s)
- Justin S Hatchimonji
- 6572 Department of Surgery, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Elinore J Kaufman
- Division of Traumatology, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Andrew J Young
- Division of Traumatology, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Brian P Smith
- Division of Traumatology, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Ruiying Xiong
- Department of General Internal Medicine, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Patrick M Reilly
- Division of Traumatology, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
| | - Daniel N Holena
- Division of Traumatology, Emergency Surgery, and Surgical Critical Care, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA.,Department of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, PA, USA
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Comparing Outcomes and Costs of Surgical Patients Treated at Major Teaching and Nonteaching Hospitals: A National Matched Analysis. Ann Surg 2020; 271:412-421. [PMID: 31639108 DOI: 10.1097/sla.0000000000003602] [Citation(s) in RCA: 18] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.5] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
OBJECTIVE To compare outcomes and costs between major teaching and nonteaching hospitals on a national scale by closely matching on patient procedures and characteristics. BACKGROUND Teaching hospitals have been shown to often have better quality than nonteaching hospitals, but cost and value associated with teaching hospitals remains unclear. METHODS A study of Medicare patients at 340 teaching hospitals (resident-to-bed ratios ≥ 0.25) and matched patient controls from 2444 nonteaching hospitals (resident-to-bed ratios < 0.05).We studied 86,751 pairs admitted for general surgery (GS), 214,302 pairs of patients admitted for orthopedic surgery, and 52,025 pairs of patients admitted for vascular surgery. RESULTS In GS, mortality was 4.62% in teaching hospitals versus 5.57%, (a difference of -0.95%, <0.0001), and overall paired cost difference = $915 (P < 0.0001). For the GS quintile of pairs with highest risk on admission, mortality differences were larger (15.94% versus 18.18%, difference = -2.24%, P < 0.0001), and paired cost difference = $3773 (P < 0.0001), yielding $1682 per 1% mortality improvement at 30 days. Patterns for vascular surgery outcomes resembled general surgery; however, orthopedics outcomes did not show significant differences in mortality across teaching and nonteaching environments, though costs were higher at teaching hospitals. CONCLUSIONS Among Medicare patients, as admission risk of mortality increased, the absolute mortality benefit of treatment at teaching hospitals also increased, though accompanied by marginally higher cost. Major teaching hospitals appear to return good value for the extra resources used in general surgery, and to some extent vascular surgery, but this was not apparent in orthopedic surgery.
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Comparing Outcomes and Costs of Medical Patients Treated at Major Teaching and Non-teaching Hospitals: A National Matched Analysis. J Gen Intern Med 2020; 35:743-752. [PMID: 31720965 PMCID: PMC7080946 DOI: 10.1007/s11606-019-05449-x] [Citation(s) in RCA: 24] [Impact Index Per Article: 6.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 04/09/2019] [Revised: 09/15/2019] [Accepted: 09/26/2019] [Indexed: 10/25/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Teaching hospitals typically pioneer investment in new technology and cultivate workforce characteristics generally associated with better quality, but the value of this extra investment is unclear. OBJECTIVE Compare outcomes and costs between major teaching and non-teaching hospitals by closely matching on patient characteristics. DESIGN Medicare patients at 339 major teaching hospitals (resident-to-bed (RTB) ratios ≥ 0.25); matched patient controls from 2439 non-teaching hospitals (RTB ratios < 0.05). PARTICIPANTS Forty-three thousand nine hundred ninety pairs of patients (one from a major teaching hospital and one from a non-teaching hospital) admitted for acute myocardial infarction (AMI), 84,985 pairs admitted for heart failure (HF), and 74,947 pairs admitted for pneumonia (PNA). EXPOSURE Treatment at major teaching hospitals versus non-teaching hospitals. MAIN MEASURES Thirty-day all-cause mortality, readmissions, ICU utilization, costs, payments, and value expressed as extra cost for a 1% improvement in survival. KEY RESULTS Thirty-day mortality was lower in teaching than non-teaching hospitals (10.7% versus 12.0%, difference = - 1.3%, P < 0.0001). The paired cost difference (teaching - non-teaching) was $273 (P < 0.0001), yielding $211 per 1% mortality improvement. For the quintile of pairs with highest risk on admission, mortality differences were larger (24.6% versus 27.6%, difference = - 3.0%, P < 0.0001), and paired cost difference = $1289 (P < 0.0001), yielding $427 per 1% mortality improvement at 30 days. Readmissions and ICU utilization were lower in teaching hospitals (both P < 0.0001), but length of stay was longer (5.5 versus 5.1 days, P < 0.0001). Finally, individual results for AMI, HF, and PNA showed similar findings as in the combined results. CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE Among Medicare patients admitted for common medical conditions, as admission risk of mortality increased, the absolute mortality benefit of treatment at teaching hospitals also increased, though accompanied by marginally higher cost. Major teaching hospitals appear to return good value for the extra resources used.
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Silber JH, Rosenbaum PR, Pimentel SD, Calhoun S, Wang W, Sharpe JE, Reiter JG, Shah SA, Hochman LL, Even-Shoshan O. Comparing Resource Use in Medical Admissions of Children With Complex Chronic Conditions. Med Care 2019; 57:615-624. [PMID: 31268953 PMCID: PMC6652225 DOI: 10.1097/mlr.0000000000001149] [Citation(s) in RCA: 9] [Impact Index Per Article: 1.8] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/26/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND Children with complex chronic conditions (CCCs) utilize a disproportionate share of hospital resources. OBJECTIVE We asked whether some hospitals display a significantly different pattern of resource utilization than others when caring for similar children with CCCs admitted for medical diagnoses. RESEARCH DESIGN Using Pediatric Health Information System data from 2009 to 2013, we constructed an inpatient Template of 300 children with CCCs, matching these to 300 patients at each hospital, thereby performing a type of direct standardization. SUBJECTS Children with CCCs were drawn from a list of the 40 most common medical principal diagnoses, then matched to patients across 40 Children's Hospitals. MEASURES Rate of intensive care unit admission, length of stay, resource cost. RESULTS For the Template-matched patients, when comparing resource use at the lower 12.5-percentile and upper 87.5-percentile of hospitals, we found: intensive care unit utilization was 111% higher (6.6% vs. 13.9%, P<0.001); hospital length of stay was 25% higher (2.4 vs. 3.0 d/admission, P<0.001); and finally, total cost per patient varied by 47% ($6856 vs. $10,047, P<0.001). Furthermore, some hospitals, compared with their peers, were more efficient with low-risk patients and less efficient with high-risk patients, whereas other hospitals displayed the opposite pattern. CONCLUSIONS Hospitals treating similar patients with CCCs admitted for similar medical diagnoses, varied greatly in resource utilization. Template Matching can aid chief quality officers benchmarking their hospitals to peer institutions and can help determine types of their patients having the most aberrant outcomes, facilitating quality initiatives to target these patients.
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Affiliation(s)
- Jeffrey H. Silber
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
- Departments of Pediatrics, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Anesthesiology and Critical Care, University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Health Care Management, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Paul R. Rosenbaum
- The Leonard Davis Institute of Health Economics, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
- Department of Statistics, The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
| | | | - Shawna Calhoun
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Wei Wang
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - James E. Sharpe
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Joseph G. Reiter
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Shivani A. Shah
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Lauren L. Hochman
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
| | - Orit Even-Shoshan
- Center for Outcomes Research, Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, Philadelphia, PA
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Lew RA, Miller CJ, Kim B, Wu H, Stolzmann K, Bauer MS. A method to reduce imbalance for site-level randomized stepped wedge implementation trial designs. Implement Sci 2019; 14:46. [PMID: 31053157 PMCID: PMC6500026 DOI: 10.1186/s13012-019-0893-3] [Citation(s) in RCA: 13] [Impact Index Per Article: 2.6] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Abstract] [Key Words] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Download PDF] [Figures] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Received: 10/16/2018] [Accepted: 04/12/2019] [Indexed: 11/10/2022] Open
Abstract
BACKGROUND Controlled implementation trials often randomize the intervention at the site level, enrolling relatively few sites (e.g., 6-20) compared to trials that randomize by subject. Trials with few sites carry a substantial risk of an imbalance between intervened (cases) and non-intervened (control) sites in important site characteristics, thereby threatening the internal validity of the primary comparison. A stepped wedge design (SWD) staggers the intervention at sites over a sequence of times or time waves until all sites eventually receive the intervention. We propose a new randomization method, sequential balance, to control time trend in site allocation by minimizing sequential imbalance across multiple characteristics. We illustrate the new method by applying it to a SWD implementation trial. METHODS The trial investigated the impact of blended internal-external facilitation on the establishment of evidence-based teams in general mental health clinics in nine US Department of Veterans Affairs medical centers. Prior to randomization to start time, an expert panel of implementation researchers and health system program leaders identified by consensus a series of eight facility-level characteristics judged relevant to the success of implementation. We characterized each of the nine sites according to these consensus features. Using a weighted sum of these characteristics, we calculated imbalance scores for each of 1680 possible site assignments to identify the most sequentially balanced assignment schemes. RESULTS From 1680 possible site assignments, we identified 34 assignments with minimal imbalance scores, and then randomly selected one assignment by which to randomize start time. Initially, the mean imbalance score was 3.10, but restricted to the 34 assignments, it declined to 0.99. CONCLUSIONS Sequential balancing of site characteristics across groups of sites in the time waves of a SWD strengthens the internal validity of study conclusions by minimizing potential confounding. TRIAL REGISTRATION Registered at ClinicalTrials.gov as clinical trials # NCT02543840 ; entered 9/4/2015.
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Affiliation(s)
- Robert A. Lew
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
- The Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
| | - Christopher J. Miller
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
- The Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
| | - Bo Kim
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
- The Massachusetts Veterans Epidemiology Research and Information Center, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
| | - Hongsheng Wu
- Department of Computer Science & Networking, Wentworth Institute of Technology, Boston, USA
| | - Kelly Stolzmann
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
| | - Mark S. Bauer
- VA Boston Healthcare System, Center for Healthcare Organization and Implementation Research, 150 South Huntington Avenue, Jamaica Plain, Boston, MA 02130 USA
- Department of Psychiatry, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA USA
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Haneuse S, Zubizarreta J, Normand SLT. Discussion on "Time-dynamic profiling with application to hospital readmission among patients on dialysis," by Jason P. Estes, Danh V. Nguyen, Yanjun Chen, Lorien S. Dalrymple, Connie M. Rhee, Kamyar Kalantar-Zadeh, and Damla Senturk. Biometrics 2018; 74:1395-1397. [PMID: 29870065 DOI: 10.1111/biom.12909] [Citation(s) in RCA: 1] [Impact Index Per Article: 0.2] [Reference Citation Analysis] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 11/28/2022]
Affiliation(s)
- Sebastien Haneuse
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A
| | - José Zubizarreta
- Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A
| | - Sharon-Lise T Normand
- Department of Biostatistics, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A.,Department of Health Care Policy, Harvard Medical School Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.A
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