Antibiotic prescribing for acute respiratory infections during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic: Patterns in a nationwide telehealth service provider

We examined 3,046,538 acute respiratory infection (ARI) encounters with 6,103 national telehealth physicians from January 2019 to October 2021. The antibiotic prescribing rates were 44% for all ARIs; 46% were antibiotic appropriate; 65% were potentially appropriate; 19% resulted from inappropriate diagnoses; and 10% were related to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) diagnosis.

Health information technology tools to accelerate gastrointestinal evaluation in patients with iron deficiency anaemia: a cluster randomised controlled trial

OBJECTIVE

System-level safety measures do not exist to ensure that patients with iron deficiency anaemia (IDA) undergo proper diagnostic evaluations. We sought to determine if a set of EHR (electronic health record) tools and an expedited referral workflow increase short-term completion of bidirectional endoscopy in higher risk patients with IDA.

MATERIALS AND METHODS

We conducted a pragmatic, cluster-randomised trial randomised by primary care physician (PCP) that included 16 PCPs and 316 patients with IDA. Physicians were randomised to intervention or control groups. Intervention components included a patient registry visible within the EHR, point-of-care alert and expedited diagnostic evaluation workflow for IDA. Outcomes were assessed at 120 days. The primary outcome was completion of bidirectional endoscopy. Secondary outcomes were any endoscopy completed or scheduled, gastroenterology consultation completed, and gastroenterology referral or endoscopy ordered or completed.

RESULTS

There were no differences in the primary or secondary outcomes. At 120 days, the primary outcome had occurred for 7 (4%) of the intervention group and 5 (3.5%) of the control group. For the three secondary outcomes, rates were 15 (8.6%), 12 (6.9%) and 39 (22.4%) for the immediate intervention group and 10 (7.0%), 9 (6.3%) and 25 (17.6%) for the control group, respectively, p>0.2. Lack of physician time to use the registry tools was identified as a barrier.

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSION

Providing PCPs with lists of patients with IDA and a pathway for expedited evaluation did not increase rates of completing endoscopic evaluation in the short term.

TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER

NCT05365308.

Efficacy and safety of a four-drug, quarter-dose treatment for hypertension: the QUARTET USA randomized trial

New approaches are needed to lower blood pressure (BP) given persistently low control rates. QUARTET USA sought to evaluate the effect of four-drug, quarter-dose BP lowering combination in patients with hypertension. QUARTET USA was a randomized (1:1), double-blinded trial conducted in federally qualified health centers among adults with hypertension. Participants received either a quadpill of candesartan 2 mg, amlodipine 1.25 mg, indapamide 0.625 mg, and bisoprolol 2.5 mg or candesartan 8 mg for 12 weeks. If BP was >130/>80 mm Hg at 6 weeks in either arm, then participants received open label add-on amlodipine 5 mg. The primary outcome was mean change in systolic blood pressure (SBP) at 12 weeks, controlling for baseline BP. Secondary outcomes included mean change in diastolic blood pressure (DBP), and safety included serious adverse events, relevant adverse drug effects, and electrolyte abnormalities. Among 62 participants randomized between August 2019-May 2022 (n = 32 intervention, n = 30 control), mean (SD) age was 52 (11.5) years, 45% were female, 73% identified as Hispanic, and 18% identified as Black. Baseline mean (SD) SBP was 138.1 (11.2) mmHg, and baseline mean (SD) DBP was 84.3 (10.5) mmHg. In a modified intention-to-treat analysis, there was no significant difference in SBP (-4.8 mm Hg [95% CI: -10.8, 1.3, p = 0.123] and a -4.9 mmHg (95% CI: -8.6, -1.3, p = 0.009) greater mean DBP change in the intervention arm compared with the control arm at 12 weeks. Adverse events did not differ significantly between arms. The quadpill had a similar SBP and greater DBP lowering effect compared with candesartan 8 mg. Trial registration number: NCT03640312.

Urinary Incontinence in Primary Care-The Gap Between Recommendations and Real World

IMPORTANCE

Routine screening for urinary incontinence (UI) by primary care providers (PCPs) is recommended.

OBJECTIVES

We aimed to describe the rate of incident UI diagnosed at annual PCP visits, the prevalence of UI in a large primary care population, and estimate the rate of screening for UI during primary care preventive and annual wellness visits. Secondary aims were to describe PCP knowledge and behavior as they relate to UI screening and diagnosis.

STUDY DESIGN

The electronic health record was used to abstract the number of adult female patients seen by PCPs within a regional health system with a diagnosis of UI before our study period and with a new diagnosis over a 2-year period. Additional new diagnoses and screening practices were found on chart review of an additional 824 representative charts. Primary care providers within the health system were surveyed about their screening practices and knowledge about UI.

RESULTS

There were 192,053 women primary care patients seen over 2 years. A total of 5.7% had a UI diagnosis preceding the study period and 3.4% had a UI diagnosis during the study period. A total of 42% of PCPs reported that they screen for UI at least half the time and none were completely satisfied with their ability to screen for UI. Sixteen percent of annual wellness visits had any documentation of screening for UI.

CONCLUSION

In a large primary care population, screening for and detection of UI in women was low.

Blood pressure outcomes at 18 months in primary care patients prescribed remote physiological monitoring for hypertension: a prospective cohort study

This pragmatic matched cohort study using EHR data extended the follow up to 18 months for BP outcomes comparing individuals prescribed remote patient monitoring (n = 288) and temporally-matched controls (n = 1152) from six primary care practices. After 18 months, the RPM-prescribed cohort had greater BP control < 140/90 mm Hg (RPM cohort: 71.5%, control cohort: 51.9%, p < 0.001) and lower systolic BP (131.6 versus 136.0 mm Hg, p = 0.004) using office and home measurements. BP control at 18 months assessed by office measurements only was also higher in the RPM group (62.2% versus 51.9%, p = 0.004).

Reducing Care Overuse in Older Patients Using Professional Norms and Accountability : A Cluster Randomized Controlled Trial

BACKGROUND

Effective strategies are needed to curtail overuse that may lead to harm.

OBJECTIVE

To evaluate the effects of clinician decision support redirecting attention to harms and engaging social and reputational concerns on overuse in older primary care patients.

DESIGN

18-month, single-blind, pragmatic, cluster randomized trial, constrained randomization. (ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04289753).

SETTING

60 primary care internal medicine, family medicine and geriatrics practices within a health system from 1 September 2020 to 28 February 2022.

PARTICIPANTS

371 primary care clinicians and their older adult patients from participating practices.

INTERVENTION

Behavioral science-informed, point-of-care, clinical decision support tools plus brief case-based education addressing the 3 primary clinical outcomes (187 clinicians from 30 clinics) were compared with brief case-based education alone (187 clinicians from 30 clinics). Decision support was designed to increase salience of potential harms, convey social norms, and promote accountability.

MEASUREMENTS

Prostate-specific antigen (PSA) testing in men aged 76 years and older without previous prostate cancer, urine testing for nonspecific reasons in women aged 65 years and older, and overtreatment of diabetes with hypoglycemic agents in patients aged 75 years and older and hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c) less than 7%.

RESULTS

At randomization, mean clinic annual PSA testing, unspecified urine testing, and diabetes overtreatment rates were 24.9, 23.9, and 16.8 per 100 patients, respectively. After 18 months of intervention, the intervention group had lower adjusted difference-in-differences in annual rates of PSA testing (-8.7 [95% CI, -10.2 to -7.1]), unspecified urine testing (-5.5 [CI, -7.0 to -3.6]), and diabetes overtreatment (-1.4 [CI, -2.9 to -0.03]) compared with education only. Safety measures did not show increased emergency care related to urinary tract infections or hyperglycemia. An HbA1c greater than 9.0% was more common with the intervention among previously overtreated diabetes patients (adjusted difference-in-differences, 0.47 per 100 patients [95% CI, 0.04 to 1.20]).

LIMITATION

A single health system limits generalizability; electronic health data limit ability to differentiate between overtesting and underdocumentation.

CONCLUSION

Decision support designed to increase clinicians' attention to possible harms, social norms, and reputational concerns reduced unspecified testing compared with offering traditional case-based education alone. Small decreases in diabetes overtreatment may also result in higher rates of uncontrolled diabetes.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE

National Institute on Aging.

Peer Comparison or Guideline-Based Feedback and Postsurgery Opioid Prescriptions: A Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Excess opioid prescribing after surgery can result in prolonged use and diversion. Email feedback based on social norms may reduce the number of pills prescribed.

Objective

To assess the effectiveness of 2 social norm-based interventions on reducing guideline-discordant opioid prescribing after surgery.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This cluster randomized clinical trial conducted at a large health care delivery system in northern California between October 2021 and October 2022 included general, obstetric/gynecologic, and orthopedic surgeons with patients aged 18 years or older discharged to home with an oral opioid prescription.

Interventions

In 19 hospitals, 3 surgical specialties (general, orthopedic, and obstetric/gynecologic) were randomly assigned to a control group or 1 of 2 interventions. The guidelines intervention provided email feedback to surgeons on opioid prescribing relative to institutionally endorsed guidelines; the peer comparison intervention provided email feedback on opioid prescribing relative to that of peer surgeons. Emails were sent to surgeons with at least 2 guideline-discordant prescriptions in the previous month. The control group had no intervention.

Main Outcome and Measures

The probability that a discharged patient was prescribed a quantity of opioids above the guideline for the respective procedure during the 12 intervention months.

Results

There were 38 235 patients discharged from 640 surgeons during the 12-month intervention period. Control-group surgeons prescribed above guidelines 36.8% of the time during the intervention period compared with 27.5% and 25.4% among surgeons in the peer comparison and guidelines arms, respectively. In adjusted models, the peer comparison intervention reduced guideline-discordant prescribing by 5.8 percentage points (95% CI, -10.5 to -1.1; P = .03) and the guidelines intervention reduced it by 4.7 percentage points (95% CI, -9.4 to -0.1; P = .05). Effects were driven by surgeons who performed more surgeries and had more guideline-discordant prescribing at baseline. There was no significant difference between interventions.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this cluster randomized clinical trial, email feedback based on either guidelines or peer comparison reduced opioid prescribing after surgery. Guideline-based feedback was as effective as peer comparison-based feedback. These interventions are simple, low-cost, and scalable, and may reduce downstream opioid misuse.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov NCT05070338.

Use of Telehealth Information for Early Detection: Insights From the COVID-19 Pandemic

Objectives. To examine whether the addition of telehealth data to existing surveillance infrastructure can improve forecasts of cases and mortality. Methods. In this observational study, we compared accuracy of 14-day forecasts using real-time data available to the National Syndromic Surveillance Program (standard forecasts) to forecasts that also included telehealth information (telehealth forecasts). The study was performed in a national telehealth service provider in 2020 serving 50 US states and the District of Columbia. Results. Among 10.5 million telemedicine encounters, 169 672 probable COVID-19 cases were diagnosed by 5050 clinicians, with a rate between 0.79 and 47.8 probable cases per 100 000 encounters per day (mean = 8.37; SD = 10.75). Publicly reported case counts ranged from 0.5 to 237 916 (mean: 53 913; SD = 47 466) and 0 to 2328 deaths (mean = 1035; SD = 550) per day. Telehealth-based forecasts improved 14-day case forecasting accuracy by 1.8 percentage points to 30.9% (P = .06) and mortality forecasting by 6.4 percentage points to 26.9% (P < .048). Conclusions. Modest improvements in forecasting can be gained from adding telehealth data to syndromic surveillance infrastructure. (Am J Public Health. 2024;114(2):218-225. https://doi.org/10.2105/AJPH.2023.307499).

Blood pressure outcomes at 12 months in primary care patients prescribed remote physiological monitoring for hypertension: a prospective cohort study

Remote patient monitoring (RPM) for hypertension enables automatic transmission of blood pressure (BP) and pulse into the electronic health record (EHR), but its effectiveness in primary care is unknown. This pragmatic matched cohort study using EHR data compared BP outcomes between individuals prescribed RPM and temporally-matched controls from six primary care practices. We retrospectively created a cohort of 288 Medicare-enrolled patients prescribed BP RPM (cases) and 1152 propensity score-matched controls (1:4). Matching was based on age, sex, systolic blood pressure (SBP), marital status, and other characteristics. Outcomes at 3, 6, 9 and 12 months were: controlling high BP (most recent BP < 140/90 mm Hg), antihypertensive medication intensification, and most recent SBP assessed using: all measurements, and office measurements only. At baseline, RPM-prescribed patients and controls had similar ages and systolic BP. BP control diverged at 3 months (RPM: 72.2%, control: 51%, p < 0.001). This difference persisted but decreased over follow-up. After 12 months, the RPM-prescribed cohort had greater BP control (RPM: 71.5%, control: 58.1%, p < 0.001) and lower SBP (132.3 versus 136.5 mm Hg, p = 0.003) using all measurements, but they did not differ using only office measurements (12 month BP control: 60.8% versus 58.1%, p = 0.44; SBP: 135.9 versus 136.5 mm Hg, p = 0.91). At 12 months, the most recent BP measurements were more current for RPM-prescribed patients (median [IQR] 8 [0-109] versus 134 [56-239] days). Net increases in antihypertensive medications by 12 months were similar. Implementation of RPM in primary care could inform hypertension management strategies and increase hypertension control. Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT05562921.

Is more better? The impact of implementing more interventions for hypertension control in a practice facilitation study for small- and medium-sized practices

Interventions for blood pressure (BP) control have positive effects on outcomes for patients with hypertension. Research on these effects in small- and medium-sized practices is limited. Our retrospective analysis used data from Healthy Hearts in the Heartland (H3), a research program conducted in 2016-2018 as part of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's EvidenceNOW initiative, to examine the impact of implementing more interventions for BP control in these settings. Thirty-eight H3 practices met inclusion criteria and were assigned to an implementer group (high or low) based on the number of interventions implemented with the support of a practice facilitator during the study. Practices in the high-implementer group implemented a mean of 2.2 additional interventions relative to the low-implementer group. Groups were compared on two measures of BP control: (1) mean percentage of hypertensive patients with a most recent BP below 140/90, and (2) mean systolic and diastolic BP of hypertensive patients. In the first measure, practices in the high-implementer group had greater improvement between baseline and the end of the study. Among the 10,150 patients included in the second measure, reductions in mean SBP and DBP were greater for the high-implementer group. These outcomes show that implementing additional interventions had a positive association with measures of BP control, though clinical significance was unknown or limited. Future research is needed to understand the impact of interventions for BP control in small- and medium-sized practices, including the interactions among intervention implementation, practice facilitation, and practice and patient characteristics.

Clinician Job Satisfaction After Peer Comparison Feedback: A Secondary Analysis of a Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Interventions that improve clinician performance through feedback should not contribute to job dissatisfaction or staff turnover. Measurement of job satisfaction may help identify interventions that lead to this undesirable consequence.

Objective

To evaluate whether mean job satisfaction was less than the margin of clinical significance among clinicians who received social norm feedback (peer comparison) compared with clinicians who did not.

Design, Setting, and Participants

This secondary, preregistered, noninferiority analysis of a cluster randomized trial compared 3 interventions to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing in a 2 × 2 × 2 factorial design from November 1, 2011, to April 1, 2014. A total of 248 clinicians were enrolled from 47 clinics. The sample size for this analysis was determined by the number of nonmissing job satisfaction scores from the original enrolled sample, which was 201 clinicians from 43 clinics. Data analysis was performed from October 12 to April 13, 2022.

Interventions

Feedback comparing individual clinician performance to top-performing peers, delivered in monthly emails (peer comparison).

Main Outcomes and Measures

The primary outcome was a response to the following statement: "Overall, I am satisfied with my current job." Responses ranged from 1 (strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree).

Results

A total of 201 clinicians (response rate, 81%) from 43 of the 47 clinics (91%) provided a survey response about job satisfaction. Clinicians were primarily female (n = 129 [64%]) and board certified in internal medicine (n = 126 [63%]), with a mean (SD) age of 48 (10) years. The clinic-clustered difference in mean job satisfaction was greater than -0.32 (β = 0.11; 95% CI, -0.19 to 0.42; P = .46). Therefore, the preregistered null hypothesis that peer comparison is inferior by resulting in at least a 1-point decrease in job satisfaction by 1 in 3 clinicians was rejected. The secondary null hypothesis that job satisfaction was similar among clinicians randomized to social norm feedback was not able to be rejected. The effect size did not change when controlling for other trial interventions (t = 0.08; P = .94), and no interaction effects were observed.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this secondary analysis of a randomized clinical trial, peer comparison did not lead to lower job satisfaction. Features that may have protected against dissatisfaction include clinicians' agency over the performance measure, privacy of individual performance, and allowing all clinicians to achieve top performance.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifiers: NCT05575115 and NCT01454947.

Prospective Cohort Study of Remote Patient Monitoring with and without Care Coordination for Hypertension in Primary Care

BACKGROUND

Out-of-office blood pressure (BP) measurements contribute valuable information for guiding clinical management of hypertension. Measurements from home devices can be directly transmitted to patients' electronic health record for use in remote monitoring programs.

OBJECTIVE

This study aimed to compare in primary care practice care coordinator-assisted implementation of remote patient monitoring (RPM) for hypertension to RPM implementation alone and to usual care.

METHODS

This was a pragmatic observational cohort study. Patients aged 65 to 85 years with Medicare insurance from two populations were included: those with uncontrolled hypertension and a general hypertension group seeing primary care physicians (PCPs) within one health system. Exposures were clinic-level availability of RPM plus care coordination, RPM alone, or usual care. At two clinics (13 PCPs), nurse care coordinators with PCP approval offered RPM to patients with uncontrolled office BP and assisted with initiation. At two clinics (39 PCPs), RPM was at PCPs' discretion. Twenty clinics continued usual care. Main measures were controlling high BP (<140/90 mm Hg), last office systolic blood pressure (SBP), and proportion with antihypertensive medication intensification.

RESULTS

Among the Medicare cohorts with uncontrolled hypertension, 16.7% (39/234) of patients from the care coordination clinics were prescribed RPM versus <1% (4/600) at noncare coordination sites. RPM-enrolled care coordination group patients had higher baseline SBP than the noncare coordination group (148.8 vs. 140.0 mm Hg). After 6 months, in the uncontrolled hypertension cohorts the prevalences of controlling high BP were 32.5% (RPM with care coordination), 30.7 % (RPM alone), and 27.1% (usual care); multivariable adjusted odds ratios (95% confidence interval) were 1.63 (1.12-2.39; p = 0.011) and 1.29 (0.98-1.69; p = 0.068) compared with usual care, respectively.

CONCLUSION

Care coordination facilitated RPM enrollment among poorly controlled hypertension patients and may improve hypertension control in primary care among Medicare patients.

Remote physiologic monitoring for hypertension in primary care: a prospective pragmatic pilot study in electronic health records using propensity score matching

Objectives

Since 2019, the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services covers remote physiologic monitoring (RPM) for blood pressure (BP) per hypertension diagnosis and treatment guidelines. Here, we integrated Omron VitalSight RPM into the health system's electronic health record to transmit BP and pulse without manual entry, assessed feasibility, and used pragmatic prospective matched cohort studies to assess initial effects in (1) uncontrolled (last two office BP ≥140/90 mmHg) and (2) general (diagnosed hypertension or last office BP ≥140/90 mmHg) hypertension patient populations.

Materials and Methods

Seventeen clinicians at two internal medicine practices were oriented. Eligible patients were aged 65-85 years had Medicare insurance with ≥1 office visit in the previous year. We prospectively identified matched controls (age, sex, BP, and number of office visits in previous year) from other primary care practices within the health system and estimated the association between RPM availability (clinic-level) and patient BP outcomes after 6 months. ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04604925.

Results

Feasibility. Uptake was low at pilot clinics: 10 physicians prescribed RPM to 118 patients during the 6-month pilot. This included 7% (14/207) of the prespecified uncontrolled hypertension cohort and 3.3% (78/2356) of the general hypertension cohort. Surveyed clinicians (n = 4) reported changing their patients' medical treatment in response to RPM BPs, although they recommended having a dedicated RN or LPN to review BP readings. Effectiveness. At 6 months, BP control was greater at pilot practices than among matched controls (uncontrolled: 31.4% vs 22.8%; P = .007; general: 64.0% vs 59.7%; P < .001). Systolic BP at last office visit did not differ (mean [SD] 146.0 [15.7] vs 147.1 [15.6]; P = .48) in the uncontrolled population, and was lower in the general population (131.8 [15.7] vs 132.8 [15.9]; P = .04).The frequency of antihypertensive medication changes was similar in both groups (uncontrolled P = .986; general P = .218).

Discussion and Conclusions

Uptake notwithstanding, RPM may have improved BP control. A potential mechanism is increased physician awareness of and attention to uncontrolled hypertension. Barriers to RPM use among physicians require further study.

Abstract P382: Blood Pressure Outcomes After 12 Months in Primary Care: A Prospective Cohort Study in Electronic Health Records Using Propensity Score Matching for Remote Patient Monitoring for Hypertension

Introduction: In primary care (PC) settings, more hands-on hypertension management may be enabled by remote patient monitoring (RPM) for blood pressure (BP), leading to greater BP control over time

Hypothesis: Individuals prescribed RPM will have better BP control (BP <140/90 mmHg) and lower office SBP after 12 months, compared with temporally-matched controls.

Methods: We conducted a pragmatic matched cohort study in Medicare-enrolled patients with Hypertension at six PC practices, 288 of whom participated in pilot studies of a Omron VitalSight TM RPM system that enabled automatic transmission of BP and pulse into the electronic health record (EHR). We used 1:4 propensity score matching to identify 1152 contemporary matches for these patients from the same PC practices, based on age, sex, systolic BP (SBP), marital status, and several other clinical and healthcare visit characteristics. Outcomes after 12 months included controlling high blood pressure (most recent BP <140/90 mm Hg), and most recent systolic BP and diastolic BP, assessed 1) using PC office measurements only and 2) incorporating RPM measurements.

Results: The matched cohort of 1152 patients was, on average, 74 (SD 8) years old, 71% female, and 71% non-Hispanic white. Average baseline systolic BP (SD) was similar between groups: 142.7 (19.5) and 141.2 (18.7) mm Hg in RPM-prescribed patients and controls, respectively (Table). Compared with matched controls, after 12 months the RPM-prescribed cohort had greater BP control (72.6% versus 65.6%) and lower systolic BP (132.3 versus 136.6 mm Hg) when including RPM measurements. However, these metrics were similar when using PC office measurements only.

Conclusions: Greater BP control and lower SBP were observed after 12 months in RPM-prescribed patients when considering RPM measurements. Further studies will assess the contributions of adherence to RPM use to observed declines in BP. The EHR can be used to prospectively construct and conduct cohort studies.

Comparison of Sodium-Glucose Cotransporter-2 Inhibitor and Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Agonist Prescribing in Patients With Diabetes Mellitus With and Without Cardiovascular Disease

Sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 inhibitors (SGLT2is) and glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonists (GLP1-RAs) reduce cardiovascular events and mortality in patients with type 2 diabetes mellitus (T2DM). We sought to describe trends in prescribing for SGLT2is and GLP1-RAs in diverse care settings, including (1) the outpatient clinics of a midwestern integrated health system and (2) small- and medium-sized community-based primary care practices and health centers in 3 midwestern states. We included adults with T2DM and ≥1 outpatient clinic visit. The outcomes of interest were annual active prescription rates for SGLT2is and GLP1-RAs (separately). In the integrated health system, 22,672 patients met the case definition of T2DM. From 2013 to 2019, the overall prescription rate for SGLT2is increased from 1% to 15% (absolute difference [AD] 14%, 95% confidence interval [CI] 13% to 15%, p <0.01). The GLP1-RA prescription rate was stable at 10% (AD 0%, 95% CI -1% to 1%, p = 0.9). In community-based primary care practices, 43,340 patients met the case definition of T2DM. From 2013 to 2017, the SGLT2i prescription rate increased from 3% to 7% (AD 4%, 95% CI 3% to 6%, p <0.01), whereas the GLP1-RA prescription rate was stable at 2% to 3% (AD 1%, 95% CI -1 to 1%, p = 0.40). In a fully adjusted regression model, non-Hispanic Black patients had lower odds of SGLT2i or GLP1-RA prescription (odds ratio 0.56, 95% CI 0.34 to 0.89, p = 0.016). In conclusion, the increase in prescription rates was greater for SGLT2is than for GLP1-RAs in patients with T2DM in a large integrated medical center and community primary care practices. Overall, prescription rates for eligible patients were low, and racial disparities were observed.

Validation testing of five home blood pressure monitoring devices for the upper arm according to the ISO 81060-2:2018/AMD 1:2020 protocol

The accuracy of Omron 10 Series BP7450 (HEM-7342T-Z), Omron Platinum BP5450 (HEM-7343T-Z), Walmart Equate Premium 8000 Series UA-8000WM, Walgreens Premium 15+ WGNBPA-960BT, and CVS Series 800 BP3MW1-4YCVS were assessed in an adult general population compared to a mercury sphygmomanometer standard according to the ISO 81060-2:2018/AMD 1:2020 validation procedure. Omron selected the monitors and included three non-Omron monitors because they were from large retail vendors in the United States and these monitors did not have accessible results from validation testing. The BP7450, N = 85, passed both criteria for the standard. Mean (SD) differences in paired SBP and DBP determinations between the test device and reference were 0.5 (7.7) and 2.5 (6.8) mm Hg. The BP5450, N = 86, passed both criteria. Mean (SD) differences in paired SBP and DBP determinations were 1.9 (7.0) and 3.6 (6.4) mm Hg. The UA-8000WM, N = 85, did not meet the first criterion for the standard. Mean (SD) differences in paired SBP and DBP determinations were 2.5 (8.0) and 5.1 (6.4) mm Hg. The WGNBPA-240BT, N = 85, did not meet the first criterion for the standard. Mean (SD) differences in paired SBP and DBP determinations were 7.9 (8.5) and 5.5 (6.7) mm Hg. The BP3MW1-4YCVS, N = 85, did not meet the first criterion for the standard. Mean (SD) differences in paired SBP and DBP determinations were 5.8 (8.7) and 3.1 (5.6) mm Hg. These findings emphasize the importance of verifying the validation status of home blood pressure monitors before use by consumers.

Examining How Social Risk Factors Are Integrated Into Clinical Settings Using Existing Data: A Scoping Review

PURPOSE

Integrating social care into clinical care requires substantial resources. Use of existing data through a geographic information system (GIS) has the potential to support efficient and effective integration of social care into clinical settings. We conducted a scoping literature review characterizing its use in primary care settings to identify and address social risk factors.

METHODS

In December 2018, we searched 2 databases and extracted structured data for eligible articles that (1) described the use of GIS in clinical settings to identify and/or intervene on social risks, (2) were published between December 2013 and December 2018, and (3) were based in the United States. Additional studies were identified by examining references.

RESULTS

Of the 5,574 articles included for review, 18 met study eligibility criteria: 14 (78%) were descriptive studies, 3 (17%) tested an intervention, and 1 (6%) was a theoretical report. All studies used GIS to identify social risks (increase awareness); 3 studies (17%) described interventions to address social risks, primarily by identifying relevant community resources and aligning clinical services to patients' needs.

CONCLUSIONS

Most studies describe associations between GIS and population health outcomes; however, there is a paucity of literature regarding GIS use to identify and address social risk factors in clinical settings. GIS technology may assist health systems seeking to address population health outcomes through alignment and advocacy; its current application in clinical care delivery is infrequent and largely limited to referring patients to local community resources.

The Current State of Antiracism Curricula in Undergraduate and Graduate Medical Education: A Qualitative Study of US Academic Health Centers

PURPOSE

We undertook a study to evaluate the current state of pedagogy on antiracism, including barriers to implementation and strengths of existing curricula, in undergraduate medical education (UME) and graduate medical education (GME) programs in US academic health centers.

METHODS

We conducted a cross-sectional study with an exploratory qualitative approach using semistructured interviews. Participants were leaders of UME and GME programs at 5 institutions participating in the Academic Units for Primary Care Training and Enhancement program and 6 affiliated sites from November 2021 to April 2022.

RESULTS

A total of 29 program leaders from the 11 academic health centers participated in this study. Three participants from 2 institutions reported the implementation of robust, intentional, and longitudinal antiracism curricula. Nine participants from 7 institutions described race and antiracism-related topics integrated into health equity curricula. Only 9 participants reported having "adequately trained" faculty. Participants mentioned individual, systemic, and structural barriers to implementing antiracism-related training in medical education such as institutional inertia and insufficient resources. Fear related to introducing an antiracism curriculum and undervaluing of this curriculum relative to other content were identified. Through learners and faculty feedback, antiracism content was evaluated and included in UME and GME curricula. Most participants identified learners as a stronger voice for transformation than faculty; antiracism content was mainly included in health equity curricula.

CONCLUSIONS

Inclusion of antiracism in medical education requires intentional training, focused institutional policies, enhanced foundational awareness of the impact of racism on patients and communities, and changes at the level of institutions and accreditation bodies.

A Curated Curriculum Collection to Support Social Determinants of Health Education for the Health Professions

The importance of preparing students and practitioners in the health professions to understand and be equipped to address the social determinants of health (SDOH) has become increasingly urgent. To help support this goal, faculty and staff from the National Collaborative for Education to Address the Social Determinants of Health built a digital platform for health professions educators to access and share curricular work related to SDOH. As of 2022, this online resource included more than 200 curricula focused on SDOH and additional content related to both SDOH and health equity. Educators in undergraduate and graduate medicine, nursing, pharmacy, continuing education, and other fields may find these resources relevant to their teaching practice and consider this platform as a way to disseminate their work in this field to others.

Development and pilot testing of EHR-nudges to reduce overuse in older primary care patients

BACKGROUND

Unnecessary testing and treatment of common conditions in older adults can lead to significant morbidity and mortality. The primary objective of this study was to develop and pilot test a set of clinical decision support (CDS) alerts informed by social psychology to address overuse in three areas related to ambulatory care of older adults.

METHODS

We developed three electronic health record (EHR) CDS alerts to address overuse and pilot tested them from January 17, 2019 to July 17, 2019. We enrolled 14 primary care physicians from three practices within a large health system who cared for adults aged 65 years and older. Three measures of overuse applied to patients meeting the following criteria: ordering of prostate-specific antigen (PSA) for prostate cancer screening in adult men aged 76 years and older, ordering of urinalysis or urine cultures (UA or UC) for non-specific reasons to identify bacteriuria in women aged 65 years and older, and overtreatment of diabetes with insulin or oral hypoglycemic medications in adults aged at 75 years and older (DM). Clinicians received CDS alerts when criteria for any of the three overuse measures were met. We then surveyed clinicians to evaluate their experience with the CDS alerts.

RESULTS

The number of clinical encounters that triggered CDS alerts was 19 for PSA, 48 for UA/UC and 128 for DM. For PSA encounters, 4 (21%) orders were not performed after the alert. In the UA/UC encounters 29 (60%) orders were not performed after the alert. For the DM encounters, 21 (34%) had diabetes therapy reduced following the alert. Survey respondents indicated that the alerts were clinically accurate and sometimes led them to change their clinical action.

CONCLUSIONS

These CDS alerts were feasible to implement and may minimize unnecessary testing and treatment of common conditions in older adults.

Efficacy and safety of a quadruple ultra-low-dose treatment for hypertension (QUARTET USA): Rationale and design for a randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Over half of patients with elevated blood pressure require multi-drug treatment to achieve blood pressure control. However, multi-drug treatment may lead to lower adherence and more adverse drug effects compared with monotherapy.

OBJECTIVE

The Quadruple Ultra-low-dose Treatment for Hypertension (QUARTET) USA trial was designed to evaluate whether initiating treatment with ultra-low-dose quadruple-combination therapy will lower office blood pressure more effectively, and with fewer side effects, compared with initiating standard dose monotherapy in treatment naive patients with SBP < 180 and DBP < 110 mm Hg and patients on monotherapy with SBP < 160 and DBP < 100 mm Hg.

METHODS/DESIGN

QUARTET USA was a prospective, randomized, double-blind trial (ClinicalTrials.gov NCT03640312) conducted in federally qualified health centers in a large city in the US. Patients were randomly assigned (1:1) to either ultra-low-dose quadruple combination therapy or standard dose monotherapy. The primary outcome was mean change from baseline in office systolic blood pressure at 12-weeks, adjusted for baseline values. Secondary outcomes included measures of blood pressure change and variability, medication adherence, and health related quality of life. Safety outcomes included occurrence of serious adverse events, relevant adverse drug effects, and electrolyte abnormalities. A process evaluation aimed to understand provider experiences of implementation and participant experiences around side effects, adherence, and trust with clinical care.

DISCUSSION

QUARTET USA was designed to evaluate whether a novel approach to blood pressure control would lower office blood pressure more effectively, and with fewer side effects, compared with standard dose monotherapy. QUARTET USA was conducted within a network of federally qualified healthcare centers with the aim of generating information on the safety and efficacy of ultra-low-dose quadruple-combination therapy in diverse groups that experience a high burden of hypertension.

Development of a novel clinical decision support tool for diabetes prevention and feasibility of its implementation in primary care

•

Clinical decision support may represent a strategy for promoting diabetes prevention in primary care.

•

We developed a novel clinical decision support tool with input from primary care providers.

•

This clinician-facing tool was associated with improvements in processes of prediabetes care.

•

Exploratory analyses found small, but nonsignificant weight loss associated with its use.

Prediabetes impacts 88 million U.S. adults, yet uptake of evidence-based treatment with intensive lifestyle interventions and metformin remains exceedingly low. After incorporating feedback from 15 primary care providers collected during semi-structured interviews, we developed a novel Prediabetes Clinical Decision Support (PreDM CDS) from August 2019 to February 2020. This tool included order options enabling prediabetes management in a single location within the electronic health record. We conducted a retrospective observational study examining the feasibility of implementing this tool at Erie Family Health Centers, a large community health center, examining its use and related outcomes among patients for whom it was used vs not. Overall, 7,424 eligible patients were seen during the implementation period (February 2020 to August 2021), and the PreDM CDS was used for 108 (1.5 %). Using the PreDM CDS was associated with higher rates of hemoglobin A1c orders (70.4 % vs 22.2 %; p < 0.001), lifestyle counseling (38.0 % vs 7.8 %; p < 0.001), and metformin prescription orders (5.6 % vs 2.6 %; p = 0.06). Exploratory analyses revealed small, nonsignificant weight loss among patients for whom the PreDM CDS was used. This study demonstrates the feasibility of developing and implementing the PreDM CDS in primary care. Its low use was likely related to not imposing an interruptive ‘pop-up’ alert, as well as major changes in workflows and clinical priorities during the Covid-19 pandemic. Use of the tool was associated with improved process outcomes. Future efforts with the PreDM CDS should follow standard CDS implementation processes that were not possible due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

A Qualitative Description of Clinician Free-Text Rationales Entered within Accountable Justification Interventions

BACKGROUND

Requiring accountable justifications-visible, clinician-recorded explanations for not following a clinical decision support (CDS) alert-has been used to steer clinicians away from potentially guideline-discordant decisions. Understanding themes from justifications across clinical content areas may reveal how clinicians rationalize decisions and could help inform CDS alerts.

METHODS

We conducted a qualitative evaluation of the free-text justifications entered by primary care physicians from three pilot interventions designed to reduce opioid prescribing and, in older adults, high-risk polypharmacy and overtesting. Clinicians encountered alerts when triggering conditions were met within the chart. Clinicians were asked to change their course of action or enter a justification for the action that would be displayed in the chart. We extracted all justifications and grouped justifications with common themes. Two authors independently coded each justification and resolved differences via discussion. Three physicians used a modified Delphi technique to rate the clinical appropriateness of the justifications.

RESULTS

There were 560 justifications from 50 unique clinicians. We grouped these into three main themes used to justify an action: (1) report of a particular diagnosis or symptom (e.g., for "anxiety" or "acute pain"); (2) provision of further contextual details about the clinical case (e.g., tried and failed alternatives, short-term supply, or chronic medication); and (3) noting communication between clinician and patient (e.g., "risks and benefits discussed"). Most accountable justifications (65%) were of uncertain clinical appropriateness.

CONCLUSION

Most justifications clinicians entered across three separate clinical content areas fit within a small number of themes, and these common rationales may aid in the design of effective accountable justification interventions. Justifications varied in terms of level of clinical detail. On their own, most justifications did not clearly represent appropriate clinical decision making.

Development of High-Risk Geriatric Polypharmacy Electronic Clinical Quality Measures and a Pilot Test of EHR Nudges Based on These Measures

BACKGROUND

Inappropriate polypharmacy, prevalent among older patients, is associated with substantial harms.

OBJECTIVE

To develop measures of high-risk polypharmacy and pilot test novel electronic health record (EHR)-based nudges grounded in behavioral science to promote deprescribing.

DESIGN

We developed and validated seven measures, then conducted a three-arm pilot from February to May 2019.

PARTICIPANTS

Validation used data from 78,880 patients from a single large health system. Six physicians were pre-pilot test environment users. Sixty-nine physicians participated in the pilot.

MAIN MEASURES

Rate of high-risk polypharmacy among patients aged 65 years or older. High-risk polypharmacy was defined as being prescribed ≥5 medications and satisfying ≥1 of the following high-risk criteria: drugs that increase fall risk among patients with fall history; drug-drug interactions that increase fall risk; thiazolidinedione, NSAID, or non-dihydropyridine calcium channel blocker in heart failure; and glyburide, glimepiride, or NSAID in chronic kidney disease.

INTERVENTIONS

Physicians received EHR alerts when renewing or prescribing certain high-risk medications when criteria were met. One practice received a "commitment nudge" that offered a chance to commit to addressing high-risk polypharmacy at the next visit. One practice received a "justification nudge" that asked for a reason when high-risk polypharmacy was present. One practice received both.

KEY RESULTS

Among 55,107 patients 65 and older prescribed 5 or more medications, 6256 (7.9%) had one or more high-risk criteria. During the pilot, the mean (SD) number of nudges per physician per week was 1.7 (0.4) for commitment, 0.8 (0.5) for justification, and 1.9 (0.5) for both interventions. Physicians requested to be reminded to address high-risk polypharmacy for 236/833 (28.3%) of the commitment nudges and acknowledged 441 of 460 (95.9%) of justification nudges, providing a text response for 187 (40.7%).

CONCLUSIONS

EHR-based measures and nudges addressing high-risk polypharmacy were feasible to develop and implement, and warrant further testing.

The protocol of improving safe antibiotic prescribing in telehealth: A randomized trial

BACKGROUND

The CDC estimates that over 40% of Urgent Care visits are for acute respiratory infections (ARI), more than half involving inappropriate antibiotic prescriptions. Previous randomized trials in primary care clinics resulted in reductions in inappropriate antibiotic prescribing, but antibiotic stewardship interventions in telehealth have not been systematically assessed. To better understand how best to decrease inappropriate antibiotic prescribing for ARIs in telehealth, we are conducting a large randomized quality improvement trial testing both patient- and physician-facing feedback and behavioral nudges embedded in the electronic health record.

METHODS

Teladoc® clinicians are assigned to one of 9 arms in a 3 × 3 randomized trial. Each clinician is assigned to one of 3 Commitment groups (Public, Private, Control) and one of 3 Performance Feedback groups (Benchmark Peer Comparison, Trending, Control). After randomly selecting ⅓ of states and associated clinicians required for patient-facing components of the Public Commitment intervention, remaining clinicians are randomized to the Control and Private commitment arms. Clinicians are randomized to the Performance Feedback conditions. The primary outcome is change from baseline in antibiotic prescribing rate for qualifying ARI visits. Secondary outcomes include changes in inappropriate prescribing and revisit rates. Secondary analyses include investigation of heterogeneity of treatment effects. With 1530 clinicians and an intra-clinician correlation in antibiotic prescribing rate of 0.5, we have >80% power to detect 1-7% absolute differences in antibiotic prescribing among groups.

DISCUSSION

Findings from this trial may help inform telehealth stewardship strategies, determine whether significant differences exist between Commitment and Feedback interventions, and provide guidance for clinicians and patients to encourage safe and effective antibiotic use.

CLINICALTRIALS

gov: NCT05138874.

Effect of Peer Benchmarking on Specialist Electronic Consult Performance in a Los Angeles Safety-Net: a Cluster Randomized Trial

BACKGROUND

Since the advent of COVID-19, accelerated adoption of systems that reduce face-to-face encounters has outpaced training and best practices. Electronic consultations (eConsults), structured communications between PCPs and specialists regarding a case, have been effective in reducing face-to-face specialist encounters. As the health system rapidly adapts to multiple new practices and communication tools, new mechanisms to measure and improve performance in this context are needed.

OBJECTIVE

To test whether feedback comparing physicians to top performing peers using co-specialists' ratings improves performance.

DESIGN

Cluster-randomized controlled trial PARTICIPANTS: Eighty facility-specialty clusters and 214 clinicians INTERVENTION: Providers in the feedback arms were sent messages that announced their membership in an elite group of "Top Performers" or provided actionable recommendations with feedback for providers that were "Not Top Performers."

MAIN MEASURES

The primary outcomes were changes in peer ratings in the following performance dimensions after feedback was received: (1) elicitation of information from primary care practitioners; (2) adherence to institutional clinical guidelines; (3) agreement with peer's medical decision-making; (4) educational value; (5) relationship building.

KEY RESULTS

Specialists showed significant improvements on 3 of the 5 consultation performance dimensions: medical decision-making (odds ratio 1.52, 95% confidence interval 1.08-2.14, p<.05), educational value (1.86, 1.17-2.96) and relationship building (1.63, 1.13-2.35) (both p<.01).

CONCLUSIONS

The pandemic has shed light on clinicians' commitment to professionalism and service as we rapidly adapt to changing paradigms. Interventions that appeal to professional norms can help improve the efficacy of new systems of practice. We show that specialists' performance can be measured and improved with feedback using aspirational norms.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

clinicaltrials.gov NCT03784950.

The first step is recognizing there is a problem: a methodology for adjusting for variability in disease severity when estimating clinician performance

Background

Adoption of innovations in the field of medicine is frequently hindered by a failure to recognize the condition targeted by the innovation. This is particularly true in cases where recognition requires integration of patient information from different sources, or where disease presentation can be heterogeneous and the recognition step may be easier for some patients than for others.

Methods

We propose a general data-driven metric for clinician recognition that accounts for the variability in patient disease severity and for institutional standards. As a case study, we evaluate the ventilatory management of 362 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) at a large academic hospital, because clinician recognition of ARDS has been identified as a major barrier to adoption to evidence-based ventilatory management. We calculate our metric for the 48 critical care physicians caring for these patients and examine the relationships between differences in ARDS recognition performance from overall institutional levels and provider characteristics such as demographics, social network position, and self-reported barriers and opinions.

Results

Our metric was found to be robust to patient characteristics previously demonstrated to affect ARDS recognition, such as disease severity and patient height. Training background was the only factor in this study that showed an association with physician recognition. Pulmonary and critical care medicine (PCCM) training was associated with higher recognition (β = 0.63, 95% confidence interval 0.46–0.80, p < 7 × 10^− 5). Non-PCCM physicians recognized ARDS cases less frequently and expressed greater satisfaction with the ability to get the information needed for making an ARDS diagnosis (p < 5 × 10^− 4), suggesting that lower performing clinicians may be less aware of institutional barriers.

Conclusions

We present a data-driven metric of clinician disease recognition that accounts for variability in patient disease severity and for institutional standards. Using this metric, we identify two unique physician populations with different intervention needs. One population consistently recognizes ARDS and reports barriers vs one does not and reports fewer barriers.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12874-022-01543-7.

The protocol of the Application of Economics & Social psychology to improve Opioid Prescribing Safety trial 2 (AESOPS-2): Availability of opioid harm

BACKGROUND

High levels of opioid prescribing in the United States has resulted in an alarming trend in opioid-related harms. The objective of Trial 2 of the Application of Economics & Social psychology to improve Opioid Prescribing Safety (AESOPS-2) is to dampen the intensity and frequency of opioid prescribing in accordance with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendation to "go low and slow". We aim to accomplish this by notifying clinicians of harmful patient outcomes, which we expect to increase the mental availability of risks associated with opioid use.

METHODS

The trial is multi-site. Random assignment determines if prescribers to persons who suffer an opioid overdose (fatal or nonfatal) learn of this event (intervention) or practice usual care (control). Clinicians in the intervention group receive a letter notifying them of their patient's overdose. The primary outcome is the change in clinician weekly milligram morphine equivalent (MME) prescribed in a 6-month period before and after receiving the letter. Additional outcomes are the change in the proportion of patients prescribed at least 50 daily MME and in the proportion of patients referred to medication assisted treatment. Group differences in these outcomes will be compared using an intent-to-treat difference-in-differences framework with a mixed-effects regression model to estimate clinician MME.

DISCUSSION

The AESOPS-2 trial will provide new knowledge about whether increasing prescribers' awareness of patients' opioid-related overdoses leads to a reduction in opioid prescribing. Additionally, this trial may better inform how to reduce opioid use disorder and opioid overdoses by lowering population exposure to these drugs.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov: NCT04758637.

Design of Behavioral Economic Applications to Geriatrics Leveraging Electronic Health Records (BEAGLE): A pragmatic cluster randomized controlled trial

BACKGROUND

Overtesting and treatment of older patients is common and may lead to harms. The Choosing Wisely campaign has provided recommendations to reduce overtesting and overtreatment of older adults. Behavioral economics-informed interventions embedded within the electronic health record (EHR) have been shown to reduce overuse in several areas. Our objective is to conduct a parallel arm, pragmatic cluster-randomized trial to evaluate the effectiveness of behavioral-economics-informed clinical decision support (CDS) interventions previously piloted in primary care clinics and designed to reduce overtesting and overtreatment in older adults.

METHODS/DESIGN

This trial has two parallel arms: clinician education alone vs. clinician education plus behavioral-economics-informed CDS. There are three co-primary outcomes for this trial: (1) prostate-specific antigen (PSA) screening in older men, (2) urine testing for non-specific reasons in older women, and (3) overtreatment of diabetes in older adults. All eligible primary care clinics from a large regional health system were randomized using a modified constrained randomization process and their attributed clinicians were included. Clinicians were recruited to complete a survey and educational module. We randomized 60 primary care clinics with 374 primary care clinicians and achieved adequate balance between the study arms for prespecified constrained variables. Baseline annual overuse rates for the three co-primary outcomes were 25%, 23%, and 17% for the PSA, urine, and diabetes measures, respectively.

DISCUSSION

This trial is evaluating behavioral-economics-informed EHR-embedded interventions to reduce overuse of specific tests and treatments for older adults. The study will evaluate the effectiveness and safety of these interventions.

Disparities in Elevated Body Mass Index in Youth Receiving Care at Community Health Centers

Childhood obesity has increased significantly in the United States. Racial subgroups are often grouped into categories in research, limiting our understanding of disparities. This study describes the prevalence of obesity among youth of diverse racial and ethnic backgrounds receiving care at community health centers (CHCs). This cross-sectional study describes the prevalence of elevated body mass index (BMI) (≥85th percentile) and obesity (≥95th percentile) in youth aged 9 to 19 years receiving care in CHCs in 2014. Multilevel logistic regression estimated the prevalence of elevated BMI and obesity by age, race/ethnicity, and sex. Among 64 925 youth, 40% had elevated BMI and 22% were obese. By race, obesity was lowest in the combined Asian/Pacific Islander category (13%); however, when subgroups were separated, the highest prevalence was among Native Hawaiians (33%) and Other Pacific Islanders (42%) and the lowest in Asians. By sex, Black females and Hispanic and Asian males were more likely to be obese. By age, the highest prevalence of obesity was among those aged 9 to 10 years (25%). Youth served by CHCs have a high prevalence of obesity, with significant differences observed by race, sex, and age. Combining race categories obscures disparities. The heterogeneity of communities warrants research that describes different populations to address obesity.

Examining primary care physician rationale for not following geriatric choosing wisely recommendations

Background

The objective is to understand why physicians order tests or treatments in older adults contrary to published recommendations.

Methods

Participants: Physicians above the median for ≥ 1 measures of overuse representing 3 Choosing Wisely topics. Measurements: Participants evaluated decisions in a semi-structured interview regarding: 1) Screening men aged ≥ 76 with prostate specific antigen 2) Ordering urine studies in women ≥ 65 without symptoms 3) Overtreating adults aged ≥ 75 with insulin or oral hypoglycemic medications. Two investigators independently coded transcripts using qualitative analysis.

Results

Nineteen interviews were conducted across the three topics resulting in four themes. First, physicians were aware and knowledgeable of guidelines. Second, perceived patient preference towards overuse influenced physician action even when physicians felt strongly that testing was not indicated. Third, physicians overestimated benefits of a test and underemphasized potential harms. Fourth, physicians were resistant to change when patients appeared to be doing well.

Conclusions

Though physicians expressed awareness to avoid overuse, deference to patient preferences and the tendency to distort the chance of benefit over harm influenced decisions to order testing. Approaches for decreasing unnecessary testing must account for perceived patient preferences, make the potential harms of overtesting salient, and address clinical inertia among patients who appear to be doing well.

Supplementary Information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12875-021-01440-w.

The protocol of the Application of Economics & Social psychology to improve Opioid Prescribing Safety Trial 1 (AESOPS-1): Electronic health record nudges

BACKGROUND

There is a lack of evidence that long-term opioid use offers benefit for noncancer pain and an abundance of evidence of harm. Despite clinical guidelines and education, prescribing continues at a higher rate than before the opioids crisis. The objective of trial 1 of the Application of Economics & Social psychology to improve Opioid Prescribing Safety (AESOPS-1) is to discourage unnecessary opioid prescribing in primary care by applying "behavioral insights"-empirically-tested social and psychological interventions that affect choice.

METHODS

AESOPS-1 randomizes primary care clinics in Illinois and California to behavioral intervention or control. Both arms receive opioid guideline education. Clinics randomized to the behavioral intervention arm receive nudges within the electronic health record (EHR) including: 1) an "accountable justification" entered in the chart, 2) a precommitment to address high-risk prescriptions, and 3) a "PainTracker" that broadens discussions about pain. The control arm receives no EHR-based intervention. The primary outcome is the change in weekly milligram morphine equivalents (MME) prescribed. The secondary outcome is the change in the proportion of patients prescribed at least 50 daily MME. To evaluate these outcomes, we will use a difference-in-differences mixed-effects regression model on clinician MME weekly or daily dose. The analysis will be "intent-to-treat." The intervention period is 18-months, with a 6-month follow-up period to measure persistence of effects.

DISCUSSION

The AESOPS-1 trial will evaluate the effect of EHR-based interventions in reducing noncancer opioid prescribing in primary care. AESOPS-1 may demonstrate practical and scalable strategies to lower unnecessary population exposure to opioids.

Cognitive impairment no dementia and associations with health literacy, self-management skills, and functional health status

OBJECTIVES

To determine the prevalence of cognitive impairment no dementia (CIND) among a diverse, community-based population, and establish associations between CIND and health literacy, chronic disease self-management and functional health status.

METHODS

863 primary care adults without dementia aged 55-74. Adjusted logistic and linear regressions were used to assess associations between CIND (None, Mild, Moderate/Severe) and outcomes.

RESULTS

36 % participants exhibited CIND. It was strongly associated with limited health literacy (Newest Vital Signs: Mild [OR 3.25; 95 % CI 1.93, 5.49], Moderate/Severe [OR 6.45; 95 % CI 3.16, 13.2]; Test of Functional Health Literacy in Adults: Mild [OR 3.46; 95 % CI 2.08, 5.75], Moderate/Severe [OR 8.82; 95 % CI 4.87, 16.0]; all p's < 0.001) and poor chronic disease self-management (Mild [B = -11.2; 95 % CI -13.5, -8.90], Moderate/Severe CI [B = -21.0; 95 % CI -23.6, -18.4]; both p's < 0.001). Associations between CIND and functional health status were non-significant.

CONCLUSIONS

CIND was prevalent in this cohort, and strongly associated with requisite skills for managing everyday health needs.

PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS

Attention to subtle declines in chronic disease self-care may assist with CIND identification and care management within this population. When CIND is observed, clinicians should also expect and address difficulties with self-management.

Awareness, Attitudes, and Actions Related to COVID-19 Among Adults With Chronic Conditions at the Onset of the U.S. Outbreak: A Cross-sectional Survey

BACKGROUND

The evolving outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is requiring social distancing and other measures to protect public health. However, messaging has been inconsistent and unclear.

OBJECTIVE

To determine COVID-19 awareness, knowledge, attitudes, and related behaviors among U.S. adults who are more vulnerable to complications of infection because of age and comorbid conditions.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey linked to 3 active clinical trials and 1 cohort study.

SETTING

5 academic internal medicine practices and 2 federally qualified health centers.

PATIENTS

630 adults aged 23 to 88 years living with 1 or more chronic conditions.

MEASUREMENTS

Self-reported knowledge, attitudes, and behaviors related to COVID-19.

RESULTS

A fourth (24.6%) of participants were "very worried" about getting the coronavirus. Nearly a third could not correctly identify symptoms (28.3%) or ways to prevent infection (30.2%). One in 4 adults (24.6%) believed that they were "not at all likely" to get the virus, and 21.9% reported that COVID-19 had little or no effect on their daily routine. One in 10 respondents was very confident that the federal government could prevent a nationwide outbreak. In multivariable analyses, participants who were black, were living below the poverty level, and had low health literacy were more likely to be less worried about COVID-19, to not believe that they would become infected, and to feel less prepared for an outbreak. Those with low health literacy had greater confidence in the federal government response.

LIMITATION

Cross-sectional study of adults with underlying health conditions in 1 city during the initial week of the COVID-19 U.S. outbreak.

CONCLUSION

Many adults with comorbid conditions lacked critical knowledge about COVID-19 and, despite concern, were not changing routines or plans. Noted disparities suggest that greater public health efforts may be needed to mobilize the most vulnerable communities.

PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE

National Institutes of Health.

Navigator-Based Intervention to Support Communication in the Pediatric Intensive Care Unit: A Pilot Study

BACKGROUND

Communication in the pediatric intensive care unit (PICU) between families and the health care team affects the family experience, caregiver psychological morbidity, and patient outcomes.

OBJECTIVE

To test the feasibility of studying and implementing a PICU communication intervention called PICU Supports, and to assess families' and health care teams' perceptions of the intervention.

METHODS

This study involved patients requiring more than 24 hours of PICU care. An interventionist trained in PICU-focused health care navigation, a "navigator," met with parents and the health care team to discuss communication, decision-making, emotional, informational, and discharge or end-of-life care needs; offered weekly family meetings; and checked in with parents after PICU discharge. The feasibility of implementing the intervention was assessed by tracking navigator activities. Health care team and family perceptions were assessed using surveys, interviews, and focus groups.

RESULTS

Of 53 families approached about the study, 35 (66%) agreed to participate. The navigator met with parents on 71% and the health care team on 85% of possible weekdays, and completed 86% of the postdischarge check-ins. Family meetings were offered to 95% of eligible patients. The intervention was rated as helpful by 97% of parents, and comments during interviews were positive.

CONCLUSIONS

The PICU Supports intervention is feasible to implement and study and is viewed favorably by parents.

Clinician-Level Variation in Three Measures Representing Overuse Based on the American Geriatrics Society Choosing Wisely Statement

IMPORTANCE

The extent of clinician-level variation in the overuse of testing or treatment in older adults is not well understood.

OBJECTIVE

To examine clinician-level variation for three new measures of potentially inappropriate use of medical services in older adults.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis of overall means and clinician-level variation in performance on three new measures.

SUBJECTS

Adults aged 65 years and older who had office visits with outpatient primary or immediate care clinicians within a single academic medical center health system between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.

MEASURES

Two electronic clinical quality measures representing potentially inappropriate use of medical services in older adults: prostate-specific antigen testing against guidelines (PSA) in men aged 76 and older; urinalysis or urine culture for non-specific reasons in women aged 65 and older; and one intermediate outcome measure: hemoglobin A1c less than 7.0 in adults aged 75 and older with diabetes mellitus treated with insulin or oral hypoglycemic medication.

RESULTS

Sixty-nine clinicians and 2009 patients contributed observations to the PSA measure, 144 clinicians and 5933 patients contributed to the urinalysis/urine culture measure, and 42 clinicians and 665 patients contributed to the diabetes measure. Meaningful clinician-level performance variation was greatest for the PSA measure (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.27), followed by the urinalysis/urine culture measure (ICC = 0.18), and the diabetes measure (ICC = 0.024). The range of possible overuse across clinician quartiles was 8-54% for the PSA measure, 3-35% for the urinalysis/urine culture measure, and 13-49% for the diabetes measure. The odds ratios of overuse in the highest quartile compared with the lowest for the PSA, urinalysis/urine culture, and diabetes measures were 99.3 (95% CI 43 to 228), 15.7 (10 to 24), and 6.0 (3.3 to 11), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the same health system, rates of potential overuse in elderly patients varied greatly across clinicians, particularly for the process measures examined.

Clinician-Level Variation in Three Measures Representing Overuse Based on the American Geriatrics Society Choosing Wisely Statement

IMPORTANCE

The extent of clinician-level variation in the overuse of testing or treatment in older adults is not well understood.

OBJECTIVE

To examine clinician-level variation for three new measures of potentially inappropriate use of medical services in older adults.

DESIGN

Retrospective analysis of overall means and clinician-level variation in performance on three new measures.

SUBJECTS

Adults aged 65 years and older who had office visits with outpatient primary or immediate care clinicians within a single academic medical center health system between July 1, 2016, and June 30, 2017.

MEASURES

Two electronic clinical quality measures representing potentially inappropriate use of medical services in older adults: prostate-specific antigen testing against guidelines (PSA) in men aged 76 and older; urinalysis or urine culture for non-specific reasons in women aged 65 and older; and one intermediate outcome measure: hemoglobin A1c less than 7.0 in adults aged 75 and older with diabetes mellitus treated with insulin or oral hypoglycemic medication.

RESULTS

Sixty-nine clinicians and 2009 patients contributed observations to the PSA measure, 144 clinicians and 5933 patients contributed to the urinalysis/urine culture measure, and 42 clinicians and 665 patients contributed to the diabetes measure. Meaningful clinician-level performance variation was greatest for the PSA measure (intraclass correlation coefficient [ICC] = 0.27), followed by the urinalysis/urine culture measure (ICC = 0.18), and the diabetes measure (ICC = 0.024). The range of possible overuse across clinician quartiles was 8-54% for the PSA measure, 3-35% for the urinalysis/urine culture measure, and 13-49% for the diabetes measure. The odds ratios of overuse in the highest quartile compared with the lowest for the PSA, urinalysis/urine culture, and diabetes measures were 99.3 (95% CI 43 to 228), 15.7 (10 to 24), and 6.0 (3.3 to 11), respectively.

CONCLUSIONS

Within the same health system, rates of potential overuse in elderly patients varied greatly across clinicians, particularly for the process measures examined.

Effect of Home Blood Pressure Monitoring via a Smartphone Hypertension Coaching Application or Tracking Application on Adults With Uncontrolled Hypertension: A Randomized Clinical Trial

IMPORTANCE

Mobile applications (apps) may help improve hypertension self-management.

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the effect of an artificial intelligence smartphone coaching app to promote home monitoring and hypertension-related behaviors on systolic blood pressure level compared with a blood pressure tracking app.

DESIGN, SETTING, AND PARTICIPANTS

This was a 2-group, open, randomized clinical trial. Participants with uncontrolled hypertension were recruited in 2016 and 2017 and were followed up for 6 months. Data analysis was performed from April 2019 to December 2019.

INTERVENTIONS

Intervention group participants received a smartphone coaching app to promote home monitoring and behavioral changes associated with hypertension self-management plus a home blood pressure monitor. Control participants received a blood pressure tracking app plus a home blood pressure monitor.

MAIN OUTCOMES AND MEASURES

The primary study outcome was systolic blood pressure at 6 months. Secondary outcomes included self-reported antihypertensive medication adherence, home monitoring and self-management practices, measures of self-efficacy associated with blood pressure, weight, and self-reported health behaviors.

RESULTS

There were 333 participants randomized, and 297 completed the follow-up assessment. Among the participants who completed the study, the mean (SD) age was 58.9 (12.8) years, 182 (61.3%) were women, and 103 (34.7%) were black. Baseline mean (SD) systolic blood pressure was 140.6 (12.2) mm Hg among intervention participants and 141.8 (13.4) mm Hg among control participants. After 6 months, the corresponding mean (SD) systolic blood pressures were 132.3 (15.0) mm Hg and 135.0 (13.9) mm Hg, with a between-group adjusted difference of -2.0 mm Hg (95% CI, -4.9 mm Hg to 0.8 mm Hg; P = .16). At 6 months, self-confidence in controlling blood pressure was greater in the intervention group (0.36 point on a 5-point scale; 95% CI, 0.18 point to 0.54 point; P < .001). There were no significant differences between the 2 groups in other secondary outcomes. The adjusted difference in self-reported physical activity was 26.7 minutes per week (95% CI, -5.4 minutes per week to 58.8 minutes per week; P = .10). Subgroup analysis raised the possibility that intervention effects differed by age.

CONCLUSIONS AND RELEVANCE

Among individuals with uncontrolled hypertension, those randomized to a smartphone coaching app plus home monitor had similar systolic blood pressure compared with those who received a blood pressure tracking app plus home monitor. Given the direction of the difference in systolic blood pressure between groups and the possibility for differences in treatment effects across subgroups, future studies are warranted.

TRIAL REGISTRATION

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03288142.

An ancillary genomics system to support the return of pharmacogenomic results

Existing approaches to managing genetic and genomic test results from external laboratories typically include filing of text reports within the electronic health record, making them unavailable in many cases for clinical decision support. Even when structured computable results are available, the lack of adopted standards requires considerations for processing the results into actionable knowledge, in addition to storage and management of the data. Here, we describe the design and implementation of an ancillary genomics system used to receive and process heterogeneous results from external laboratories, which returns a descriptive phenotype to the electronic health record in support of pharmacogenetic clinical decision support.

Outreach to Promote Management of Cardiovascular Risk in Primary Care Among Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis Seen in Rheumatology Practice

Objective

Rheumatoid arthritis (RA) confers a 1.5‐ to 2.0‐fold increased risk of cardiovascular disease (CVD). A prior multifaceted quality improvement approach to improving CVD preventive care increased CVD risk factor assessments, but there was no significant effect on the management of risk factors. We tested the impact of adding a proactive outreach strategy promoting primary care treatment of CVD risk factors among patients with RA through their rheumatology practice.

Methods

Through electronic health record searches, we identified patients with RA who were potential candidates for hypertension treatment initiation or intensification, statin therapy, or a smoking‐cessation intervention. A nonclinician care manager contacted patients by phone and mail on behalf of the rheumatologists, provided information about the identified risk factor(s), recommend follow‐up with primary care physicians (PCPs), sent correspondence to PCPs, and followed up with patients to see what actions had been taken. We measured preventive cardiology quality indicators and compared preintervention and intervention time periods using interrupted time series methods.

Results

During the 6‐month intervention period, the proportion of patients prescribed at least moderate‐intensity statin treatment for primary prevention rose from 18.4% to 23.8%. The rate of increase was 1.06% greater per month than during the preceding period (P < 0.001). Rates of increase in hypertension diagnosis and control improved more rapidly during this phase (P < 0.001 for each) and reversed preceding negative trends.

Conclusion

Implementing proactive nonclinician outreach to encourage primary care–based treatment of CVD risk factors was associated with increases in statin prescribing and in hypertension diagnosis and control. Smoking was not affected.

Identifying and addressing social determinants of health in outpatient practice: results of a program-wide survey of internal and family medicine residents

BACKGROUND

Up to 60% of preventable mortality is attributable to social determinants of health (SDOH), yet training on SDOH competencies is not widely implemented in residency. The objective of this study was to assess internal and family medicine residents' competence at identifying and addressing SDOH.

METHODS

Residents' perceived competence at identifying, discussing, and addressing SDOH in outpatient settings was assessed using a single questionnaire administered in March 2017. In this cross-sectional analysis, bivariate associations of resident characteristics with the following outcomes were examined: identifying, discussing, and addressing patients' challenges related to SDOH through referrals.

RESULTS

The survey was completed by 129 (84%) residents. Twenty residents (16%) reported an annual income of less than $50,000 during childhood. Overall, 108 residents (84%) reported previous SDOH training. Two-thirds had outpatient practices in Veterans Affairs or safety-net clinics. Thirty-nine (30%) intended to pursue a career in primary care. The following numbers of residents reported high levels of competence for performing these outcomes: identifying patients' challenges related to SDOH: 37 (29%); discussing them with patients: 18 (14%); and addressing these challenges through referrals to internal and external resources: 13 (10%) and 11 (9%), respectively. Factors associated with higher competence included older age, lower childhood household income, prior education about SDOH, primary practice site and intention to practice primary care.

CONCLUSIONS

Most residents had previous SDOH training, yet only a small proportion of residents reported being highly competent at identifying or addressing SDOH. Providing opportunities for practical training may be a key component in preparing medical residents to identify and address SDOH effectively in outpatient practice.

Associations Between Health Literacy and Medication Self-Management Among Community Health Center Patients with Uncontrolled Hypertension

PURPOSE

Examine associations between health literacy and several medication self-management constructs among a population of adults with uncontrolled hypertension.

PATIENTS AND METHODS

Cross-sectional study of health center patients from the Chicago area with uncontrolled hypertension enrolled between April 2012 and February 2015. Medication self-management constructs-applied to hypertension medications, chronic condition medications and all medications-included: 1) medication reconciliation, 2) knowledge of drug indications, 3) understanding instructions and dosing, and 4) self-reported adherence over 4 days (no missed doses). We determined associations between health literacy and self-management outcomes using multivariable generalized linear regression.

RESULTS

There were 1460 patients who completed screening interviews; 62.9% enrolled and had complete baseline data collected, and were included in the analysis. Of 919 participants, 47.4% had likely limited (low), 33.2% possibly limited, and 19.4% likely adequate health literacy. Compared to participants with likely adequate health literacy, participants with low health literacy were less likely to have chronic medications reconciled (18.0% versus 29.6%, p=0.007), know indications for chronic medications (64.1% versus 83.1%, p<0.001), and demonstrate understanding of instructions and dosing (68.1% versus 82.9%, p=0.001). Self-reported adherence to hypertension medications was higher among the low health literacy group (65.6% versus 56.0%, p=0.010). In multivariable models, health literacy was strongly associated with knowledge of drug indications, and understanding of instructions and dosing.

CONCLUSION

Low health literacy was associated with worse medication self-management in several domains. However, non-adherence was greatest in the most health literate in unadjusted analysis. Among a population of patients with uncontrolled hypertension, the drivers of poor control may vary by health literacy.