Medicare beneficiaries with more comprehensive primary care physicians report better primary care

OBJECTIVE

To examine whether primary care physician (PCP) comprehensiveness is associated with Medicare beneficiaries' overall rating of care from their PCP and staff.

DATA SOURCES

We linked Medicare claims with survey data from Medicare beneficiaries attributed to Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) physicians and practices.

STUDY DESIGN

We performed regression analyses of the associations between two claims-based measures of PCP comprehensiveness in 2017 and beneficiaries' rating of care from their PCP and practice staff in 2018.

DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS

The analytic sample included 6228 beneficiaries cared for by 3898 PCPs. Regressions controlled for beneficiary, physician, practice, and market characteristics.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Beneficiaries with more comprehensive PCPs rated care from their PCP and practice staff higher than did those with less comprehensive PCPs. For each comprehensiveness measure, beneficiaries whose PCP was in the 75th percentile were more likely than beneficiaries whose PCP was in the 25th percentile to rate their care highly (2 percentage point difference, p = 0.02).

CONCLUSIONS

Medicare beneficiaries with more comprehensive PCPs rate overall care from their PCPs and staff higher than those with less comprehensive PCPs.

A surgical needs assessment for airway rapid responses: A retrospective observational study

BACKGROUND

Airway rapid response (ARR) teams can be compiled of anesthesiologists, intensivists, otolaryngologists, general and thoracic surgeons, respiratory therapists, and nurses. The optimal composition of an ARR team is unknown but considered to be resource intensive. We sought to determine the type of technical procedures performed during an ARR activation to inform team composition.

METHODS

A large urban quaternary academic medical center retrospective review (2016-2019) of adult ARR patients was performed. Analysis included ARR demographics, patient characteristics, characteristics of preexisting tracheostomies, incidence of concomitant conditions, and procedures completed during an ARR event.

RESULTS

A total of 345 ARR patients with a median age of 60 years (interquartile range, 47-69 years) and a median time to ARR conclusion of 28 minutes (interquartile range, 14-47 minutes) were included. About 41.7% of the ARR had a preexisting tracheostomy. Overall, there were 130 procedures completed that can be performed by a general surgeon in addition to the 122 difficult intubations. These procedures included recannulation of a tracheostomy, operative intervention, new emergent tracheostomy or cricothyroidotomy, thoracostomy tube placement, initiation of extracorporeal membrane oxygenation, and pericardiocentesis.

CONCLUSION

Highly technical procedures are common during an ARR, including procedures related to tracheostomies. Surgeons possess a comprehensive skill set that is unique and comprehensive with respect to airway emergencies. This distinctive skill set creates an important role within the ARR team to perform these urgent technical procedures.

LEVEL OF EVIDENCE

Epidemiologic/prognostic, level III.

Can vertically integrated health systems provide greater value: The case of hospitals under the comprehensive care for joint replacement model?

OBJECTIVE

We aim to assess whether system providers perform better than nonsystem providers under an alternative payment model that incentivizes high-quality, cost-efficient care. We posit that the payment environment and the incentives it provides can affect the relative performance of vertically integrated health systems. To examine this potential influence, we compare system and nonsystem hospitals participating in Medicare's Comprehensive Care for Joint Replacement (CJR) model.

DATA SOURCES

We used hospital cost and quality data from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services linked to data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality's Compendium of US Health Systems and hospital characteristics from secondary sources. The data include 706 hospitals in 67 metropolitan areas.

STUDY DESIGN

We estimated regressions that compared system and nonsystem hospitals' 2017 cost and quality performance providing lower joint replacements among hospitals required to participate in CJR.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

Among CJR hospitals, system hospitals that provided comprehensive services in their local market had 5.8 percent ($1612) lower episode costs (P = .01) than nonsystem hospitals. System hospitals that did not provide such services had 3.5 percent ($967) lower episode costs (P = .14). Quality differences between system hospitals and nonsystem hospitals were mostly small and statistically insignificant.

CONCLUSIONS

When operating under alternative payment model incentives, vertical integration may enable hospitals to lower costs with similar quality scores.

STEPS to Care: Translating an Evidence-Informed HIV Care Coordination Program Into a Field-Tested Online Practice Improvement Toolkit

Increasing care engagement is essential to meet HIV prevention goals and achieve viral suppression. It is difficult, however, for agencies to establish the systems and practice improvements required to ensure coordinated care, especially for clients with complex health needs. We describe the theory-driven, field-informed transfer process used to translate key components of the evidence-informed Ryan White Part A New York City Care Coordination Program into an online practice improvement toolkit, STEPS to Care (StC), with the potential to support broader dissemination. Informed by analyses of qualitative and quantitative data collected from eight agencies, we describe our four phases: (1) review of StC strategies and key elements, (2) translation into a three-part toolkit: Care Team Coordination, Patient Navigation, and HIV Self-Management, (3) pilot testing, and (4) toolkit refinement for national dissemination. Lessons learned can guide the translation of evidence-informed strategies to online environments, a needed step to achieve wide-scale implemention.

Primary care doctor and nurse utilisation rates for billed consultations across the Comprehensive Care Primary Health Organisation

AIM

To examine socio-demographic trends in doctor and nurse utilisation rates for invoiced consultations across Comprehensive Care Primary Health Organisation (PHO).

METHOD

De-identified enrolled patient information and Service Utilisation Reporting data for invoiced consultations were extracted from all general practices for January 2013-December 2016. Utilisation rates were calculated using the number of enrolled patients as the denominator.

RESULTS

Data for 3,657,873 invoiced consultations across 66 general practices were analysed, including 2,941,624 doctor and 716,249 nurse consultations. Average utilisation rates were 3.1 visits per patient year for doctors and 0.7 visits for nurses, with considerable variability between practices. Utilisation rates were higher for females (3.3 visits for doctors; 0.8 for nurses), older adults (5.0-6.9; 1.3-1.6 visits) and patients residing in the most socially deprived quintile (3.3; 1.6 visits). European patients had the highest doctor utilisation rates (3.2 visits), while Māori and Pacific patients had the highest nurse utilisation rates (1.1 and 1.3 visits, respectively).

CONCLUSION

Females, older adults and people residing in socially deprived areas utilise primary care more frequently according to invoiced consultation data. Analysis of all other consultations, including immunisations, Accident Corporation Claims and non-billed services is needed to more accurately capture utilisation rates, particularly for nurses, to better inform national decision-making, workforce planning and funding assumptions.

Comprehensive preventive care assessments for adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities: Part 2: 2003 to 2014

OBJECTIVE

To determine if there has been an increase in preventive care among adults with intellectual and developmental disabilities (IDD) as a result of the publication of the Canadian consensus guidelines on the care of adults with IDD in 2006 and 2011.

DESIGN

Ecological study.

SETTING

Ontario.

PARTICIPANTS

The study group consisted of community-dwelling adults with IDD between the ages of 40 and 64 living in Ontario identified in 2009-2010 through administrative health and social services data. The comparison group consisted of a propensity-score-matched sample of the remaining Ontario population.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

A combined measure of a health examination or a Primary Care Quality Composite Score (PCQS) of 0.6 or greater, or both. Both measures were identified using administrative health data.

RESULTS

Adults with IDD were 2.04% more likely to have had a health examination or a PCQS of 0.6 or greater before 2011-2012 and 1.70% less likely after 2011-2012. Adults without IDD were 1.03% more likely before 2011-2012 and 13.74% less likely after 2011-2012 to have had a health examination or a PCQS of 0.6 or greater. Male patients with IDD were 15.60% more likely and male patients without IDD were 7.39% less likely to have had a health examination or PCQS of 0.6 or greater compared with female patients.

CONCLUSION

Despite the publication of the guidelines there has not been a corresponding increase in the uptake of the annual health examination or in the quality of preventive care among adults with IDD. More is required to reduce this documented inequity in care.

Comprehensive practice: Normative definition across 3 generations of alumni from a single family practice program, 1985 to 2012

OBJECTIVE

To determine the range of services and procedures offered by family physicians who define themselves as comprehensive practitioners and compare responses across 3 generations of alumni of a single family practice program.

DESIGN

Cross-sectional survey.

SETTING

Western University in London, Ont.

PARTICIPANTS

All graduates of the family medicine program between 1985 and 2012.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES

Self-reported provision of the following types of care: in-office care, in-hospital care, intrapartum obstetrics, housecalls, palliative care, after-hours care, nursing home care, minor surgery, emergency department care, sport medicine, and walk-in care. Sex, training site (urban or rural), size of community of practice, practice model, and satisfaction with practice were also reported.

RESULTS

Participants practised in 7 provinces and 1 territory across Canada, but principally in Ontario. A small number were located in the United States. There was a decline in the number of services provided across 3 generations of graduates, with newer graduates providing fewer services than the older graduates. Significant decreases across the 3 groups were observed in provision of housecalls (P = .004), palliative care (P = .028), and nursing home care (P < .001). Non-significant changes were seen in provision of intrapartum obstetrics across the 3 alumni groups, with an initial decline and then increase in reported activity. Most respondents were in a family health organization or family health network practice model and those in such models reported offering significantly more services than those in family health group or salary models (P < .001).

CONCLUSION

The normative definition of comprehensive care varies across 3 generations of graduates of this family medicine program, with newer physicians reporting fewer overall services and procedures than older graduates. Greater understanding of the forces (institutional, regulatory, economic, and personal) that determine the meaning of comprehensive primary care is necessary if this foundational element of family medicine is to be preserved.

Impact evaluation of a health promotion-focused organisational development strategy on a health service's capacity to deliver comprehensive primary health care

A comprehensive primary health care approach is required to address complex health issues and reduce inequities. However, there has been limited uptake of this approach by health services nationally or internationally. Reorienting health services towards becoming more health promoting provides a mechanism to support the delivery of comprehensive primary health care. The aim of this study was to determine the impact of a health promotion-focused organisational development strategy on the capacity of a primary health care service to deliver comprehensive primary health care. A questionnaire and semistructured individual interviews were used to collect quantitative and qualitative impact evaluation data, respectively, from 13 health service staff across three time points with regard to 37 indicators of organisational capacity. There were significant increases in mean scores for 31 indicators, with effect sizes ranging from moderate to nearly perfect. A range of key enablers and barriers to support the delivery of comprehensive primary health care was identified. In conclusion, an organisational development strategy to reorient health services towards becoming more health promoting may increase the capacity to deliver comprehensive primary health care.

Impact of individualized care on readmissions after a hospitalization for acute exacerbation of COPD

BACKGROUND

Acute exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (AECOPD) increase COPD morbidity and mortality and impose a great burden on health care systems. Early readmission following a hospitalization for AECOPD remains an important clinical problem. We examined how individualized comprehensive care influences readmissions following an index hospital admission for AECOPD.

METHODS

We retrospectively reviewed data of patients admitted for AECOPD to two inner-city teaching hospitals to determine the impact of a comprehensive and individualized care management strategy on readmissions for AECOPD. The control group consisted of 271 patients whose index AECOPD occurred the year before the comprehensive program, and the experimental group consisted of 191 patients who received the comprehensive care. The primary outcome measure was the total number of readmissions in 30- and 90-day postindex hospitalizations. Secondary outcome measures included the length of time between the index admission and first readmission and all-cause mortality.

RESULTS

The two groups were similar in terms of age, sex, forced expiratory volume in 1 second, body mass index (BMI), pack-years, and the number and types of comorbidities. Comprehensive care significantly reduced 90-day readmission rates in females (P=0.0205, corrected for age, BMI, number of comorbidities, substance abuse, and mental illness) but not in males or in the whole group (P>0.05). The average times between index admission and first readmission were not different between the two groups. Post hoc multivariate analysis showed that substance abuse (P<0.01) increased 30- and 90-day readmissions (corrected for age, sex, BMI, number of comorbidities, and mental illness). The 90-day all-cause in-hospital mortality rates were significantly less in the care package group (2.67% versus 7.97%, P=0.0268).

CONCLUSION

Comprehensive individualized care for subjects admitted to hospital for AECOPD did not reduce 30- and 90-day readmission rates but did reduce 90-day total mortality. Interestingly, it reduced 90-day readmission rate in females. We speculate that an individualized care package could impact COPD morbidity and mortality after an acute exacerbation.

The two levels of care for diabetes in a developing country: Mechanisms for improved intermediate health outcomes

India has over 70 million citizens with diabetes, the second-most of any country worldwide. Disparities in learning skills, resources, education, and physician practices make it difficult to practically implement the diabetes management guidelines recommended by international scientific organizations. In its guidelines, the International Diabetes Federation advocates for three different levels of care based on availability of resources. This study investigates the differences in intermediate health outcomes between two diabetes care programs: one a comprehensive diabetes centre, the other a limited care setting. The comprehensive centre offers telemedicine and periodic diabetes education, empowering patients and providing 24-hour advice on lifestyle modifications, diet, and exercise. All patients of this centre practice self-monitoring of blood glucose. The subjects in the limited care setting receive minimal investigations and periodic physical follow-ups, and few patients have access to home glucose monitoring. The results showed that HbA1c (7.62 vs. 8.58, p=0.003), cholesterol (134.4 vs. 173.4, p<0.001), and diastolic blood pressure (72.9 vs. 77.0, p=0.016) were significantly lower in patients receiving comprehensive care, while the reductions in systolic blood pressure (134.6 vs. 138.7, p=0.202) did not achieve statistical significance. These reductions, which remained significant after correcting for confounding factors, could be attributed to more aggressive treatment regimens in the comprehensive care centre, as well as the real-time, frequent communication with medical professionals in the telemedicine program.

HIV prevention: integrating biomedical and behevioral interventions

Recommendations for HIV prevention in clinical care settings by an IAS-USA panel were recently published. They include recommendations on HIV testing, antiretroviral therapy initiation, risk-reduction counseling, and antiretroviral therapy adherence counseling for HIV-infected individuals. For individuals at risk for HIV infection, recommendations for preexposure prophylaxis, other risk-reduction strategies, adherence counseling, and postexposure prophylaxis are included. Many HIV-infected individuals in the United States are not fully engaged in HIV care and are not virologically suppressed, thus a crucial component of efforts to reduce HIV transmission is moving patients through the HIV care continuum. This article summarizes an IAS-USA continuing education webinar presented by Carlos del Rio, MD, in September 2014.

Community health centers: medical homes for children?

OBJECTIVE

To explore medical home attributes of community health centers (CHCs) that provide care to low-income children nationwide compared to other providers for the poor.

METHODS

Cross-sectional study of children aged 0 to 17 years in the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS; 2003 to 2009) who resided in families living at <200% of the federal poverty level (FPL) and had visits to a primary care setting. CHC visits were defined as a visit to a neighborhood/family health center, rural health clinic, or community health center. Independent measures included provider type, age, gender, race/ethnicity, insurance, FPL, number of parents at home, language, maternal education, health status, and special health care need. Dependent measures included 4 medical home attributes: accessibility, and family-centered, comprehensive, and compassionate care.

RESULTS

CHCs typically serve low-income children who are publicly insured or uninsured, come from racial/ethnic minority groups, and have poorer health status. Eighty percent to 90% of parents visiting both CHCs and other primary care providers rated high levels of family-centered, comprehensive, and compassionate care. However, CHCs had a 10% to 18% lower rating of accessibility (after-hours care, telephone access) even after controlling for sociodemographic characteristics. Racial/ethnic disparities existed at both settings, but these patterns did not differ between CHCs and other settings.

CONCLUSIONS

On the basis of parental reports, CHCs received similar ratings to other primary care providers for family-centered, comprehensive, and compassionate care, but lower ratings for accessibility. Further studies should examine strategies for practice transformation in CHCs to improve patient satisfaction and accessibility to optimize child health outcomes.

Private rural health providers in Haryana, India: profile and practices

INTRODUCTION

Despite a widespread public health system, the private healthcare sector is the major provider of health care in rural India. This study describes the profile and medical practices of private rural health providers (PRHPs) in rural Haryana, India.

METHODS

A cross-sectional study was conducted among PRHPs practicing in the villages of Comprehensive Rural Health Services Project (CRHSP) at Ballabgarh block located in the Faridabad district of Haryana State. The CRHSP is an Intensive Field Practice Area (IFPA) of the Centre for Community Medicine, All India Institute of Medical Sciences, New Delhi.

RESULTS

Eighty PRHPs participated in this study (response rate 93%). The majority (96%) did not possess a qualification in any formal system of medicine. Half of the PRHPs had a separate space (private area) for the examination of patients. Almost all had stethoscopes, thermometers and blood pressure apparatus. The PRHPs were involved in a wide range of practices, such as dispensing medicines (98.7%), providing injections (98.7%) and intravenous fluids (98.7%), and conducting minor surgery (78.5%). Dumping biomedical waste was a common practice among these practitioners. Some PRHPs (8.7%) were involved in national health programs.

CONCLUSIONS

Unqualified PRHPs provide substantial outpatient healthcare services in rural Ballabgarh, India. Their biomedical waste disposal practices are inadequate. There is a need for training in waste disposal practices and monitoring of safe injection techniques among PRHPs. Consideration should be given to utilising PRHPs in important public health programs such as disease surveillance.

[Comprehensive Care Center Bonn from 1980 to 2009. Changes in the epidemiology and regional composition of the haemophilia population]

The Bonn Haemophilia Care Center provides patient care on a superregional level. The centre's large service area is, in part, due to the introduction of haemophilia home treatment and related to this the individualized prophylaxis in children and adults by Egli and Brackmann in Bonn in the early 1970s, that represented a milestone in German haemophilia therapy. Epidemiologic patient data from the two selected time points, 1980 and 2009, are evaluated to illustrate the change in the composition of the patient clientele. In 1980 a total of 639 patients were treated at the Bonn Haemophilia Center. 529 patients exhibited a severe form and 110 a non-severe form of the respective clotting disorder. In 2009 the Bonn Haemophilia Center took care for a total of 837 patients. There were 445 patients who suffered from a severe form of the considered clotting disorder while 392 showed a non-severe course. The number of less severely affected patients has increased significantly in 2009. Patients in 1980 were predominantly suffering from a severe form and most had to travel more than 150 km from their homes to the treatment center. In 2009 the number of patients living a medium-long distance from the care provider has significantly increased while the number of patients living more than 150 km from the center has decreased. Comparing 2009 to 1980 a growth of the center's regional character becomes apparent, especially when patient age and severity of the coagulation disorder are taken into consideration. The regional character was more strongly pronounced with milder disease severity and lower patient age. Due to the existence of well established primary haemophilia care in CCCs in Germany, the trend for the recent years is that the proportion of young patients that choose haemophilia care providers closer to their homes is increasing.

Implementation and adoption of nationwide electronic health records in secondary care in England: final qualitative results from prospective national evaluation in "early adopter" hospitals

OBJECTIVES

To evaluate the implementation and adoption of the NHS detailed care records service in "early adopter" hospitals in England.

DESIGN

Theoretically informed, longitudinal qualitative evaluation based on case studies.

SETTING

12 "early adopter" NHS acute hospitals and specialist care settings studied over two and a half years.

DATA SOURCES

Data were collected through in depth interviews, observations, and relevant documents relating directly to case study sites and to wider national developments that were perceived to impact on the implementation strategy. Data were thematically analysed, initially within and then across cases. The dataset consisted of 431 semistructured interviews with key stakeholders, including hospital staff, developers, and governmental stakeholders; 590 hours of observations of strategic meetings and use of the software in context; 334 sets of notes from observations, researchers' field notes, and notes from national conferences; 809 NHS documents; and 58 regional and national documents.

RESULTS

Implementation has proceeded more slowly, with a narrower scope and substantially less clinical functionality than was originally planned. The national strategy had considerable local consequences (summarised under five key themes), and wider national developments impacted heavily on implementation and adoption. More specifically, delays related to unrealistic expectations about the capabilities of systems; the time needed to build, configure, and customise the software; the work needed to ensure that systems were supporting provision of care; and the needs of end users for training and support. Other factors hampering progress included the changing milieu of NHS policy and priorities; repeatedly renegotiated national contracts; different stages of development of diverse NHS care records service systems; and a complex communication process between different stakeholders, along with contractual arrangements that largely excluded NHS providers. There was early evidence that deploying systems resulted in important learning within and between organisations and the development of relevant competencies within NHS hospitals.

CONCLUSIONS

Implementation of the NHS Care Records Service in "early adopter" sites proved time consuming and challenging, with as yet limited discernible benefits for clinicians and no clear advantages for patients. Although our results might not be directly transferable to later adopting sites because the functionalities we evaluated were new and untried in the English context, they shed light on the processes involved in implementing major new systems. The move to increased local decision making that we advocated based on our interim analysis has been pursued and welcomed by the NHS, but it is important that policymakers do not lose sight of the overall goal of an integrated interoperable solution.

Use of services by community-dwelling patients with dementia: a systematic review

Dementia is a complicated disease requiring medical, psychological, and social services. Services to address these needs include medical care (outpatient physician/specialist, inpatient, emergency) and community care (home health, day care, meal preparation, transportation, counseling, support groups, respite care, physical therapy). This systematic review of articles published in English from 1991 to the present examines studies of ambulatory, community-dwelling dementia patients with established dementia diagnoses. Searches of the Medline database using 13 combinations of search terms, plus searches of Embase and PsycINFO databases using 3 combinations of terms and examination of reference lists of related articles, resulted in identification of 15 studies dealing with healthcare utilization among community-dwelling dementia patients in both medical and community care settings. Patients with dementia frequently use the full spectrum of medical services. Community resources are used less frequently. Community healthcare services may be a valuable resource in alleviating some burden of dementia care for physicians.

Clinicians' use of guidelines as illustrated by curative treatment of prostate cancer at a comprehensive cancer center

BACKGROUND

We studied compliance to guidelines of curative treatments in prostate cancer (PCa), which were of special interest due to recent introduction of new treatment technologies and the fact that there existed a real choice between surgery and radiotherapy.

MATERIAL AND METHODS

We did retrospective analyses of guidelines adherence for all PCa patients receiving curative treatment at the Norwegian Radium Hospital from 2004 to 2007 after the introduction of robot-assisted prostatectomy and after-loading brachytherapy. The patients were classified into three groups in relation to guidelines: the accordance, accordance after discussion, and the deviance groups. In time Period I (2004-2005) the 2003 EAU guidelines were used and in Period II (2006-2007) in-house guidelines with minor modifications of EAU were applied.

RESULTS

During the observation period 859 patients had curative treatment for PCa, and 83% of the patients were treated according to guidelines. In the deviance group (N=146), 119 men (82%) got prostatectomy instead of radiotherapy. The reasons for deviation in the second period were age >65 years (N=70) and surgery in cases with T3 tumors (N=10), Gleason score >8 (N=13) and combinations (N=26). Deviances from guidelines in the radiotherapy group (N=27) mainly concerned patient selecting this treatment due to expectations of preserving sexuality and/or fertility.

CONCLUSIONS

In spite of acceptable overall compliance to guidelines for curative PCa treatment, the proportion of non-adherence should not been overseen, in particular when new treatment technologies are introduced. Guidelines for PCa need to be monitored regularly, and the compliance to guidelines has to be assessed on a regular basis. Guidelines should avoid too strict criteria, particularly in relation to age.

Adherence to antiretroviral therapy in patients enrolled in a comprehensive care program in Cambodia: a 24-month follow-up assessment

BACKGROUND

The long-term maintenance of antiretroviral therapy (ART) remains an important issue, especially in limited-resource settings where additional barriers exist. A cross-sectional study was performed 24 months after ART initiation for patients treated in Cambodia in order to estimate the prevalence and identify determinants of non-adherence.

METHODS

Adults receiving ART for 24 +/- 2 months were considered eligible for the study. Self-reported non-adherence was defined according to an algorithm based on six items. The questionnaire also assessed ART-related side effects and HIV disclosure. HIV-1 RNA plasma viral load was measured using real-time PCR. Multivariate rare events logistic regression analysis was used to identify independent factors associated with non-adherence.

RESULTS

A total of 346 patients participated in the study. At 24 months, 95% of patients were adherent, 80% had HIV RNA <40 copies/ml and 75% had CD4+ T-cell counts >200 cells/mm3. Virological success was significantly higher in adherent patients than in non-adherent patients (81% versus 56%, P=0.021). Living in a rural area, limited HIV disclosure and perceived lipodystrophy were independently associated with non-adherence.

CONCLUSIONS

At 24 months, adherence to ART was high and explained positive virological outcomes. In order to maintain adherence and long-term virological benefits, special attention should be given to patients living in rural areas, those with lipodystrophy-related symptoms and others who express difficulties disclosing their condition to close family members.

Insurance expansions: do they hurt those they are designed to help?

Seeking to redress health disparities across income and race, many policy-makers mandate health insurance benefits, presuming that equalized benefits will help equalize use of beneficial health services. This paper tests that presumption by measuring health care use by a diverse population with comprehensive health insurance. Focusing on use of mental health care and pharmaceuticals, it finds that even when insurance benefits and access are constant, whites and those with high incomes consume more of these benefits than other people do. This suggests that privileged classes extract more health care services even when everyone pays equal premiums for equal insurance coverage.

Unmet need among children with special health care needs in Massachusetts

OBJECTIVES

We partnered with a Massachusetts family workgroup to analyze state level data that would be most useful to consumers and advocates in Massachusetts.

METHODS

Massachusetts' and US data from the 2001 National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (NSCSHCN) were analyzed. We examined types of need and prevalence of unmet need for all CSHCN and for more severely affected CSHCN. We also correlated unmet need to child and family characteristics using multivariate logistic regression.

RESULTS

In Massachusetts, 17% of CSHCN and 37% of children more severely affected did not receive needed care. CSHCN who were uninsured anytime during the previous year were nearly 5 times more likely to experience an unmet need (OR = 4.95, CI: 1.69-14.51). Children with more functional limitations (OR = 3.15; CI: 1.59-6.24) and unstable health care needs (OR = 3.26; CI: 1.33-8.00) were also more likely to experience an unmet need. Receiving coordinated care in a medical home (OR = 0.46; CI: 0.23-0.90) was associated with reduced reports of unmet need.

CONCLUSIONS

With input from families of CSHCN, researchers can direct their analyses to answering the questions and concerns most meaningful to families. We estimate that 1 in 6 CSHCN in Massachusetts did not receive needed care, with more than 1 in 3 CSHCN with a more severe condition experiencing an unmet need. Enabling factors were predictors of unmet need suggesting solutions such as expanding insurance coverage and improving services systems for CSHCN.

Health service use and outcome: comparison of low charge, integrated, comprehensive services with usual health care

We examined the effects of use of low charge, integrated and comprehensive health care services (Veterans Administration (VA) health care system) on health care service use and health-related outcomes. Data came from the 10-year (1986/87-1996/97) Duke Established Populations for Epidemiologic Studies of the Elderly, with 159 men aged 65-85 who primarily used VA health services compared with 1,100 men aged 65-85 who did not. In controlled analyses, no differences were found between the two groups on number of OTC medications used, or in speed or likelihood of entering a nursing home. However, veterans who primarily used the VA health care system reported more outpatient visits and prescription drugs, and increased likelihood of using an adjunct health care provider; entry into a hospital was quicker, and number of hospitalizations was greater. Although health status was controlled, because of eligibility requirements it remains possible that veterans were sicker. Nevertheless, no differences were found in health outcome (functional status or mortality). Readier access to better integrated health services appears to result in increased use of health services controlled by the health care provider, but not of services requiring the recipient's relocation, while functional status and mortality attained equivalence.

Using latent class analysis to identify patterns of hepatitis C service provision in drug-free treatment programs in the U.S

Hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection is a global health problem, and in many countries (including the U.S.), illicit drug users constitute the group at greatest risk for contracting and transmitting HCV. Drug treatment programs are therefore unique sites of opportunity for providing medical care and support for many HCV infected individuals. This paper determines subtypes of a large sample of U.S. drug-free treatment programs (N=333) according to services they provide to patients with HCV infection, and examines the organizational and aggregate patient characteristics of programs in these subtypes. A latent class analysis identified four subtypes of HCV service provision: a "Most Comprehensive Services" class (13% of the sample), a "Comprehensive Off-Site Medical Services" class (54%), a "Medical Monitoring Services" class (8%) and a "Minimal Services" class (25%). "Comprehensive" services class programs were less likely to be outpatient and private for profit than those in the other two classes. It is of concern that so many programs belong to the "Minimal Services" class, especially because some of these programs serve many injection drug users. "Minimal Services" class programs in the U.S. need to innovate services so that their HCV infected patients can get the medical and support care they need. Similar analyses in other countries can inform their policy makers about the capacity of their drug treatment programs to provide support to their HCV infected patients.

Deinstitutionalization of long-stay patients with schizophrenia: the 2-year social and clinical outcome of a comprehensive intervention program in Japan

OBJECTIVES

The Sasagawa Project aimed to investigate the effects of deinstitutionalization and evidence-based strategies for the treatment of mental disorders among long-stay patients after their discharge from a mental hospital using a quasi-experimental longitudinal study design and to assess the patients' social and clinical outcomes over a 2-year post-discharge period.

METHOD

Seventy-eight patients with schizophrenia were transferred to a community facility (Sasagawa Village) following the closure of Sasagawa Hospital in Koriyama in March 2002. The patients had undergone psychosocial training following the protocol outlined by the Optimal Treatment Project. All evaluations were performed prior to the patients' discharge and were repeated 12 and 24 months after discharge using the Positive and Negative Syndrome Scales, the Global Assessment for Functioning, the Schedule for Assessment of Insight, the Rehabilitation Evaluation Hall and Baker Scale, the Social Functioning Scale, the Drug Attitude Inventory, and the Mini-Mental State Examination.

RESULTS

During the 24-month study period, 18 residents had incidents that made their continued stay at Sasagawa Village impossible. Only four (5.1%) of these residents were readmitted to psychiatric wards because of exacerbations of their conditions. Twelve residents were admitted to hospital because of serious physical illnesses. The 60 residents who remained in the community facility for 2 years demonstrated significant improvements in not only their psychiatric symptoms, but also their social functioning, as evidenced by their scores for Social Activity, Speech Skills, Disturbed Speech, Self-Care and General Behaviour on the Rehabilitation Evaluation Hall and Baker Scale and Withdrawal, Independence (Performance), Independence (Competence), and Employment on the Social Functioning Scale.

CONCLUSIONS

Careful planning that minimized social and clinical dislocation may have contributed to the successful transition from mental hospital to community facility assessed in this study. Patients with a long history of illness showed favourable outcomes with little clinical deterioration and various improvements in their psychiatric symptoms and social functioning.

Medical homes for children with special healthcare needs in North Carolina

BACKGROUND

The American Academy of Pediatrics defines a medical home as medical care for children that is accessible, continuous, comprehensive, family-centered, coordinated, and compassionate. North Carolina uses the medical home concept as a model for providing high quality care to children with special healthcare needs (CSHCN). However, until recently, information on medical homes for CSHCN in North Carolina has not been available.

METHODS

Using North Carolina data from the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs (2000-2002), we describe the characteristics of children having a special healthcare need. We conducted bivariate analysis of socio-demographic factors with medical home and its five components (family-centered care, effective care coordination, personal doctor or nurse, usual source of care, and referrals for specialty care) and multivariate analysis to identify the predictors of having a medical home.

RESULTS

Fifty-six percent of CSHCN in North Carolina have a medical home. White CSHCN are 1.7 times more likely to have a medical home compared to non-white CSHCN. CSHCN with no functional limitations are 1.6 times more likely to have a medical home compared to children with some or severe limitations of their functional status.

CONCLUSIONS

Current, population-based information about CSHCN and their families is essential for assessing needs and evaluating pediatric initiatives at the state level. Disparities among CSHCN due to race and functional status should be considered in organizing services for CSHCN in North Carolina.

Patients' perspective on the comprehensive preventive health evaluation in veterans with spinal cord injury

STUDY DESIGN

Survey research methods.

OBJECTIVES

To assess patient satisfaction with the annual comprehensive preventative health evaluation (CPHE) and to determine if the patient's needs were being met.

SETTING

Department of Veterans Affairs National Survey, United States.

METHODS

A total of 853 subjects with spinal cord injuries participated in a mailed survey regarding the annual CPHE. Subjects were asked about satisfaction with the examination, preferences on how the examination is conducted and whether their needs were being met with the examination.

RESULTS

In all, 76% of the subjects that responded to the survey had completed a CPHE within the previous year. Subjects cited getting their medication and supplies refilled and talking to the doctor as the top two reasons for completing the evaluation. Subjects indicated that they would most like to discuss their muscle strength and weakness, bladder care, chronic pain, digestion and bowel care issues, and equipment problems during their evaluation. The majority of subjects (81%) indicated that they were satisfied with the CPHE. Subjects that were satisfied with the CPHE were also more satisfied with other aspects of care as well.

CONCLUSION

The majority of respondents had completed a CPHE within the previous year. Most respondents cite health issues related to the spinal cord injury as areas they would most like to discuss during the evaluation. The majority of subjects were satisfied with the conduct of the CPHE.

Characteristics of Children with Autistic Spectrum Disorders Served in Comprehensive Community-based Mental Health Settings

This study describes the characteristics of children with autistic spectrum disorders (ASD) receiving treatment in community mental health settings. Data from a national community mental health initiative was used to identify children who had received a primary diagnosis of ASD. These children were compared with children with other diagnoses on socio-demographic and psychosocial characteristics, presenting problems and service histories. Regardless of diagnosis, children were most often referred to service because of disruptive behaviors. Children with ASD were less likely to be referred for drug use, truancy or running away, but were more likely to be referred for social interaction difficulties and strange behavior. Many children had family histories of mental illness, substance abuse and domestic violence. Implications of these findings are discussed in detail.

Comprehensive services for mothers of drug-exposed infants: relations between program participation and subsequent child protective services reports

It is unclear whether intensive services for women using drugs during pregnancy can reduce child maltreatment. Within-subjects, dose-response analyses can be conducted using Child Protective Services (CPS) reports. Dose of services received can indicate either engagement or higher need for services. Using data from an intensive intervention program for mothers of drug-exposed infants, the authors examined associations between CPS reports and (a) dose of services received and (b) a termination status variable combining dose of services received with duration of service involvement and progress on treatment plan goals. Cox regression revealed no association between dose of services and follow-up CPS reports. The termination status variable was strongly related to follow-up CPS reports, such that higher ratings were associated with significantly lower risk of re-report, even after controlling for baseline motivation. Findings suggest that program effects may be detectable using a treatment process-- based index that combines dose, duration, and quality of program involvement.

Who sees the young women? A resource-sharing model for providing comprehensive adolescent women's health care

Female adolescents are underserved in military medicine. This article describes an innovation in preventive care created to address the unmet health needs of female adolescents at a large military community hospital. A "Teen Women's Health Clinic" was created through shared resources between the Departments of Pediatrics and Gynecology. Female teenagers visited the clinic for routine gynecologic care, preventive health maintenance, acute care treatment for gynecologic and general complaints, and subspecialty referral consultation for adolescent medicine. The mean appointment fill rate from May 2001 through April 2002 was 93.8% (range, 63-127%). The mean no-show rate was 16% (range, 0-27%). There was minimal cost to the program. Comprehensive teen women's health with acute and preventive adolescent health care is achievable at the community hospital level at little expense through cooperation between departments. The clinic was well attended, on average working near full capacity, with a low no-show rate for teenagers. Reproduction of this model may be achieved throughout the Department of Defense at minimal cost.

Gender differences in the impact of comprehensive services in substance abuse treatment

This study examines the impact of comprehensive services on treatment outcomes for women and men. The study uses data collected from 1992 to 1997 for the National Treatment Improvement Evaluation Study, a prospective, cohort study of substance abuse treatment programs and their clients. The analytic sample consists of 3,142 clients (1,123 women and 2,019 men) from 59 treatment facilities. The results show that substance abuse treatment benefits both women and men. Further, both women and men benefit from comprehensive services provided as part of substance abuse treatment: specifically, the receipt of educational, housing and income support services is related to reduced post-treatment substance abuse for both women and men. Gender differences are revealed by the fact that, overall, greater proportions of women receive services and, when individual, service, and treatment organizational characteristics are controlled, women show greater reductions in post-treatment substance use. Further, women and men differ in their responsiveness to organizational characteristics: the availability of on-site services and the frequency of counseling significantly predict reduced post-treatment substance use for men but not for women.

Health sector responses to violence against women in Thailand

The comprehensive hospital service for women victims of violence has been initiated in Thailand half a decade ago. Presently, there is at least 1 provincial hospital provided this service for this group of women in each region of Thailand. These hospitals have to adjust their service flows, reform the case recording system, increase technical capacity, change negative attitude towards the victims and create linking network to legal and other social service systems. Although some assessment and improvement of these services are needed before expansion of these models to other public hospitals throughout the country will be undertaken. However data from these hospitals demonstrated that women victims of violence received better and more effective services from these initiatives.

The ageing of the population: implications for multidisciplinary care in hospital

BACKGROUND

Comprehensive geriatric assessment and multidisciplinary intervention are of proven benefit in the care of older people.

OBJECTIVE

To determine whether patients' multidisciplinary needs in hospital can be met by current service provision.

DESIGN

A comprehensive census assessing the multidisciplinary needs of an entire inpatient population compared to available multidisciplinary therapy time.

SETTING

A large teaching hospital Trust, comprising six hospital sites.

METHODS

On census day, the age, Barthel Index score and multidisciplinary needs of all adult inpatients were documented. Each therapist completed a questionnaire regarding their direct patient contact time on census day.

RESULTS

889 of 1,324 eligible patients (69%) had multidisciplinary needs on census day. These patients were scattered throughout all 46 acute wards, 14 rehabilitation and 4 continuing care settings. Mean age was 65.3 years in acute wards, 73.5 in rehabilitation wards and 80.8 in continuing care. Age correlated inversely with Barthel Index score (r -0.255, P <0.01). The percentage of patients with multidisciplinary need increased with increasing age. The calculated number of minutes of therapy time per day available to each patient varied between therapies and across sites. Mean physiotherapy time available per patient needing physiotherapy on census day ranged from 17 minutes 41 seconds in acute wards to 26 minutes 24 seconds in rehabilitation wards.

CONCLUSIONS

A high proportion of inpatients, particularly older patients, across all care settings have multidisciplinary needs. This needs to be expressly considered in the planning of future health services if multidisciplinary needs of older people in hospital are to be met.

Social support and risk-adjusted mortality in a frail older population

OBJECTIVE

The objective of this study was to test the hypothesis that social support is an important predictor of mortality in a frail older population receiving formal long-term care services.

RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS

The analysis is based on 3138 individuals enrolled in 28 Programs of All-Inclusive Care for the Elderly (PACE). Information about the enrollees is obtained from dataPACE. Semiparametric Cox proportional hazards models are estimated to assess the importance of individual risk factors, program effect, and social support.

RESULTS

The introduction of the social support variables into the mortality model containing the sociodemographic, health needs, and the PACE-site indicator variables results in a significant improvement of the overall model fit. Several social support variables are statistically significant predictors of mortality. Controlling for all participant and caregiver characteristics, participants whose caregiver is a spouse have a significantly lower risk of mortality (hazard ratio = 0.63) compared with those whose caregiver is not a spouse. Furthermore, caregivers' assistance with meals confers a significantly lower risk of morality (hazard ratio = 0.66) compared with no assistance with meals.

CONCLUSIONS

This study shows that certain aspects of informal caregiving are important factors enhancing survival in a population of frail, nursing home-certifiable individuals enrolled in a health program that already provides extensive services, including personal care, chores, and meals. Further research to better differentiate between the affective versus the instrumental dimensions of social support is needed to guide programs on how to balance the use of resources to provide both the necessary formal services and the support for the informal caregivers.

The Pediatric Alliance for Coordinated Care: evaluation of a medical home model

OBJECTIVES

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends a medical home for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). In the Pediatric Alliance for Coordinated Care (PACC), 6 pediatric practices introduced interventions to operationalize the medical home for CSHCN. The intervention consisted of a designated pediatric nurse practitioner acting as case manager, a local parent consultant for each practice, the development of an individualized health plan for each patient, and continuing medical education for health care professionals. The objectives of this study were 1) to characterize CSHCN in the PACC, 2) to assess parental satisfaction with the PACC intervention, 3) to assess the impact on hospitalizations and emergency department episodes, and 4) to assess the impact on parental workdays lost and children's school days lost for CSHCN before and during the PACC intervention.

METHODS

A total of 150 CSHCN in 6 pediatric practices in the Boston, Massachusetts, area were studied. Participants were recruited by their pediatricians on the basis of medical/developmental complexity. Physicians completed enrollment information about each child's diagnosis and severity of condition. Families completed surveys at baseline and follow-up (at 2 years), assessing their experience with health care for their children.

RESULTS

A total of 60% of the children had >5 conditions, 41% were dependent on medical technology, and 47% were rated by their physician as having a "severe" condition. A total of 117 (78%) families provided data after the intervention. The PACC made care delivery easier, including having the same nurse to talk to (68%), getting letters of medical necessity (67%), getting resources (60%), getting telephone calls returned (61%), getting early medical care when the child is sick (61%), communicating with the child's doctor (61%), getting referrals to specialists (61%), getting prescriptions filled (56%), getting appointments (61%), setting goals for the child (52%), understanding the child's medical condition (56%), and relationship with the child's doctor (58%). Families of children who were rated "severe" were most likely to find these aspects of care "much easier" with the help of the pediatric nurse practitioner. Satisfaction with primary care delivery was high at baseline and remained high throughout the study. There was a statistically significant decrease in parents missing >20 days of work (26% at baseline; 14.1% after PACC) and in hospitalizations (58% at baseline; 43.2% after PACC). The approximate cost per child per year of the intervention was 400 dollars.

CONCLUSIONS

The PACC medical home intervention increases parent satisfaction with pediatric primary care. Those whose needs are most severe seem to benefit most from the intervention. There are some indications of improved health as well as decreased burden of disease with the intervention in place. The PACC model allows a practice to meet many of the goals of serving as a medical home with a relatively small financial investment.

Implementing community-based systems of services for children and youths with special health care needs: how well are we doing?

OBJECTIVE

To provide a baseline measure of the proportion of US children who meet the Maternal and Child Health Bureau's core outcomes for children with special health care needs (CSHCN). Those core outcomes include the following: 1) families of CSHCN will partner in decision making and will be satisfied with the services that they receive; 2) CSHCN will receive coordinated, ongoing comprehensive care within a medical home; 3) families of CSHCN will have adequate private and/or public insurance to pay for the services that they need; 4) children will be screened early and continuously for special health care needs; 5) community-based service systems will be organized so that families can use them easily; and 6) youths with special health care needs will receive the services necessary to make transitions to adult life, including adult health care, work, and independence.

METHODS

A national household survey was conducted using telephone interviews. We analyzed data on 38,866 CSHCN included in the 2001 National Survey of CSHCN and 13,579 children included in the 2001 National Health Interview Survey. We assessed the proportion of US children who met each of the 6 core outcomes for CSHCN using data from 2 surveys.

RESULTS

Success rates ranged from 6% (the core outcome on successful transition to adulthood) to 74% (the core outcome on organization of the service system). For 5 of the 6 core outcomes, success rates exceeded 50%.

CONCLUSION

Our results indicate that, for the most part, the United States is well positioned to meet the 6 core outcomes. However, much more work lies ahead before success can be claimed. This is especially true for the core outcome on transition to adulthood, for which only 6% of children in the target population are now meeting this goal.

Using existing population-based data sets to measure the American Academy of Pediatrics definition of medical home for all children and children with special health care needs

OBJECTIVE

National health goals include ensuring that all children have a medical home. Historically, medical home has been determined by the presence of a usual or primary source of care, such as a pediatrician or a family physician. More recent definitions expand on this simplistic notion of medical home. A definition of medical home set forth by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) includes 7 dimensions and 37 discrete concepts for determining the presence of a medical home for a child. Standardized methods to operationalize these definitions for purposes of national, state, health plan, or medical practice level reporting on the presence of medical homes for children are essential to assessing and improving health care system performance in this area. The objective of this study was to identify methods to measure the presence of medical homes for all children and for children with special health care needs (CSHCN) using existing population-based data sets.

METHODS

Methods were developed for using existing population-based data sets to assess the presence of medical homes, as defined by the AAP, for children with and without special health care needs. Data sets evaluated included the National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs, the National Medical Expenditures Panel Survey, the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study Child Survey (CAHPS), and the Consumer Assessment of Health Plans Study Child Survey--Children With Chronic Conditions (CAHPS-CCC2.0H). Alternative methods for constructing measures using existing data were compared and results used to inform the design of a new method for use in the upcoming National Survey of Children's Health. Data from CAHPS-CCC2.0H are used to illustrate measurement options and variations in the overall presence of medical homes for children across managed health care plans as well as to evaluate in which areas of the AAP definition of medical home improvements may be most needed for all CSHCN.

RESULTS

Existing surveys vary in their coverage of concepts included in the AAP definition of medical home and, therefore, in their capacity to evaluate medical home for children with and without special health care needs. Using data from CAHPS-CCC2.0H, the overall proportion of children who were enrolled in managed care health plans and met criteria for having a medical home varied from 43.9% to 74% depending on the specific scoring method selected for these items. Wide variations across health plans were observed and were most prominent in the areas of "accessible care" and "comprehensive care." Performance was uniformly poorest in the area of "coordinated care" and for CSHCN. Although children with a personal doctor or nurse were more likely to meet the AAP criteria for having a medical home, simply having a personal doctor or nurse was not highly predictive of whether a child experienced the other core qualities of a medical home (positive predictive value: .50; negative predictive value: .59).

CONCLUSIONS

Despite differences across existing surveys and gaps in concepts represented, we believe that the AAP definition of medical home can be well represented by the small subset of concepts represented in the National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs and the CAHPS-CCC2.0H. A less comprehensive yet still worthwhile measure is possible using the Medical Expenditures Panel Survey. The varying degrees of empirical evidence and consensus for each of the AAP definition domains for medical home suggest the need for constructing measures that also vary in terms of criteria for determining that a child does or does not have a medical home. In addition to a simple "yes or no," or rate-based, measure, a continuous medical "homeness" score that places a child or group of children on a continuum of medical "homeness" is also valuable. Findings indicate that health plans have an important role to play in ensuring medical homes for children in addition to medical practices and those who set policies that guide the design and delivery of health care for children. Oven. Overall, using existing population-based data, a measure of medical home that is aligned with the AAP definition is feasible to include in the annual National Healthcare Quality Report, in state reports on the quality of Medicaid, State Children's Health Insurance Program, and Title V programs as well as to evaluate performance on the Healthy People 2010 objectives and the President's New Freedom Initiative.

Access to the medical home: results of the National Survey of Children with Special Health Care Needs

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this article is to report the findings of the National Survey of Children With Special Health Care Needs regarding parent perceptions of the extent to which children with special health care needs (CSHCN) have access to a medical home.

METHODS

Five criteria, selected to reflect the characteristics of a medical home as defined by the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) policy statement on the medical home, were analyzed to describe the extent to which CSHCN receive care characteristic of the medical home concept. These criteria included having 1) a usual place for sick/well care, 2) a personal doctor or nurse, 3) no difficulty in obtaining needed referrals, 4) needed care coordination, and 5) family-centered care received. Items from the Survey were selected and clustered to characterize each of the 5 components. Criteria for each item were established with the requirement that the criteria must be met for all items in a component to receive credit for the component.

RESULTS

Results of the survey indicate that 1) approximately half of CSHCN receive care that meets all 5 components established for medical home; 2) most CSHCN have a usual source of care and a personal doctor or nurse, but other components of the medical home, especially elements of care coordination and family-centered care, are lacking; 3) access to a medical home is significantly affected by race/ethnicity, poverty, and the limitations imposed on daily activity by the child's special health care need; and 4) parents of children who do have a medical home report significantly less delayed or forgone care, significantly fewer unmet health care needs, and significantly fewer unmet needs for family support services. The 5 components described represent major characteristics of the comprehensive care model recommended for all children by the AAP.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings suggest that although some components of the medical home concept have been achieved for most CSHCN, the comprehensive care model described by the AAP policy statement on the medical home is not yet in place for a significant number of CSHCN and their families.

Impact of a community-based comprehensive primary healthcare programme on infant and child mortality in Bolivia

Community-based comprehensive primary healthcare programmes are a widely-promoted strategy for improving child survival in less-developed countries, but limited documentation exists concerning their effectiveness in actually reducing child mortality. This study examined the impact of a community-based comprehensive primary healthcare programme on child survival in Bolivia. Mortality rates from two intervention areas where Andean Rural Health Care (ARHC) had been conducting child-survival activities for 5-9 years were compared with those from two geographically-adjacent comparison areas that lacked such activities and that were virtually identical to the intervention areas in socioeconomic characteristics. Vital events were registered at the time of regular visit to all homes. In the comparison areas, limited services were available which reached only a small percentage of the population, while in the intervention areas, prenatal care, immunizations, growth monitoring, nutrition rehabilitation, and acute curative services were readily available to the entire population. In 1992-1993, the annual rates of mortality of children, aged less than five years, were 205.5 per 1,000 and 98.5 per 1,000 in the comparison and intervention areas respectively. The absolute difference in mortality of 107.0 deaths per 1,000 (95% confidence interval [CI], 72.7-141.3 per 1,000) represented 52.1% (95% CI, 35.2-68.8%) lower mortality of children aged less than five years in the intervention areas compared to the control communities. These results suggest that the provision of community-based, integrated health services can significantly improve child survival in poor countries. Better-designed and larger field trials of community-based comprehensive primary healthcare programmes in multiple regions of the world are needed to provide a stronger scientific basis for developing this approach further in developing countries.

African-Americans and comprehensive service use

This study examined African-Americans' use of comprehensive mental health services. 248 long-term users of self-help agencies (SHAs) were interviewed about their use of 37 different mental health services from various providers in a six-month period. Multiple regression analysis showed that the homeless and African-Americans were the high users in our sample. A subsequent MANOVA procedure suggested that this may be the result of African-Americans' increased use of SHAs. While African-Americans are low service users in traditional studies focusing on a narrow list of services and providers, this research argues for including SHAs in future studies of African-American service use.

Understanding biased selection in Medicare HMOs

OBJECTIVE

To investigate the extent of favorable health maintenance organization (HMO) selection for a longitudinal cohort of Medicare beneficiaries, examine whether the extent of favorable selection varies with the degree of Medicare HMO market penetration in a county, and explain conflicting findings in the literature on favorable HMO selection.

DATA SOURCES

A panel of 1992-1996 data from the Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS), supplemented with linked data from the Area Resource File and Medicare administrative datasets.

STUDY DESIGN

Using random effects probit estimation, we model a beneficiary's HMO enrollment status as a function of self-reported health status and Medicare HMO market penetration.

DATA EXTRACTION METHODS

The MCBS data for beneficiaries residing in states served by Medicare HMOs in 1992-1996 were linked by county to the supplementary datasets.

PRINCIPAL FINDINGS

We find that favorable selection persists in the cohort over time on some, but not all, measures. We find no substantial association between favorable HMO selection and HMO market penetration. We find that conflicting findings in the literature on favorable HMO selection may be explained by several methodological choices, including the choice of health status measure and the structure of the sample.

CONCLUSIONS

Our results support further risk adjustment of the adjusted average per capita cost (AAPCC) payment formula.

ILAE Commission of European Affairs Subcommission on European Guidelines 1998-2001: The provision of epilepsy care across Europe

PURPOSE

To assess the needs and resources available in the provision of basic epilepsy care across Europe.

METHODS

A mailed questionnaire was used, the European Epilepsy Services inventory (EESI). The EESI was distributed to all 36 European chapters of the International League Against Epilepsy (ILAE), and answers were obtained from 32, a response rate of 89%. For the purpose of studying trends across Europe, the chapters were divided into a Western, an Eastern, a Central, and a Southern group.

RESULTS

The survey results showed that there was a wide range in the number of physicians and specialists involved in epilepsy care across Europe, with a trend toward higher numbers of neurologists, pediatricians, and pediatric neurologists in Eastern Europe. Many different specialties were involved in epilepsy care, and many chapters reported differences in the provision of care across their countries, with less possibility for patients to see a specialist in the least provided areas, where most epilepsy patients were cared for by general practitioners and internists. Problems with high costs of the newer antiepileptic drugs were most pronounced in Eastern Europe. Problems with lack of comprehensive care and of epilepsy specialists, with stigma and social problems, and with insufficient professional education and knowledge about epilepsy were reported all across Europe.

CONCLUSIONS

Knowledge about differences in the pattern of provision of epilepsy care and about the main problems encountered by the European ILAE chapters is of importance in the continuing efforts to improve management of epilepsy all over Europe.

Healthcare utilization by women in a comprehensive managed care population subsequent to diagnosis of a sexually transmitted disease

BACKGROUND

Healthcare utilization (HCU) following a sexually transmitted disease (STD) diagnosis is poorly characterized.

GOAL

The goal was to quantify HCU for new/recurrent STDs and other relevant Ob-Gyn and mental health problems in the 18 months subsequent to an STD diagnosis.

STUDY DESIGN

We compared HCU between a group of females aged 18 to 45 years who were Kaiser Permanente Medical Program members with a diagnosed STD (n = 1,205) and a medical center- and age group-matched sample of women seen for a non-STD diagnosis in the same time period (n = 4820), with controlling where appropriate for age, medical center, and chronic disease status.

RESULTS

An STD diagnosis was associated with significantly greater likelihood of subsequent visits for STDs (relative risk [RR] = 3.8), pelvic inflammatory disease/endometritis (RR = 2.9), candidiasis (RR = 2.0), vaginitis (RR = 2.4), cervical dysplasia (RR = 1.7), menstrual disorders/abnormal bleeding (RR = 1.3), high risk/complicated/ectopic pregnancy (RR = 1.5), and behavioral/mental health problems (RR = 1.3) than for women seen for a non-STD diagnosis.

CONCLUSION

Detrimental sequelae of STDs are reflected in substantially elevated near-term HCU following an STD diagnosis.

An innovative model of health care delivery: the care management program of the University of Iowa

The Indigent Patient Care Program (legislatively enacted in 1915) provides comprehensive health care to indigent Iowans without health insurance. The University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics, a leading academic medical center, was designated as the health care provider for these medically and socially complex patients. The Care Management Program of the University of Iowa (CMPUI) is an innovative care delivery model responsible for total health management of patients enrolled in the indigent program. The CMPUI is a solution to preserve the tripartite missions of an academic medical center while ensuring the preservation of the historic Indigent Patient Care Program in Iowa.

Health care consumption among elderly patients in california: a comprehensive 10-year evaluation of trends in hospitalization rates and charges

PURPOSE

This report examines health care rates, charges, and patterns of consumption from a comprehensive California hospitalization data set covering 1986-1995. An improved understanding of current trends in health care consumption would facilitate the development of future resource allocation models.

DESIGN AND METHODS

We obtained discharge and charge data from all licensed nonfederal hospitals in California between 1986 and 1995 relating to inpatient discharges of individuals aged 55 years and older. We used the direct method of standardization to adjust discharge statistics for differing age and gender case mixes, and we adjusted all charges to 1990 dollars for cost comparisons.

RESULTS

Standardized to the 1990 population, annual discharge rates declined between 1986 and 1992, then leveled off to about 227 per 1,000 between 1993 and 1995. Rates of both discharges and charges for men consistently exceeded those for women, there being about a 5-year lag between female and male rates of discharge. The insurance payer mix shifted between 1986 and 1995, with dramatic declines in private insurance mirrored by increases in managed care.

IMPLICATIONS

Hospital care consumption among the elderly people in California demonstrates a trend of increasing adjusted total charges despite declining hospitalization rates. Overall, individuals aged 55 years and older comprise 18% of the California population and incur 52% of discounted total charges. Private insurance has virtually disappeared, replaced by HMO/PHP/PPO organizations; still, charges to governmental sources (primarily Medicare and Medi-Cal) account for about 78% of total billings. Absolute numbers of Californians aged 55 and older are projected to increase 54% by 2010 and 226% by 2025 compared with 1995, engendering a dramatic increase in the financial burden of health care to this segment of the population.

The declining comprehensiveness of primary care

BACKGROUND

Recent studies suggest that comprehensiveness of primary care has declined steadily over the past decade. This study tracks the participation rates of general practitioners and family physicians in 6 nonoffice settings across Ontario and examines among which types of physicians this decline in comprehensiveness has occurred.

METHODS

Billing (claims) records were used to determine the proportions of fee-for-service general practitioners and family physicians who provided emergency, inpatient, nursing home, house call, anesthesia or obstetrical services from 1989/90 to 1999/2000. "Office-only" physicians were those who worked in none of these nonoffice settings. The relation of various physician characteristics to comprehensiveness of care was tested with multivariate analysis for 1999/2000.

RESULTS

The proportion of "office-only" general practitioners and family physicians rose from 14% in 1989/90 to 24% in 1999/2000 (p < 0.001). Significant increases in this proportion were noted among general practitioners and family physicians of all ages, both sexes and all practice locations. In 1999/2000, recent graduates (who had completed medical school within the past 7 years) had higher participation rates for emergency medicine (40% v. 5% for physicians aged 65 years and older); female physicians had higher participation rates for obstetrics (16% v. 11% for males); and older physicians had higher participation rates for nursing home visits and house calls (20% and 57% respectively v. 11% and 37% for recent graduates). However, "office-only" physicians were more likely to be female (odds ratio [OR] 2.65, 95% confidence interval [CI] 2.37-2.96), recent graduates (OR 1.35, 95% CI 1.15-1.60), aged 65 years and older (OR 1.45, 95% CI 1.20-1.75) or practising in a city with a medical school (OR 2.30, 95% CI 2.06-2.56) and were less likely to be rural physicians (OR 0.31, 95% CI 0.24-0.41) or certified in family medicine (OR 0.58, 95% CI 0.52-0.66).

INTERPRETATION

There has been a decline in the provision of comprehensive care by general practitioners and family physicians in Ontario. The decline is evident across all age groups and for both male and female physicians. It is also evident in rural areas and in cities with and without medical schools.

Survey of pediatrician practices in retrieving statewide authorized newborn screening results

OBJECTIVE

Mandated state newborn screening programs for the approximately 4 million infants born each year in the United States involves the following 5 components: 1) initial screening, 2) immediate follow-up testing of the screen-positive newborn, 3) diagnosis confirmation (true positive versus false positive), 4) immediate and long-term care, and 5) evaluation of all of the components of the system, including process and outcomes measures. Smooth functioning of this system requires pretest education of the parents as well as education and involvement of all health care providers who interact with the newborn screening system. Although extensive literature is available concerning public health aspects, technical standards/protocols, and discussion of the interfaces among the 5 components of the system, little information is available regarding physician awareness, involvement, and interactions with the system. The objective of this study was to determine, through a survey, primary care pediatricians' satisfaction with their state's newborn screening program. This was reflected in survey questions that asked how pediatricians were notified of the results of newborn screening tests that were performed on infants in their practice.

METHODS

Two thousand questionnaires were sent to primary care pediatricians in all 50 states and the District of Columbia regarding their practices in retrieving statewide newborn screening results. Of the 2000 surveys, 574 (29%) responses from primary care pediatricians who care for at least 1 to 5 newborns each week form the basis of this report. Also reported are the commentaries of the physicians concerning their specific practices, overall assessment of the system, and ideas for improvement.

RESULTS

Physicians reported their general satisfaction with the newborn screening system's ability to retrieve screen-positive infants for follow-up testing. However, communication and partnership with the primary care pediatrician regarding accessibility and timely retrieval of newborn screening test results was deemed less than optimal. Thirty-one percent of respondents indicated that notification for screen-positive test results was greater than 10 days, whereas 26% indicated that they do not receive the results of screen-negative tests and need to develop office procedures (contact birth hospital or state laboratory) to obtain results. Twenty-eight percent indicated that they do not actively seek results of newborn screening for their patients and presume that "no news is good news." Barriers to retrieving test results included that infants were born at hospitals where the physician does not have privileges, there were new transfers to the practice, infants were born in other states, personnel time was needed to track results, and there was a lack of a cohesive communication/reporting system that includes the primary care physician as an integral partner in the newborn screening communication process. Ninety-two percent of physicians would welcome an enhanced state system with direct communication to the primary care pediatrician as well as the birth hospital.

CONCLUSION

Pediatricians recognize and endorse the benefits of newborn screening and believe that they play an important role in the efficient functioning of the system. An enhanced physician partnership with the newborn screening program will enable the timely follow-up of the screen-positive newborn for confirmatory testing. All test results need to be communicated to the pediatrician in a timely and efficient manner: 7 days for screen-positive results and 10 to 14 days for all results. Newborn screening test results of new patients who enter the practice should be available at the time of the first well-infant visit, ideally by 2 weeks of age. The majority of primary care pediatricians acknowledge the need to establish office protocols for the retrieval of newborn screening test results and would welcome an enhanced direct communication system with the state newborn screening program.