scholarly journals Racial, Socioeconomic, and Demographic Disparities in the Management of Meniscal Tears (179)

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (10_suppl5) ◽  
pp. 2325967121S0029
Author(s):  
Ryan O’Donnell ◽  
Nicholas Lemme ◽  
Peter Brodeur ◽  
Joseph Gil ◽  
Aristides Cruz

Objectives: Meniscal surgery, repair or debridement, makes up about a third of all arthroscopic related surgery. In the adult population, there is much debate about which patients should undergo surgical intervention and which should be treated nonoperatively. There seems to be a paucity of literature related to how a patient’s demographics, insurance status, socioeconomic status, and race impact the likelihood of undergoing surgical intervention. In the present study, we sought to determine how these factors influence whether a patient undergoes surgical intervention following a meniscal injury. Methods: From 2009-2018, claims for adult (≥18 years of age) patients who were diagnosed with a primary meniscus injury were identified in the New York Statewide Planning and Research Cooperative System (SPARCS) database. SPARCS is a comprehensive all-payer database collecting all inpatient and outpatient pre-adjudicated claims in New York. ICD 9/10 CM codes were used to identify the initial diagnosis for each patient. ICD9/10 PCS and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes were used to identify subsequent meniscus surgery. The procedures identified were linked with the initial diagnosis and patients were noted as either having meniscus surgery, or not having meniscus surgery. After missing data was removed, logistic regression analysis was performed to determine the effect of patient factors on the likelihood of having surgery after a diagnosis of meniscus injury. Results: Of 394,007 adult meniscus injury diagnoses, 84.7% proceeded to undergo surgical intervention. The median age for no surgery was 51 (mean: 49.4) and the median age for surgery was 52 (mean: 50.2) (p<.0001) (Table 1). Females relative to males (OR=0.757, p<.0001), increased social deprivation index (SDI) (OR=0.994, p<.0001), African American compared to white race (OR=0.822, p<.0001), hispanic relative to non-hispanic ethnicity (OR=0.682, p<.0001), federal relative to private insurance (OR=0.459, p<.0001), and self-pay relative to private insurance (OR=0.437, p<.0001) were all associated with decreased odds of undergoing meniscus surgery. Older patients (OR=1.009, p<.0001), worker’s compensation relative to private insurance (OR=1.284, p<.0001) and patients with a charlson comorbidity index (CCI) score ≥1 had increased odds of undergoing surgery (OR=1.129, p<.0001) (Table 2). Conclusions: Multiple demographic, insurance status, socioeconomic status, and race factors influence the decision to manage meniscal tears surgically. Females, those with increased social deprivation index, African-Americans, Hispanics, or those with federal insurance or self-pay (when compared to private insurance) were less likely to undergo surgical intervention for meniscal tears. Those with workers’ compensation, who were of older age and higher CCI were more likely to undergo surgical intervention. Further research is ultimately needed to elicit causes for disparities between demographic groups.

Author(s):  
Jayasree Basu ◽  
Amresh Hanchate ◽  
Arlene Bierman

We examine differences in rates of 30-day readmissions across patients by race/ethnicity and the extent to which these differences were moderated by insurance coverage. We use hospital discharge data of patients in the 18 years and above age group for 5 US states, California, Florida, Missouri, New York, and Tennessee for 2009, the latest year prior to the start of Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services’ Hospital Compare program of public reporting of hospital performance on 30-day readmissions. We use logistic regression models by state to estimate the association between insurance status, race, and the likelihood of a readmission within 30 days of an index hospital admission for any cause. Overall in 5 states, non-Hispanic blacks had a slightly higher risk of 30-day readmissions relative to non-Hispanic whites, although this pattern varied by state and insurance coverage. We found higher readmission risk for non-Hispanic blacks, compared with non-Hispanic whites, among those covered by Medicare and private insurance, but lower risk among uninsured and similar risk among Medicaid. Hispanics had lower risk of readmissions relative to non-Hispanic whites, and this pattern was common across subgroups with private, Medicaid, and no insurance coverage. Uninsurance was associated with lower risk of readmissions among minorities but higher risk of readmissions among non-Hispanic whites relative to private insurance. The study found that risk of readmissions by racial ethnic groups varies by insurance status, with lower readmission rates among minorities who were uninsured compared with those with private insurance or Medicare, suggesting that lower readmission rates may not always be construed as a good outcome, because it could result from a lack of insurance coverage and poor access to care, particularly among the minorities.


2017 ◽  
Vol 27 (6) ◽  
pp. 694-699 ◽  
Author(s):  
Nicolas W. Villelli ◽  
Hong Yan ◽  
Jian Zou ◽  
Nicholas M. Barbaro

OBJECTIVESeveral similarities exist between the Massachusetts health care reform law of 2006 and the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The authors’ prior neurosurgical research showed a decrease in uninsured surgeries without a significant change in surgical volume after the Massachusetts reform. An analysis of the payer-mix status and the age of spine surgery patients, before and after the policy, should provide insight into the future impact of the ACA on spine surgery in the US.METHODSUsing the Massachusetts State Inpatient Database and spine ICD-9-CM procedure codes, the authors obtained demographic information on patients undergoing spine surgery between 2001 and 2012. Payer-mix status was assigned as Medicare, Medicaid, private insurance, uninsured, or other, which included government-funded programs and workers’ compensation. A comparison of the payer-mix status and patient age, both before and after the policy, was performed. The New York State data were used as a control.RESULTSThe authors analyzed 81,821 spine surgeries performed in Massachusetts and 248,757 in New York. After 2008, there was a decrease in uninsured and private insurance spine surgeries, with a subsequent increase in the Medicare and “other” categories for Massachusetts. Medicaid case numbers did not change. This correlated to an increase in surgeries performed in the age group of patients 65–84 years old, with a decrease in surgeries for those 18–44 years old. New York showed an increase in all insurance categories and all adult age groups.CONCLUSIONSAfter the Massachusetts reform, spine surgery decreased in private insurance and uninsured categories, with the majority of these surgeries transitioning to Medicare. Moreover, individuals who were younger than 65 years did not show an increase in spine surgeries, despite having greater access to health insurance. In a health care system that requires insurance, the decrease in private insurance is primarily due to an increasing elderly population. The Massachusetts model continues to show that this type of policy is not causing extreme shifts in the payer mix, and suggests that spine surgery will continue to thrive in the current US health care system.


Stroke ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 52 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Emily Chapman ◽  
Kurt A Yaeger ◽  
J D Mocco

Introduction: To establish a statewide stroke system in March 2019, New York State (NYS) created the Stroke Designation Program. Stroke centers (SCs) must be certified by a state-approved certifying organization (CO), which is tasked with initial designation and ongoing re-certification. Previous research has found an association at the national level between socioeconomic status and access to higher levels of acute stroke care. Objective: This study characterizes the relationship between socioeconomic status of NYS populations and stroke care level access by comparing median household income and wealth in counties with and without certified SCs. Methods: Population and median household income from the U.S. Census (2010), stroke epidemiological data from the Center for Disease Control, and Area Deprivation Index (ADI) data (ranked within NYS) from the Neighborhood Atlas, a project that quantifies disadvantage by census tract, were collected and averaged for each county. Income has been used to assess local wealth and ADI to analyze community health risks. Certification data were mined from quality check databases for The Joint Commission and Det Norske Veritas, the most commonly used COs. Student’s t-tests compared income and ADI in counties with at least one certified SC to those without. Linear regression characterized the relationship between income and ADI with number of certified SCs, stroke incidence and stroke mortality. Results: All 62 counties in NYS were investigated to yield 40 certified SCs. Counties with at least one certified SC had a significantly higher income ($68,183.63 vs. $57,155.12; p=0.03) and lower ADI (5.90 vs. 7.37; p=0.004) compared to counties with no certified SC. Higher income (p<0.001) and lower ADI (p<0.001) were also associated with more certified SCs. Counties with fewer certified SCs had significantly higher stroke mortality (p<0.001) despite having similar stroke incidence. Conclusion: Socioeconomic heterogeneity in NYS counties is correlated to differential access to certified SCs and quality stroke care, as fewer centers are found in lower-income and disadvantaged communities. Although populations with less access experience stroke at similar rates, this study finds higher death rates in these counties.


Circulation ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 143 (Suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Reaves Houston ◽  
Susan Keen ◽  
Chelsea Deitelzweig ◽  
Hannah Jones ◽  
Sarah Laible ◽  
...  

Introduction: Lack of health insurance is associated with reduced access to medical care and increased mortality. Chronic illness is associated with sudden death, a major cause of natural death. Insurance status of sudden death victims has not been characterized. Hypothesis: Uninsured compared to insured sudden death victims will have more chronic illnesses. Methods: From 2013-2015, emergency medical services-attended out of hospital deaths among ages 18-64 in Wake County, NC were screened to adjudicate sudden deaths. Medical records were reviewed for demographic, clinical, and health insurance status data. Insurance status was characterized as private, public, or no insurance. Cases were excluded from the analysis if no information on insurance was available. Comparisons of demographic and clinical characteristics were made between the three insurance status groups using Student’s t-test and ANOVA for continuous and categorical variables, respectively. Results: Of 399 cases of sudden death, insurance status data was available for 130: 25 (19.2%) had no insurance, 62 (47.7%) had public insurance, 31 (23.8%) had private insurance, and 12 (9.2%) had insurance of unknown type. Uninsured victims had lower frequencies of hypertension, hyperlipidemia, and chronic respiratory disease than those with private or public insurance, and lower frequencies of diabetes mellitus, mental illness, and substance abuse than those publicly insured (Table 1). No significant differences were found in coronary artery disease, age, gender, race, marital status, or years of education. Conclusion: Uninsured sudden death victims have less chronic illnesses than those insured. This counterintuitive finding suggests that uninsured sudden death victims have undiagnosed chronic illnesses that are treatable and preventable and contribute to their death. Our results suggest that expanding health insurance among working age adults may reduce the incidence of sudden death.


Stroke ◽  
2012 ◽  
Vol 43 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Michael L James ◽  
Julian P Yand ◽  
Maria Grau-Sepulveda ◽  
DaiWai M Olson ◽  
Deepak L Bhatt ◽  
...  

Introduction Intracerebral hemorrhage (ICH) can be a devastating condition, requiring intensive intervention. Yet, few studies have examined whether patient insurance status is associated with ICH care or acute outcomes. Methods Using data from 1,711 sites participating in GWTG-Stroke database from April 2003 to April 2011, we identified 156,848 non-transferred subjects with ICH who had known discharge status. Insurance status was categorized as private, Medicaid, Medicare or none. We explored associations between lack of insurance (using private insurance status as the reference group) and in-hospital outcomes (mortality, ambulatory status, & length of stay) and quality of care measures (DVT prophylaxis, smoking cessation, dysphagia screening, stroke education, imaging times, & rehabilitation). We utilized multiple individual (including demographics and medical history) and hospital (including size, geographic region and academic teaching status)lcharacteristics as covariates. Results Subjects without insurance (n=10647) were younger (54.4 v. 71 years), more likely men (60.6 v. 50.8%), more likely black (33.2 v. 17.4%) or Hispanic (15.8 v. 7.9%), from the South (50.6 v. 38.9%), and had fewer vascular risk factors with the exception of smoking when compared with the overall subject population. Further, subjects without insurance were more likely to experience in-hospital mortality (25.9 v. 23.9%; adjusted OR 1.29) and longer length of stay (11.4 v. 7.8 days), but were more likely to receive all quality measures of care, be discharged home (52.1 v. 36.1%), and ambulate independently (47.5 v. 38.5%) at discharge compared with subjects with private insurance (n=40033). Conclusions Among GWTG-Stroke participating hospitals, ICH patients without insurance were more likely to die while in the hospital but experienced higher quality measures of care and were more likely to ambulate independently at discharge should they survive.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e18535-e18535
Author(s):  
Michael Chang ◽  
Nira A. Krasnow ◽  
Amy E. Blum ◽  
Vartan Pahalyants ◽  
William S. Murphy ◽  
...  

e18535 Background: Cutaneous immune-related adverse events (cirAEs) are among the most common side effects of immune checkpoint inhibitor (ICI) therapy. While insurance status has been shown to influence outcomes in patients treated with ICIs, its impact on cirAE management remains underexplored. We therefore evaluated insurance status in patients with cirAEs, examining its effect on rate of and time to cirAE diagnosis. Methods: Using billing data, we retrospectively identified patients who initiated anti-PD-1/PDL-1 and/or anti-CTLA-4 therapy at Massachusetts General Hospital between January 1, 2016 and March 8, 2019 (n = 2,459) for possible cirAE. Eligible cirAEs included reactions attributed to ICI by the clinician, consistent with established morphologic categories. For each patient with confirmed cirAE (n = 358), we abstracted oncologic history, cirAE features, and insurance status. Associations between insurance and cirAE diagnosis outcomes were assessed via logistic and linear regression, and adjusted for age, sex, race, ICI type, cancer diagnosis, cirAE type, and significant covariates ( P< 0.05). Results: Of the 2,459 patients who received ICIs, 2,419 (98.4%) had documented insurance status. Most ICI recipients had Medicare (n = 1,119; 46.3%) or private insurance (n = 1,156; 47.8%) relative to Medicaid (n = 104; 4.3%) or other government insurance (e.g. Tricare) (n = 40; 1.7%). We found that 358 (median age 64 years, 40.5% female) developed a cirAE. Among cirAE patients, 175 had Medicare (48.9%), 174 had private insurance (48.6%), 6 had Medicaid (1.7%), and 3 had other government insurance (0.8%). The most common cirAEs across insurance types were maculopapular rash, pruritus, and eczematous and lichenoid eruptions. In the multivariable analysis, ICI patients with Medicare insurance had a higher rate of cirAE diagnosis (adjusted odds ratio: 2.41, 95% CI: 1.00, 5.90, P= 0.05) relative to Medicaid patients. In addition, in terms of time to cirAE diagnosis at dermatology visit, Medicare insurance was associated with longer delays, with a linear regression coefficient of 132.2 (95% CI: 4.78, 259.6; P= 0.04). No significant associations were found between other insurance types and cirAE diagnosis outcomes. Conclusions: Our study shows that patients with Medicaid are less likely to be diagnosed with cirAE relative to those with Medicare, despite delays in diagnosis, when controlling for all other demographic/oncologic factors. Ultimately, these findings are reassuring that despite insurance differences, patients with cirAEs are receiving suitable care and appropriately seen by dermatologists. As insurance coverage for specialists can vary widely, these initial findings are a promising indicator that patients with cirAEs are well-connected within healthcare systems.


2022 ◽  
pp. 000313482110547
Author(s):  
Chelsea Knotts ◽  
Alexandra Van Horn ◽  
Krysta Orminski ◽  
Stephanie Thompson ◽  
Jacob Minor ◽  
...  

Background Previous literature demonstrates correlations between comorbidities and failure to complete adjuvant chemotherapy. Frailty and socioeconomic disparities have also been implicated in affecting cancer treatment outcomes. This study examines the effect of demographics, comorbidities, frailty, and socioeconomic status on chemotherapy completion rates in colorectal cancer patients. Methods This was an observational case-control study using retrospective data from Stage II and III colorectal cancer patients offered chemotherapy between January 01, 2013 and January 01, 2018. Data was obtained using the cancer registry, supplemented with chart review. Patients were divided based on treatment completion and compared with respect to comorbidities, age, Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score, and insurance status using univariate and multivariate analyses. Results 228 patients were identified: 53 Stage II and 175 Stage III. Of these, 24.5% of Stage II and 30.3% of Stage III patients did not complete chemotherapy. Neither ECOG status nor any comorbidity predicted failure to complete treatment. Those failing to complete chemotherapy were older (64.4 vs 60.8 years, P = .043). Additionally, those with public assistance or self-pay were less likely to complete chemotherapy than those with private insurance ( P = .049). Both factors (older age/insurance status) remained significant on multivariate analysis (increasing age at diagnosis: OR 1.03, P =.034; public insurance: OR 1.84, P = .07; and self-pay status: OR 4.49, P = .03). Conclusions No comorbidity was associated with failure to complete therapy, nor was frailty, as assessed by ECOG score. Though frailty was not significant, increasing age was, possibly reflecting negative attitudes toward chemotherapy in older populations. Insurance status also predicted failure to complete treatment, suggesting disparities in access to treatment, affected by socioeconomic factors.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (28_suppl) ◽  
pp. 143-143
Author(s):  
Marita Yaghi ◽  
Nadeem Bilani ◽  
Iktej Jabbal ◽  
Leah Elson ◽  
Maroun Bou Zerdan ◽  
...  

143 Background: The National Cancer Database (NCDB) is a large registry that collates real-world medical record data from millions of patients in the United States. A previous published study using the NCDB found that gaps in the medical record were associated with worse overall survival outcomes. We investigated cases of breast cancer in this registry to understand which factors were predictive of records with missing data. Methods: We screened for missing data in 54 clinical parameters documented by the NCDB pertaining to the diagnosis, workup, management and survival of patients with breast cancer diagnosed between 2004 and 2017. We performed univariate statistics to describe gaps in the dataset, followed by multivariate logistic regression modeling to identify factors associated lack of completeness of the medical record – defined as the presence of > 3 missing variables. Results: A total of n = 2,981,732 patients were included in this analysis. The median number of missing variables per record was 3 (5.6% of clinical parameters surveyed). 52.1% of records had ≤ 3 variables missing, while 47.9% had > 3 variables missing. Predictors of a record with missing data in > 3 variables were: age, race, insurance status and facility type . Regarding race, we found that records of Asian patients were less likely to have missing data as compared to records of White patients (OR 0.75, 95% CI: 0.74-0.76, p < 0.001). Conversely, there was no difference in completeness of the medical record between Black and White patients (OR 0.99, 95% CI: 0.99-1.01, p = 0.890). Patients with private insurance (OR 0.77, 95% CI 0.76-0.79, p < 0.001), or Medicaid (OR 0.65, 95% CI 0.64-0.67, p < 0.001) or Medicare (OR 0.66, 95% CI 0.64-0.67, p < 0.001) were also less likely to have missing data compared to uninsured patients, with patients on private insurance being the least likely to have incomplete records. Finally, patient records from academic programs (OR 0.91, 95% CI 0.90-0.92, p < 0.001) were less likely to contain > 3 missing variables compared to records from patients treated at community cancer programs. Conclusions: Despite high fidelity of NCDB data, social determinants of health including insurance status and treating facility type, were associated with differences in the completeness of the medical record. Improvements in documentation and data quality are necessary to optimize use of real-world data in cancer registries. Further research is needed to determine how these differences could be independently associated with inferior outcomes.


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