Factors Associated With Unplanned Acute Care Services for Patients With Newly Diagnosed Hematologic Malignancies

2021 ◽  
pp. 1197-1206
Author(s):  
Kai Zu ◽  
Kristina L. Greenwood ◽  
Joyce C. LaMori ◽  
Besa Smith ◽  
Tyler Smith ◽  
...  

PURPOSE This study evaluated risk factors predicting unplanned 30-day acute service utilization among adults subsequent to hospitalization for a new diagnosis of leukemia, lymphoma, or myeloma. This study explored the prevalence of medical complications (aligned with OP-35 measure specifications from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services [CMS] Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program) and the potential impact of psychosocial factors on unplanned acute care utilization. METHODS This study included 933 unique patients admitted to three acute care inpatient facilities within a nonprofit community-based health care system in southern California from 2012 to 2017. Integrated comprehensive data elements from electronic medical records and facility oncology registries were leveraged for univariate statistics, predictive models constructed using multivariable logistic regression, and further exploratory data mining, with predictive accuracy of the models measured with c-statistics. RESULTS The mean age of study participants was 65 years, and 55.1% were male. Specific diagnoses were lymphoma (48.7%), leukemia (35.2%), myeloma (14.0%), and mixed types (2.1%). Approximately one fifth of patients received unplanned acute care services within 30 days postdischarge, and over half of these patients presented with one or more symptoms associated with the CMS medical complication measure. The predictive models, with c-statistics ranging from 0.7 and above for each type of hematologic malignancy, indicated good predictive qualities with the impact of psychosocial functioning on the use of acute care services ( P values < .05), including lack of consult for social work during initial admission (lymphoma or myeloma), history of counseling or use of psychotropic medications (lymphoma), and past substance use (myeloma). CONCLUSION This study provides insights into patient-related factors that may inform a proactive approach to improve health outcomes, such as enhanced care transition, monitoring, and support interventions.

2019 ◽  
Vol 37 (27_suppl) ◽  
pp. 312-312
Author(s):  
Kai Zu ◽  
Kristina Greenwood ◽  
Joyce Lamori ◽  
Besa Smith ◽  
Tyler C Smith ◽  
...  

312 Background: Improving the ability to predict which patients are at increased risk for acute care services subsequent to hospitalization can lead to more effective interventions and quality care. This study evaluated the performance of risk models to predict 30-day acute service utilization among adult inpatients with newly diagnosed hematologic malignancies. The study explored the impact of medical complications on potentially preventable service utilization, aligned with specifications for proposed measure OP-35 from the CMS Hospital Outpatient Quality Reporting Program. Methods: The study included 933 unique adult patients admitted to four acute care inpatient facilities within a non-profit community based healthcare system during calendar years 2012 to 2017. Risk models integrated a comprehensive set of data elements using clinical information from electronic medical records and facility oncology registries. Predictive models were constructed using a multivariable logistic regression, with calculation of standardized coefficients to rank order variables with the greatest impact on unplanned readmissions. Exploratory data mining techniques were conducted to augment classification of at-risk patients. Results: The mean age of study participants was 65 years and 55.1% were male. In order of prevalence, the types of hematologic malignancy were lymphoma (48.7%), leukemia (35.2%), myeloma (14.0%), and mixed types (2.1%). Approximately one fifth of patients received unplanned acute care services within 30 days after the index hospitalization (lymphoma = 23.1%, myeloma = 22.1%, leukemia = 18.6%). Among the risk models, the most influential predictors included initial length of stay, severity of illness, and consult for social work. Overall, 56.6% of patients who were readmitted within 30 days of hospitalization presented with one or more symptoms associated with the CMS medical complication measure, including cytopenia, infection, negative hydration, and/or pain. Conclusions: Optimizing quality care in a value-based health care environment requires proactive approaches such as risk prediction models for identifying patients who can benefit most from care transition interventions.


1995 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
pp. 3 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Duckett ◽  
Tracie Hogan ◽  
Jan Southgate

Ultimately, the reform directions announced by the Council of Australian Governments (COAG) in April 1995 have the potential to touch all aspects of health care and community wellbeing, and the impact will be felt as much by community health services, and for groups with special needs, such as people from non-English speaking backgrounds, as it will for acute care services.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 2-3
Author(s):  
Tim Cooksley ◽  

As another winter season passes, many colleagues will continue to be working under immense pressures striving to provide high quality care for increasingly larger numbers of patients. The work of Acute Medicine teams to keep the “front door” safe are fundamental to the delivery and sustainability of acute care services. The challenges of innovating and enacting positive changes at times of such high service demand are not insignificant; but the specialty is blessed with rapidly expanding driven and dedicated international, national and local leaders. The first winter SAMBA has recently been performed. SAMBA is an increasingly rich data source that will serve both nationally and locally to help improve performance and ultimately patient outcomes.1 Higher quality Acute Medicine is being produced. Acute Physicians are leading in many acute sub-specialties. Pleasingly, there has a been a significant rise in the number of trainees applying to train in Acute Medicine in the UK reflecting the traction the specialty is achieving. Ambulatory care remains a fundamental tenet to the sustainability of acute care services. Point of care testing is a key element in driving efficient performance in this setting and in this issue Verbakel et al. perform an important analysis on the reliability of point of care testing to support community based ambulatory care.2 This work should field the way for further research defining the impact of point of care testing and how it should be implemented in ambulatory clinical practice. The performance of respiratory rate observation remains poorly performed in acute care settings despite its well validated predictive value. Nakitende et al. describe an app that allows respiratory rate to calculated more quickly and accurately by using a touch screen method.3 Technological innovations to improve the recording and accuracy of physiological parameters in acute care, which can also be used in resource poor settings, will be a focus of large quantities of research in the upcoming years. Blessing et al. describe an important modelling study on the impact of integrated radiology units.4 Co-ordination between Acute Medicine and Radiology departments is essential in a high functioning AMU, especially as increasingly Acute Physicians are trained in point of care ultrasound. Lees-Deutsch et al. provide a fascinating insight into the patient’s perspective of discharge lounges.5 Often used to help maintain flow through the hospital, they elucidate that patients and caregivers transferred from AMU do not find this aspect of their journey a positive one. In times of significant organisational pressures, it is important that clinicians continue to examine the impact of flow measures on the quality of patient care and experience.


2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (4) ◽  
pp. 174-175
Author(s):  
Timothy Cooksley ◽  

COVID-19 has challenged healthcare providers and systems. It has dominated the international news agenda for the majority of 2020; arguably opinion becoming more fractured and disparate as the pandemic has evolved. The changing tone of discourse is concerning, although perhaps not surprising. As the majority of the population become increasingly baffled, bored and betrayed desperate for their lives return to “normal”, progressively binary, toxically expressed and opposing scientific views as to how to manage the “second wave” of the pandemic permeate. The initial failings of personal protective equipment (PPE) and a lack of preparedness to face a viral pandemic against the background of a strained acute care sector must not be forgotten and lessons learned. In the UK, COVID-19 has highlighted both the challenges and importance of Acute Medicine. Acute Medicine teams have provided innovative and rapidly adaptive models of care in response to the pandemic. The fundamental tenets of Acute Medicine – MDT working, rapid initiation of treatment, sound use of diagnostics, early senior clinician input and recognition of those in whom ambulatory care is appropriate – are essential components in the management of all acute medical care and demonstrably equally apply to COVID-19. Our increasing global community of Acute Physicians and Acute Medicine teams have once again demonstrated the importance of our specialty. The innovative practice of Acute Medicine teams and the impact of COVID-19 features prominently in this issue of Acute Medicine. There has been wide commentary regarding the impact of COVID-19 on both mental health issues and non-COVID-19 presentations. Riley et al. report an important analysis of presentations to AMU during the first wave of COVID-19 demonstrating a significant change in patient case mix.1 There were increased numbers of presentations potentially associated with social isolation such as falls, alcohol-related pathologies and overdoses alongside smaller numbers of traditionally lower risk presentations, such as non-cardiac chest pain. Ambulatory management of low risk patients with suspected COVID-19 is fundamental to the safety and sustainability of acute care services during the “second wave” and moving forward. Nunan et al. report the experience of the TICC-19 – a virtual ward monitoring oxygen saturations for COVID-19 triaged using a 30 metre rapid walk test.2 This strategy appears safe and feasible with high levels of patient satisfaction and similar models are being utilised across many organisations. The role of POCUS in the diagnosis and management of COVID-19 is increasingly recognised.4 Knight et al. describe a simple aggregated score formed by summating the degree of pleural and interstitial change within six anatomical lung zones showing good discriminatory performance in predicting a range of adverse outcomes in patients with suspected COVID-19.4 This may form an important addition to COVID-19 ambulatory pathways. SAMBA, the Society for Acute Medicine’s Benchmarking Audit, initially focused on the Society’s key quality indicators, continues to flourish and grow. It now not only benchmarks performance but is being used to guide the development of UK clinical quality measures. Colleagues in the Netherlands are commencing similar work and describing international standards of acute medical care, an iterative process, is one of the ultimate goals of this work. SAMBA 19 continues to demonstrate the evolving complexity of acute medical pathways and highlights the need to define optimal quality indicators for acute medical care.5 The inaugural winter SAMBA adds further evidence to the concerns that during this period there is an unfortunate cocktail of both sicker patients and poorer performance.6 Adapting acute medical services to meet this challenge requires innovation and investment. Those working in Acute Medicine should feel proud of their continued contribution to managing the acutely unwell patient and their impact on the sustainability of acute care services, particularly during this most challenging of years. The Society for Acute Medicine has tremendous pride in representing this brilliant workforce. Alongside, the fantastic work of teams this year, there have been multiple emotional and physical stressors. Many AMUs have experienced large numbers of patient deaths, often having to support their loved ones by telephone. The seroprevalence of SARS-CoV-2 was greatest among colleagues working in Acute Medicine.7 Tragically, some AMUs have lost valued colleagues from COVID-19. We remember these friends for their fantastic work they have done, thank them for their contributions to Acute Medicine and on behalf of all the patients they served, we express thanks; their dedication resulted in the ultimate personal sacrifice. They will never be forgotten.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hannatu Tunga-Lergo

Background: The mortality rate of individuals with Sickle cell disease (SCD), the most prevalent genetic disease in the United States, has been has been increasing at 1% per year. It has been declared a global and national public health priority by the World Health Organization (WHO) and Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). As a complex chronic and acute condition, preventive care and patient management of SCD requires a patient-centered, comprehensive, and multidisciplinary approach; unfortunately, few SCD treatment centers use this approach. Moreover, individuals with SCD are at the intersectionality of race and socioeconomics and thus face additional barriers to access to quality care, which may ultimately result in higher utilization of acute care services, especially during the transitioning period from pediatric to adult care. Greater acute care utilization has been found to be associated with higher mortality rate and severely compromised health related quality of life; thus, it is important to assessing needs of SCD patients as they relate to access to care. Objective: The aim of this study was to conduct a preliminary needs assessment for the development of a community engaged SCD center. This study also aimed to determine if frequency of acute care utilization was associated with age and insurance type, to provide surveillance data, and to identify opportunities to address barriers to access to care from key informant (local and cross-institutional) perspectives. Method: A retrospective cohort study of SCD related emergency department (ED), inpatient hospitalization, and outpatient clinic utilization encounters, which occurred from 09/01/2012-06/01/2019, was queried from UF Health's Integrated Data Repository (IDR). Quantitative analysis, frequencies, proportions, and Pearson Chi-square inference, were conducted on the administrative data received. Further, key informant interviews of stakeholders in Alachua County, FL and Yale New Haven Health's Adult Sickle Cell Program, New Haven, CT were performed. An iterative qualitative thematic analysis of their perspectives was conducted. Result: There were 27,932 total encounters that were stratified by age and payer type. The average length of hospitalization stay was .71 +/- 3.84. The 18-30-year-olds had the highest proportion of ED utilization (34.7%), hospitalizations (32.1%), and outpatient clinic utilization (26.4%). This was followed by the 31-45-year-olds with 20.4% of ED utilizations, 22% of hospitalizations, and 20.5% of outpatient clinic utilizations. Those with public health insurance accounted for 74% of ED encounters, 81% of hospitalizations, and 82% of outpatient encounters. Common themes and subthemes from key informant interviews included: champion, transition of care, pain management, bias, patient and family education, provider knowledge, social worker, multidisciplinary/comprehensive care, mental health, education, and employment. Conclusion: Among adults with SCD in the UF Health system, younger adults (e.g., those who are transitioning into adult care) and those with public insurance utilized acute care services at greater proportions, indicating a need to identify and address possible barriers to access to care.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (15_suppl) ◽  
pp. e13522-e13522
Author(s):  
Vincent Tran ◽  
Ruchi Hamal ◽  
Xiao Hu ◽  
Margaret Byrne ◽  
Yu Cao

e13522 Background: Primary care physicians (PCPs) play a pivotal role during cancer diagnosis. Lack of access to primary care has been linked to worse outcomes including increased mortality in patients with cancer. Higher PCP continuity of care has been associated with lower likelihood of acute care services use among breast cancer survivors, however the impact of PCP utilization is not well studied in those newly diagnosed. This study examines the association between PCP visits and emergency department (ED) use and hospitalization in the year following diagnosis of breast cancer. Methods: Electronic medical records of women newly diagnosed with primary breast cancer from 2013 to 2019 at a single institution (Tufts Medical Center, Boston, Massachusetts) with an established PCP in the same system were retrospectively reviewed. Demographic (age at diagnosis, menopausal status, race/ethnicity), clinical (Charlson Comorbidity Index (CCI), Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) performance status, body mass index, mental health disorder, chronic pain syndrome), and tumor (histology, stage, grade, hormone receptor (HR) positivity, HER2 status) characteristics were extracted in addition to information on treatment modalities (if patient received surgery, radiation (RT), chemotherapy (CT), endocrine therapy (ET), ovarian suppression (OFS)). Univariate and multivariate logistic regression models were used to examine associations between frequency of PCP visits and ED use and hospitalizations within a year after diagnosis of breast cancer. Results: Of 182 women ages 33-93 (mean 60) years old, 131 (72%) were postmenopausal, 116 (64%) Caucasian; 176 (97%) had stages 1-3, and 157 (86%) had HR positivity. In the year following diagnosis, 178 (98%) received surgery, 127 (67%) RT, 142 (78%) ET, 19 (10%) OFS, 70 (39%) CT; 68 (37%) had ≤1 PCP visit, and 45 (25%) had 4-10 PCP visits. Increased PCP visits correlated with advancing age, increased BMI, greater mental health disorders and chronic pain syndromes, and increasing CCI and ECOG score. After adjusting for these confounders and tumor and treatment characteristics, logistic regressions showed that while frequency of PCP visits was not associated with hospitalizations (univariate: OR = 1.02, 95% CI [0.53, 1.62], p = 0.93; multivariate: OR = 0.35, 95% CI [0.05, 1.50], p = 0.184), increased PCP visits tended toward association with increased ED use (univariate: OR = 1.12, 95% CI [0.97,1.29], p = 0.124; multivariate: OR = 1.15, 95% CI [0.94, 1.41], p = 0.188), however did not demonstrate statistical significance. Conclusions: Primary care utilization was not associated with acute care services utilization in women newly diagnosed with breast cancer. Higher PCP utilization tended toward correlation with increased ED use. These findings may help in evaluating multidisciplinary care support in patients newly diagnosed with breast cancer.


2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ellen Keizer ◽  
Oliver Senn ◽  
Morten Bondo Christensen ◽  
Linda Huibers

Abstract Background High demands create pressure on acute care services, such as emergency medical services (EMS), emergency departments (ED) and out-of-hours primary care (OOH-PC) services. A variety of patient- and organisational factors have been discussed as reasons why especially non-western migrants more frequently contact an ED or OOH-PC service than native born. We aim to investigate whether persons with a non-western and western migrant background more often contact an acute care service than native born and how this relates to the number of contacts with their general practitioners (GPs). In addition, we aim to explore how possible differences in acute care use by migrants can be explained. Methods We performed secondary analysis of data collected for the EurOOHnet survey on OOH help-seeking behaviour in Denmark, the Netherlands and Switzerland. Differences in self-reported acute care use (sum of number of contacts with OOH-PC, the ED and 1–1-2/1–4-4) between non-western and western migrants and native born were tested with a quasi Poisson regression analysis. Mediation analyses were performed to examine the impact of factors related to help-seeking on the relation between self-reported acute care use and migrant background. Results Non-western migrants had more acute care contacts than native born (adjusted IRR 1.74, 95% CI 1.33–2.25), whereas no differences were found between western migrants and native born. Migrants who regularly contacted OOH-PC or the ED also regularly contacted their GP. Mediation analyses showed that the factors employment, anxiety, attitude towards use of OOH-PC and problems in accessing the own GP could partly explain the higher acute care use of non-western migrants. Conclusion The higher use of acute care services by non-western migrants compared with native born could partly be explained by feeling fewer barriers to contact these services, feeling more anxiety, more unemployment and problems making an appointment with the GP. Increasing awareness and improving GP access could help migrants in navigating the healthcare system.


2021 ◽  
pp. OP.20.00922
Author(s):  
Hind Salama ◽  
Nashmia Al Mutairi ◽  
Moussab Damlaj ◽  
Ashwaq Alolayan ◽  
Ahmed Binahmed ◽  
...  

PURPOSE: Patients with terminal diseases frequently undergo interventions that are futile and may be detrimental to their quality of life. We conducted a quality improvement project aimed to reduce the utilization of futile acute care services (ACSs) for patients with cancer treated with a palliative intent. METHODS: A multidisciplinary team reviewed the records of terminally ill patients with cancer who died between November 2017 and May 2018, during their admission at our institution. The review aimed to assess the magnitude of improper utilization of ACSs and admission to the intensive care unit (ICU). Lack of timely documentation of the goals of care (GOCs) was the main reason for this problem. We defined timely documentation as the availability of electronic documentation of patients' GOC before the need for ACSs. Interventions were implemented to improve the process; postintervention data were captured and compared with the baseline data. RESULTS: After the delivery of staff education and the implementation of mandatory documentation of the GOCs in the healthcare electronic record system, the timely documentation of the GOCs for patients with a palliative intent increased significantly from 59% at baseline to 83% in the postintervention phase. The impact of this intervention led to a decrease in admissions to the ICU from 26% to 12% and an estimated annual cost saving of $777,600 in US dollars. CONCLUSION: Our interventions resulted in improved documentation of the GOCs and decrease in the utilization of ACSs including ICU admissions and the associated cost.


2021 ◽  
Vol 39 (28_suppl) ◽  
pp. 304-304
Author(s):  
Lawson Eng ◽  
Rinku Sutradhar ◽  
Yue Niu ◽  
Ning Liu ◽  
Ying Liu ◽  
...  

304 Background: ICIs are becoming a common therapeutic option for many solid tumors. Prior studies have shown that ATB exposure can negatively impact ICI outcomes through gut microbiome changes leading to poorer overall survival; however, less is known about the potential impact of ATB exposure on toxicities from ICI. We undertook a population-based retrospective cohort study in patients receiving ICIs to evaluate the impact of ATB exposure on early acute care use, defined as emergency department visit or hospitalization, within 30 days of initiation of ICI therapy. Methods: Administrative data was utilized to identify a cohort of cancer patients > 65 years of age receiving ICIs from June 2012 to October 2018 in Ontario, Canada. We linked databases deterministically to obtain socio-demographic and clinical co-variates, ATB prescription claims and acute care utilization. Patients were censored if they died within 30 days of initiating ICI therapy. The impact of ATB exposure within 60 days prior to starting ICI on early acute care use was evaluated using multi-variable logistic regression models, adjusted for age, gender, rurality, recent hospitalization within 60 days prior to starting ICI and comorbidity score. Results: Among 2737 patients (median age 73 years), 43% received Nivolumab, 41% Pembrolizumab and 13% Ipilimumab, most commonly for lung cancer (53%) or melanoma (34%). Of these patients, 19% had ATB within 60 days prior to ICI with a median ATB treatment duration of 9 days (SD = 13). 647 (25%) patients had an acute care episode within 30 days of starting ICIs; 182 (7%) patients passed away within 30 days without acute care use and were censored from further analyses. Any ATB exposure within 60 days prior to ICI was associated with greater likelihood of acute care use (aOR = 1.34 95% CI [1.07-1.67] p = 0.01). A dose effect was seen based on weeks of ATB exposure within 60 days prior to ICI (aOR = 1.12 per week [1.04-1.21] p = 0.004) and early acute care use. ATB class analysis identified that exposure to penicillins (aOR = 1.54 [1.11-2.15] p = 0.01) and fluoroquinolones (aOR = 1.55 [1.11-2.17] p = 0.01) within 60 days of starting ICIs were associated with a greater likelihood of acute care use, while there was no significant association between cephalosporin exposure and early acute care use (p > 0.05). Conclusions: Exposure to ATBs, specifically fluoroquinolones and penicillins, prior to ICI therapy is associated with greater likelihood of hospitalization or emergency room visits within 30 days after initiation of ICIs, even after adjustment for relevant co-variates including age, comorbidity score and recent hospitalization prior to ICI initiation. Further studies are required to better understand the mechanisms of recent ATB exposure on early acute care use among patients receiving ICIs.


Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document