Identifying Frequent Health Care Users and Care Consumption Patterns: Process Mining of Emergency Medical Services Data

Background Tracing frequent users of health care services is highly relevant to policymakers and clinicians, enabling them to avoid wasting scarce resources. Data collection on frequent users from all possible health care providers may be cumbersome due to patient privacy, competition, incompatible information systems, and the efforts involved. Objective This study explored the use of a single key source, emergency medical services (EMS) records, to trace and reveal frequent users’ health care consumption patterns. Methods A retrospective study was performed analyzing EMS calls from the province of Drenthe in the Netherlands between 2012 and 2017. Process mining was applied to identify the structure of patient routings (ie, their consecutive visits to hospitals, nursing homes, and EMS). Routings are used to identify and quantify frequent users, recognizing frail elderly users as a focal group. The structure of these routes was analyzed at the patient and group levels, aiming to gain insight into regional coordination issues and workload distributions among health care providers. Results Frail elderly users aged 70 years or more represented over 50% of frequent users, making 4 or more calls per year. Over the period of observation, their annual number and the number of calls increased from 395 to 628 and 2607 to 3615, respectively. Structural analysis based on process mining revealed two categories of frail elderly users: low-complexity patients who need dialysis, radiation therapy, or hyperbaric medicine, involving a few health care providers, and high-complexity patients for whom routings appear chaotic. Conclusions This efficient approach exploits the role of EMS as the unique regional “ferryman,” while the combined use of EMS data and process mining allows for the effective and efficient tracing of frequent users’ utilization of health care services. The approach informs regional policymakers and clinicians by quantifying and detailing frequent user consumption patterns to support subsequent policy adaptations.

Characteristics of frequently attending children in hospital emergency departments: a systematic review

ObjectiveTo summarise the literature on frequent attendances to hospital emergency departments (EDs) and describe sociodemographic and clinical characteristics of children who attend EDs frequently.SettingHospital EDs.ParticipantsChildren <21 years, attending hospital EDs frequently.Primary outcome measuresOutcomes measures were defined separately in each study, and were predominantly the number of ED attendances per year.ResultsWe included 21 studies representing 6 513 627 children. Between 0.3% and 75% of all paediatric ED users were frequent users. Most studies defined four or more visits per year as a ‘frequent ED’ usage. Children who were frequent ED users were more likely to be less than 5 years old. In the USA, patients with public insurance were more likely to be frequent attenders. Frequent ED users more likely to be frequent users of primary care and have long-term conditions; the most common diagnoses were infections and gastroenteritis.ConclusionsThe review included a wide range of information across various health systems, however, children who were frequent ED users have some universal characteristics in common. Policies to reduce frequent attendance might usefully focus on preschool children and supporting primary care in responding to primary care oriented conditions.

The analysis of the geographical distribution of emergency departments’ frequent users: a tool to prioritize public health policies?

Background The individual factors associated to Frequent Users (FUs) in Emergency Departments are well known. However, the characteristics of their geographical distribution and how territorial specificities are associated and intertwined with ED use are limited. Investigating healthcare use and territorial factors would help targeting local health policies. We aim at describing the geographical distribution of ED’s FUs within the Paris region. Methods We performed a retrospective analysis of all ED visits in the Paris region in 2015. Data were collected from the universal health insurance’s claims database. Frequent Users (FUs) were defined as having visited ≥3 times any ED of the region over the period. We assessed the FUs rate in each geographical unit (GU) and assessed correlations between FUs rate and socio-demographics and economic characteristics of GUs. We also performed a multidimensional analysis and a principal component analysis to identify a typology of territories to describe and target the FUs phenomenon. Results FUs accounted for 278,687 (11.7%) of the 2,382,802 patients who visited the ED, living in 232 GUs. In the region, median FUs rate in each GU was 11.0% [interquartile range: 9.5–12.5]. High FUs rate was correlated to the territorial markers of social deprivation. Three different categories of GU were identified with different profiles of healthcare providers densities. Conclusion FUs rate varies between territories and is correlated to territorial markers of social deprivation. Targeted public policies should focus on disadvantaged territories.

680NSAID use and ovarian cancer survival

Background Observational studies have reported survival benefits associated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), including aspirin, and non-aspirin NSAIDs (NA-NSAIDs), especially new use post-diagnosis, in women with ovarian cancer (OC). Methods Participants were women aged 18-79 diagnosed with OC in Australia, 2012-2015. Information was gathered through self-completed 3-monthly questionnaires and prescription records. Exposure was defined as any use (NA-NSAIDs/regular-dose aspirin □1/week or daily low-dose aspirin) during the year pre-diagnosis and first year post-diagnosis. We measured overall survival from start of primary treatment (surgery/neoadjuvant chemotherapy) (pre-diagnosis use) or from 12 months after the start of therapy (post-diagnosis) until the earliest of date of death/last follow-up/5 years. Cox proportional hazards regression was used to estimate survival. We also applied inverse-probability of treatment weighting (IPTW), which balances comparison groups regarding potential confounders. Results We observed improved survival associated with pre-diagnosis use of aspirin/NA-NSAIDs ≥4 days/week (frequent-users) compared to &lt; 1/week (hazard ratio [HR] =0.72, 95% confidence interval [CI]=0.54-0.97). The association was close to null for those who used medications 1-3 days/week. Similarly, we saw a 30-40% improvement in survival associated with post-diagnosis aspirin/NA-NSAID use, again driven by frequent users (HR = 0.61, 95%CI=0.42-0.88). Results were similar when we excluded pre-diagnosis users, restricted to women who received chemotherapy, or assessed cancer-specific and progression-free survival. Results from IPTW models were similar to adjusted models. Conclusions Our findings suggest aspirin/NA-NSAID use might improve survival in women with OC. Larger cohorts or, preferably, a randomised controlled trial could clarify these findings. Key messages Use of aspirin/NA-NSAIDs may improve OC survival.

Does Case Management Provide Support for Staff Facing Frequent Users of Emergency Departments? A Comparative Mixed-Method Evaluation of ED Staff Perception

Objective Frequent users of emergency departments (FUED) account for a disproportionate number of emergency department (ED) visits and contribute to a wide range of challenges for ED staff. While several research has documented that case management (CM) tailored to FUED leads to a reduction in ED visits and a better quality of life (QoL) among FUED, whether there is added value for ED staff remains to be explored. This study aimed to compare, among staff in two academic EDs in Switzerland (one with and one without CM), the FUED-related knowledge, perceptions of the extent of the FUED issue, FUED-related work challenges and FUEDs’ legitimacy to use ED. Method Mixed methods were employed. First, ED physicians and nurses (N = 253) of the two EDs completed an online survey assessing their knowledge and perceptions of FUEDs. Results between healthcare providers working in an ED with CM to those working in an ED without CM were compared using independent two-sided T-tests. Next, a sample of participants (n = 16) took part in a qualitative assessment via one-to-one interviews (n = 6) or focus groups (n = 10). Results Both quantitative and qualitative results documented that the FUED-related knowledge, the extent FUED were perceived as an issue and perceived FUEDs’ legitimacy to use ED were not different between groups. The level of perceived FUED-related challenges was also similar between groups. Quantitative results showed that nurses with CM experienced more challenges related to FUED. Qualitative exploration revealed that lack of psychiatric staff within the emergency team and lack of communication between ED staff and CM team were some of the explanations behind these counterintuitive findings. Conclusion Despite promising results on FUEDs’ QoL and frequency of ED visits, these preliminary findings suggest that CM may provide limited support to ED staff in its current form. Given the high burden of FUED-related challenges encountered by ED staff, improved communication and FUED-related knowledge transfer between ED staff and the CM team should be prioritized to increase the value of a FUED CM intervention for ED staff.

The Impact of Pharmaceutical Home Care on Medical Utilization for Frequent Users of Outpatient Services in Taiwan

Due to the high-accessibility and low-copayment of healthcare system in Taiwan, the clinical visit frequency of people is relatively high, which often leads to an excessively high healthcare expenditure. The aim of this research was to explore the effectiveness of pharmaceutical home care for frequent users of outpatient service and to analyze the impact of pharmaceutical home care on medical utilization. The study was based on the Taiwan National Health Insurance Research Database. Patients with over 100 clinical visits during 2010 to 2012 were selected as subjects. Whether these patients participate the experimental plan of pharmaceutical home care in the following year and the medical utilization of the research subjects were analyzed to compare the difference between participating group and non-participating group in this plan. The generalized estimating equation was employed to examine the difference of medical utilization. A total of 3943 subjects were included in this study, including 591 patients (14.99%) participating in the experimental plan. The average number of physician visits during the following year of the participating group was higher than that of the non-participating group by 0.12 visits, and the outpatient medical expense was lower than the non-participating group by 18,302 points (1 point = 0.03 US dollars). After participating in the plan, the average number of clinical visits of frequent users of outpatient services was significantly reduced by 6.63 visits, and the outpatient expense was significantly decreased by 9871 points. After joining the experimental plan of pharmaceutical home care, the average number of outpatient visits decreased significantly and the medical expense was lower when compared with those who did not participate in the plan.

Digital Consumers in the Foodservices Market

The dynamic development of e-commerce in the foodservice market has been observed in recent years (especially during the COVID-19 pandemic), both in Poland and in other countries. The purpose of the study was to determine the characteristics of e-foodservice customers, identify their motivations for ordering food online and the nutritional consequences of such actions, as well as recognize the influence of consumers’ s-commerce activity on their foodservice market behavior. The study was carried out using the CAWI method on a sample of 1018 adult Poles. With the use of cluster analysis, three consumer segments were distinguished: frequent e-commerce users (221), moderate users (400), and sporadic users (397). The results indicate that frequent users of e-commerce in the foodservice market are slightly more often young and educated men who work full-time, have a higher than average income, and live in a large or medium city. In their own opinions, frequent users are the most concerned about proper nutrition, but despite such declarations, their nutritional quality is inferior to other groups. Compared to other segments, they are the most socially active and show the greatest commitment to s-commerce activity, which influences their purchasing intentions and behaviors.