Operationalizing a Rideshare Intervention for Colonoscopy Completion: Barriers, Facilitators, and Process Recommendations

IntroductionTransportation is a common barrier to colonoscopy completion for colorectal cancer (CRC) screening. The study aims to identify the barriers, facilitators, and process recommendations to implement a rideshare non-emergency medical transportation (NEMT) intervention following colonoscopy completion within a safety-net healthcare setting.MethodsWe used informal stakeholder engagement, story boards—a novel user-centered design technique, listening sessions and the nominal group technique to identify the barriers, facilitators, and process to implementing a rideshare NEMT program following colonoscopy completion in a large safety-net healthcare system.ResultsBarriers to implementing a rideshare NEMT intervention for colonoscopy completion included: inability to expand an existing NEMT program beyond Medicaid patients and lack of patient chaperones with rideshare NEMT programs. Facilitators included: commercially available rideshare NEMT platforms that were lower cost and had shorter wait times than the alternative of taxis. Operationalizing and implementing a rideshare NEMT intervention in our healthcare system required the following steps: 1) identifying key stakeholders, 2) engaging stakeholder groups in discussion to identify barriers and solutions, 3) obtaining institutional sign-off, 4) developing a process for reviewing and selecting a rideshare NEMT program, 5) executing contracts, 6) developing a standard operating procedure and 7) training clinic staff to use the rideshare platform.DiscussionRideshare NEMT after procedural sedation is administered may improve colonoscopy completion rates and provide one solution to inadequate CRC screening. If successful, our rideshare model could be broadly applicable to other safety-net health systems, populations with high social needs, and settings where procedural sedation is administered.

Trust in the Healthcare System and Physicians in Croatia: A Survey of the General Population

Trust in healthcare systems and physicians is considered important for the delivery of good healthcare. A cross-sectional survey was conducted on a random three-stage sample of the general population of Croatia (N = 1230), stratified by regions. Of respondents, 58.7% displayed a high or very high level of trust in the healthcare system, 65.6% in physicians, and 78.3% in their family physician. Respondents’ views regarding patients’ roles in the discussion of treatment options, confidence in physicians’ expertise, and underlying motives of physicians were mixed. Respondents with a lower level of education, those with low monthly incomes, and those from smaller settlements had lower levels of trust in physicians and the healthcare system. Trust in other institutions, religiosity and religious beliefs, tolerance of personal choice, and experience of caring for the seriously ill and dying were predictors of trust in healthcare and physicians. Our findings suggest that levels of healthcare-related trust in Croatia are increasing in comparison with previous research, but need improvement. Levels of trust are lowest in populations that are most vulnerable and most in need of care and protection.

Exploration of Estimated Emigration Trends of Polish Health Professionals

Background: Due to the significant staff shortages, emigration of health professionals is one of the key challenges for many healthcare systems. Objective: The aim of this article is to explore the estimated trends and directions of emigration among Polish health professionals. Methods: The emigration phenomenon of Polish health professionals is still under-researched and the number of studies in this field is limited. Thus, the authors have triangulated data using two methods: a data analysis of five national registers maintained by chambers of professionals (doctors, nurses, midwives, physiotherapists, pharmacists, and laboratory diagnosticians), and data analysis from the Regulated Profession Database in The EU Single Market. Results: According to the data from national registers, between 7–9% of practicing doctors and nurses have applied for certificates, which confirm their right to practice their profession in other European countries (most often the United Kingdom, Germany, Sweden, Spain, and Ireland). The relatively high number of such certificates applied for by physiotherapists is also worrying. Emigration among pharmacists and laboratory diagnosticians is rather marginal. Conclusions: Urgent implementation of an effective mechanism for monitoring emigration trends is necessary. Furthermore, it is not possible to retain qualified professionals without systemic improvement of working conditions within the Polish healthcare system.

Eradicating Racism: An Endocrine Society Policy Perspective

The Endocrine Society recognizes racism as a root cause of the health disparities that affect racial/ethnic minority communities in the United States and throughout the world. In this policy perspective, we review the sources and impact of racism on endocrine health disparities and propose interventions aimed at promoting an equitable, diverse, and just healthcare system. Racism in the healthcare system perpetuates health disparities through unequal access and quality of health services, inadequate representation of health professionals from racial/ethnic minority groups, and the propagation of the erroneous belief that socially constructed racial/ethnic groups constitute genetically and biologically distinct populations. Unequal care, particularly for common endocrine diseases such as diabetes, obesity, osteoporosis, and thyroid disease, results in high morbidity and mortality for individuals from racial/ethnic minority groups, leading to a high socioeconomic burden on minority communities and all members of our society. As health professionals, researchers, educators, and leaders, we have a responsibility to take action to eradicate racism from the healthcare system. Achieving this goal would result in high-quality health care services that are accessible to all, diverse workforces that are representative of the communities we serve, inclusive and equitable workplaces and educational settings that foster collaborative teamwork, and research systems that ensure that scientific advancements benefit all members of our society. The Endocrine Society will continue to prioritize and invest resources in a multifaceted approach to eradicate racism, focused on educating and engaging current and future health professionals, teachers, researchers, policy makers, and leaders.

Risk-Adjusting Mortality in the Nationwide Veterans Affairs Healthcare System

Background The US Veterans Affairs (VA) healthcare system began reporting risk-adjusted mortality for intensive care (ICU) admissions in 2005. However, while the VA’s mortality model has been updated and adapted for risk-adjustment of all inpatient hospitalizations, recent model performance has not been published. We sought to assess the current performance of VA’s 4 standardized mortality models: acute care 30-day mortality (acute care SMR-30); ICU 30-day mortality (ICU SMR-30); acute care in-hospital mortality (acute care SMR); and ICU in-hospital mortality (ICU SMR). Methods Retrospective cohort study with split derivation and validation samples. Standardized mortality models were fit using derivation data, with coefficients applied to the validation sample. Nationwide VA hospitalizations that met model inclusion criteria during fiscal years 2017–2018(derivation) and 2019 (validation) were included. Model performance was evaluated using c-statistics to assess discrimination and comparison of observed versus predicted deaths to assess calibration. Results Among 1,143,351 hospitalizations eligible for the acute care SMR-30 during 2017–2019, in-hospital mortality was 1.8%, and 30-day mortality was 4.3%. C-statistics for the SMR models in validation data were 0.870 (acute care SMR-30); 0.864 (ICU SMR-30); 0.914 (acute care SMR); and 0.887 (ICU SMR). There were 16,036 deaths (4.29% mortality) in the SMR-30 validation cohort versus 17,458 predicted deaths (4.67%), reflecting 0.38% over-prediction. Across deciles of predicted risk, the absolute difference in observed versus predicted percent mortality was a mean of 0.38%, with a maximum error of 1.81% seen in the highest-risk decile. Conclusions and Relevance The VA’s SMR models, which incorporate patient physiology on presentation, are highly predictive and demonstrate good calibration both overall and across risk deciles. The current SMR models perform similarly to the initial ICU SMR model, indicating appropriate adaption and re-calibration.

Healthcare highways in your community

This abstract serves to introduce a 10 minute video in which I will discuss issues pertaining to the structure of the healthcare system in Quebec. At the same time I will review the concept of community within and around that system. The relationship and interplay between the two will be explored in the hope that the viewer might find resonance and meaning, and perhaps a springboard to further reflection and conversation. Many perceive a need for change in both the organizational systems as well as in the existing cultures within healthcare institutions, both in and outside of Quebec. Yet we often feel powerless to act. I will touch upon ideas on how we can make a difference using our individual influence to bring about the changes we seek. The concepts under discussion are abstract. In the hope of creating a greater degree of tangibility, I will offer a metaphor – namely the long-term detrimental effects brought about by the disruption, and in many cases destruction, of vibrant North American communities, caused by the building of highways straight through their hearts. I will suggest that though there may have been benefits to the society as a whole arising from the building of those highways, the adverse effects extended well beyond the individual communities involved. With this metaphor in mind, I will present the argument that the current structure of healthcare in Quebec, brought into effect in 2015, has resulted in over-bureaucratization and “decommunitization”, with a consequent diminution in the presence and role of culture, ultimately representing a loss for the community at large. Unintended deleterious societal effects arising from social system restructuring, are a phenomenon not unique to healthcare, nor to Quebec. It may take years for these consequences to become manifest, by which time they may prove difficult to reverse.