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AHRQ Research Studies
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Research Studies is a compilation of published research articles funded by AHRQ or authored by AHRQ researchers.
Results
26 to 50 of 535 Research Studies DisplayedCarlton EF, Becker NV, Moniz MH
Out-of-pocket spending for non-birth-related hospitalizations of privately insured US children, 2017 to 2019.
This study’s goal was to estimate out-of-pocket spending for non-birth pediatric hospitalizations of privately insured children from 2017 to 2019. This study used data from the IBM MarketScan Commercial Database. Among 183,780 hospitalizations, half were for female children, with a median age of 12 (4-16) years. Most (79.0%) hospitalizations were for children with a chronic condition and 24.1% were covered by a high-deductible health plan. Mean (SD) and median (IQR) out-of-pocket spending per hospitalization was $1313 and $656 respectively. Out-of-pocket spending exceeded $3000 for 14.0% of hospitalizations. Factors associated with higher out-of-pocket spending included hospitalization in quarter 1 compared with quarter 4 (average marginal effect [AME], $637) and lack of chronic conditions compared with having a complex chronic condition (AME, $732). Hospitalizations covered by the least generous plans (deductible of $3000 or more and coinsurance of 20% or more) found mean out-of-pocket spending was $1974, while the most generous plans (deductible less than $1000 and coinsurance of 1-19%), mean out-of-pocket spending was found to be $826.
AHRQ-funded; HS025465; HS028817.
Citation: Carlton EF, Becker NV, Moniz MH .
Out-of-pocket spending for non-birth-related hospitalizations of privately insured US children, 2017 to 2019.
JAMA Pediatr 2023 May; 177(5):516-25. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2023.0130..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Healthcare Costs, Hospitalization, Health Insurance
Becker NV, Carlton EF, Iwashyna TJ
Patient adverse financial outcomes before and after COVID-19 infection.
This study’s goal was to assess whether more adverse financial outcomes occurred after COVID-19 infection and hospitalization compared to those who were not hospitalized with COVID-19. The authors used credit report data from 132,109 commercially insured COVID-19 survivors to compare the rates of adverse financial outcomes for two cohorts of individuals with credit outcomes measured before and after COVID-19 infection, using an interaction term between cohort and hospitalization to test whether adverse credit outcomes changed more for hospitalized than nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients. There were greater adverse financial outcomes among persons hospitalized with COVID-19 (5-8 percentage points) than non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients (1-3 percentage points).
AHRQ-funded; HS028672; HS028817.
Citation: Becker NV, Carlton EF, Iwashyna TJ .
Patient adverse financial outcomes before and after COVID-19 infection.
J Hosp Med 2023 May; 18(5):424-28. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13105..
Keywords: COVID-19, Healthcare Costs, Hospitalization
Growdon ME, Gan S, Yaffe K
New psychotropic medication use among Medicare beneficiaries with dementia after hospital discharge.
Hospital stays often trigger behavioral shifts in people with dementia (PWD), potentially leading to the prescription of psychotropic drugs despite their limited effectiveness and potential for harmful side-effects. The purpose of this study was to ascertain the prevalence of new psychotropic drug prescriptions in PWD living in the community after their discharge from the hospital, and within these new users, the percentage who continued their use for an extended duration. The researchers conducted a retrospective cohort study, utilizing a random selection of Medicare claims from 2017. The study included PWD hospital patients who were 68 years or older and covered by traditional and Part D Medicare. The primary outcome was the event of prescribing at the time of discharge psychotropic drugs including antipsychotics, sedative-hypnotics, antiepileptics, and antidepressants. The initiation was characterized as new prescriptions (from classes not utilized in the 180 days preceding admission) filled within a week of discharge from the hospital or skilled nursing facility. Extended use was defined as the percentage of new users who continued to refill the newly prescribed medications for more than 90 days post-discharge. The study population consisted of 117,022 hospitalized PWD with an average age of 81 years, with 63% being female. The study found that prior to admission, 63% were already using at least one psychotropic drug; 10% were using drugs from three or more psychotropic classes. These classes included antidepressants (44% pre-admission), antiepileptics (29%), sedative-hypnotics (21%), and antipsychotics (11%). The percentage of PWD discharged with new psychotropic prescriptions ranged from 1.9% (antipsychotics) to 2.9% (antiepileptics); 6.6% had at least one new class initiated. Among these new users, prolonged use varied from 36% (sedative-hypnotics) to 63% (antidepressants); across drug classes, prolonged use was observed in 51%. Factors associated with the initiation of new psychotropics included duration of hospital stay and delirium.
AHRQ-funded; HS026383.
Citation: Growdon ME, Gan S, Yaffe K .
New psychotropic medication use among Medicare beneficiaries with dementia after hospital discharge.
J Am Geriatr Soc 2023 Apr; 71(4):1134-44. doi: 10.1111/jgs.18161..
Keywords: Elderly, Medication, Medicare, Dementia, Neurological Disorders, Hospitalization
Leyenaar JK, Hill V, Lam V
Direct admission to hospital for children in the United States.
The purpose of this paper is to develop a policy statement to present recommendations to optimize the quality and safety of this hospital admission approach for children, as one in four unscheduled hospital admissions for children and adolescents in the United States occurs via direct admission, defined as hospital admission without first receiving care in the hospital's emergency department. Recommendations in the proposed policy statement provide guidance related to: (i) direct admission written guidelines, (ii) clear systems of communication between members of the health care team and with families of children requiring admission, (iii) triage systems to identify patient acuity and disease severity, (iv) identification of hospital resources needed to support direct admission systems of care, (v) consideration of patient populations that may be at increased risk of adverse outcomes during the hospital admission process, (vi) addressing the relevance of local factors and resources, and (vii) ongoing evaluation of direct admission processes and outcomes. The recommendations are intended to support the implementation of safe direct admission processes and to foster awareness of outcomes associated with this common portal of hospital admission.
AHRQ-funded; HS024133.
Citation: Leyenaar JK, Hill V, Lam V .
Direct admission to hospital for children in the United States.
Pediatrics 2023 Mar;151(3):e2022060973. doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-060973.
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Hospitalization
Wu AJ, Du N, Chen TY
Sociodemographic differences of hospitalization and associations of resource utilization for failure to thrive.
The objective of this study was to examine sociodemographic differences between elective and nonelective admissions for failure to thrive. Researchers investigated associations between admission type and hospital resource utilization, including length of stay and feeding tube placement. The study included data on children less than 2 years old with failure to thrive in the Kids' Inpatient Database. The findings showed differences by race and ethnicity, income, and insurance type, among other factors. Nonelective admissions had higher proportions of infants who were Black, Hispanic, and of lower-income, and were associated with longer lengths of stay. The researchers concluded that future research is needed to elucidate drivers of these differences, particularly those related to racial and ethnic disparities and structural racism.
AHRQ-funded; HS000063.
Citation: Wu AJ, Du N, Chen TY .
Sociodemographic differences of hospitalization and associations of resource utilization for failure to thrive.
J Pediatr Gastroenterol Nutr 2023 Mar;76(3):385-89. doi: 10.1097/mpg.0000000000003694.
Keywords: Newborns/Infants, Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Hospitalization, Healthcare Utilization, Children/Adolescents, Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Low-Income
Wu A, Zhou J, Quinlan N
Early palliative care consultation offsets hospitalization duration and costs for elderly patients with traumatic brain injuries: insights from a level 1 trauma center.
The purpose of this study was to identify variables and outcomes related to inpatient palliative care (PC) consultation for patients age 65+ with traumatic brain injuries (TBI). The researchers included individuals over age 65 presenting from January 2013-September 2020 with TBI and intracranial hemorrhage. The study found that inpatient PC consultation was uncommon; with only 4% of 576 patients receiving. Features associated with likelihood of consultation were severe TBI and pre-existing dementia. Patients with PC consults had longer overall and intensive care unit (ICU) length of stays (LOS), more days intubated and higher costs. However, those patients with earlier-than-average PC consultation had shorter overall and ICU LOS as well as fewer ventilator days on a ventilator and lower costs. The study concluded that older patients with TBI have a greater likelihood of receiving PC consultation based on pre-existing dementia and severe TBI and patients with PC consultations had worse LOS and higher costs, but those impacts were diminished by earlier involvement from the PC.
AHRQ-funded; HS028747.
Citation: Wu A, Zhou J, Quinlan N .
Early palliative care consultation offsets hospitalization duration and costs for elderly patients with traumatic brain injuries: insights from a level 1 trauma center.
J Clin Neurosci 2023 Feb; 108:1-5. doi: 10.1016/j.jocn.2022.12.013..
Keywords: Elderly, Palliative Care, Hospitalization, Brain Injury
Song J, Chae S, Bowles KH
The identification of clusters of risk factors and their association with hospitalizations or emergency department visits in home health care.
The purpose of this retrospective cohort study was to identify risk factor clusters in home health care and assess whether the clusters are related with hospitalizations or emergency department visits. The researchers included 61,454 patients associated with 79,079 episodes receiving home health care from one of the largest home health care organizations in the U.S. The study found that a total of 11.6% of home health episodes resulted in hospitalizations or emergency department visits. Three clusters were formed by the risk factors: 1) Cluster 1- a combination of risk factors related to situations where patients may experience increased pain ("impaired physical comfort with pain"). 2) Cluster 2 - characterized by multiple comorbidities or other risks for hospitalization (e.g., prior falls, called "high comorbidity burden"). 3) Cluster 3 - "impaired cognitive/psychological and skin integrity" which includes dementia or skin ulcer. The risk of hospitalizations or emergency department visits increased by 1.95 times for Cluster 2 and by 2.12 times for Cluster 3 when compared to cluster 1. The study concluded that Varying combinations of risk factors affected the likelihood of negative outcomes.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Song J, Chae S, Bowles KH .
The identification of clusters of risk factors and their association with hospitalizations or emergency department visits in home health care.
J Adv Nurs 2023 Feb; 79(2):593-604. doi: 10.1111/jan.15498..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Home Healthcare, Risk
Thomson J, Richardson T, Auger KA
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitalizations of children with neurologic impairment.
The purpose of this multicenter retrospective cohort study was to explore the effect of the early COVID-19 pandemic on hospital utilization for children with neurologic impairment (NI). The study found that compared with the pre-COVID period, there was a 14.4% decrease in the weekly median number of hospitalizations in the early-COVID era. Hospitalizations decreased for both noninfectious and infectious illnesses in the early-COVID era. Researchers reported that the decrease was the largest in spring 2020 and continued throughout 2020.
AHRQ-funded; HS024735; HS025138; HS026763.
Citation: Thomson J, Richardson T, Auger KA .
Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on hospitalizations of children with neurologic impairment.
J Hosp Med 2023 Jan; 18(1):33-42. doi: 10.1002/jhm.13021..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, COVID-19, Neurological Disorders, Hospitalization
Steenland MW, Wherry LR
Medicaid expansion led to reductions in postpartum hospitalizations.
The purpose of this study was to assess whether the Medicaid expansions of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) affected rates of postpartum hospitalization. The researchers compared states that did and did not expand Medicaid under the ACA as they related to changes in hospitalizations among birthing people with a Medicaid-financed delivery. The study found a 17% reduction in hospitalizations during the first 60 days postpartum associated with the Medicaid expansions, and evidence of a lesser decrease in hospitalizations between 61 days and 6 months postpartum. The researchers concluded that Medicaid coverage expansion under the ACA resulted in improved postpartum health for low-income birthing people.
AHRQ-funded; HS027464.
Citation: Steenland MW, Wherry LR .
Medicaid expansion led to reductions in postpartum hospitalizations.
Health Aff 2023 Jan; 42(1):18-25. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00819..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Medicaid, Hospitalization, Maternal Care, Women, Health Insurance, Access to Care
Kelly MM, Hoonakker PLT, Nacht CL
Parent perspectives on sharing pediatric hospitalization clinical notes.
This qualitative study sought to identify parent perceptions of the benefits and challenges of real-time note access during their child's hospitalization and strategies to optimize note-sharing at the bedside. The study conducted 60-minute interviews with 28 parents who were given access to their child's admission and daily progress notes on a bedside tablet (iPad) and interviewed upon discharge. The parents described 6 benefits of having note access, which: provided a recap and improved their knowledge about their child's care plan, enhanced communication, facilitated empowerment, increased autonomy, and incited positive emotions. Potential challenges described included: causing confusion, hindering communication with the health care team, highlighting problems with note content, and inciting negative emotions. The parents recommended 4 strategies to support sharing: provide preemptive communication about expectations, optimize the note release process, consider parent-friendly note template modifications, and offer informational resources for parents.
AHRQ-funded; HS027214.
Citation: Kelly MM, Hoonakker PLT, Nacht CL .
Parent perspectives on sharing pediatric hospitalization clinical notes.
Pediatrics 2023 Jan; 151(1). doi: 10.1542/peds.2022-057756..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitals, Clinician-Patient Communication, Communication, Hospitalization
Moriya AS, Chakravarty S
AHRQ Author: Moriya AS
Racial and ethnic disparities in preventable hospitalizations and ED visits five years after ACA Medicaid expansions,.
This AHRQ-authored paper examined whether the 2014 Affordable Care Act (ACA) Medicaid expansions mitigated existing racial or ethnic disparities in preventable hospitalizations and emergency department (ED) visits. The authors used inpatient data from twenty-nine states and ED data from twenty-six states for the period 2011 to 2018. They found that Medicaid expansions decreased disparities in preventable hospitalizations and ED visits between non-Hispanic Black and White nonelderly adults by 10 percent or more. There were no significant effects on disparities between Hispanic and non-Hispanic White nonelderly adults. Their findings highlight sustained improvements in community-level care for non-Hispanic Black populations, but also suggest access barriers experienced by Hispanic adults that need to be addressed beyond Medicaid eligibility expansion.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Moriya AS, Chakravarty S .
Racial and ethnic disparities in preventable hospitalizations and ED visits five years after ACA Medicaid expansions,.
Health Aff 2023 Jan; 42(1):26-34. doi: 10.1377/hlthaff.2022.00460..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Racial and Ethnic Minorities, Emergency Department, Hospitalization, Disparities, Medicaid, Health Insurance, Access to Care
Wachnik AA, Welch-Coltrane JL, Adams MCB
A standardized emergency department order set decreases admission rates and in-patient length of stay for adults patients with sickle cell disease.
The purpose of this 3-year prospective analysis study was to assess a quality improvement project to standardize Emergency Department (ED) care for patients presenting with pain associated with sickle cell disease (SCD). IN 2019 the researchers implemented an ED order set in to improve care and provide adequate management of analgesia. The primary outcome was the overall hospital admission rate for patients after the intervention, and the secondary outcome measures included ED disposition, rate of return to the ED within 72 hours, ED pain scores at admission and discharge, ED treatment time, in-patient length of stay, non-opioid medication use, and opioid medication use. The study found an overall 67% reduction in the hospital admission rate after implementation of the order set and a significant decrease in the percentage admission rate month over month. Time to the first non-opioid analgesic decreased by 71 minutes and there was no change in time to the first opioid medication. The rate of return to the ED within 72 hours did not change and the ED elopement rate did not change. There were significant increases in the prescribing of orally administered acetaminophen, celecoxib, and tizanidine, and intravenous ketamine and ketorolac. ED pain scores at discharge did not change for hospital-admitted and non-admitted patients. The possible reduction in costs was $193,440 during the 12-month observation period, and the average cost per visit decreased by $792. The researchers concluded that the ED order set decreased the rate of hospital admissions and the timeliness of analgesia administration without having a negative impact on the pain of the patients.
AHRQ-funded; HS028584.
Citation: Wachnik AA, Welch-Coltrane JL, Adams MCB .
A standardized emergency department order set decreases admission rates and in-patient length of stay for adults patients with sickle cell disease.
Pain Med 2022 Dec;23(12):2050-60. doi: 10.1093/pm/pnac096..
Keywords: Sickle Cell Disease, Emergency Department, Hospitalization
Halvorson EE, Thurtle DP, Easter A
Disparities in adverse event reporting for hospitalized children.
The authors compared the adverse event (AE) rate identified by voluntary event reporting (VER) with that identified using the Global Assessment of Pediatric Patient Safety (GAPPS) between hospitalized children by weight category, race, and English proficiency. In the population studied, they identified 288 total AEs, 270 by the GAPPS and 18 by VER. They found a disparity in AE reporting for children with limited English proficiency, with fewer AEs by VER compared with no difference in AEs by GAPPS. They identified no disparities by weight category or race. They concluded that voluntary event reporting may systematically underreport AEs in hospitalized children with limited English proficiency.
AHRQ-funded; HS026038.
Citation: Halvorson EE, Thurtle DP, Easter A .
Disparities in adverse event reporting for hospitalized children.
J Patient Saf 2022 Sep 1;18(6):e928-e33. doi: 10.1097/pts.0000000000001049..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Disparities, Adverse Events, Medical Errors, Patient Safety, Hospitals, Hospitalization, Inpatient Care
Saxena FE, Bierman AS, Glazier RH
AHRQ Author: Bierman AS
Association of Early Physician Follow-up With Readmission Among Patients Hospitalized for Acute Myocardial Infarction, Congestive Heart Failure, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Investigators assessed whether hospitalized patients with early physician follow-up after discharge had lower rates of overall and condition-specific readmissions within 30 days and 90 days of discharge. Studying adults in Ontario, Canada, with first admission for acute myocardial infarction, congestive heart failure, or chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, the findings suggested that early follow-up in conjunction with a comprehensive transitional care strategy for hospitalized patients with medically complex conditions coupled with ongoing effective chronic disease management may be associated with reduced 90-day readmissions.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Saxena FE, Bierman AS, Glazier RH .
Association of Early Physician Follow-up With Readmission Among Patients Hospitalized for Acute Myocardial Infarction, Congestive Heart Failure, or Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
JAMA Netw Open 2022 Jul;5(7):e2222056. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.22056..
Keywords: Hospital Readmissions, Hospitalization, Cardiovascular Conditions, Respiratory Conditions, Transitions of Care
Hirai AH, Owens PL, Reid LD
AHRQ Author: Owens PL, Reid LD
Associations between state-level severe maternal morbidity and other perinatal indicators.
This study used the HCUP State Inpatient Databases (HCUP-SID) to determine the correlation between state-level severe maternal morbidity (SMM) rates and perinatal indicators. HCUP-SID was analyzed from 2017 to 2019 using revised code sets for 20 indicators excluding blood transfusions. Perinatal indicators used included prepregnancy hypertension, prepregnancy diabetes, prepregnancy obesity, low-risk cesarean delivery, preterm birth, infant mortality, and maternal mortality. HCUP-SID data for 10,542,942 maternal deliveries and 11,394,752 live births from the National Vital Statistics System (NVSS) were aggregated for state-level analysis. SMM rates were significantly correlated with 2 of the 7 perinatal indicators: prepregnancy hypertension and low-risk cesarean deliveries. All other perinatal indicators were significantly associated with at least 4 of 7 other indicators, and most correlations were higher in magnitude. Maternity mortality rates were highest in the southeast.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Hirai AH, Owens PL, Reid LD .
Associations between state-level severe maternal morbidity and other perinatal indicators.
JAMA Netw Open 2022 Jul;5(7):e2224621. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.24621..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Maternal Care, Pregnancy, Women, Labor and Delivery, Hospitalization
Hirai AH, Owens PL, Reid LD
AHRQ Author: Owens PL, Reid LD
Trends in severe maternal morbidity in the US across the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS from 2012-2019.
This study evaluated national and state trends in severe maternal morbidity (SMM) rates from 2012 to 2019, and potential disruptions associated with the transition to International Classification of Diseases, 10th Revision, Clinical Modification and Procedure Coding System (ICD-10-CM/PCS) in October 2015. This repeated cross-sectional analysis examined delivery hospitalizations in the HCUP’s National Inpatient Sample and State Inpatient Databases. There were almost 6 million delivery hospitalizations in the national sample representing a weighted total of 29.8 million deliveries with a mean maternal age of 28.6 years. SMM rates increased from 69.5 per 10,000 deliveries to 79.7 per 10,000 in 2019 without a significant change across the ICD-10-CM/PCS transition. OF 20 SMM indicators, rates for 10 indicators increased while 3 significantly decreased with 5 of those changes associated with the ICD-10-CM/PCS transition. Acute kidney failure had the largest increase, from 6.4 to 15.3 per 10,000 delivery hospitalizations, with no change associated with ICD transition. Disseminated intravascular coagulation had the largest decrease from 31.3 to 21.2 per 10,000, with a significant drop associated with ICD transition. State SMM rates significantly decreased for 1 state and significantly increased for 21 states from 2012 to 2019 and with varying associations with ICD transition.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Hirai AH, Owens PL, Reid LD .
Trends in severe maternal morbidity in the US across the transition to ICD-10-CM/PCS from 2012-2019.
JAMA Netw Open 2022 Jul;5(7):e2222966. doi: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.22966..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), Maternal Care, Pregnancy, Women, Labor and Delivery, Hospitalization
Campbell JI, Dubois MM, Savage TJ
Comorbidities associated with hospitalization and progression among adolescents with symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019.
This study’s objective was to identify subgroups likely to benefit from monoclonal antibody and antiviral therapy to treat COVID-19 by evaluating the relationship between comorbidities and hospitalization among US adolescents aged 12-17 with symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19). The authors used the Pediatric COVID-19 US registry to identify patients who met their inclusion criteria of comorbidities including obesity, chronic kidney disease (CKD), diabetes, immunosuppressive disease or treatment, sickle cell disease (SCD), heart disease, neurologic disease/neurodevelopmental disorders, and pulmonary disease (excluding patients with mild asthma). Out of 1877 total patients included 284 (15%) were hospitalized within 28 days of their COVID-19 diagnosis. The following comorbidities were associated with increased odds of hospitalization: SCD, immunocompromising condition, obesity, diabetes, neurologic disease, and pulmonary disease (excluding mild asthma).
AHRQ-funded; HS000063.
Citation: Campbell JI, Dubois MM, Savage TJ .
Comorbidities associated with hospitalization and progression among adolescents with symptomatic coronavirus disease 2019.
J Pediatr 2022 Jun;245:102-10.e2. doi: 10.1016/j.jpeds.2022.02.048..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Diabetes, Asthma, Kidney Disease and Health, Hospitalization
Probst MA, Janke AT, Haimovich AD
Development of a novel emergency department quality measure to reduce very low-risk syncope hospitalizations.
The purpose of this study was to develop a new quality measure to apply with very low risk adult emergency department patients under 50 years of age and with no history of heart disease presenting with syncope. The study found that of the 3,292 patients meeting the study criteria, .46% suffered serious adverse events within 30 days after discharge. When the criteria were applied to the 2019 Nationwide Emergency Department Sample (NEDS) to assess its potential effect (assessing for hospital-level factors associated with hospitalization variation), of the 566,031 patients meeting the criteria, 2.7% were hospitalized. The researchers identified factors associated with increased hospitalization rates, which included a yearly ED volume of more than 80,000 and metropolitan teaching status. The study concluded that the novel syncope quality measure developed by the researchers can evaluate variation in low-value hospitalizations for unexplained syncope.
AHRQ-funded; HS022882.
Citation: Probst MA, Janke AT, Haimovich AD .
Development of a novel emergency department quality measure to reduce very low-risk syncope hospitalizations.
Ann Emerg Med 2022 Jun;79(6):509-17. doi: 10.1016/j.annemergmed.2022.03.008..
Keywords: Emergency Department, Quality Measures, Hospitalization, Quality Indicators (QIs), Quality of Care
Valley TS, Schutz A, Peltan ID
Organization of outpatient care after COVID-19 hospitalization.
The purpose of this study was to describe post-discharge care delivery for patients with postacute sequelae of COVID-19 (PASC) across a large network of US academic and community hospitals. Beginning in July, 2021, the researchers surveyed 47 hospitals which were participating in the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute Clinical Trials Network for the Prevention and Early Treatment of Acute Lung Injury (PETAL Network.) Surveys were completed by physicians, hospital administrators, social workers, research staff or other clinicians over an 8-week period, and data from the 2019 American Hospital Association annual survey database were used to describe the hospitals. The study found that 79% (37) of the responding hospitals provided COVID-specific discharge information to patients hospitalized with COVID-19. Only 26% of hospitals provided discharge information that included potential symptoms or impairments of postacute sequelae of COVID-19. Seventy percent (33) had a PASC clinic (a postdischarge outpatient clinic designed specifically for patients with COVID). Hospitals without PASC clinics were more likely to be located in a ZIP code with a higher Medicare population and a median annual income lower than $40,000, and were also more likely to be smaller, for-profit hospitals. The researchers identified several core areas for possible improvements in PASC care, including: examining the impact of PASC clinics on patient outcomes; assessing the extent to which the pathophysiology and management of PASC differ from sequelae of other infections and syndromes; and exploring whether an inability to systematically identify patients for PASC care may result in an inability for some patients to receive needed care. The researchers concluded that PASC clinics may offer opportunities to coordinate care and serve as an opportunity for making iterative gains in knowledge about PASC clinics and related models and processes and their effectiveness in improving longer-term patient-centered outcomes for survivors of COVID-19.
AHRQ-funded; HS028038.
Citation: Valley TS, Schutz A, Peltan ID .
Organization of outpatient care after COVID-19 hospitalization.
Chest 2022 Jun;161(6):1485-89. doi: 10.1016/j.chest.2022.01.034..
Keywords: COVID-19, Ambulatory Care and Surgery, Hospitalization, Care Coordination, Healthcare Delivery
Encinosa W, Figueroa J, Elias Y
AHRQ Author: Encinosa W
Severity of hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 vs influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infection in children aged 5 to 11 years in 11 US states.
By the time emergency use authorization had been granted for the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine in October 2021 in children aged 5 to 11 years, there had been 1.8 million diagnoses of SARS-CoV-2 infection, 8,000 hospitalizations, and 143 deaths in that age group. Very little has been reported on the severity of those hospitalizations relative to the influenza virus and respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) which are the most common childhood viruses. The purpose of this study was to compare hospitalizations of children aged 5 to 11 for SARS-CoV-2 infection and multisystem inflammatory system in children (MIS-C, a sequela of COVID-19 disease) with the hospitalizations of children aged 5 to 11 years who were infected with influenza and RSV. The researchers utilized inpatient data from the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project from the first 11 states with complete first-quarter data as of October 2021, representing 24% of the US population of children aged 5 to 11 years. The researchers examined 46 complications in 7 body systems, total care costs and charges, and data on race and ethnicity. The resulting cross-sectional study included patient data from a total of 2,269 children. The study found that COVID-19 hospitalizations occurred at the rate of 10.8 per 100,000 children, while Influenza and RSV were rare during the first quarter of 2021 with 23 total hospital discharges combined. However, in 2017, which researchers also measured for data on influenza and RSV, influenza and RSV had 17.0 and 6.2 hospitalizations per 100,000 children, respectively. Inpatient death for all viruses was rare. MIS-C had the highest rates of cardiovascular, hematologic, and gastrointestinal complications. Children with RSV ha the highest rate of respiratory complications. Children with COVID-19 (without MISC-C) had the highest rate of neurologic complications, whereas children with influenza had the highest rate of muscoskeletal complications. Children with MIS-C had the longest median length of stay at a median cost of $23,585 per stay compared to children with influenza with a median length of stay of 2 days and a cost of $5,200.
AHRQ-authored.
Citation: Encinosa W, Figueroa J, Elias Y .
Severity of hospitalizations from SARS-CoV-2 vs influenza and respiratory syncytial virus infection in children aged 5 to 11 years in 11 US states.
JAMA Pediatr 2022 May;176(5):520-22. doi: 10.1001/jamapediatrics.2021.6566..
Keywords: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project (HCUP), COVID-19, Children/Adolescents, Hospitalization, Influenza, Respiratory Conditions
Hobensack M, Ojo M, Barrón Y
Documentation of hospitalization risk factors in electronic health records (EHRs): a qualitative study with home healthcare clinicians.
The objectives of this study were to identify risk factors that home healthcare clinicians associate with patient deterioration and to understand clinicians’ response to and documentation of these risk factors. The authors interviewed multidisciplinary home healthcare clinicians and used directed content analysis to identify risk factors for deterioration. A total of 79 risk factors were identified by the clinicians, who responded most often by communicating with the prescribing provider or following up with patients and caregivers. Clinicians also acknowledged that social factors played a role in deterioration risk. The authors noted that, since most risk factors were documented in clinical notes, methods such as natural language processing are needed to extract them. They concluded that by providing a comprehensive list of risk factors grounded in clinician expertise and mapped to standardized terminologies, the results of their study supported the development of an early warning system for patient deterioration.
AHRQ-funded; HS027742.
Citation: Hobensack M, Ojo M, Barrón Y .
Documentation of hospitalization risk factors in electronic health records (EHRs): a qualitative study with home healthcare clinicians.
J Am Med Inform Assoc 2022 Apr 13;29(5):805-12. doi: 10.1093/jamia/ocac023..
Keywords: Electronic Health Records (EHRs), Health Information Technology (HIT), Home Healthcare, Risk, Hospitalization
Khodneva Y, Goyal P, Levitan EB
Depressive symptoms and incident hospitalization for heart failure: findings From the REGARDS Study.
The purpose of this study was to determine whether depressive symptoms are associated with incident heart failure (HF), including hospitalization for HF overall or by subtype: HF with preserved (HFpEF) or reduced ejection fraction (HFrEF). The study found that over a median of 9.2 years of follow-up, there were 872 incident HF hospitalizations, 526 among those without CHD and 334 among those with CHD. The age-adjusted HF hospitalization incidence rates per 1000 person-years were 4.9 for participants with depressive symptoms compared with 3.2 for participants without depressive symptoms. For overall HF, the elevated risk lessened after controlling for covariates. Among those without baseline CHD, when HFpEF was evaluated separately, after controlling for all covariates, depressive symptoms were related with incident hospitalization. In contrast, depressive symptoms were not related with incident HFrEF hospitalizations. The researchers concluded that among individuals without CHD at baseline, depressive symptoms were related with incident hospitalization for HFpEF, but not for those with baseline CHD or HFrEF.
AHRQ-funded; HS013852.
Citation: Khodneva Y, Goyal P, Levitan EB .
Depressive symptoms and incident hospitalization for heart failure: findings From the REGARDS Study.
J Am Heart Assoc 2022 Apr 5;11(7):e022818. doi: 10.1161/jaha.121.022818..
Keywords: Depression, Behavioral Health, Heart Disease and Health, Cardiovascular Conditions, Hospitalization, Risk
Fritz CQ, Hall M, Bettenhausen JL
Child Opportunity Index 2.0 and acute care utilization among children with medical complexity.
This cross-sectional, multicenter study examined the association between ZIP code-level opportunity and acute care utilization among children with medical complexity (CMS). The authors assessed associations between the nationally-normed, multi-dimensional ZIP code-level Child Opportunity Index 2.0 (COI) and total utilization days (hospital bed-days + emergency department (ED) discharge encounters). In adjusted analyses, patients in the lowest COI quintile (lowest opportunity) utilized care at 1.22 times the rate of those from the highest COI quintile.
AHRQ-funded; HS026122.
Citation: Fritz CQ, Hall M, Bettenhausen JL .
Child Opportunity Index 2.0 and acute care utilization among children with medical complexity.
J Hosp Med 2022 Apr;17(4):243-51. doi: 10.1002/jhm.12810..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Hospitalization, Healthcare Utilization
Álvares-da-Silva MR, Oliveira CP, Fagan A
Interaction of microbiome, diet, and hospitalizations between Brazilian and American patients with cirrhosis.
This study’s objective was to compare cirrhosis patients from the United States with cirrhosis patients from Brazil with respect to diet, microbiota, and impact on hospitalizations. This case-control study had participants undergo dietary recall and provide stool samples for 16S ribosomal RNA sequencing. Demographics and medications/cirrhosis details were also compared. Cirrhosis patients were followed up for 90-day hospitalizations. More Americans were men, had higher hepatic encephalopathy and alcohol/hepatitis C etiology with lower nonalcoholic fatty liver disease than Brazilians. Model for end-stage liver disease (MELD), diabetes, ascites, and albumin were similar. Within participants with cirrhosis, microbial diversity was higher for Brazilians, and among Brazilians high diversity was related to Brazilian origin, age, and cereal intake. High MELD scores and ascites was related to lower diversity. Beneficial taxa and taxa associated with yogurt intake was higher was pathobionts were lower in Brazilians. More Americans were hospitalized than Brazilians.
AHRQ-funded; HS025412; HS024004.
Citation: Álvares-da-Silva MR, Oliveira CP, Fagan A .
Interaction of microbiome, diet, and hospitalizations between Brazilian and American patients with cirrhosis.
Clin Gastroenterol Hepatol 2022 Apr;20(4):930-40. doi: 10.1016/j.cgh.2021.03.045..
Keywords: Hospitalization
Thomson J, Butts B, Camara S
Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health care utilization of medically complex children.
The authors sought to assess the association between neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health care utilization in a cohort of children with medical complexity. They found no association between area-level deprivation and emergency department visits, hospitalizations, or inpatient bed-days. However, there was a 13% relative increase in the missed clinic visit rate for every 0.1 unit increase in Deprivation Index. They concluded that a child's socioeconomic context is associated with adherence to patient-centered medical home visits.
AHRQ-funded; HS025138.
Citation: Thomson J, Butts B, Camara S .
Neighborhood socioeconomic deprivation and health care utilization of medically complex children.
Pediatrics 2022 Apr;149(4). doi: 10.1542/peds.2021-052592..
Keywords: Children/Adolescents, Healthcare Utilization, Hospitalization