Impact of primary and specialty care integration via asynchronous communication.

OBJECTIVES: To describe and evaluate the impact of primary and specialty care integration via asynchronous communication at a large integrated healthcare system. STUDY DESIGN: In January 2014, Geisinger's primary care providers (PCPs) were given access to an asynchronous communication tool, Ask-a-Doc (AAD), that enabled direct communication with specialists in 14 medical specialties and 5 surgical specialties. Internal data were collected to assess PCPs' acceptance and use of the tool, as well as satisfaction. Insurance claims data were obtained to assess the impact on healthcare utilization and cost. METHODS: A retrospective analysis of health plan claims data was conducted among those patients who had at least 1 specialist visit with 1 of the participating specialties between January 2014 and December 2016. A set of difference-in-differences multivariate linear regression models with patient fixed effects was estimated, in which those who were not exposed to AAD served as the comparison group. RESULTS: Acceptance and use of AAD among PCPs gradually increased over time but varied by specialty. AAD was associated with an approximately 14% reduction in total cost of care during the first month of follow-up and a 20% reduction (P <.001) during the second month. These reductions in cost of care appeared to be driven by reductions in emergency department visits and physician office visits. CONCLUSIONS: Geisinger's AAD experience suggests that the integration of primary and specialty care via the use of a highly reliable and efficient asynchronous communication system can potentially lead to reductions in avoidable care and more efficient use of specialty care.

Contributions of COPD, asthma, and ten comorbid conditions to health care utilization and patient-centered outcomes among US adults with obstructive airway disease.

BACKGROUND: Among persons with obstructive airway disease, the relative contributions of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), asthma, and common comorbid conditions to health care utilization and patient-centered outcomes (PCOs) have not been previously reported. METHODS: We followed a total of 3,486 persons aged ≥40 years with COPD, asthma, or both at baseline, from the Medical Expenditure Panel Survey (MEPS) cohorts enrolled annually from 2008 through 2012 for 1 year. MEPS is a prospective observational study of US households recording self-reported COPD, asthma, and ten medical conditions: angina, arthritis, cancer, coronary heart disease, cognitive impairment, diabetes, hypertension, lung cancer, myocardial infarction, and stroke/transient ischemic attack. We studied the separate contributions of these conditions to health care utilization (all-cause and respiratory disease hospitalization, any emergency department [ED] visit, and six or more outpatient visits) and PCOs (seven or more days spent in bed due to illness, incident loss of mobility, and incident decline in self-perceived health). RESULTS: COPD made the largest contributions to all-cause and respiratory disease hospitalization and ED visits, while arthritis made the largest contribution to outpatient health care. Arthritis and COPD, respectively, made the greatest contributions to the PCOs. CONCLUSION: COPD made the largest and second largest contributions to health care utilization and PCOs among US adults with obstructive airway disease. The twelve medical conditions collectively accounted for between 52% and 61% of the health care utilization outcomes and between 53% and 68% of the PCOs. Cognitive impairment, diabetes, hypertension, and stroke also made significant contributions.

Development and validation of a claims-based prediction model for COPD severity.

BACKGROUND: Administrative claims are an important data source for COPD research but lack a validated measure of patient COPD severity, which is an important determinant of treatment and outcomes. METHODS: Patients with ≥1 diagnosis of COPD and spirometry results from 01/2004-05/2011 were identified from an electronic health records database linked to healthcare claims. Patients were classified into 3 COPD severity groups based on spirometry and Global Initiative for Chronic Obstructive Lung Disease (GOLD) guidelines: GOLD-Unclassified, Mild/Moderate, and Severe/Very Severe. A multinomial logistic regression model was constructed using claims data from 3 months before and after (observation period) the most recent spirometry (index date) to categorize patient COPD severity. A random selection of 90% of patients in each severity level was selected to build the model, and the remaining 10% were used as a validation sample. Model predictions were evaluated for sensitivity, specificity, accuracy, and concordance. RESULTS: Among 2028 COPD patients who met sample selection criteria, 886, 683, and 459 patients were in the GOLD-Unclassified, Mild/Moderate, and Severe/Very Severe categories, respectively. The final model included age, sex, comorbidities (such as pulmonary fibrosis and diabetes), COPD-related resource utilization (such as oxygen use), and all-cause healthcare utilization. In the validation sample, the model correctly predicted COPD severity for 62.7% of all patients (accuracy for predicting GOLD-Unclassified: 73.5%; Mild/Moderate: 70.6%; Severe/Very Severe: 81.4%) with kappa = 0.41. CONCLUSIONS: The prediction model was developed using clinically measured COPD severity to provide researchers an approach to classify patients using claims data when clinical measures are not available.

Lung-volume reduction surgery for pulmonary emphysema: Improvement in body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity index after 1 year.

OBJECTIVES: We hypothesized that lung-volume reduction surgery for pulmonary emphysema would improve body mass index, airflow obstruction, dyspnea, and exercise capacity (BODE) index, a multidimensional predictor of survival in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. We also aimed to identify preoperative predictors of improvement in the BODE index. METHODS: In a prospective cohort study of patients undergoing lung-volume reduction surgery at our center, with the methodology of the National Emphysema Treatment Trial, we compared clinical characteristics before and 1 year after surgery with the Wilcoxon signed rank test. Changes in the BODE index were correlated with preoperative variables with the Spearman correlation coefficient. RESULTS: Twenty-three patients with predominantly upper-lobe pulmonary emphysema underwent lung-volume reduction surgery (14 by video-assisted thoracoscopic surgery, 9 by median sternotomy). There were no postoperative or follow-up deaths. The BODE index improved from a median of 5 (interquartile range 4-5) before surgery to 3 (interquartile range 2-4) 1 year after surgery (P < .0001). Improvements were seen in the lung function and dyspnea components of the BODE index. Lower preoperative 6-minute walk distance and lower postwalk Borg fatigue scores were each associated with greater improvement in the BODE index after 1 year. CONCLUSION: Lung-volume reduction surgery for pulmonary emphysema improved the BODE index in patients with predominantly upper-lobe disease. Lower preoperative 6-minute walk distance correlated with greater improvement in the BODE index.