Quality Measure Public Reporting Is Associated with Improved Outcomes Following Hip and Knee Replacement.

BACKGROUND: Given the inclusion of orthopaedic quality measures in the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services national hospital payment programs, the present study sought to assess whether the public reporting of total hip arthroplasty (THA) and total knee arthroplasty (TKA) risk-standardized readmission rates (RSRRs) and complication rates (RSCRs) was temporally associated with a decrease in the rates of these outcomes among Medicare beneficiaries. METHODS: Annual trends in national observed and hospital-level RSRRs and RSCRs were evaluated for patients who underwent hospital-based inpatient hip and/or knee replacement procedures from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2016. Hospital-level rates were calculated with use of the same measures and methodology that were utilized in public reporting. Annual trends in the distribution of hospital-level outcomes were then examined with use of density plots. RESULTS: Complication and readmission rates and variation declined steadily from fiscal year 2010 to fiscal year 2016. Reductions of 33% and 25% were noted in hospital-level RSCRs and RSRRs, respectively. The interquartile range decreased by 18% (relative reduction) for RSCRs and by 34% (relative reduction) for RSRRs. The frequency of risk variables in the complication and readmission models did not systematically change over time, suggesting no evidence of widespread bias or up-coding. CONCLUSIONS: This study showed that hospital-level complication and readmission rates following THA and TKA and the variation in hospital-level performance declined during a period coinciding with the start of public reporting and financial incentives associated with measurement. The consistently decreasing trend in rates of and variation in outcomes suggests steady improvements and greater consistency among hospitals in clinical outcomes for THA and TKA patients in the 2016 fiscal year compared with the 2010 fiscal year. The interactions between public reporting, payment, and hospital coding practices are complex and require further study. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Prognostic Level III. See Instructions for Authors for a complete description of levels of evidence.

Measuring hospital-specific disparities by dual eligibility and race to reduce health inequities.

OBJECTIVE: To propose and evaluate a metric for quantifying hospital-specific disparities in health outcomes that can be used by patients and hospitals. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Inpatient admissions for Medicare patients with acute myocardial infarction, heart failure, or pneumonia to all non-federal, short-term, acute care hospitals during 2012-2015. STUDY DESIGN: Building on the current Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services methodology for calculating risk-standardized readmission rates, we developed models that include a hospital-specific random coefficient for either patient dual eligibility status or African American race. These coefficients quantify the difference in risk-standardized outcomes by dual eligibility and race at a given hospital after accounting for the hospital's patient case mix and proportion of dual eligible or African American patients. We demonstrate this approach and report variation and performance in hospital-specific disparities. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Dual eligibility and African American race were associated with higher readmission rates within hospitals for all three conditions. However, this disparity effect varied substantially across hospitals. CONCLUSION: Our models isolate a hospital-specific disparity effect and demonstrate variation in quality of care for different groups of patients across conditions and hospitals. Illuminating within-hospital disparities can incentivize hospitals to reduce inequities in health care quality.