Evolving Trends in Insurance Coverage of Vascular Surgery Patients in Academic Practice.

BACKGROUND: Insurance coverage of vascular surgery patients may differ from patients with less chronic surgical pathologies. The goal of this study is to identify trends in insurance status of vascular surgery patients over the last 10 years at a busy academic center. METHODS: All consecutive patient visits for a vascular procedure from 2006 to 2016 were retrospectively reviewed from a prospectively collected institutional database. Data points included insurance status, procedures performed, and date of admission. The insurance status was categorized as Medicare, Medicaid, and uninsured. Samples were divided between 2006-2009 and 2011-2016 for comparison. Unpaired t-test, chi-squared test, and regression analysis were used to determine significant trends over the study period. RESULTS: From 2006 to 2016, 6,007 vascular surgery procedures were performed. Procedure volume increased significantly from 1,309 to 4,698 between the 2 timeframes (P < 0.05), whereas the percentage of Medicaid and Medicare patients trended upward but did not achieve significance. There was a significant decrease in the percentage of uninsured patients between the cohorts (5.65% vs. 2.96%, P < 0.05). In 2012, 10.14% of patients were uninsured compared with 2.56% in 2016 (P < 0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Insurance status affects access to care and subsequent outcomes. In our busy academic center, insurance coverage for vascular surgery has significantly increased over the past decade. The number of Medicaid and Medicare patients has slowly increased, but a significant and continuing decline in uninsured patients was observed. Implementation of the Affordable Care Act during this time period may have played a role in providing coverage for patient needing vascular surgery.

Academic Medical Centers as Innovation Ecosystems: Evolution of Industry Partnership Models Beyond the Bayh-Dole Act.

Innovation ecosystems tied to academic medical centers (AMCs) are inextricably linked to policy, practices, and infrastructure resulting from the Bayh-Dole Act in 1980. Bayh-Dole smoothed the way to patenting and licensing new drugs and, to some degree, medical devices and diagnostic reagents. Property rights under Bayh-Dole provided significant incentive for industry investments in clinical trials, clinical validation, and industrial scale-up of products that advanced health care. Bayh-Dole amplified private investment in biotechnology drug development and, from the authors' perspective, did not significantly interfere with the ability of AMCs to produce excellent peer-reviewed science. In today's policy environment, it is increasingly difficult to patent and license products based on the laws of nature-as the scope of patentability has been narrowed by case law and development of a suitable clinical and business case for the technology is increasingly a gating consideration for licensees. Consequently, fewer academic patents are commercially valuable. The role of technology transfer organizations in engaging industry partners has thus become increasingly complex. The partnering toolbox and organizational mandate for commercialization must evolve toward novel collaborative models that exploit opportunities for future patent creation (early drug discovery), data exchange (precision medicine using big data), cohort assembly (clinical trials), and decision rule validation (clinical trials). These inputs contribute to intellectual property rights, and their clinical exploitation manifests the commercialization of translational science. New collaboration models between AMCs and industry must be established to leverage the assets within AMCs that industry partners deem valuable.

The impact of walk-in centres and GP co-operatives on emergency department presentations: A systematic review of the literature.

BACKGROUND: Internationally, non-urgent presentations are increasing the pressure on Emergency Department (ED) staff and resources. This systematic review aims to identify the impact of alternative emergency care pathways on ED presentations - specifically GP cooperatives and walk-in clinics. METHODS: Based on a structured PICO enquiry with either walk-in clinic or GP cooperative as the intervention, a search was made for peer-reviewed publications in English, between 2000 and 2014. Medline plus, OVID, PubMed, and Google Scholar were searched. The Critical Appraisal Skills Program (CASP) guidelines were used to assess study quality and data was extracted using an adapted JBI Qualitative Assessment and Review Instrument (QARI). Subsequent reporting followed the PRISMA guideline. RESULTS: Eleven high quality quantitative studies met the inclusion criteria. Walk-in clinics do have the potential to reduce non-urgent emergency department presentations, however evidence of this effect is low. GP cooperatives offer an alternative care stream for patients presenting to the ED and do significantly reduce local ED attendances. Community members need to be made aware of these options in order to make informed treatment choices. CONCLUSION: GP cooperatives in particular do have the potential to reduce ED workload. Further research is required to uncover recent trends and patient outcomes for walk-in clinics and GP cooperatives.

Competing frameworks in planning for the aged in the growth corridors of Melbourne.

The Ageing in the Growth Corridors Project was initiated as a partnership between the University of Melbourne and the Department of Health in the Northwest Metropolitan Region of Melbourne, Australia. It involved a research team working with six project officers appointed to stimulate development in relation to an aging population in the sprawling outer metropolitan growth corridors. This article identifies the key lessons learned in terms of project implementation relating to attitudinal and structural barriers to the development of an age-friendly environment in areas of rapid urban growth. The findings illustrate some of the dilemmas raised by competing program conceptions, a dynamic and changing federal/state policy context, and local resource and strategic management constraints. The partnership with the university, nevertheless, provided a point of stability and continuity for the project officers in implementing their mandate.

Practice improvement, part II: trends in employment versus private practice.

A growing percentage of physicians are selecting employment over solo practice, and fewer family physicians have hospital admission privileges. Results from surveys of recent medical school graduates indicate a high value placed on free time. Factors to consider when choosing a practice opportunity include desire for independence, decision-making authority, work-life balance, administrative responsibilities, financial risk, and access to resources. Compensation models are evolving from the simple fee-for-service model to include metrics that reward panel size, patient access, coordination of care, chronic disease management, achievement of patient-centered medical home status, and supervision of midlevel clinicians. When a practice is sold, tangible personal property and assets in excess of liabilities, patient accounts receivable, office building, and goodwill (ie, expected earnings) determine its value. The sale of a practice includes a broad legal review, addressing billing and coding deficiencies, noncompliant contractual arrangements, and potential litigations as well as ensuring that all employment agreements, leases, service agreements, and contracts are current, have been executed appropriately, and meet regulatory requirements.

Care partnerships between family physicians and rheumatologists.

OBJECTIVE: To describe care partnerships between family physicians and rheumatologists. METHODS: A random sample (20%, n = 478) of family physicians was mailed a questionnaire, asking if there was at least 1 particular rheumatologist to whom the physician tended to refer patients. If the answer was affirmative, the physician would be considered as having a "care partnership" with that rheumatologist. The family physician then rated, on a 5-point scale, factors of importance regarding the relationship with that rheumatologist. RESULTS: The questionnaire was completed by 84/462 (18.2%) of family physicians; 52/84 (61.9%) reported having rheumatology care partnerships according to our definition. Regarding interactions with rheumatologists, most respondents rated the following as important (score ≥ 4): adequate communication and information exchange (44/50, 88.0%); waiting time for new patients (40/50, 80.0%); clear and appropriate balance of responsibilities (39/49, 79.6%); and patient feedback and preferences (34/50, 68%). Male family physicians were more likely than females to accord high importance to personal knowledge of the rheumatologist, and to physical proximity of the rheumatologist's practice. Regarding relationships with rheumatologists, 30/50 (60.0%) of respondents felt communication and information exchange were adequate, and 35/50 (70.0%) felt they had a clear balance of responsibilities. CONCLUSION: Almost two-thirds of family physicians have rheumatology care partnerships, according to our definition. In this partnership, establishing adequate communication and shorter waiting time seem of paramount importance to family physicians. A balanced sharing of responsibilities and patients' preferences are also valued. Although many physicians reported adequate communication and clear and appropriate balance of responsibilities in their current interactions with rheumatologists, there appears to be room for improvement.

General practice.

There have been considerable changes in the NHS, medical science and practice in the last 25 years. This article describes the developments in general practice over this period. The increase in the primary healthcare team members and the improved premises from which they now practise has revolutionised primary care. Issues of considerable influence have been the movement of care once provided in hospitals into primary care, the use of computers, new technologies, enhanced training, changes in the demographics of the workforce, the hours general practitioners work and commissioning.

Partnerships: imperative or illusion in work-force development.

The central theme of the National Drug Strategy is "building partnerships". In the education and training arena, intersectoral partnerships are important to increase the skill and knowledge base of generic professionals. However, partnerships are neither simple nor straightforward endeavours. While this paper argues that they are imperative, they can be time-consuming and problematic. Discussion of the stages of change and how this model applies to partnerships and elements of successful partnerships form the basis of the paper.

Negotiating and managing partnership in primary care.

In the UK public service organisations are increasingly working together in new partnerships, networks and alliances, largely stimulated by government legislation, which aims to encourage 'joined-up' policy-making. This is particularly prevalent in health-care where local government, health authorities and trusts, voluntary and community groups are extending existing, and developing new, forms of partnership, particularly around Health Improvement Programmes and new primary care organisations. This paper explores two main aspects of how these new interorganizational relationships are being developed and managed and is based on research conducted in one case study locality. First, the new structures of partnership in primary care are mapped out, together with discussion on why these particular patterns of relationship between statutory and voluntary sector organisations have emerged, exploring both centrally and locally determined influences. Secondly, the paper explores the tensions associated with working within new policy-making and management structures, and how the additional demands of audit, performance measurement and the sheer pace of change, pose a potential threat to the partnership process.