Population Segmentation Based on Healthcare Needs: Validation of a Brief Clinician-Administered Tool.

BACKGROUND: As populations age with increasingly complex chronic conditions, segmenting populations into clinically meaningful categories of healthcare and related service needs can provide healthcare planners with crucial information to optimally meet needs. However, while conventional approaches typically involve electronic medical records (EMRs), such records do not always capture information reliably or accurately. OBJECTIVE: We describe the inter-rater reliability and predictive validity of a clinician-administered tool, the Simple Segmentation Tool (SST) for categorizing older individuals into one of six Global Impression (GI) segments and eight complicating factors (CFs) indicative of healthcare and related social needs. DESIGN: Observational study ( ClinicalTrials.gov , number NCT02663037). PARTICIPANTS: Patients aged 55 years and above. MAIN MEASURES: Emergency department (ED) subjects (between May and June 2016) had baseline SST assessment by two physicians and a nurse concurrently seeing the same individual. General medical (GM) ward subjects (February 2017) had a SST assessment by their principal physician. Adverse events (ED visits, hospitalizations, and mortality over 90 days from baseline) were determined by a blinded reviewer. Inter-rater reliability was measured using Cohen's kappa. Predictive validity was evaluated using Cox hazard ratios based on time to first adverse event. KEY RESULTS: Cohen's kappa between physician-physician, service physician-nurse, and physician-nurse pairs for GI were 0.60, 0.71, and 0.68, respectively. Cox analyses demonstrated significant predictive validity of GI and CFs for adverse outcomes. CONCLUSIONS: With modest training, clinicians can complete a brief instrument to segment their patient into clinically meaningful categories of healthcare and related service needs. This approach can complement and overcome current limitations of EMR-based instruments, particularly with respect to whole-patient care. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02663037.

Inpatient glucose management programme in the Asian healthcare setting.

AIM: To implement an inpatient glucose management (IGM) programme in the general medical wards and evaluate its clinical efficacy. METHOD: Consecutive patients admitted to selected medical wards over a 12-month period were included in the IGM programme. All patients with ≥3 capillary blood glucose (CBG) readings (>10.0 mmol/L and/or <4.0 mmol/L) over a 24-hour period were identified electronically. A multidisciplinary team of diabetes care providers would provide specialist input to these patients. The control group comprised of consecutive patients admitted over the preceding 12 months. Outcome glucose measures include mean in-hospital glucose (MHG), mean patient-day glucose (MDG), proportion of CBG readings at predefined cut-offs and length of stay (LOS). RESULTS: Both the MHG and MDG were significantly lower following intervention (10.0±2.4 mmol/L vs 11.2±2.6 mmol/L, P<.001; 10.0±2.3 mmol/L vs 11.2±2.6 mmol/L, P<.001, respectively). Prevalence of hyperglycaemic events, defined by CBG >10.0 mmol/L, was significantly lower at 36.5% versus 51.6% (P<.001). Hypoglycaemic events of CBG <4.0 mmol/L remained infrequent at <1.0% before and after IGM programme. A greater proportion of glucose readings was controlled within the target range of 4.0-10.0 mmol/L (62.6% vs 47.6%, P<.001). With the IGM programme in place, more patients received scheduled CBG monitoring, and a significant shortening of mean LOS by 3.2 days was observed (P=.02). CONCLUSIONS: The IGM programme was effective in improving inpatient glycaemic monitoring and control in the general medical wards, with a significant reduction in LOS observed. These demonstrated the programme's potential to enhance quality and efficiency of patient care.

Autoimmune Switch From Graves' Disease to Hashimoto's Thyroiditis With Coexisting Sjogren's Syndrome: A Case of Polyautoimmunity in a Young Woman.

Autoimmune thyroid disease (AITD) encompasses a spectrum of conditions ranging from Graves' disease (GD) to Hashimoto's thyroiditis (HT). These conditions often coexist with other autoimmune diseases (AIDs). This case describes a young woman in her 20s who transitioned from GD to HT during her first pregnancy, while having another coexisting AID, Sjogren's syndrome (SS). AITD and SS are recognized as the most common polyautoimmune diseases, sharing many common pathophysiological characteristics such as the presence of lymphocytic infiltrates, similar expressions of the human leukocyte antigen molecules, and predisposing environmental factors. This case underscores the importance for physicians to be vigilant regarding the possibility of changing antibodies in AITD and the potential for concurrent AIDs in a single individual. It highlights the need for screening such patients for comprehensive management.

Impact of an End-User-Designed Education Bundle for Electronic Health Records System Education of House Officers.

Introduction The benefits of Electronic Health Records (EHR) use in clinical care are well documented. However, without proper education and training on EHR systems, clinicians may face challenges in utilizing these technological tools effectively. Suboptimal usage of EHR systems can affect productivity. This study assesses the effectiveness of an end-user-designed education bundle as a supplement to existing training in EHR training for house officers. Additionally, it evaluates the effectiveness of using non-conventional teaching modalities (i.e., short TikTok-style videos) to see how effective and accepted it was in comparison to traditional educational material. Methods A single-armed pre-post-study design consisting of 36 house officers was employed to evaluate the effectiveness of the intervention bundle. The bundle consists of a series of EHR tips and tricks as identified by experienced senior medical officers. The three components of the bundle are a handbook with consolidated tips and tricks, a long-form lecture video, and a series of TikTok-style videos. Distribution was done through healthcare collaborative platforms such as TigerConnect™ (Los Angeles, USA) and email. Results Participants found that the inclusion of our supplementary education bundle results in more effective training for EHR usage, with mean effectiveness with and without the educational bundle being 7.77 and 6.44, respectively (p < 0.001). There were also significant improvements in ease of finding information (7.67 vs 7.14, p = 0.016), performing general functions (7.50 vs 6.89, p = 0.0050), and overall efficiency (7.39 vs 6.92, p = 0.022). We also found TikTok-style videos were non-inferior to more traditional forms of education such as a handbook and traditional long-form lecture videos (p = 0.250). Conclusion An end-user-driven education bundle focusing on high-yield, advanced functions may be useful in enhancing the overall EHR system experience for junior doctors. Of note, TikTok-style videos may be no less effective than traditional methods of EHR teaching.

COVID-19 pandemic unmasking cardiovascular risk factors and non-communicable diseases among migrant workers: a cross-sectional study in Singapore.

OBJECTIVES: This study aims to report the prevalence of cardiovascular risk factors (CVRFs) and other non-communicable diseases among migrant workers in Singapore admitted for COVID-19 infection, to highlight disease burden and the need for changes in health screening and healthcare delivery in this unique population. SETTING: The study was conducted in the largest tertiary hospital in Singapore. DESIGN: Retrospective cross-sectional study. PARTICIPANTS: 883 migrant workers who had mild or asymptomatic COVID-19 infection admitted to three isolation wards between 6 April 2020 and 31 May 2020 were included in this study. OUTCOME MEASURES: The outcome measures were the prevalence of pre-existing and newly diagnosed comorbid conditions and the prevalence of CVRFs-diabetes mellitus, hypertension and hyperlipidaemia-and non-communicable diseases at the time of discharge. The OR of having specific CVRFs depending on country of origin was generated via multivariate logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: The median age of our study population was 45 years. 17.0% had pre-existing conditions and 25.9% received new diagnoses. Of the new diagnoses, 15.7% were acute medical conditions and 84.3% chronic medical conditions. The prevalence of CVRFs was higher in Southeast Asian and South Asian migrant workers compared with Chinese. The prevalence of non-communicable diseases on discharge was highest among Southeast Asians (49.4%). CONCLUSIONS: The COVID-19 outbreak in a large number of migrant workers in Singapore unmasked a significant disease burden among them, increasing stakeholders' interests in their welfare. Moving forward, system-level changes are necessary to deliver healthcare sustainably and effect improvements in migrant workers' health.