Military Hospital Spending on Environmental Services and Inpatient Satisfaction Ratings.

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: To assess the impact of military hospital expenditures on environmental services (EVS) on inpatient satisfaction, the authors collected Defense Health Agency TRICARE Inpatient Satisfaction Survey data from fiscal years 2011 through 2013, military hospital EVS spending and workload data, facility construction/renovation data, and military health system inpatient administrative claims data. Multivariate logistic regression for panel data was performed independently for medical/surgical and obstetric product lines and each satisfaction question. A statistically significant positive relationship was found between hospital EVS spending and patient satisfaction, with the highest expenditure levels generally exhibiting a greater association with satisfaction. Statistically significant increases in satisfaction with cleanliness were associated with higher levels of hospital expenditures on EVS.

Health Care Experience Among Women Who Completed Group Prenatal Care (CenteringPregnancy) Compared to Individual Prenatal Care Within Military Treatment Facilities.

This study compared TRICARE, the health care program of the United States Department of Defense Military Health System, beneficiaries in CenteringPregnancy, an enhanced prenatal care model, to women in individual prenatal care within the same military treatment facility. Maternity patient experience ratings from May 2014 to February 2016 were compiled from the TRICARE Outpatient Satisfaction Survey. Centering patients had 1.91 higher odds of being satisfied with access to care (p < .01, 95% CI = 1.2-3.1) than women in individual care. Specifically, the saw provider within 15 minutes of appointment measure found Centering patients to have 2.00 higher odds of being satisfied than women in individual care (p < .01, 95% CI = 1.2-3.3). There were no other statistically significant differences between cohorts. Qualitative responses indicate most Centering patients surveyed had good experiences, appreciated the structure and communication with others, and would recommend the program. Providers identified command/leadership support, dedicated space, and buy-in from all staff as important factors for successful implementation. Enhanced prenatal care models may improve access to and experiences with care. Program evaluation will be important as the military health system continues to implement such programs.

Early elective deliveries accounted for nearly 9 percent of births paid for by Medicaid.

Reducing early elective deliveries has become a priority for Medicaid medical directors and their state partners. Such deliveries lead to poor health outcomes for newborns and their mothers and generate additional costs for patients, providers, and Medicaid, which pays for up to 48 percent of all births in the United States each year. Early elective deliveries are non-medically indicated labor inductions or cesarean deliveries of infants with a confirmed gestational age of less than thirty-nine weeks. This retrospective descriptive study reports the results of a perinatal project, led by the state Medicaid medical directors, that sought to coordinate quality improvement efforts related to early elective deliveries for the Medicaid population. Twenty-two states participated in the project and provided data on elective deliveries in the period 2010-12. We found that 75,131 (8.9 percent) of 839,688 Medicaid singleton births were early elective deliveries. Thus, we estimate that there are 160,000 early elective Medicaid deliveries nationwide each year. In twelve states, early-term elective deliveries declined 32 percent between 2007 and 2011. Our study offers additional evidence and new tools for policy makers pursuing strategies to further reduce the number of such deliveries.