Variation in ECT use in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: The authors measured the variation in ECT utilization rates across 317 metropolitan statistical areas of the United States and determined to what degree this variation is associated with health care system characteristics, demographic factors, and the stringency of state regulation of ECT. METHOD: Data from APA's 1988-1989 Professional Activities Survey were used to estimate ECT utilization rates for the metropolitan statistical areas. Multiple regression analysis was used to determine the relative influence of provider, demographic, and regulatory factors on variation in ECT use across areas. RESULTS: Among the psychiatrists surveyed, 17,729 reported treating 4,398 patients with ECT during the study period. No ECT use was reported in 115 metropolitan statistical areas. Among the remaining 202 metropolitan statistical areas, annual ECT use varied from 0.4 to 81.2 patients per 10,000 population. The strongest predictors of variation in ECT use across metropolitan statistical areas were the number of psychiatrists, number of primary care physicians, number of private hospital beds per capita, and stringency of state regulation of ECT. CONCLUSIONS: Rates of ECT use were highly variable, higher than for most medical and surgical procedures. In some urban areas, access to ECT appears limited. Predictors of variation in ECT rates have implications for expanding access to the procedure. The extent of variation suggests psychiatrists continue to lack consensus regarding the use of ECT. Better data on the effectiveness of psychiatric treatments may lead to a broader professional consensus and may narrow variations in clinical practices.

Characteristics of psychiatrists who perform ECT.

OBJECTIVE: Use of ECT is highly variable, and previous study has linked its availability to the geographic concentration of psychiatrists. However, less than 8% of all U.S. psychiatrists provide ECT. The authors analyzed the characteristics of psychiatrists who use ECT to understand more fully the variation in its use and how changes in the psychiatric workforce may affect its availability. METHOD: Data from the 1988-1989 Professional Activities Survey were examined to investigate the influence of demographic, training, clinical practice, and geographic characteristics on whether psychiatrists use ECT. RESULTS: Psychiatrists who provided ECT were more likely to be male, to have graduated from a medical school outside the United States, and to have been trained in the 1960s or 1980s rather than the 1970s. They were more likely to provide medications than psychotherapy, to practice at private rather than state and county public hospitals, to treat patients with affective and organic disorders, and to practice in a county containing an academic medical center. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic and training characteristics significantly influence whether a psychiatrist uses ECT. Opposing trends in the U.S. psychiatric workforce could affect the availability of the procedure. Expanding training opportunities for ECT and making education, training, and testing more consistent nationwide could improve clinicians' consensus about ECT and narrow variation in its use.

Neurologic complications of hairy cell leukemia.

Involvement of the nervous system in some forms of leukemia is a common, well-recognized problem. To our knowledge, no study has investigated hairy cell leukemia (HCL) with this question in mind, so we reviewed the records of 108 patients with HCL seen during a seven-year period. Neurologic complications developed in roughly 5% of these patients. Direct infiltration of the nervous system in cases of HCL has rarely been reported in the literature, and the clinico-pathologic appearance is insufficiently documented. We found no cases of direct invasion of the nervous system and only one case of vertebral-body invasion and radicular compression, indicating that epidural spread is also rare. Infection was the most frequent cause of neurologic problems in this series of patients with HCL.

Cost-effectiveness of donepezil in the treatment of mild or moderate Alzheimer's disease.

OBJECTIVE: To demonstrate the use of cost-effectiveness analysis to assess the economic impact of donepezil in the treatment of mild or moderate AD. BACKGROUND: Cost-effectiveness analyses show the relationship between resources used (costs) and health benefits achieved (effects) for an intervention compared with an alternative strategy. METHODS: We developed a model to estimate the incremental cost-effectiveness of donepezil compared with no treatment. We determined costs per quality-adjusted life-years gained, a measurement that enhances the comparability of diverse studies. The model projects the progression of AD patients into more severe disease stages and into nursing homes. Data from a randomized clinical trial of donepezil were used to assess the drug's impact on the 6-week probabilities of progression. Data on the costs and health-related quality of life associated with different disease stages and settings were taken from published estimates and our companion cross-sectional study, respectively. RESULTS: Donepezil costs are partially offset by a reduction in the costs of care due to enhancement in cognitive functioning and the delay to more costly disease stages and settings. The magnitude of this cost offset and of the effect of donepezil on health-related quality of life depends on the model's assumptions about the duration of the drug effect, where controlled data are lacking. If the drug effect exceeds 2 years, the model predicts that for mild AD the drug would pay for itself in terms of cost offsets. CONCLUSIONS: The results of the cost-effectiveness model presented here suggest that donepezil may be cost-effective but additional controlled data on long-term drug efficacy are needed.

Electroencephalographic abnormalities in interferon encephalopathy: a preliminary report.

Although several studies have shown that interferon does not readily cross the blood-brain barrier, recent reports have described central nervous system effects in patients receiving interferon. At our institution, we encountered three patients who had symptoms of toxicity of the central nervous system (somnolence, confusion, and gait difficulties) in association with electroencephalographic abnormalities while receiving alpha 2-interferon therapy for multiple myeloma. The electroencephalogram showed diffuse slow-wave abnormalities in two of the patients and generalized sharp-wave discharges in the third patient. Because the use of interferon is increasing, physicians should be aware of the central nervous system complications and the electroencephalographic changes that can be associated with such therapy.

The role of profit status under imperfect information: evidence from the treatment patterns of elderly medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for psychiatric diagnoses.

Medicare claims for elderly admitted for psychiatric care were used to estimate the impact of hospital profit status on costs, length of stay (LOS), and rehospitalizations. No evidence was found that not-for-profits (NFPs) treated sicker patients or had fewer rehospitalizations. For-profits (FPs) actually treated poorer patients. Longer LOS and lower daily costs of NFPs were attributable to their other characteristics, e.g. medical school affiliation. Instrumental variables (IV) estimates suggested that NFP general hospitals actually have lower adjusted costs. These findings fail to support concerns that FP growth leads to declining access and quality or contentions that NFPs are less efficient.

Quality measures for mental health care: results from a national inventory.

The National Inventory of Mental Health Quality Measures was funded by the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality to (1) inventory process measures for assessing the quality of mental health care; (2) identify clinical, administrative, and quality domains where measures have been developed; and (3) identify areas where further research and development is needed. Among the 86 measures identified, most evaluated treatment of major mental disorders, for example, schizophrenia (24 percent) and major depression (21 percent). A small proportion focused on children (8 percent) or the elderly (9 percent). Domains of quality included treatment appropriateness (65 percent), continuity (26 percent), access (26 percent), coordination (13 percent), detection (12 percent), and prevention (6 percent). Few measures were evaluated for reliability (12 percent) or validity (3 percent). Measures imposing a lower burden were more likely to be in use (chi 2 = 4.41, p = .036). Further measures are needed to assess care for several priority clinical and demographic groups. Research should focus on measure validity, reliability, and implementation costs. In order to foster quality improvement activities and use of common measures and specifications for mental health care, the inventory of quality measures will be made available at www.challiance.org/cqaimh.

Differences between generalists and mental health specialists in the psychiatric treatment of Medicare beneficiaries.

OBJECTIVE: To examine differences between the general medical and mental health specialty sectors in the expenditure and treatment patterns of aged and disabled Medicare beneficiaries with a physician diagnosis of psychiatric disorder. DATA SOURCES: Based on 1991-1993 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey data, linked to the beneficiary's claims and area-level data on provider supply from the Area Resources File and the American Psychological Association. STUDY DESIGN: Outcomes examined included the number of psychiatric services received, psychiatric and total Medicare expenditures, the type of services received, whether or not the patient was hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder, the length of the psychiatric care episode, the intensity of service use, and satisfaction with care. We compared these outcomes for beneficiaries who did and did not receive mental health specialty services during the episode, using multiple regression analyses to adjust for observable population differences. We also performed sensitivity analyses using instrumental variables techniques to reduce the potential bias arising from unmeasured differences in patient case mix across sectors. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Relative to beneficiaries treated only in the general medical sector, those seen by a mental health specialist had longer episodes of care, were more likely to receive services specific to psychiatry, and had greater psychiatric and total expenditures. Among the elderly persons, the higher costs were due to a combination of longer episodes and greater intensity; among the persons who were disabled, they were due primarily to longer episodes. Some evidence was also found of higher satisfaction with care among the disabled individuals treated in the specialty sector. However, evidence of differences in psychiatric hospitalization rates was weaker. CONCLUSIONS: Mental health care provided to Medicare beneficiaries in the general medical sector does not appear to substitute perfectly for care provided in the specialty sector. Our study suggests that the treatment patterns in the specialty sector may be preferred by some patients; further, earlier findings indicate geographic barriers to obtaining specialty care. Thus, the matching of service use to clinical need among this vulnerable population may be inappropriate. The need for further research on outcomes is indicated.

Risk adjustment alternatives in paying for behavioral health care under Medicaid.

OBJECTIVE: To compare the performance of various risk adjustment models in behavioral health applications such as setting mental health and substance abuse (MH/SA) capitation payments or overall capitation payments for populations including MH/SA users. DATA SOURCES/STUDY DESIGN: The 1991-93 administrative data from the Michigan Medicaid program were used. We compared mean absolute prediction error for several risk adjustment models and simulated the profits and losses that behavioral health care carve outs and integrated health plans would experience under risk adjustment if they enrolled beneficiaries with a history of MH/SA problems. Models included basic demographic adjustment, Adjusted Diagnostic Groups, Hierarchical Condition Categories, and specifications designed for behavioral health. PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Differences in predictive ability among risk adjustment models were small and generally insignificant. Specifications based on relatively few MH/SA diagnostic categories did as well as or better than models controlling for additional variables such as medical diagnoses at predicting MH/SA expenditures among adults. Simulation analyses revealed that among both adults and minors considerable scope remained for behavioral health care carve outs to make profits or losses after risk adjustment based on differential enrollment of severely ill patients. Similarly, integrated health plans have strong financial incentives to avoid MH/SA users even after adjustment. CONCLUSIONS: Current risk adjustment methodologies do not eliminate the financial incentives for integrated health plans and behavioral health care carve-out plans to avoid high-utilizing patients with psychiatric disorders.

Provider specialty choice among Medicare beneficiaries treated for psychiatric disorders.

This study estimates the probability of mental health specialist use among elderly and disabled Medicare beneficiaries treated for a primary psychiatric diagnosis, based on the 1991 Medicare Current Beneficiary Survey (MCBS) and physician claims. Beneficiaries with psychotic and affective disorders or multiple psychiatric diagnoses had a higher probability of specialty use, as did beneficiaries in counties with greater psychiatrist density. Elderly in counties with greater general practitioner density and disabled in counties with greater psychologist density were less likely to see a specialist, suggesting possible provider substitution. Government programs to recruit and retain mental health professionals in underserved areas may change provider specialty choices among Medicare beneficiaries treated for psychiatric disorders.

Preliminary communication--treatment of primary brain tumors recurrent after irradiation with aziridinylbenzoquinone (AZQ;NSC-182986).

Twenty-nine patients with primary brain tumors recurrent or progressive after cerebral irradiation were treated with AZQ. Twenty of the 29 patients had also failed prior chemotherapy. CT scan-documented tumor regressions were noted in 17.2% (5/29) and ranged from 15.0% (3/20) in patients with prior chemotherapy to 22.2 (2/9) in patients without prior chemotherapy. Myelosuppression was the only significant toxicity noted. AZQ is worthy of further studies in patients with primary brain tumors.

Assessing the quality of psychiatric care: research methods and application in clinical practice.

The drive to contain the costs of health care in the United States is focusing attention on how quality of care is affected. This article discusses research methods for assessing the quality of psychiatric care and reviews findings from some major studies evaluating care. These findings are mixed, highlighting areas in which quality of care is less than optimal, as well as the importance of continued research and the need to develop better research methods. Evidence-based criteria and more-sensitive risk-adjustment techniques must be employed if data on quality are to yield fair comparisons among health plans. The challenge is to refine the methods now in use at both the research and clinical levels, so that better-quality assessments can be made for policy formulation, physician education, and consumer choice.

Developing a quality management system for behavioral health care: the Cambridge Health Alliance Experience.

The rapid pace of change in the health care system presents tremendous challenges for clinicians and managers charged with the delivery of mental health and substance abuse services. Declining reimbursement, new incentive structures, and increasing competition are placing unprecedented pressure on providers to deliver care efficiently. Regulatory scrutiny, consumer dissatisfaction, and a growing awareness of gaps between actual and ideal practice have led to intensifying pressure to improve quality. Yet system change has also presented new opportunities for managing cost and quality of care. Consolidation of facilities and practices into integrated networks, developments in information systems technology, and the emergence of models to facilitate change have led to the rise of "quality management," a framework for assessing and improving clinical, operational, and financial performance within a health care organization. This article reviews some of the precipitating factors and theoretical structures underlying quality management and then, through a case study of one organization's experience, describes the implementation of a quality management program in a behavioral health care delivery system. The case study emphasizes how theoretical frameworks were operationalized and how organizational structure and process were shaped to address challenges well known in quality management, such as authority, accountability, and follow-through. A multiphase model of quality management program development is formulated and used to provide context for this program's development.

Inpatient psychiatric treatment of elderly Medicare beneficiaries.

OBJECTIVE: The clinical characteristics and treatment patterns of elderly Medicare beneficiaries hospitalized for psychiatric disorders were examined. METHODS: Administrative data on all elderly Medicare beneficiaries in the United States hospitalized in a nonfederal hospital for a primary psychiatric disorder in 1990-1991 were used to calculate descriptive statistics on case-mix by age group, hospital type (psychiatric hospital, general hospital psychiatric unit, or general hospital nonpsychiatric unit), and primary diagnosis. Length of stay, costs, and discharge destination by hospital type and primary diagnosis were also determined. RESULTS: A total of .6 percent of elderly Medicare beneficiaries were hospitalized for a psychiatric disorder in 1990, accounting for more than 240,000 admissions and $1 billion in Medicare payments. The most common reasons for hospitalization were major depressive disorder (28.1 percent), dementia and other organic disorders (26.8 percent), and substance-related disorders (12.6 percent). Organic disorders were particularly prevalent among the oldest old, accounting for more than half of psychiatric admissions among those 85 and older. A total of 43 percent of the psychiatric admissions were to general hospital nonpsychiatric units, 38 percent to general hospital psychiatric units, and only 19 percent to psychiatric hospitals. Within each diagnostic category, patients admitted to general hospital nonpsychiatric units had the shortest average lengths of stay and the lowest average costs. Among beneficiaries with organic, affective, and psychotic disorders other than schizophrenia, those admitted to general hospitals had shorter lengths of stay, higher rates of discharge to nursing homes, and lower rates of discharge to self-care than those treated in psychiatric hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Case-mix-adjusted treatment patterns varied substantially across hospital types, due to differences in either illness severity or treatment styles.

Use of electroconvulsive therapy in the Medicare population between 1987 and 1992.

OBJECTIVE: Use of electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) in the Medicare population was examined to document trends and variations in the rate of use, expenditures, and patterns of treatment. METHODS: Medicare part B enrollment and claims data were used for a 5 percent nationally representative sample of Medicare beneficiaries for calendar years 1987 through 1992. Descriptive and multivariate analyses were performed. RESULTS: Weighted results showed that nationally the number of Medicare beneficiaries treated with ECT increased from 12,000 in 1987 to 15,560 in 1992. The rate of ECT use per 10,000 Medicare beneficiaries also increased from 4.2 to 5.1. Increases in use occurred among women, whites, and the disabled population (under age 65). Males, nonwhites, and the elderly did not share in the increase. Utilization and expenditure data showed an increase in outpatient ECT and a decrease in inpatient use between 1987 and 1992. The share of Medicare part B ECT expenditures in the outpatient setting increased steadily, from 7 percent in 1987 to 16 percent in 1992. Patients averaged eight ECT treatments, ranging from 6.7 in the West to 8.3 in the Northeast. CONCLUSIONS: The findings document that after a long period of declining use in the United States, ECT use in the Medicare population increased between 1987 and 1992. The analysis also documents a shift toward increasing use of outpatient ECT.

Methods of cost-effectiveness analysis in the assessment of new drugs for Alzheimer's disease.

New treatments for Alzheimer's disease highlight the complex clinical and financial issues at stake with new pharmacotherapies. This paper describes cost-effectiveness analysis as a method for assessing these issues. Cost-effectiveness analyses show the relationship between resources used and health benefits achieved for a medical intervention compared with an alternative strategy. In analyses of treatments of Alzheimer's disease, costs include health care resources, such as diagnostic tests, medications and efforts to monitor or treat side effects, acute hospital care, physicians' services, home health care, and nursing home care; non-health-care resources, such as support services provided by paid caregivers; and time spent by family members in unpaid provision of care and by patients in seeking care or undergoing an intervention. Effectiveness of interventions can be assessed by measuring changes in patients' cognitive functioning or by measuring years of life gained and the quality of life during those years. Cost-effectiveness studies often make use of disparate data sources, including data collected as part of randomized controlled clinical trials, and they often use mathematical models to support estimates. Because economic evaluations of new interventions for Alzheimer's disease will likely play an increasingly influential role in clinical and resource allocation in the coming years, physicians and other health system stakeholders should familiarize themselves with the techniques of cost-effectiveness analysis and become critical consumers of the literature describing these analyses.

Diagnoses of patients treated with ECT: a comparison of evidence-based standards with reported use.

OBJECTIVE: This study assessed the extent to which patients treated with electroconvulsive therapy (ECT) had diagnoses for which ECT is an efficacious treatment according to evidence-based standards. METHODS: ECT use among all beneficiaries of a large New England insurance company in 1994 and 1995 was examined using a retrospective cohort design. Associations between provider characteristics and ECT use for diagnoses outside the standards were determined using logistic regression analysis. RESULTS: A total of 996 individuals among approximately 1.2 million beneficiaries were treated with ECT. They received a total of 1,532 ECT courses. For 86.5 percent of the courses, the diagnosis was within evidence-based indications; for 13.5 percent, the diagnosis was outside the indications. In more than half of the 13.5 percent of cases, conditions were depressive disorders for which no studies have been conducted or disorders that likely had associated depressive symptoms. Patients receiving ECT for diagnoses outside evidence-based indications were more likely to have been treated by psychiatrists who graduated from medical school between 1940 and 1960 and between 1961 and 1980 than by those who graduated between 1981 and 1990. These patients were also less likely to have been treated by psychiatrists who received their medical education outside the U.S. CONCLUSIONS: Diagnoses of patients treated with ECT were mostly within evidence-based indications. The results provide reassurance to those concerned that ECT may be used indiscriminately. If confirmed by further research, the finding that psychiatrists trained in earlier eras were more likely to use ECT for diagnoses outside evidence-based indications may offer an opportunity for targeted quality improvement.

A framework for measuring quality and promoting accountability across silos: the case of mental disorders and co-occurring conditions.

BACKGROUND: Quality measures can be effective tools for improving delivery of care and patient outcomes. Co-occurring conditions (COCs), including general medical conditions and substance use disorders, are the rule rather than the exception in patients with serious mental health disorders and lead to substantial morbidity and mortality burden. COCs among persons with mental health disorders are often treated by separate systems ("silos") in the US healthcare system, making it difficult to establish expectations for performance, assign accountability for measure results and ultimately improve quality of care for this group. OBJECTIVES: A framework for measuring quality of care for COCs is proposed by reviewing the current state of quality for COCs and examples of quality measures based on the Donabedian model. METHODS AND FRAMEWORK: The framework will also be applied to better define which providers are accountable for quality improvement, to ultimately ensure that quality measures have an impact on improving care for COCs.