Limitations on Postoperative Opioid Prescriptions and Effects on Health Care Resource Use Following Elective Anterior Cervical Discectomy and Fusion.

OBJECTIVE: To curb the misuse of postoperative prescription opioids, the state of North Carolina enacted the Strengthen Opioid Misuse Prevention (STOP) Act of 2017 limiting the duration of initial postoperative opioid prescriptions. The purpose of this study was to evaluate the STOP Act's effect on health care resource use by comparing patient outcomes and opioid prescribing practices following elective anterior cervical discectomy and fusion (ACDF). METHODS: Outcomes and opioid prescribing data were retrospectively evaluated for Pre-Law (January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2017) and Post-Law (January 1, 2018, to December 31, 2018) elective 1- to 4-level anterior cervical discectomy and fusion patient cohorts. Outcome measures included hospital and clinic resource use in the form of emergency department visits, readmissions, major postoperative complications, number of clinic visits, or number of clinic phone calls by patients reporting uncontrolled pain or requesting new opioid prescriptions. Opioid-prescribing practices in the form of discharge prescription number of pills and total morphine milliequivalents also were recorded. RESULTS: Surrounding the STOP Act's implementation, there was no significant difference (P > 0.05) in emergency department visits, readmissions, major complications, number of postoperative clinic visits, or number of clinic phone calls for uncontrolled pain or new prescription requests. There was a significant decline in mean discharge prescription number of pills (89.7 vs. 67.0, P < 0.001), and average morphine milliequivalents (683.4 vs. 509.6, P < 0.001). CONCLUSIONS: This may reflect overprescribing in this population, where larger opioid prescriptions were likely not needed to manage pain that would otherwise require a return to care.

Spanish-Speaking Parents' Experiences Accessing Academic Medical Center Care: Barriers, Facilitators and Technology Use.

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVE: Children of Spanish-speaking caregivers face multiple barriers to care in academic medical centers. This study identified barriers and facilitators of health care and described use of health information technology in order to guide interventions and optimize services. METHODS: In-depth, audiotaped interviews were conducted with monolingual Spanish-speaking caregivers (N = 28) of children receiving care in academic medical center clinics using a structured interview guide. Interviews were transcribed in Spanish, and key themes were identified using thematic analysis. Illustrative quotes for each theme were translated into English. RESULTS: Language-specific barriers included arrival/registration occurring in English, lack of bilingual personnel, heavy reliance on interpreters, long wait times, and challenging phone communication. Non-language-specific barriers included medical center size and complexity, distance to services, lack of convenient and coordinated appointments, missing work/school, and financial barriers including insurance coverage or lack of citizenship. Caregivers identified interpreters, bilingual physicians and staff, and written materials in Spanish as facilitators of care. Most caregivers had internet access and expressed interest in health information technology, including patient portals, to communicate about their children's health. CONCLUSIONS: Caregivers of Spanish-speaking children encounter many language-specific barriers, which are compounded by non-language-specific barriers arising from complex health systems and social needs. Caregivers with limited resources described working hard to meet children's complex health care needs despite these barriers. Most caregivers had internet access and interest in patient portals. Academic medical centers may need multifaceted interventions that improve the availability of bilingual staff and interpreters and also address caregivers' social and informational needs.

Improving Satisfaction and Appointment Attendance Through Navigation for Spanish-Speaking Families.

OBJECTIVE: Monolingual Spanish-speaking families face linguistic barriers to care. Volunteer bilingual navigation (VBN) may increase appointment attendance and satisfaction. METHODS: Volunteer bilingual navigation was implemented in a children's multispecialty clinic and included way-finding, non-medical interpretation, and pre-visit phone calls. Outcome measures were: 1) Appointment attendance, measured by no-show percentages; 2) Mean Press-Ganey® patient satisfaction ratings. No-show percentages were evaluated using segmented linear regression. Mean patient satisfaction ratings were compared during baseline, intervention, and follow-up phases using t-tests. RESULTS: Trained VBNs provided navigation during the nine-month intervention. In-person navigation was associated with non-significantly decreased no-shows (-0.95%; [-2.43, 0.53]) from baseline (9.32%). Addition of pre-visit phone calls was associated with no-show decrease of -2.82% (-3.97, -1.66). Mean satisfaction ratings increased non-significantly (84.0 to 92.9; p=.18) and remained increased at two-year follow-up. CONCLUSION: Bilingual navigation is an effective complement to formal medical interpretation, may improve Spanish-speaking families' appointment attendance and satisfaction, and can be implemented sustainably.