Payer-Negotiated Price Variation and Relationship to Surgical Outcomes for the Most Common Cancers at NCI-Designated Cancer Centers.

BACKGROUND: Federal rules mandate that hospitals publish payer-specific negotiated prices for all services. Little is known about variation in payer-negotiated prices for surgical oncology services or their relationship to clinical outcomes. We assessed variation in payer-negotiated prices associated with surgical care for common cancers at National Cancer Institute (NCI)-designated cancer centers and determined the effect of increasing payer-negotiated prices on the odds of morbidity and mortality. MATERIALS AND METHODS: A cross-sectional analysis of 63 NCI-designated cancer center websites was employed to assess variation in payer-negotiated prices. A retrospective cohort study of 15,013 Medicare beneficiaries undergoing surgery for colon, pancreas, or lung cancers at an NCI-designated cancer center between 2014 and 2018 was conducted to determine the relationship between payer-negotiated prices and clinical outcomes. The primary outcome was the effect of median payer-negotiated price on odds of a composite outcome of 30 days mortality and serious postoperative complications for each cancer cohort. RESULTS: Within-center prices differed by up to 48.8-fold, and between-center prices differed by up to 675-fold after accounting for geographic variation in costs of providing care. Among the 15,013 patients discharged from 20 different NCI-designated cancer centers, the effect of normalized median payer-negotiated price on the composite outcome was clinically negligible, but statistically significantly positive for colon [aOR 1.0094 (95% CI 1.0051-1.0138)], lung [aOR 1.0145 (1.0083-1.0206)], and pancreas [aOR 1.0080 (1.0040-1.0120)] cancer cohorts. CONCLUSIONS: Payer-negotiated prices are statistically significantly but not clinically meaningfully related to morbidity and mortality for the surgical treatment of common cancers. Higher payer-negotiated prices are likely due to factors other than clinical quality.

Identifying Sources of Inter-Hospital Variation in Episode Spending for Sepsis Care.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate inter-hospital variation in 90-day total episode spending for sepsis, estimate the relative contributions of each component of spending, and identify drivers of spending across the distribution of episode spending on sepsis care. DATA SOURCES/STUDY SETTING: Medicare fee-for-service claims for beneficiaries (n=324,694) discharged from acute care hospitals for sepsis, defined by MS-DRG, between October 2014 and September 2018. RESEARCH DESIGN: Multiple linear regression with hospital-level fixed effects was used to identify average hospital differences in 90-day episode spending. Separate multiple linear regression and quantile regression models were used to evaluate drivers of spending across the episode spending distribution. RESULTS: The mean total episode spending among hospitals in the most expensive quartile was $30,500 compared with $23,150 for the least expensive hospitals ( P <0.001). Postacute care spending among the most expensive hospitals was almost double that of least expensive hospitals ($7,045 vs. $3,742), accounting for 51% of the total difference in episode spending between the most expensive and least expensive hospitals. Female patients, patients with more comorbidities, urban hospitals, and BPCI-A-participating hospitals were associated with significantly increased episode spending, with the effect increasing at the right tail of the spending distribution. CONCLUSION: Inter-hospital variation in 90-day episode spending on sepsis care is driven primarily by differences in post-acute care spending.

BMT Roadmap: A User-Centered Design Health Information Technology Tool to Promote Patient-Centered Care in Pediatric Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation.

Health information technology (HIT) has great potential for increasing patient engagement. Pediatric hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT) is a setting ripe for using HIT but in which little research exists. "BMT Roadmap" is a web-based application that integrates patient-specific information and includes several domains: laboratory results, medications, clinical trial details, photos of the healthcare team, trajectory of transplant process, and discharge checklist. BMT Roadmap was provided to 10 caregivers of patients undergoing first-time HCT. Research assistants performed weekly qualitative interviews throughout the patient's hospitalization and at discharge and day 100 to assess the impact of BMT Roadmap. Rigorous thematic analysis revealed 5 recurrent themes: emotional impact of the HCT process itself; critical importance of communication among patients, caregivers, and healthcare providers; ways in which BMT Roadmap was helpful during inpatient setting; suggestions for improving BMT Roadmap; and other strategies for organization and management of complex healthcare needs that could be incorporated into BMT Roadmap. Caregivers found the tool useful and easy to use, leading them to want even greater access to information. BMT Roadmap was feasible, with no disruption to inpatient care. Although this initial study is limited by the small sample size and single-institution experience, these initial findings are encouraging and support further investigation.

A Practical Guide for Building Collaborations Between Clinical Researchers and Engineers: Lessons Learned From a Multidisciplinary Patient Safety Project.

OBJECTIVES: Engineering and operations research have much to contribute to improve patient safety, especially within complex, highly regulated, and constantly evolving hospital environments. Despite new technologies, clinical checklists, and alarm systems, basic challenges persist that impact patient safety, such as how to improve communication between healthcare providers to prevent hospital-acquired complications. Because these collaborations are often new territory for both clinical researchers and engineers, the aim of the study was to prepare research teams that are embarking on similar collaborations regarding common challenges and training needs to anticipate while developing multidisciplinary teams. METHODS: Using a specific patient safety project as a case study, we share lessons learned and research training tools developed in our experience from recent multidisciplinary collaborations between clinical and engineering teams, which included many nonclinical undergraduate and graduate students. RESULTS: We developed a practical guide to describe anticipated challenges and solutions to consider for developing successful partnerships between engineering and clinical researchers. To address the extensive clinical, regulatory, data collection, and laboratory education needed for orienting multidisciplinary team members to join research projects, we also developed and shared a checklist for project managers as well as the training materials as adaptable resources to facilitate other teams' initiation into these types of collaborations. These resources are appropriate and tailorable for orienting both clinical and nonclinical team members, including faculty and staff as well as undergraduate and graduate students. CONCLUSIONS: We shared a practical guide to prepare teams for new multidisciplinary collaborations between clinicians and engineers.

A Comparison of Estimated Cost Savings from Potential Reductions in Hospital-Acquired Conditions to Levied Penalties Under the CMS Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program.

BACKGROUND: The Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) reduces Medicare payments to hospitals with high rates of hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) by 1% each year. It is not known how the savings accruing to CMS from such penalties compare to savings resulting from a reduction in HACs driven by this program. This study compares the reported savings to CMS from financial penalties levied under the HACRP with savings resulting from potential reductions in HACs. METHODS: Using a random sample of 20% of Medicare claims data (January 1, 2009-September 30, 2014), the research team evaluated the association between HACs and 90-day episode spending (adjusted to 2015 dollars), then estimated potential annual savings to CMS if there was a relative decrease in incidence of all HACs by 1%-20%. These savings were then compared to the actual collected HACRP penalties reported by CMS in 2015. RESULTS: All HACs were associated with significant increases in total 90-day episode spending, ranging from $3,183 for iatrogenic pneumothorax to $21,654 for postoperative hip fracture. The total estimated savings to Medicare from potential reduction in all HACs ranged from $2.2 million to $44 million per year, an amount much lower than the $361 million in penalties levied on hospitals per year for HACs. CONCLUSION: The penalties levied under the HACRP far exceed the potential cost savings accruing from a 1%-20% reduction in HACs that might result from hospitals' efforts in response to the program.

Changes in hospital safety following penalties in the US Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program: retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the association between hospital penalization in the US Hospital Acquired Condition Reduction Program (HACRP) and subsequent changes in clinical outcomes. DESIGN: Regression discontinuity design applied to a retrospective cohort from inpatient Medicare claims. SETTING: 3238 acute care hospitals in the United States. PARTICIPANTS: Medicare fee-for-service beneficiaries discharged from acute care hospitals between 23 July 2014 and 30 November 2016 and eligible for at least one targeted hospital acquired condition (n=15 470 334). INTERVENTION: Hospital receipt of a penalty in the first year of the HACRP. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Episode level count of targeted hospital acquired conditions per 1000 episodes, 30 day readmissions, and 30 day mortality. RESULTS: Of 724 hospitals penalized under the HACRP in fiscal year 2015, 708 were represented in the study. Mean counts of hospital acquired conditions were 2.72 per 1000 episodes for penalized hospitals and 2.06 per 1000 episodes for non-penalized hospitals; 30 day readmissions were 14.4% and 14.0%, respectively, and 30 day mortality was 9.0% for both hospital groups. Penalized hospitals were more likely to be large, teaching institutions, and have a greater share of patients with low socioeconomic status than non-penalized hospitals. HACRP penalties were associated with a non-significant change of -0.16 hospital acquired conditions per 1000 episodes (95% confidence interval -0.53 to 0.20), -0.36 percentage points in 30 day readmission (-1.06 to 0.33), and -0.04 percentage points in 30 day mortality (-0.59 to 0.52). No clear patterns of clinical improvement were observed across hospital characteristics. CONCLUSIONS: Penalization was not associated with significant changes in rates of hospital acquired conditions, 30 day readmission, or 30 day mortality, and does not appear to drive meaningful clinical improvements. By disproportionately penalizing hospitals caring for more disadvantaged patients, the HACRP could exacerbate inequities in care.

Novel Health Information Technology Tool Use by Adult Patients Undergoing Allogeneic Hematopoietic Cell Transplantation: Longitudinal Quantitative and Qualitative Patient-Reported Outcomes.

PURPOSE: Health information technology (IT) is an ideal medium to improve the delivery of patient-centered care and increase patient engagement. Health IT interventions should be designed with the end user in mind and be specific to the needs of a given population. Hematopoietic cell transplantation (HCT), commonly referred to as blood and marrow transplantation (BMT), is a prime example of a complex medical procedure where patient-caregiver-provider engagement is central to a safe and successful outcome. We have previously reported on the design and development of an HCT-specific health IT tool, BMT Roadmap. METHODS: This study highlights longitudinal quantitative and qualitative patient-reported outcomes (PROs) in 20 adult patients undergoing allogeneic HCT. Patients completed PROs at three time points (baseline, day 30 post-HTC, and day 100 post-HCT) and provided weekly qualitative data through semistructured interviews while using BMT Roadmap. RESULTS: The mean hospital stay was 23.3 days (range, 17 to 37 days), and patients had access to BMT Roadmap for a mean of 21.3 days (range, 15 to 37 days). The total time spent on BMT Roadmap ranged from 0 to 139 minutes per patient, with a mean of 55 minutes (standard deviation, 47.6 minutes). We found that patients readily engaged with the tool and completed qualitative interviews and quantitative PROs. The Patient Activation Measure, a validated measure of patient engagement, increased for patients from baseline to discharge and day 100. Activation was significantly and negatively correlated with depression and anxiety PROs at discharge, suggesting that this may be an important time point for intervention. CONCLUSION: Given the feasibility and promising results reported in this study, next steps include expanding our current health IT platform and implementing a randomized trial to assess the impact of BMT Roadmap on critical PROs.