Variability in asthma quality and costs in children with different Medicaid insurance plans in Maricopa County.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the variation in asthma quality and costs among children with different Medicaid insurance plans. METHODS: We used 2013 data from the Center for Health Information and Research, which houses a database that includes individuals who have Medicaid insurance in Arizona. We analyzed children ages 2-17 years-old who lived in Maricopa County, Arizona. Asthma medication ratio (AMR, a measure of appropriate asthma medication use), outpatient follow-up within 2 weeks after asthma-related hospitalization (a measure of continuity of care), asthma-related hospitalizations, and all emergency department (ED) visits were the primary quality metrics. Direct costs were reported in 2013 $US dollars. We used one-way analysis of variance to compare the health plans for AMR and per member cost (total, ER, and hospital), and the chi-squared test for the outpatient follow-up measure. We used coefficient of variation to identify variation of each measure across all individuals in the study. RESULTS: In 2013, 90,652 children in Maricopa County were identified as having asthma. The average patient-weighted AMR for children with persistent asthma was 0.35, well short of the goal of ≥0.70, and only 36% of hospitalized asthma patients had outpatient follow-up within 2 weeks of hospitalization. AMR, total costs, and ED costs varied significantly (p <.0001) when comparing health plans while hospital costs and outpatient follow-up showed no significant variation. CONCLUSIONS: Targeting appropriate medication use for asthma may help reduce variation, improve outcomes, and increase healthcare value for children with asthma and Medicaid insurance in the US.

Epidemiology of syphilis among Hispanic women and associations with congenital syphilis, Maricopa county, Arizona.

OBJECTIVE: We investigated factors associated with high rates of congenital syphilis among Hispanic infants in Maricopa County, AZ. METHODS: Using 2004-2008 syphilis case report data from the state and county health departments, we examined characteristics of pregnant and nonpregnant women with syphilis and their male partners. RESULTS: During 2004-2008, 970 women were reported to have syphilis: 49% were Hispanic (of whom 49% were non-US citizens), 27% were white, 13% were black, and 8% were American Indian/Alaskan Native. Although 16% of Hispanic noncitizens reported drug use or high-risk sexual behaviors, 64% of these women had a male sex partner who reported drug use or anonymous sex. Hispanic women with syphilis were more likely to be pregnant (37%) than white (15%) or black women (13%) (P < 0.05), and were overrepresented among pregnant women with syphilis. Pregnant Hispanic noncitizens were treated later than pregnant Hispanic citizens (median 28 weeks gestation vs. 21 weeks, P = 0.01). CONCLUSIONS: Innovative congenital syphilis prevention strategies that are relevant to Hispanic women are warranted. Strategies should address the reproductive health and prenatal care needs of Hispanic women, and may include interventions for their male partners.

Identifying opportunities for chlamydia screening among American Indian women.

Medical record review was used to identify missed opportunities for chlamydia screening among 103 American Indian/Alaska Native women. Of these, 69% had received a pregnancy test and 74% had received a urine test in the previous 12 months. Chlamydia screening may increase if linked to the other routine clinical testing.

A Primary Care Clerkship during the COVID-19 Pandemic, An Educator and Learners' Perspective on Telemedicine, The New Frontier of Clinical education.

This article was migrated. The article was marked as recommended. The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the educational experience within medical education. Telemedicine has rapidly ascended to the forefront with healthcare delivery during the pandemic. We discuss our initial perspective with telemedicine as the sole clinical instructive platform within a family medicine clerkship rotation.

Identifying unreported and undiagnosed cases of congenital syphilis in Arizona using live birth and fetal death registries.

To investigate the drop in reported congenital syphilis cases from 28 in 2005 to 16 in 2006, the Arizona infant registries were cross matched with reported syphilis test among women in th estat STD database. Six previously unreported cases were identified; four live births and two still births.

Improving partner services by embedding disease intervention specialists in HIV-clinics.

BACKGROUND/OBJECTIVES: Notifying partners of HIV-infected persons and referring them for testing and treatment is an effective method of disease control and identification of undiagnosed STD and/or HIV. To improve partner elicitation interviews, disease intervention specialists (DIS) were placed in 3 HIV clinics during 2008 and 2009. METHODS: We reviewed the Arizona state STD surveillance database for 2007 to identify the providers (outside of the public STD clinics) reporting the highest number of syphilis cases. DIS were placed in the clinics for half a day per week (2 clinics) or on an on-call basis (1 clinic) to deliver penicillin and interview patients. We calculated changes in the number of patients interviewed, days elapsed from specimen collection to treatment (time to treatment), days elapsed from specimen collection to initial DIS contact (time to interview), and number of reported and locatable partners from these 3 clinics before and after the clinic placement of DIS. RESULTS: Before the placement of clinic-based DIS, 219 syphilis cases were diagnosed at the 3 clinics (January 2006 through January 2008). After DIS placement, 115 syphilis cases were diagnosed (February 2008 through September 2009) for a total of 334 cases in this analysis. A greater percent of patients completed a partner elicitation interview during the period of DIS placement (94% after vs. 81% before, P = 0.001). There were increases in the average number of locatable partners (1.1 after vs. 0.6 before, P = 0.004) and an increase in the average number of partners exposed and brought to treatment (CDC Disposition A) or infected and brought to treatment (CDC Disposition C) (0.6 after vs. 0.3 before, P = 0.02), and the time to interview decreased (18 days before vs. 9 days after, P = 0.02). CONCLUSIONS/IMPLICATIONS: Placing DIS within community HIV clinics improved partner services. STD and/or HIV programs should consider this method to improve partner notification.

Sexually transmitted diseases among American Indians in Arizona: an important public health disparity.

OBJECTIVE: We conducted an analysis of rates, geographic distribution, and time to treatment of chlamydia, gonorrhea, and early syphilis (ES) among Arizona American Indians (AIs) to address racial disparities affecting this group. METHODS: We used the Arizona Department of Health Services' sexually transmitted disease (STD) surveillance database to identify STD cases and calculate rates among AIs in Arizona from 2003 to 2007. We mapped AI ES cases reported during that time frame by reported resident ZIP code, calculated days elapsed from specimen collection to initial treatment, and compared rates and time to treatment for AIs with those of non-Hispanic white (NHW) individuals. RESULTS: Annual Arizona AI STD rates for chlamydia, gonorrhea, and ES from 2003 to 2007 ranged from 2.7 to 7.8 times those of NHW people. During the same time period, the annual rates for all three STDs among adolescents aged 15 to 19 years were also higher among AIs and ranged from 2.0 to 14.8 times those of NHW individuals. The majority of cases for ES reported ZIP codes located in the northeastern and southern central portions of the state. The median time to treatment in AI populations was significantly longer than in NHW populations for chlamydia and gonorrhea, but not for ES. CONCLUSIONS: High rates of STDs have been identified among AIs in certain regions of Arizona. Additionally, there are significant delays in treatment for gonorrhea and chlamydia. STD prevention and education programs that prioritize this health disparity and promote expeditious screening, diagnosis, and treatment are needed.

Trends in reported syphilis and gonorrhea among HIV-infected people in Arizona: implications for prevention and control.

OBJECTIVE: HIV and sexually transmitted disease (STD) surveillance patterns in Arizona suggested the need for integrated data analyses to identify trends. METHODS: We compiled all HIV/AIDS cases diagnosed from 1998 to 2008 that were reported in Arizona and syphilis or gonorrhea cases diagnosed from 1998 to 2008 in Arizona. We used deterministic matching to identify individuals who were diagnosed with HIV and one or more STDs, and calculated time intervals between diagnoses. RESULTS: Of 23,940 people with HIV/AIDS reported from 1998 to 2008, 1,899 (2.6%) had at least one syphilis or gonorrhea diagnosis from 1998 to 2008. Approximately 85% of these cases reported male-to-male sexual contact. Among males with syphilis, HIV coinfection increased from 0.5% in 1998 to 29.1% in 2008. Among males with gonorrhea, HIV coinfection increased from 2.0% in 1998 to 3.1% in 2008. Among HIV cases diagnosed from 2004 to 2008 and reported with at least one syphilis or gonorrhea diagnosis, the majority of syphilis cases (76.1%) were diagnosed at or after HIV diagnosis, whereas a majority of gonorrhea cases (54.9%) were diagnosed prior to HIV diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Use of the deterministic matching method identified increases in STD infections among HIV-infected people. The routine performance of this cross-matching method may be a useful tool in identifying these high-risk individuals so that targeted partner services and appropriate care referrals may be used in a timely fashion.

Protecting adolescents' right to seek treatment for sexually transmitted diseases without parental consent: the Arizona experience with Senate Bill 1309.

In 2010, Senate Bill 1309 included language to repeal an existing Arizona law that enables minors younger than 18 years of age to seek diagnosis and treatment of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) without parental consent. Numerous implications were identified that would have stemmed from parental consent provisions originally proffered in Senate Bill 1309. These implications included diminished access to essential health services among minors, exacerbated existing health disparities, increased health-care spending costs, and thwarted efforts to curb the spread of STDs. Lastly, minors would have been deprived of existing privacy protections concerning their STD-related medical information. This case study describes how collaborative advocacy efforts resulted in the successful amendment of Senate Bill 1309 to avert the negative sexual and reproductive health outcomes among adolescents stemming from the potential repeal of their existing legal right to seek STD treatment without parental consent.

Assessing compliance with a county board order for third trimester syphilis screening in Maricopa County, Arizona.

OBJECTIVES: Due to high rates of congenital syphilis, a Maricopa County board order was issued in 2003 to increase prenatal syphilis screening. The provisions of this order included prenatal syphilis screening during the first prenatal visit, to be repeated during the third trimester, and again at delivery. The purpose of the study was to evaluate syphilis screening practices and barriers to screening among obstetric providers. METHODS: Maricopa County medical providers who delivered at least 21 infants (97.2% of all deliveries) in 2008 according to live birth records were surveyed by telephone. RESULTS: A total of 146 surveys were completed representing 76% (319/421) of the delivering providers and 83% of delivered infants for 2008. All of the represented prenatal care providers reported testing their patients for syphilis at the first trimester, and 284 (89%) reported screening again during the third trimester. CONCLUSIONS: All of the surveyed providers reported screening at least once for syphilis during pregnancy and most reported re-screening during the third trimester as recommended by the Maricopa County board order. Similar public health screening guidance should be considered in areas where congenital syphilis rates are high and/or where syphilis is prevalent among women of childbearing age. A local health order of this type is a simple intervention that can provide practice guidance on emerging health issues.