Effect of Electronic and Mail Outreach From Primary Care Physicians for COVID-19 Vaccination of Black and Latino Older Adults: A Randomized Clinical Trial.

Importance: COVID-19 morbidity is highest in Black and Latino older adults. These racial and ethnic groups initially had lower vaccination uptake than others, and rates in Black adults continue to lag. Objectives: To evaluate the effect of outreach via electronic secure messages and mailings from primary care physicians (PCPs) on COVID-19 vaccination uptake among Black and Latino older adults and to compare the effects of culturally tailored and standard PCP messages. Design, Setting, and Participants: This randomized clinical trial was conducted from March 29 to May 20, 2021, with follow-up surveys through July 31, 2021. Latino and Black individuals aged 65 years and older from 4 Kaiser Permanente Northern California (KPNC) service areas were included. Data were analyzed from May 27, 2021, to September 28, 2021. Interventions: Individuals who had not received COVID-19 vaccination after previous outreach were randomized to electronic secure message and/or mail outreach from their PCP, similar outreach with additional culturally tailored content, or usual care. Outreach groups were sent a secure message or letter in their PCP's name, followed by a postcard to those still unvaccinated after 4 weeks. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was time to receipt of COVID-19 vaccination during the 8 weeks after initial study outreach. KPNC data were supplemented with state data from external sources. Intervention effects were evaluated via proportional hazards regression. Results: Of 8287 included individuals (mean [SD] age, 72.6 [7.0] years; 4665 [56.3%] women), 2434 (29.4%) were Black, 3782 (45.6%) were Latino and preferred English-language communications, and 2071 (25.0%) were Latino and preferred Spanish-language communications; 2847 participants (34.4%) had a neighborhood deprivation index at the 75th percentile or higher. A total of 2767 participants were randomized to culturally tailored PCP outreach, 2747 participants were randomized to standard PCP outreach, and 2773 participants were randomized to usual care. Culturally tailored PCP outreach led to higher COVID-19 vaccination rates during follow-up compared with usual care (664 participants [24.0%] vs 603 participants [21.7%]; adjusted hazard ratio (aHR), 1.22; 95% CI, 1.09-1.37), as did standard PCP outreach (635 participants [23.1%]; aHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.04-1.31). Individuals who were Black (aHR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.06-1.33), had high neighborhood deprivation (aHR, 1.17; 95% CI, 1.03-1.33), and had medium to high comorbidity scores (aHR, 1.19; 95% CI, 1.09-1.31) were more likely to be vaccinated during follow-up. Conclusions and Relevance: This randomized clinical trial found that PCP outreach using electronic and mailed messages increased COVID-19 vaccination rates among Black and Latino older adults. Trial Registration: ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT05096026.

Development of a healthcare system COVID Hotspotting Score in California: an observational study with prospective validation.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the value of health systems data as indicators of emerging COVID-19 activity. DESIGN: Observational study of health system indicators for the COVID Hotspotting Score (CHOTS) with prospective validation. SETTING AND PARTICIPANTS: An integrated healthcare delivery system in Northern California including 21 hospitals and 4.5 million members. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: The CHOTS incorporated 10 variables including four major (cough/cold calls, emails, new positive COVID-19 tests, COVID-19 hospital census) and six minor (COVID-19 calls, respiratory infection and COVID-19 routine and urgent visits, and respiratory viral testing) indicators assessed with change point detection and slope metrics. We quantified cross-correlations lagged by 7-42 days between CHOTS and standardised COVID-19 hospital census using observational data from 1 April to 31 May 2020 and two waves of prospective data through 21 March 2021. RESULTS: Through 30 September 2020, peak cross-correlation between CHOTS and COVID-19 hospital census occurred with a 28-day lag at 0.78; at 42 days, the correlation was 0.69. Lagged correlation between medical centre CHOTS and their COVID-19 census was highest at 42 days for one facility (0.63), at 35 days for nine facilities (0.52-0.73), at 28 days for eight facilities (0.28-0.74) and at 14 days for two facilities (0.73-0.78). The strongest correlation for individual indicators was 0.94 (COVID-19 census) and 0.90 (new positive COVID-19 tests) lagged 1-14 days and 0.83 for COVID-19 calls and urgent clinic visits lagged 14-28 days. Cross-correlation was similar (0.73) with a 35-day lag using prospective validation from 1 October 2020 to 21 March 2021. CONCLUSIONS: Passively collected health system indicators were strongly correlated with forthcoming COVID-19 hospital census up to 6 weeks before three successive COVID-19 waves. These tools could inform communities, health systems and public health officials to identify, prepare for and mitigate emerging COVID-19 activity.

Racial Disparities in COVID-19 Testing and Outcomes : Retrospective Cohort Study in an Integrated Health System.

BACKGROUND: Racial disparities exist in outcomes after severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection. OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the contribution of race/ethnicity in SARS-CoV-2 testing, infection, and outcomes. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study (1 February 2020 to 31 May 2020). SETTING: Integrated health care delivery system in Northern California. PARTICIPANTS: Adult health plan members. MEASUREMENTS: Age, sex, neighborhood deprivation index, comorbid conditions, acute physiology indices, and race/ethnicity; SARS-CoV-2 testing and incidence of positive test results; and hospitalization, illness severity, and mortality. RESULTS: Among 3 481 716 eligible members, 42.0% were White, 6.4% African American, 19.9% Hispanic, and 18.6% Asian; 13.0% were of other or unknown race. Of eligible members, 91 212 (2.6%) were tested for SARS-CoV-2 infection and 3686 had positive results (overall incidence, 105.9 per 100 000 persons; by racial group, White, 55.1; African American, 123.1; Hispanic, 219.6; Asian, 111.7; other/unknown, 79.3). African American persons had the highest unadjusted testing and mortality rates, White persons had the lowest testing rates, and those with other or unknown race had the lowest mortality rates. Compared with White persons, adjusted testing rates among non-White persons were marginally higher, but infection rates were significantly higher; adjusted odds ratios [aORs] for African American persons, Hispanic persons, Asian persons, and persons of other/unknown race were 2.01 (95% CI, 1.75 to 2.31), 3.93 (CI, 3.59 to 4.30), 2.19 (CI, 1.98 to 2.42), and 1.57 (CI, 1.38 to 1.78), respectively. Geographic analyses showed that infections clustered in areas with higher proportions of non-White persons. Compared with White persons, adjusted hospitalization rates for African American persons, Hispanic persons, Asian persons, and persons of other/unknown race were 1.47 (CI, 1.03 to 2.09), 1.42 (CI, 1.11 to 1.82), 1.47 (CI, 1.13 to 1.92), and 1.03 (CI, 0.72 to 1.46), respectively. Adjusted analyses showed no racial differences in inpatient mortality or total mortality during the study period. For testing, comorbid conditions made the greatest relative contribution to model explanatory power (77.9%); race only accounted for 8.1%. Likelihood of infection was largely due to race (80.3%). For other outcomes, age was most important; race only contributed 4.5% for hospitalization, 12.8% for admission illness severity, 2.3% for in-hospital death, and 0.4% for any death. LIMITATION: The study involved an insured population in a highly integrated health system. CONCLUSION: Race was the most important predictor of SARS-CoV-2 infection. After infection, race was associated with increased hospitalization risk but not mortality. PRIMARY FUNDING SOURCE: The Permanente Medical Group, Inc.

A successful program preventing nonventilator hospital-acquired pneumonia in a large hospital system.

OBJECTIVE: To develop and evaluate a program to presvent hospital-acquired pneumonia (HAP). DESIGN: Prospective, observational, surveillance program to identify HAP before and after 7 interventions. An order set automatically triggered in programmatically identified high-risk patients. SETTING: All 21 hospitals of an integrated healthcare system with 4.4 million members. PATIENTS: All hospitalized patients. INTERVENTIONS: Interventions for high-risk patients included mobilization, upright feeding, swallowing evaluation, sedation restrictions, elevated head of bed, oral care and tube care. RESULTS: HAP rates decreased between 2012 and 2018: from 5.92 to 1.79 per 1,000 admissions (P = .0031) and from 24.57 to 6.49 per 100,000 members (P = .0014). HAP mortality decreased from 1.05 to 0.34 per 1,000 admissions and from 4.37 to 1.24 per 100,000 members. Concomitant antibiotic utilization demonstrated reductions of broad-spectrum antibiotics. Antibiotic therapy per 100,000 members was measured as follows: carbapenem days (694 to 463; P = .0020), aminoglycoside days (154 to 61; P = .0165), vancomycin days (2,087 to 1,783; P = .002), and quinolone days (2,162 to 1,287; P < .0001). Only cephalosporin use increased, driven by ceftriaxone days (264 to 460; P = .0009). Benzodiazepine use decreased between 2014 to 2016: 10.4% to 8.8% of inpatient days. Mortality for patients with HAP was 18% in 2012% and 19% in 2016 (P = .439). CONCLUSION: HAP rates, mortality, and broad-spectrum antibiotic use were all reduced significantly following these interventions, despite the absence of strong supportive literature for guidance. Most interventions augmented basic nursing care. None had risks of adverse consequences. These results support the need to examine practices to improve care despite limited literature and the need to further study these difficult areas of care.

The Kaiser Permanente Northern California Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program: Design, Development, and Implementation.

Complications are common after surgery, highlighting the need for innovations that reduce postsurgical morbidity and mortality. In this report, we describe the design, development, and implementation of an Enhanced Recovery After Surgery program in the Kaiser Permanente Northern California integrated health care delivery system. This program was implemented and disseminated in 2014, targeting patients who underwent elective colorectal resection and those who underwent emergent hip fracture repair across 20 Medical Centers. The program leveraged multidisciplinary and broad-based leadership, high-quality data and analytic infrastructure, patient-centered education, and regional-local mentorship alignment. This program has already had an impact on more than 17,000 patients in Northern California. It is now in its fourth phase of planning and implementation, expanding Enhanced Recovery pathways to all surgical patients across Kaiser Permanente Northern California.

Enhanced Recovery After Surgery Program Implementation in 2 Surgical Populations in an Integrated Health Care Delivery System.

Importance: Novel approaches to perioperative surgical care focus on optimizing nutrition, mobility, and pain management to minimize adverse events after surgical procedures. Objective: To evaluate the outcomes of an enhanced recovery after surgery (ERAS) program among 2 target populations: patients undergoing elective colorectal resection and patients undergoing emergency hip fracture repair. Design, Setting, and Participants: A pre-post difference-in-differences study before and after ERAS implementation in the target populations compared with contemporaneous surgical comparator groups (patients undergoing elective gastrointestinal surgery and emergency orthopedic surgery). Implementation began in February and March 2014 and concluded by the end of 2014 at 20 medical centers within the Kaiser Permanente Northern California integrated health care delivery system. Exposures: A multifaceted ERAS program designed with a particular focus on perioperative pain management, mobility, nutrition, and patient engagement. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome was hospital length of stay. Secondary outcomes included hospital mortality, home discharge, 30-day readmission rates, and complication rates. Results: The study included a total of 3768 patients undergoing elective colorectal resection (mean [SD] age, 62.7 [14.1] years; 1812 [48.1%] male) and 5002 patients undergoing emergency hip fracture repair (mean [SD] age, 79.5 [11.8] years; 1586 [31.7%] male). Comparator surgical patients included 5556 patients undergoing elective gastrointestinal surgery and 1523 patients undergoing emergency orthopedic surgery. Most process metrics had significantly greater changes in the ERAS target populations after implementation compared with comparator surgical populations, including those for ambulation, nutrition, and opioid use. Hospital length of stay and postoperative complication rates were also significantly lower among ERAS target populations after implementation. The rate ratios for postoperative complications were 0.68 (95% CI, 0.46-0.99; P = .04) for patients undergoing colorectal resection and 0.67 (95% CI, 0.45-0.99, P = .05) for patients with hip fracture. Among patients undergoing colorectal resection, ERAS implementation was associated with decreased rates of hospital mortality (0.17; 95% CI, 0.03-0.86; P = .03), whereas among patients with hip fracture, implementation was associated with increased rates of home discharge (1.24; 95% CI, 1.06-1.44; P = .007). Conclusions and Relevance: Multicenter implementation of an ERAS program among patients undergoing elective colorectal resection and patients undergoing emergency hip fracture repair successfully altered processes of care and was associated with significant absolute and relative decreases in hospital length of stay and postoperative complication rates. Rapid, large-scale implementation of a multidisciplinary ERAS program is feasible and effective in improving surgical outcomes.

Early switch and early discharge opportunities in intravenous vancomycin treatment of suspected methicillin-resistant staphylococcal species infections.

BACKGROUND: Patients with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and methicillin-resistant coagulase negative staphylococci (MR-CoNS) infections are usually treated with intravenous (IV) vancomycin and remain hospitalized for the duration of IV therapy. Oral linezolid has excellent bioavailability and activity against MRSA and MR-CoNS and offers the potential for outpatient treatment of MRSA and MR-CoNS infections. OBJECTIVE: To determine the potential for early switch (ES) from IV vancomycin to oral linezolid and subsequent early discharge (ED) in hospitalized, adult patients treated for an MRSA or MR-CoNS infection. METHODS: We conducted a retrospective cohort study at the Veterans Administration Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System from January 1 through December 31, 2000. Potential reductions in vancomycin use, hospital length of stay (LOS), and economic savings were determined. RESULTS: A total of 103 of 177 (58%) treatment courses for MRSA or MR-CoNS infections were potentially eligible for ES, with annual and mean decreases in vancomycin use of 535 defined daily doses and 5.2 days per event. Of the ES cohort, 55 of 103 (53%) courses were potentially eligible for ED, with an annual and mean reduction in LOS of 181 days and 3.3 days per event. The total potential savings was $220,181, at an average of $3,478 per event. CONCLUSION: Early switch to oral linezolid for treatment of MRSA or MR-CoNS infections could reduce vancomycin use, hospital length of stay, and economic costs.

Nosocomial enterobacter meningitis: risk factors, management, and treatment outcomes.

Enterobacter species are increasingly a cause of nosocomial meningitis among neurosurgery patients, but risk factors for these infections are not well defined. A review of all adult patients hospitalized at the University of California-Los Angeles (UCLA) Medical Center during an 8-year period identified 15 postneurosurgical cases of Enterobacter meningitis (EM). Cure was achieved in 14 cases (93%), and efficacy was similar for carbapenem- and cephalosporin-based treatment. A matched case-control study comparing 26 controls with 13 case patients hospitalized exclusively at the UCLA Medical Center found that external cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) drainage devices (odds ratio [OR], 21.8; P=.001), isolation of Enterobacter species from a non-CSF culture (OR, 24.6; P=.002), and prolonged administration of antimicrobial drugs before the diagnosis of meningitis that were inactive in vitro against Enterobacter species (OR, 13.3; P=.008) were independent risk factors for EM. Despite favorable treatment outcomes, EM is a serious infection associated with Enterobacter species colonization or infection at other surgical sites, with selective antimicrobial pressure, and with invasive CNS devices.

Cost analysis of switching from i.v. vancomycin to p.o. linezolid for the management of methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus species.

BACKGROUND: Infections with methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus species (MRSS) are associated with higher treatment costs than infections with methicillin-sensitive Staphylococcus species in the United States--partly because of an increased length of hospital stay (LOS). OBJECTIVE: This study used pharmacoeconomic modeling to evaluate the costs and outcomes associated with the use of i.v. vancomycin compared with p.o. linezolid in the treatment of MRSS-infected patients. METHODS: A retrospective chart review was used to determine the number of cases with confirmed or presumed MRSS infections treated with i.v. vancomycin during calendar-year 2000 at the Veterans Affairs Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System inpatient facility. Patients who were eligible for a switch to p.o. linezolid with or without early discharge to home were identified. Cost differences associated with conversion from i.v. to p.o. therapy (compared with continued i.v. therapy) were estimated based on a mean decreased LOS and a decrease in the costs associated with catheter-related adverse events. Rates and costs of catheter-related adverse events were based on estimates from the literature. Sensitivity analyses were performed by variation of the estimated mean LOS decrease in the SD and by variation of the estimates for incidence and costs related to catheter complications. Costs were measured in year 2000 US dollars, and differences were not assessed for statistical significance. RESULTS: Of 177 patients treated with i.v. vancomycin, 103 (58%) were eligible for conversion to p.o. linezolid and 55 (31%) were eligible for early discharge from the hospital with continuation of p.o. therapy. Early discharge was associated with a mean (SD) LOS decrease of 3.3 (2.9) days. Annual mean total cost savings in patients eligible for conversion from i.v. vancomycin to p.o. linezolid with early discharge were $294,750 (range, $35,730-$553,790). For cases eligible for inpatient conversion from i.v. vancomycin to p.o. linezolid therapy (n=48), the mean total annual cost difference was an increase of $6340 for p.o. linezolid (range, -$12,910 to $11,900). CONCLUSION: These results--although partly based on estimates from the literature, rather than direct measurements--support the use of p.o. linezolid with or without early discharge as a potential cost-savings alternative for eligible patients treated with a full course of i.v. vancomycin for suspected or confirmed MRSS infection.

Aerobic Gram-negative Bacillary Pneumonia.

Gram-negative bacilli (GNB) are a common cause of severe hospital-acquired pneumonia. Due to changes in the health care environment and selective antimicrobial pressure, these bacteria also are becoming a more common cause of pneumonia in venues outside of the traditional hospital setting and are increasingly resistant to antimicrobial agents. Risk factors for acquisition of GNB allow the clinician to efficiently identify patients who are likely to have pneumonia due to these pathogens. Available diagnostic techniques have a limited capacity to accurately detect GNB pulmonary infection. Yet, a pathogen specific diagnosis and knowledge of local resistance patterns are quintessential elements in formulating an effective treatment plan. This article reviews the epidemiologic characteristics, pathogenesis, and current management issues of GNB pneumonia.