Primary Care Practice Characteristics Associated With Medical Assistant Staffing Ratios.

This study characterized adult primary care medical assistant (MA) staffing. National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (n = 1,252) data were analyzed to examine primary care practice characteristics associated with MA per primary care clinician (PCC) staffing ratios. In 2021, few practices (11.4%) had ratios of 2 or more MAs per PCCs. Compared with system-owned practices, independent (odds ratio [OR] = 1.76, P <0.05) and medical group-owned (OR = 2.09, P <0.05) practices were more likely to have ratios of 2 or more MAs per PCCs, as were practices with organizational cultures oriented to innovation (P <0.05). Most primary care practices do not have adequate MA staffing.

Telehealth Trends and Hypertension Management Among Rural and Medicaid Patients After COVID-19.

Objective: Examine the associations between rurality and low income with primary care telehealth utilization and hypertension outcomes across multiple years pre- and post-COVID-19 pandemic onset. Methods: We compiled electronic health record data from the mixed rural/urban Dartmouth Health system in New Hampshire, United States, on patients with pre-existing hypertension or diabetes receiving primary care in the period before (January 2018-February 2020) and after the transition period to telehealth during the COVID-19 Pandemic (October 2020-December 2022). Stratifying by rurality and Medicaid enrollment, we examined changes in synchronous (office and telehealth visits, including audio/video use) and asynchronous (patient portal or telephone message) utilization, and control of mean systolic blood pressure (SBP) <140. Results: Analysis included 46,520 patients, of whom 8.2% were Medicaid enrollees, 42.7% urban residents. Telehealth use rates were 12% for rural versus 6.4% for urban, and 15% for Medicaid versus 8.4% non-Medicaid. The overall postpandemic telehealth visit rate was 0.29 per patient per year. Rural patients had a larger increase in telehealth use (additional 0.21 per year, 95% CI, 0.19-0.23) compared with urban, as did Medicaid (0.32, 95% CI 0.29-0.36) compared with non-Medicaid. Among the 38,437 patients with hypertension, SBP control worsened from 83% to 79% of patients across periods. In multivariable analysis, rurality corresponded to worsened control rates compared with urban (additional 2.4% decrease, 95% CI 2.1-2.8%); Medicaid and telehealth use were not associated with worsened control. Conclusions: Telehealth expansion enabled a higher shift to telehealth for rural and low-income patients without impairing hypertension management.

Birth Prevalence of Sickle Cell Disease and County-Level Social Vulnerability - Sickle Cell Data Collection Program, 11 States, 2016-2020.

Sickle cell disease (SCD) remains a public health priority in the United States because of its association with complex health needs, reduced life expectancy, lifelong disabilities, and high cost of care. A cross-sectional analysis was conducted to calculate the crude and race-specific birth prevalence for SCD using state newborn screening program records during 2016-2020 from 11 Sickle Cell Data Collection program states. The percentage distribution of birth mother residence within Social Vulnerability Index quartiles was derived. Among 3,305 newborns with confirmed SCD (including 57% with homozygous hemoglobin S or sickle ß-null thalassemia across 11 states, 90% of whom were Black or African American [Black], and 4% of whom were Hispanic or Latino), the crude SCD birth prevalence was 4.83 per 10,000 (one in every 2,070) live births and 28.54 per 10,000 (one in every 350) non-Hispanic Black newborns. Approximately two thirds (67%) of mothers of newborns with SCD lived in counties with high or very high levels of social vulnerability; most mothers lived in counties with high or very high levels of vulnerability for racial and ethnic minority status (89%) and housing type and transportation (64%) themes. These findings can guide public health, health care systems, and community program planning and implementation that address social determinants of health for infants with SCD. Implementation of tailored interventions, including increasing access to transportation, improving housing, and advancing equity in high vulnerability areas, could facilitate care and improve health outcomes for children with SCD.

Racial differences in low value care among older adult Medicare patients in US health systems: retrospective cohort study.

OBJECTIVE: To characterize racial differences in receipt of low value care (services that provide little to no benefit yet have potential for harm) among older Medicare beneficiaries overall and within health systems in the United States. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study SETTING: 100% Medicare fee-for-service administrative data (2016-18). PARTICIPANTS: Black and White Medicare patients aged 65 or older as of 2016 and attributed to 595 health systems in the United States. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Receipt of 40 low value services among Black and White patients, with and without adjustment for patient age, sex, and previous healthcare use. Additional models included health system fixed effects to assess racial differences within health systems and separately, racial composition of the health system's population to assess the relative contributions of individual patient race and health system racial composition to low value care receipt. RESULTS: The cohort included 9 833 304 patients (6.8% Black; 57.9% female). Of 40 low value services examined, Black patients had higher adjusted receipt of nine services and lower receipt of 20 services than White patients. Specifically, Black patients were more likely to receive low value acute diagnostic tests, including imaging for uncomplicated headache (6.9% v 3.2%) and head computed tomography scans for dizziness (3.1% v 1.9%). White patients had higher rates of low value screening tests and treatments, including preoperative laboratory tests (10.3% v 6.5%), prostate specific antigen tests (31.0% v 25.7%), and antibiotics for upper respiratory infections (36.6% v 32.7%; all P<0.001). Secondary analyses showed that these differences persisted within given health systems and were not explained by Black and White patients receiving care from different systems. CONCLUSIONS: Black patients were more likely to receive low value acute diagnostic tests and White patients were more likely to receive low value screening tests and treatments. Differences were generally small and were largely due to differential care within health systems. These patterns suggest potential individual, interpersonal, and structural factors that researchers, policy makers, and health system leaders might investigate and address to improve care quality and equity.

Sources of Low-Value Care Received by Medicare Beneficiaries and Associated Spending Within US Health Systems.

This cross-sectional study examines referrals for low-value health care services and associated spending by ordering clinician among Medicare beneficiaries.

Who's Accountable? Low-Value Care Received By Medicare Beneficiaries Outside Of Their Attributed Health Systems.

Policy makers and payers increasingly hold health systems accountable for spending and quality for their attributed beneficiaries. Low-value care-medical services that offer little or no benefit and have the potential for harm in specific clinical scenarios-received outside of these systems could threaten success on both fronts. Using national Medicare data for fee-for-service beneficiaries ages sixty-five and older and attributed to 595 US health systems, we describe where and from whom they received forty low-value services during 2017-18 and identify factors associated with out-of-system receipt. Forty-three percent of low-value services received by attributed beneficiaries originated from out-of-system clinicians: 38 percent from specialists, 4 percent from primary care physicians, and 1 percent from advanced practice clinicians. Recipients of low-value care were more likely to obtain that care out of system if age 75 or older (versus ages 65-74), male (versus female), non-Hispanic White (versus other races or ethnicities), rural dwelling (versus metropolitan dwelling), more medically complex, or experiencing lower continuity of care. However, out-of-system service receipt was not associated with recipients' health systems' accountable care organization status. Health systems might improve quality and reduce spending for their attributed beneficiaries by addressing out-of-system receipt of low-value care-for example, by improving continuity.

A 'COVID Compass' for navigating the pandemic.

INTRODUCTION: The greatest challenge confronting political, public health, business, education and social welfare leaders in the COVID pandemic era is to restore the economy, businesses and schools without further risking public health. The 'COVID Compass' project aims to provide helpful information to guide local decisions by tracking state and local policies over time and their impact on a balanced set of outcomes-health metrics, economic trends and social hardship indicators. METHODS: We selected a parsimonious set of 'local level' health, economic and hardship outcomes and linked them to 'local level' actions aimed to decrease COVID-19 health effects and to mitigate hardship for people, businesses and the economy. Data trends will be released frequently (e.g. weekly and monthly) to show changes in health economic and social hardship 'outcomes' (based on quantitative data), alongside policy, health care, public health and individual/social 'actions' (based on both qualitative and quantitative data). RESULTS: Work on initial analytic and visualization prototypes of the COVID Compass is currently in progress at national, state and local levels. CONCLUSION: Building a national, regional and local integrated database platform that captures upstream policies, actions and behaviors and links them to downstream health, economic and social hardship outcomes will offer a more comprehensive view of the data necessary for decision-makers and citizens to more effectively and intelligently monitor and mitigate harms caused by the pandemic.

The PROMISⓇ-Plus-Osteoarthritis of the Knee (OAK) profile measure integrates generic and condition-specific content to enhance relevance and efficiency.

OBJECTIVE: The Patient-Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS)-Plus-Osteoarthritis of the Knee (OAK) profile integrates universal PROMIS items with knee-specific items across 13 domains. We evaluated the psychometric properties of a subset of six domains associated with quality of life in people with OAK. STUDY DESIGN AND SETTING: In a cross-sectional study of OAK patients (n=600), we estimated reliability using Pearson and Spearman correlations with Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) subscores and known-groups validity with PROMIS Global Health. Measure responsiveness was tested via paired t-tests in a longitudinal study (n=238), pre/post total knee replacement. RESULTS: Across the six domains, internal consistency reliability (Cronbach's alpha) was 0.77-0.95 and test-retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficients) was ≥0.90. Correlations with Knee Injury and Osteoarthritis Outcome Score (KOOS) subscores and PROMIS Global supported convergent and divergent validity. Known-groups validity testing revealed better scores in all domains for high vs. low global status groups, and knee-specific items added value in physical function and pain. All domains reflected (p<0.001) better health status scores at follow up. CONCLUSION: The six PROMIS-Plus-OAK profile domains demonstrated good psychometric characteristics. The measure integrates universal and knee-specific content to provide enhanced relevance, measurement precision and efficient administration for patient care and clinical research.

Organizational integration, practice capabilities, and outcomes in clinically complex medicare beneficiaries.

OBJECTIVE: To assess the association between clinical integration and financial integration, quality-focused care delivery processes, and beneficiary utilization and outcomes. DATA SOURCES: Multiphysician practices in the 2017-2018 National Survey of Healthcare Organizations and Systems (response rate 47%) and 2017 Medicare claims data. STUDY DESIGN: Cross-sectional study of Medicare beneficiaries attributed to physician practices, focusing on two domains of integration: clinical (coordination of patient services, use of protocols, individual clinician measures, access to information) and financial (financial management and planning across operating units). We examined the association between integration domains, the adoption of quality-focused care delivery processes, beneficiary utilization and health-related outcomes, and price-adjusted spending using linear regression adjusting for practice and beneficiary characteristics, weighting to account for sampling and nonresponse. DATA COLLECTION/EXTRACTION METHODS: 1 604 580 fee-for-service Medicare beneficiaries aged 66 or older attributed to 2113 practices. Of these, 414 209 beneficiaries were considered clinically complex (frailty or 2 + chronic conditions). PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: Financial integration and clinical integration were weakly correlated (correlation coefficient = 0.19). Clinical integration was associated with significantly greater adoption of quality-focused care delivery processes, while financial integration was associated with lower adoption of these processes. Integration was not generally associated with reduced utilization or better beneficiary-level health-related outcomes, but both clinical integration and financial integration were associated with lower spending in both the complex and noncomplex cohorts: (clinical complex cohort: -$2518, [95% CI: -3324, -1712]; clinical noncomplex cohort: -$255 [95% CI: -413, -97]; financial complex cohort: -$997 [95% CI: -$1320, -$679]; and financial noncomplex cohort: -$143 [95% CI: -210, -$76]). CONCLUSIONS: Higher levels of financial integration were not associated with improved care delivery or with better health-related beneficiary outcomes. Nonfinancial forms of integration deserve greater attention, as practices scoring high in clinical integration are more likely to adopt quality-focused care delivery processes and have greater associated reductions in spending in complex patients.

Financial Integration's Impact On Care Delivery And Payment Reforms: A Survey Of Hospitals And Physician Practices.

Health systems continue to grow in size. Financial integration-the ownership of hospitals or physician practices-often has anticompetitive effects that contribute to the higher prices for health care seen in the US. To determine whether the potential harms of financial integration are counterbalanced by improvements in quality, we surveyed nationally representative samples of hospitals (n = 739) and physician practices (n = 2,189), stratified according to whether they were independent or were owned by complex systems, simple systems, or medical groups. The surveys included nine scales measuring the level of adoption of diverse, quality-focused care delivery and payment reforms. Scores varied widely across hospitals and practices, but little of this variation was explained by ownership status. Quality scores favored financially integrated systems for four of nine hospital measures and one of nine practice measures, but in no case favored complex systems. Greater financial integration was generally not associated with better quality.

How Do Accountable Care Organizations Deliver Preventive Care Services? A Mixed-Methods Study.

BACKGROUND: The Affordable Care Act and the introduction of accountable care organizations (ACOs) have increased the incentives for patients and providers to engage in preventive care, for example, through quality metrics linked to disease prevention. However, little is known about how ACOs deliver preventive care services. OBJECTIVE: To understand how Medicare ACOs provide preventive care services to their attributed patients. DESIGN: Mixed-methods study using survey data reporting Medicare ACO capabilities in patient care management and interviews with high-performing ACOs. PARTICIPANTS: ACO executives completed survey data on 283 Medicare ACOs. These data were supplemented with 39 interviews conducted across 18 Medicare ACOs with executive-level leaders and associated clinical and managerial staff. MAIN MEASURES: Survey measures included ACO performance, organizational characteristics, collaboration experience, and capabilities in care management and quality improvement. Telephone interviews followed a semi-structured interview guide and explored the mechanisms used, and motivations of, ACOs to deliver preventive care services. KEY RESULTS: Medicare ACOs that reported being comprehensively engaged in the planning and management of patient care - including conducting reminders for preventive care services - had more beneficiaries and had a history of collaboration experience, but were not more likely to receive shared savings or achieve high-quality scores compared to other surveyed ACOs. Interviews revealed that offering annual wellness visits and having a system-wide approach to closing preventive care gaps are key mechanisms used by high-performing ACOs to address patients' preventive care needs. Few programs or initiatives were identified that specifically target clinically complex patients. Aside from meeting patient needs, motivations for ACOs included increasing patient attribution and meeting performance targets. CONCLUSIONS: ACOs are increasingly motivated to deliver preventive care services. Understanding the mechanisms and motivations used by high-performing ACOs may help both providers and payers to increase the use of preventive care.

ACO Contracts With Downside Financial Risk Growing, But Still In The Minority.

Success of the accountable care organization (ACO) model may require stronger financial incentives, such as including downside risk in contracts. Using the National Survey of ACOs, we explored ACO structure and contracts in 2012-18. Though the number of ACO contracts and the proportion of ACOs with multiple contracts have grown, the proportion bearing downside risk has increased only modestly.

A new model of online health care delivery science education for mid-career health care professionals.

Health care delivery science focuses on ways to improve health and health care services provided to individuals and populations. Health care professionals must be trained in health care delivery science in order to diagnose and treat the sources of health care system dysfunction and achieve better outcomes while controlling costs. The ideal model for health care delivery science training has not been fully defined, but doing so is critical especially for frontline mid-career health care professionals whose original clinical training omitted these concepts. To better prepare leaders to address the complex challenges of health care, we created a novel hybrid residential/online 18-month master's degree in health care delivery science. Key strengths of the program are the curriculum, pedagogy, teaching team and close-knit cohort. Here, we discuss the program design rationale and six years of evaluation data of a novel master of health care delivery science program. Novel online education in health care delivery science can empower inter-professional leaders in multiple leadership positions throughout health care to improve the United States health care system.

How do healthcare professionals working in accountable care organisations understand patient activation and engagement? Qualitative interviews across two time points.

OBJECTIVE: If patient engagement is the new 'blockbuster drug' why are we not seeing spectacular effects? Studies have shown that activated patients have improved health outcomes, and patient engagement has become an integral component of value-based payment and delivery models, including accountable care organisations (ACO). Yet the extent to which clinicians and managers at ACOs understand and reliably execute patient engagement in clinical encounters remains unknown. We assessed the use and understanding of patient engagement approaches among frontline clinicians and managers at ACO-affiliated practices. DESIGN: Qualitative study; 103 in-depth, semi-structured interviews. PARTICIPANTS: Sixty clinicians and eight managers were interviewed at two established ACOs. APPROACH: We interviewed healthcare professionals about their awareness, attitudes, understanding and experiences of implementing three key approaches to patient engagement and activation: 1) goal-setting, 2) motivational interviewing and 3) shared decision making. Of the 60 clinicians, 33 were interviewed twice leading to 93 clinician interviews. Of the 8 managers, 2 were interviewed twice leading to 10 manager interviews. We used a thematic analysis approach to the data. KEY RESULTS: Interviewees recognised the term 'patient activation and engagement' and had favourable attitudes about the utility of the associated skills. However, in-depth probing revealed that although interviewees reported that they used these patient activation and engagement approaches, they have limited understanding of these approaches. CONCLUSIONS: Without understanding the concept of patient activation and the associated approaches of shared decision making and motivational interviewing, effective implementation in routine care seems like a distant goal. Clinical teams in the ACO model would benefit from specificity defining key terms pertaining to the principles of patient activation and engagement. Measuring the degree of understanding with reward that are better-aligned for behaviour change will minimise the notion that these techniques are already being used and help fulfil the potential of patient-centred care.

A method to create a standardized generic and condition-specific patient-reported outcome measure for patient care and healthcare improvement.

PURPOSE: Patient-reported outcome measures (PROMs), which are generic or condition-specific, are used for a number of reasons, including clinical care, clinical trials, and in national-level efforts to monitor the quality of health care delivery. Creating PROMs that meet different purposes without overburdening patients, healthcare systems, providers, and data systems is paramount. The objective of this study was to test a generalizable method to incorporate condition-specific issues into generic PROM measures as a first step to producing PROMs that efficiently provide a standardized score. This paper outlines the method and preliminary findings focused on a PROM for osteoarthritis of the knee (OA-K). METHODS: We used a mixed-methods approach and PROMIS® measures to test development of a combined generic and OA-K-specific PROM. Qualitative methods included patient focus groups and provider interviews to identify impacts of OA-K important to patients. We then conducted a thematic analysis and an item gap analysis: identified areas covered by existing generic PROMIS measures, identified "gap" areas not covered, compared gap areas to legacy instruments to verify relevance, and developed new items to address gaps. We then performed cognitive testing on new items and drafted an OA-K-specific instrument based on findings. RESULTS: We identified 52 existing PROMIS items and developed 24 new items across 14 domains. CONCLUSIONS: We developed a process for creating condition-specific instruments that bridge gaps in existing generic measures. If successful, the methodology will create instruments that efficiently gather the patient's perspective while allowing health systems, researchers, and other interested parties to monitor and compare outcomes over time, conditions, and populations.

Comparison of Populations Served in Hospital Service Areas With and Without Comprehensive Primary Care Plus Medical Homes.

Importance: Little is known about the types of primary care practices that have chosen to participate in the Comprehensive Primary Care Plus (CPC+) program or about how participation could affect disparities. Objective: To describe practices that joined the CPC+ model and compare hospital service areas with and without CPC+ practices. Design, Setting, and Participants: This comparative cross-sectional study identified 2647 CPC+ practices in round 1 (from January 1, 2017; round 1 is ongoing through 2021). Using IMS Health Care Organization Services data, ownership and characteristics of health systems and practices were extracted. Practices participating in the CPC+ program were compared with practices with similar proportions of primary care physicians (>85%) within the 14 regions designated as eligible to participate by the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services. Within eligible regions, hospital service areas with (n = 434) and without (n = 322) 1 or more CPC+ practice were compared. Characteristics compared included area-level population demographics (from the US Census Bureau), health system characteristics (from the IMS Health Care Organization Services), and use of health services by Medicare fee-for-service enrollees (Dartmouth Atlas). Main Outcomes and Measures: Area-level characteristics of all eligible CPC+ regions, areas without a CPC+ practice, and areas with 1 or more CPC+ practices. Results: Of 756 eligible service areas, 322 had no CPC+ practices and 434 had at least 1 CPC+ practice. Of 2647 CPC+ practices, 579 (21.9%) had 1 physician and 1791 (67.7%) had 2 to 10 physicians. In areas without CPC+ practices, the population had a lower median income ($43 197 [interquartile range, $42 170-$44 224] vs $57 206 [interquartile range, $55 470-$58 941]), higher mean share of households living in poverty (17.8% [95% CI, 17.2%-18.4%] vs 14.4% [95% CI, 13.9%-15.0%]), higher mean educational attainment of high school or less (52.7% [95% CI, 51.7%-53.6%] vs 43.1% [95% CI, 42.1%-44.2%]), higher mean proportion of disabled residents (17.7% [95% CI, 17.3%-18.2%] vs 14.2% [13.8%-14.6%]), higher mean participation in Medicare (21.9% [95% CI, 21.3%-22.4%] vs 18.8% [95% CI, 18.3%-19.1%]) and Medicaid (22.2% [95% CI, 21.5%-22.9%]) vs 18.5% [95% CI, 17.8%-19.2%]), and higher mean proportion of uninsured residents (12.4% [95% CI, 11.9%-12.9%] vs 10.3% [95% CI, 9.9%-10.7%]) (P < .001 for all) compared with areas that had a CPC+ practice. Conclusions and Relevance: According to this study, although a diverse set of practices joined the CPC+ program, practices in areas characterized by patient populations with greater advantage were more likely to join, which may affect access to advanced primary care medical home models such as CPC+, by vulnerable populations.