Effectiveness and cost effectiveness of syndromic sexually transmitted infection packages in South African primary care: cluster randomised trial.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effectiveness and cost effectiveness of syndromic sexually transmitted infection (STI) packages on appropriate treatment and preventive management during primary care consultations. METHODS: Cluster randomised trial of 37 Durban primary care clinics randomised to use syndromic packages (containing antibiotics, condoms, partner notification cards, and written information) or not. We assessed outcomes using simulated patients who reported STI symptoms and recorded how they were managed, before and after implementation (269 and 256 simulated patient consultations). We adjusted for baseline values and intra-clinic correlation of outcomes statistically. We used health department information to estimate the extra resources needed to provide the packages to 20 clinics for 1 year and their costs. RESULTS: Simulated patients in intervention clinics were more likely to receive appropriate syndromic STI management (correct treatment plus condoms offered plus partner notification cards offered; prevalence rate ratio 2.3; 95% confidence intervals (CI) 1.6 to 3.0) and to receive more STI advice and information (odds ratio 1.5; 95% CI 1.01 to 2.1). Women were less likely to receive appropriate syndromic STI management. The intervention increased STI information provision in women more than in men. The extra cost per extra patient appropriately managed was $1.51. CONCLUSIONS: Syndromic packages improved syndromic STI management at a reasonable cost and should be used more widely.

Primary care for patients infected with human immunodeficiency virus: a randomized controlled trial.

OBJECTIVE: To measure the impact of a teaching intervention and to compare process and outcomes of care for HIV-infected patients randomly assigned to a general medicine clinic (GMC) or an infectious disease clinic (IDC) for primary care. DESIGN: Prospective, randomized, controlled trial. SETTING: University hospital in Durham, NC. PATIENTS: Two hundred fourteen consecutive HIV-infected patients presenting for primary care. INTERVENTION: Physicians at the GMC received HIV-related training and evidence-based practice guidelines. MEASUREMENTS: Utilization of services, health-related quality of life, preventive and screening measures, and antiretroviral use for one year. RESULTS: At baseline GMC patients were more likely to be African American (85% vs 71%; P =.03) and had lower baseline CD4+ cell counts than IDC patients (262 +/- 269 vs 329 +/- 275; P =.05). A similar and high proportion of patients in both groups received appropriate preventive care services including Pneumocystis carinii pneumonia (PCP) prophylaxis, pneumococcal vaccination, and antiretroviral therapy. Screening for TB was more frequent in GMC (89% vs 68%; P =.001). In the year following randomization, GMC patients made more visits to the emergency department than IDC patients (1.6 +/- 3.0 vs 0.7 +/- 1.5; P =.05). Hospital use was higher for GMC patients with average length of stay 7.8 +/- 6.3 days compared to 5.7 +/- 3.8 days for IDC patients (P =.01). In analyses, which adjust for potential baseline imbalances, these differences remained. CONCLUSIONS: Targeted education in GMC achieved similar provision of primary care for GMC patients, yet use of health care services was higher for this group. The delivery of adequate primary care is necessary but not sufficient to produce changes in health care utilization.

A cost analysis of outpatient care for patients with Barrett's esophagus in a managed care setting.

OBJECTIVES: Although Barrett's esophagus (BE) may be associated with severe gastroesophageal reflux disease (GERD), there are currently no studies that evaluate resource utilization in Barrett's patients. The aims of this study were 1) to determine the cost and number of endoscopies and clinic visits to the GI clinic for GERD or its complications in patients with BE; 2) to determine the pattern and cost of medication use in patients with BE; and 3) to compare medication use by patients with BE to that of patients with insulin-requiring diabetes mellitus (DM). METHODS: Using the cost distribution report data and the pharmacy acquisition costs from the Durham VAMC, we calculated the monthly cost of endoscopies, clinic visits related to GERD, and medication use in 53 patients with BE between 1/1/94 and 1/1/97. We also calculated the average cost of medication use for 55 patients with insulin-requiring DM. RESULTS: All patients with BE were male. Their median age was 64.0 yr (IQR 57-68). Of them, 92% were white; 23% had low-grade dysplasia (LGD). Patients with LGD were more likely to have more than three endoscopies in 3 yr than were those with no LGD (OR 6.3, 95% CI 1.11-35.67). There was no difference in clinic visits in the patients with and without dysplasia (OR 0.335, 95% CI 0.093-1.206). A total of 139 endoscopies and 172 clinic visits were observed. Outpatient care for patients with BE costs approximately $103/month or $1241/yr. Endoscopies and clinic visits accounted for 31.1% and 5.9% of the monthly medical cost, respectively. Medications accounted for 63% of the total cost of care. Prokinetic agents accounted for 0.8% of the total cost of medications, whereas histamine receptor antagonists (H2 blockers) and proton pump inhibitors (PPIs) accounted for 34.6% and 64.6%, respectively. Medication cost per month in patients with BE was approximately $65, similar to that of patients with insulin-requiring DM ($63). CONCLUSIONS: Our conclusions were as follows: 1) Outpatient care for patients with BE costs approximately $1241/yr or ($103/month). 2) Medication use per month accounted for more than half of the total cost; PPIs accounted for 64.6% of total medication cost, suggesting that reflux was severe. 3) Consistent with current surveillance strategies, patients with LGD had more frequent endoscopy than patients with no dysplasia. 4) Medication cost per month in patients with BE is similar to that in patients with DM, another group with a chronic disorder. 5) Those who make health policy can use these results to compare the cost of care of patients with BE to the cost for those with other chronic medical disorders.

The costs and outcomes of restricting public access to poison control centers. Results from a natural experiment.

OBJECTIVES: The authors examined the costs and outcomes resulting from a natural experiment during which direct public access to poison control centers was restricted and then restored. METHODS: Both societal and health care purchaser perspectives were used. Probability data were obtained from a natural experiment during which public callers from a large county in California were electronically blocked from directly accessing the poison control center. Callers were referred to 911, which had direct access to the poison control center, if they thought they had a poisoning emergency. We conducted telephone interviews of: (a) persons who attempted to call the poison control center for a child's poisoning exposure but who did not have direct access (n = 270) and (b) persons who called the poison control center after direct access was restored (n = 279). Cost data were obtained from primary data collection and from other sources. The outcome measure was the appropriateness of the treatment location (at home or at a health care facility). Caller-reported outcomes were also examined. RESULTS: The average additional cost per blocked call was $10.89 from a societal perspective, or $33.14 from a health care purchaser perspective. Fourteen percent of callers with restricted access were treated at an inappropriate location, compared with only 2% of callers with direct poison control center access. Also, 14% did not obtain any professional advice after they attempted to call the poison control center, although 66% of these cases involved potentially toxic substances. Results were robust across a range of sensitivity analyses. CONCLUSION: Restricting direct public access to poison control centers created additional costs to society, the health care sector, and callers.

Explaining variation in birth outcomes of Medicaid-eligible women with variation in the adequacy of prenatal support services.

OBJECTIVES: This study examines the contribution of the adequacy of nutrition, psychosocial, and health education support service delivery in explaining variation in birth outcomes among Medicaid-eligible women, their provider sites, and practice settings. METHODS: Logistic regression models for low birthweight and preterm birth outcomes are first fitted with medical record data on maternal risks and use of prenatal visits for more than 3,485 women receiving care at 27 ambulatory sites, correcting for clustering of women within sites. RESULTS: The change in variation explained by these models with the addition of the adequacy of support services indicates that providing at least one nutrition, psychosocial, and health education service session each trimester of care contributes significantly to explaining better birth outcomes when compared with providing fewer sessions. When the expected outcome rates calculated with the estimated effects in the models are compared with their observed rates across provider sites and setting types, however, adequacy of service delivery does not help to explain differences in outcomes at individual sites or types of settings. CONCLUSIONS: Although repeated support service sessions during prenatal care improve the chances of avoiding poor birth outcomes in low income women, further adjustments for other differences between women or service delivery are needed to explain variation in outcomes at different sites and practice settings.

Willingness to pay for poison control centers.

We used the willingness-to-pay (WTP) method to value the benefits of poison control centers when direct access was blocked, comparing WTP among: (1) blocked callers (n = 396), (2) callers after access was restored (n = 418), and (3) the general population (n = 119). Mean monthly WTP was $6.70 (blocked callers), $6.11 (non-blocked callers), and $2.55 (general population). Blocked and non-blocked callers had a significantly higher WTP than general population respondents (p < 0.001). We conclude that the WTP method measured benefits that are difficult to quantify; however, WTP surveys need to be carefully conducted to minimize bias. We discuss how this approach could be useful for other health care services.

The challenge of benchmarking: surgical volume and operative mortality in Veterans Administration Medical Centers.

BACKGROUND: This study examines the relationship between hospital surgical volume and operative modality rate. Emphasis is placed on the role of referral patterns; the effects of variation in patient condition, operative procedures, and hospital characteristics, and the contribution of volume of related procedures, in addition to specific-procedure volume, the definition of operative mortality, and their influence on surgical outcome. METHODS: This cohort study included all Department of Veterans Affairs Medical Centers with surgery programs. All patients in five operation-diagnosis sets (colectomy for cancer, colectomy without cancer, amputation above the knee, coronary artery bypass grafting for old myocardial infarction, and open-heart valvuloplasty), discharged from 1987 through 1989, were assessed to determine the risk-adjusted 30-day postoperative morality rate. RESULTS: Only one of the studied groups, valvuloplasty, demonstrated a significant inverse relationship between hospital surgical volume and operative mortality rate. No additional effect on outcome owing to related procedure volume was noted. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrates some of the difficulties in assessing surgical results and that we should be skeptical of the intuitively attractive notion that high annual volumes of operations will necessarily result in improved outcomes. This is congruent with recent literature in which there is no broad-based evidence that hospital surgical volume affects operative mortality rate.

Beyond the uninsured: problems in access to care.

This paper investigates the difficulties that people encounter in their attempt to obtain needed health services, other than their third-party coverage or lack of it. These problems can be temporal, geographic, attitudinal, or financial (even with insurance). A state-wide sample survey conducted in 1989 revealed that about 17% of Michigan's population experienced one or more of these kinds of difficulties in their attempts to receive medical care. Those at greater risk included persons with public insurance coverage (mostly Medicaid), persons with low incomes, persons in poor health, women, and members of some ethnic minority groups. The findings suggest that addressing the problem of access to care through an exclusive focus on the uninsured, especially through public programs, could leave significant residual problems for several segments in American society.

Multifacility utilization by the chronically mentally ill in the Department of Veterans Affairs.

The objectives of this research are (1) to quantify the multifacility utilization patterns ("shared care") for a selected subset of patients with a chronic mental disorder, (2) to examine the patient characteristics correlated with several observed utilization patterns, and (3) to determine facility groups through cluster analysis, based on multifacility readmissions. Patients were identified from the VA's hospital discharge abstract system based on a diagnosis of schizophrenia in any discharge during the two-year study period. All discharges for this cohort during the period were analyzed. Essentially, three different groups of patients from this cohort were found. The vast majority have one or two hospitalizations and in the process are seen at one or maybe two facilities. However, two small minorities are hospitalized many times. One small group confines these hospitalizations to relatively few facilities while the other travels from facility to facility around the country. These two groups present very different clinical management problems from each other as well as from the majority. Since the distribution of travel distance between facilities remained similar for all types of patients (median distance was about 120 miles), facilities were clustered based on the number of linkages they shared. By use of six different measures of the disjointedness of shared care, clustering produced a reasonable number of meaningful groups which account for a majority of possibly uncoordinated shared care. We feel that these results and this approach can be useful for administrators, policymakers, and researchers. By looking simultaneously at the utilization patterns of its clients and their characteristics (e.g., age) as well as the utilization patterns within groups of facilities, any multifacility health system can characterize its shared care and identify those clients and facilities most in need of intervention, resources, and future study.