The Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada: Opportunities and Recommendations for Modernization.

CONTEXT: The 2008 Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) "Core Competencies for Public Health in Canada" (the "Canadian core competencies") outline the skills, attitudes, and knowledge essential for the practice of public health. The core competencies represent an important part of public health practice, workforce development, and education in Canada and internationally. However, the core competencies are considered outdated and are facing calls for review, expansion, and revision. OBJECTIVE: To examine the literature on public health competencies to identify opportunities and recommendations for consideration when reviewing and updating the Canadian core competencies. METHODS: This narrative literature review included 4 components: 3 literature searches conducted between 2021 and 2022 using similar search strategies, as well as an analysis of competency frameworks from comparable jurisdictions. The 3 searches were conducted in collaboration with the Health Library to identify core competency-relevant scholarly and gray literature published in English since 2007. Reference lists of sources identified were also reviewed. During the data extraction process, one researcher screened each source, extracted competency-relevant information, and categorized these data into key findings. RESULTS: After identifying 2392 scholarly and gray literature sources, 166 competency-relevant sources were included in the review. Findings from these sources were synthesized into 3 main areas: (1) competency framework methodology and structure; (2) competencies to add; and (3) competencies to modify. DISCUSSION: These findings demonstrate that updates to Canada's core competencies are needed and overdue. Recommendations to support this process include establishing a formal governance structure for the competencies' regular review, revision, and implementation, as well as ensuring that priority topics applicable across all competency categories are integrated as overarching themes. Limitations of the evidence include the potential lack of applicability and generalizability to the Canadian context, as well as biases associated with the narrative literature review methodology.

Burnout among public health workers in Canada: a cross-sectional study.

BACKGROUND: This study presents the prevalence of burnout among the Canadian public health workforce after three years of the COVID-19 pandemic and its association with work-related factors. METHODS: Data were collected using an online survey distributed through Canadian public health associations and professional networks between November 2022 and January 2023. Burnout was measured using a modified version of the Oldenburg Burnout Inventory (OLBI). Logistic regressions were used to model the relationship between burnout and work-related factors including years of work experience, redeployment to pandemic response, workplace safety and supports, and harassment. Burnout and the intention to leave or retire as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic was explored using multinomial logistic regressions. RESULTS: In 2,079 participants who completed the OLBI, the prevalence of burnout was 78.7%. Additionally, 49.1% of participants reported being harassed because of their work during the pandemic. Burnout was positively associated with years of work experience, redeployment to the pandemic response, being harassed during the pandemic, feeling unsafe in the workplace and not being offered workplace supports. Furthermore, burnout was associated with greater odds of intending to leave public health or retire earlier than anticipated. CONCLUSION: The high levels of burnout among our large sample of Canadian public health workers and its association with work-related factors suggest that public health organizations should consider interventions that mitigate burnout and promote recovery.

What are effective strategies to respond to the psychological impacts of working on the frontlines of a public health emergency?

Background: The COVID-19 pandemic has disrupted the healthcare and public health sectors. The impact of working on the frontlines as a healthcare or public health professional has been well documented. Healthcare organizations must support the psychological and mental health of those responding to future public health emergencies. Objective: This systematic review aims to identify effective interventions to support healthcare workers' mental health and wellbeing during and following a public health emergency. Methods: Eight scientific databases were searched from inception to 1 November 2022. Studies that described strategies to address the psychological impacts experienced by those responding to a public health emergency (i.e., a pandemic, epidemic, natural disaster, or mass casualty event) were eligible for inclusion. No limitations were placed based on study design, language, publication status, or publication date. Two reviewers independently screened studies, extracted data, and assessed methodological quality using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. Discrepancies were resolved through discussion and a third reviewer when needed. Results were synthesized narratively due to the heterogeneity of populations and interventions. Outcomes were displayed graphically using harvest plots. Results: A total of 20,018 records were screened, with 36 unique studies included in the review, 15 randomized controlled trials, and 21 quasi-experimental studies. Results indicate that psychotherapy, psychoeducation, and mind-body interventions may reduce symptoms of anxiety, burnout, depression, and Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, with the lowest risk of bias found among psychotherapy interventions. Psychoeducation appears most promising to increase resilience, with mind-body interventions having the most substantial evidence for increases in quality of life. Few organizational interventions were identified, with highly heterogeneous components. Conclusion: Promoting healthcare workers' mental health is essential at an individual and health system level. This review identifies several promising practices that could be used to support healthcare workers at risk of adverse mental health outcomes as they respond to future public health emergencies.Systematic review registration: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?RecordID=203810, identifier #CRD42020203810 (PROSPERO).

The Governance of Core Competencies for Public Health: A Rapid Review of the Literature.

Core competencies for public health (CCPH) define the knowledge, skills, and attitudes required of a public health workforce. Although numerous sets of CCPH have been established, few studies have systematically examined the governance of competency development, review, and monitoring, which is critical to their implementation and impact. This rapid review included 42 articles. The findings identified examples of collaboration and community engagement in governing activities (e.g., using the Delphi method to develop CCPH) and different ways of approaching CCPH review and revision (e.g., every 3 years). Insights on monitoring and resource management were scarce. Preliminary lessons emerging from the findings point towards the need for systems, structures, and processes that support ongoing reviews, revisions, and monitoring of CCPH.

Obesity as an independent risk factor for COVID-19 severity and mortality.

BACKGROUND: Since December 2019, the world has struggled with the COVID-19 pandemic. Even after the introduction of various vaccines, this disease still takes a considerable toll. In order to improve the optimal allocation of resources and communication of prognosis, healthcare providers and patients need an accurate understanding of factors (such as obesity) that are associated with a higher risk of adverse outcomes from the COVID-19 infection. OBJECTIVES: To evaluate obesity as an independent prognostic factor for COVID-19 severity and mortality among adult patients in whom infection with the COVID-19 virus is confirmed. SEARCH METHODS: MEDLINE, Embase, two COVID-19 reference collections, and four Chinese biomedical databases were searched up to April 2021. SELECTION CRITERIA: We included case-control, case-series, prospective and retrospective cohort studies, and secondary analyses of randomised controlled trials if they evaluated associations between obesity and COVID-19 adverse outcomes including mortality, mechanical ventilation, intensive care unit (ICU) admission, hospitalisation, severe COVID, and COVID pneumonia. Given our interest in ascertaining the independent association between obesity and these outcomes, we selected studies that adjusted for at least one factor other than obesity. Studies were evaluated for inclusion by two independent reviewers working in duplicate.  DATA COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS: Using standardised data extraction forms, we extracted relevant information from the included studies. When appropriate, we pooled the estimates of association across studies with the use of random-effects meta-analyses. The Quality in Prognostic Studies (QUIPS) tool provided the platform for assessing the risk of bias across each included study. In our main comparison, we conducted meta-analyses for each obesity class separately. We also meta-analysed unclassified obesity and obesity as a continuous variable (5 kg/m2 increase in BMI (body mass index)). We used the GRADE framework to rate our certainty in the importance of the association observed between obesity and each outcome. As obesity is closely associated with other comorbidities, we decided to prespecify the minimum adjustment set of variables including age, sex, diabetes, hypertension, and cardiovascular disease for subgroup analysis.  MAIN RESULTS: We identified 171 studies, 149 of which were included in meta-analyses.  As compared to 'normal' BMI (18.5 to 24.9 kg/m2) or patients without obesity, those with obesity classes I (BMI 30 to 35 kg/m2), and II (BMI 35 to 40 kg/m2) were not at increased odds for mortality (Class I: odds ratio [OR] 1.04, 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.94 to 1.16, high certainty (15 studies, 335,209 participants); Class II: OR 1.16, 95% CI 0.99 to 1.36, high certainty (11 studies, 317,925 participants)). However, those with class III obesity (BMI 40 kg/m2 and above) may be at increased odds for mortality (Class III: OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.39 to 2.00, low certainty, (19 studies, 354,967 participants)) compared to normal BMI or patients without obesity. For mechanical ventilation, we observed increasing odds with higher classes of obesity in comparison to normal BMI or patients without obesity (class I: OR 1.38, 95% CI 1.20 to 1.59, 10 studies, 187,895 participants, moderate certainty; class II: OR 1.67, 95% CI 1.42 to 1.96, 6 studies, 171,149 participants, high certainty; class III: OR 2.17, 95% CI 1.59 to 2.97, 12 studies, 174,520 participants, high certainty). However, we did not observe a dose-response relationship across increasing obesity classifications for ICU admission and hospitalisation. AUTHORS' CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that obesity is an important independent prognostic factor in the setting of COVID-19. Consideration of obesity may inform the optimal management and allocation of limited resources in the care of COVID-19 patients.

All-Cause 30-Day Readmission and Mortality: How the Health of Community Affects Magnet® Performance.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to determine whether Magnet® and non-Magnet hospitals differ in the occurrence of 30-day readmission and mortality rates among the Medicare population when considering community health factors. BACKGROUND: Magnet hospitals have shown favorable outcomes regarding 30-day readmission and mortality; however, previous research has not evaluated whether the hospital community influences the likelihood of the patient being readmitted to a hospital or how Magnet facilities may mitigate potential mortality risks. METHOD: This study used a cross-sectional study design of 1791 hospitals using a propensity score matching technique to compare Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals with similar hospital and community characteristics. RESULTS: Results reveal no differences in readmission scores between Magnet and non-Magnet hospitals. When considering mortality scores, Magnet hospitals had better performance for pneumonia, congestive heart failure, and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with non-Magnet hospitals. CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that there may be universal efforts to improve overall readmission rates taken by hospitals to minimize potential penalties and maximize patient outcomes.

A scoping review of strategies to support public health recovery in the transition to a "new normal" in the age of COVID-19.

BACKGROUND: During the COVID-19 pandemic, the public health workforce has experienced re-deployment from core functions such as health promotion, disease prevention, and health protection, to preventing and tracking the spread of COVID-19. With continued pandemic deployment coupled with the exacerbation of existing health disparities due to the pandemic, public health systems need to re-start the delivery of core public health programming alongside COVID-19 activities. The purpose of this scoping review was to identify strategies that support the re-integration of core public health programming alongside ongoing pandemic or emergency response. METHODS: The Joanna Briggs Institute methodology for scoping reviews was used to guide this study. A comprehensive search was conducted using: a) online databases, b) grey literature, c) content experts to identify additional references, and d) searching reference lists of pertinent studies. All references were screened by two team members. References were included that met the following criteria: a) involved public health organizations (local, regional, national, and international); b) provided descriptions of strategies to support adaptation or delivery of routine public health measures alongside disaster response; and c) quantitative, qualitative, or descriptive designs. No restrictions were placed on language, publication status, publication date, or outcomes. Data on study characteristics, intervention/strategy, and key findings were independently extracted by two team members. Emergent themes were established through independent inductive analysis by two team members. RESULTS: Of 44,087 records identified, 17 studies were included in the review. Study designs of included studies varied: descriptive (n = 8); qualitative (n = 4); mixed-methods (n = 2); cross-sectional (n = 1); case report (n = 1); single-group pretest/post-test design (n = 1). Included studies were from North America (n = 10), Africa (n = 4), and Asia (n = 3) and addressed various public health disasters including natural disasters (n = 9), infectious disease epidemics (n = 5), armed conflict (n = 2) and hazardous material disasters (n = 1). Five emergent themes were identified on strategies to support the re-integration of core public health services: a) community engagement, b) community assessment, c) collaborative partnerships and coordination, d) workforce capacity development and allocation, and e) funding/resource enhancement. CONCLUSION: Emergent themes from this study can be used by public health organizations as a beginning understanding of strategies that can support the re-introduction of essential public health services and programs in COVID-19 recovery.

The influence of community health on hospitals attainment of Magnet designation: Implications for policy and practice.

AIMS: To determine if there is an association between better County Health Rankings and the increased odds of a hospital gaining Magnet designation in subsequent years (2014-2019) compared with counties with lower rankings. BACKGROUND: The Magnet hospital model is recognized to have a great effect on nurses, patients and organizational outcomes. Although Magnet hospital designation is a well-established structural marker for nursing excellence, the effect of County Health Rankings and subsequent hospital achievement of Magnet status is unknown. DESIGN: A descriptive, cross-sectional quantitative approach was adopted for this study. METHODS: Data were derived from 2010 to 2019 U.S. County Health Rankings, American Hospital Association, and American Nursing Credentialing Center databases. Logistic regression models were utilized to determine associations between county rankings for health behaviours, clinical care, social and economic factors, physical environment and counties with a new Magnet hospital after 2014. RESULTS: Counties with the worst rankings for clinical care and socio-economic status had reduced odds of obtaining a Magnet hospital designation compared with best-ranking counties. While middle-ranking counties for the physical environment ranking had increased odds of having Magnet designation compared with best-ranking counties. Additionally, having an increased percent of government non-federal hospital or a higher percentage of critical access hospitals in the county reduced the odds of having a Magnet-designated facility after 2014. CONCLUSION: The findings underscore the important associations between Magnet-designated facilities' location and the health of its surrounding counties. This study is the first to examine the relationship between County Health Rankings and a hospital's likelihood of obtaining Magnet status and points to the need for future research to explore outcomes of care previously identified as improved in Magnet-designated hospitals. IMPLICATIONS: Recognizing the benefits of Magnet facilities, it is important for health care leaders and policy makers to seek opportunities to promote centres of excellence in higher need communities through policy and financial intervention.

Smoke-Free Policies and 30-Day Mortality Rates for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

BACKGROUND: Smoke-free policies have been shown to impact 30-day readmission rates due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) among adults aged ≥65 years. However, little is known about the association between smokefree policies and 30-day mortality rates for COPD. Therefore, we investigated the association between comprehensive smoke-free policies and 30-day mortality rates for COPD. METHODS: We used a cross-sectional study design and retrospectively examined risk-adjusted 30-day mortality rates for COPD across US hospitals in 1171 counties. Data were sourced from Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program, American Hospital Association (AHA) Annual Surveys, US Census Bureau Current Population Survey, and US Tobacco Control Laws Database from the American Nonsmokers' Rights Foundation (ANRF). Data were averaged at the county level for years 2015-2018. Hierarchical Poisson models adjusted for differences in hospital characteristics and accounted for the clustering of hospitals within a county were used. RESULTS: Our findings show a consistent association between stronger smoke-free policies and a reduction in COPD mortality. When evaluating smoke-free policy, county characteristics, and hospital characteristics individually, we found that counties with full coverage or partial coverage had a reduced incidence rate of COPD mortality compared to no coverage counties. After adjusting for the county and hospital characteristics, counties with full coverage of smoke-free policies had a reduced rate of 30-day COPD mortality (adjusted incidence rate ratio [IRR]: 0.87, 95% CI: 0.79, 0.96) compared to counties with no policy coverage. CONCLUSION: Comprehensive smoke-free policies are associated with a reduction in 30-day mortality following hospital admission for COPD. Partial smoke-free legislation is an insufficient preventative measure. These findings have strong implications for hospital policy-makers, suggesting that policy interventions to reduce COPD-related 30-day mortality should include implementing smoke-free policies and public health policy-makers to incentivize comprehensive smokefree policies.

Impact of disasters, including pandemics, on cardiometabolic outcomes across the life-course: a systematic review.

BACKGROUND: Disasters are events that disrupt the daily functioning of a community or society, and may increase long-term risk of adverse cardiometabolic outcomes, including cardiovascular disease, obesity and diabetes. The objective of this study was to conduct a systematic review to determine the impact of disasters, including pandemics, on cardiometabolic outcomes across the life-course. DESIGN: A systematic search was conducted in May 2020 using two electronic databases, EMBASE and Medline. All studies were screened in duplicate at title and abstract, and full-text level. Studies were eligible for inclusion if they assessed the association between a population-level or community disaster and cardiometabolic outcomes ≥1 month following the disaster. There were no restrictions on age, year of publication, country or population. Data were extracted on study characteristics, exposure (eg, type of disaster, region, year), cardiometabolic outcomes and measures of effect. Study quality was evaluated using the Joanna Briggs Institute critical appraisal tools. RESULTS: A total of 58 studies were included, with 24 studies reporting the effects of exposure to disaster during pregnancy/childhood and 34 studies reporting the effects of exposure during adulthood. Studies included exposure to natural (n=35; 60%) and human-made (n=23; 40%) disasters, with only three (5%) of these studies evaluating previous pandemics. Most studies reported increased cardiometabolic risk, including increased cardiovascular disease incidence or mortality, diabetes and obesity, but not all. Few studies evaluated the biological mechanisms or high-risk subgroups that may be at a greater risk of negative health outcomes following disasters. CONCLUSIONS: The findings from this study suggest that the burden of disasters extend beyond the known direct harm, and attention is needed on the detrimental indirect long-term effects on cardiometabolic health. Given the current COVID-19 pandemic, these findings may inform public health prevention strategies to mitigate the impact of future cardiometabolic risk. PROSPERO REGISTRATION NUMBER: CRD42020186074.

Does community engaged Carnegie status matter for county health rankings in the United States?

BACKGROUND: Community engagement is commonly used to address social inequities. The Carnegie Foundation offers an optional designation for which U.S. colleges and universities may apply to facilitate better educational outcomes through the institutionalization of community engagement. This study is the first to examine the relationship between Carnegie community engaged status and community health outcomes. METHODS: Ordinal logistic regression was conducted to investigate the association between the presence of a community engaged institution and county health outcomes, including health behaviors, clinical care relating to access and quality, social and economic factors, and physical environment from the 2016 Robert Wood Johnson County Health Rankings and 2015 New England Resource Center for Higher Education Community engaged list. We examined 820 U.S. counties containing a university or college, 240 of which had a community engaged designation. RESULTS: Findings indicated that the presence of a community-engaged institution was positively associated with Clinical Care (OR = 1.99; 95% CI: 1.09, 3.64). Other county health factors were not similarly associated. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that community engagement status may be most relevant for achieving better access and quality of clinical care. More research is needed to explore this association in the U.S. and internationally.

Where Are We Now? A Content Analysis of Canadian Master of Public Health Course Descriptions and the Public Health Agency of Canada's Core Competencies.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the degree to which Master of Public Health (MPH) programs' course descriptions align with the Public Health Agency of Canada's (PHAC's) core competency categories in order to identify strengths and training gaps in such programs across Canada. METHODS: A content analysis of MPH programs in Canada was conducted from July 2019 to November 2019. A sampling frame of programs was obtained from a list from the PHAC Web site. Program information, including mandatory and elective course descriptions, was extracted from each program's Web site and analyzed in NVivo 12. Course descriptions were independently categorized by 2 researchers into 1 or more of the 7 categories of the core competencies outlined by the PHAC. RESULTS: We identified 18 universities with MPH programs with 267 courses across Canada. Thematic analysis revealed that 100% of programs had coursework that addressed the "Public Health Sciences" and "Assessment and Analysis" categories; 93% addressed "Policy and Program Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation"; 67% addressed each of "Communication," "Leadership," and "Partnerships, Collaboration, and Advocacy"; and only 56% had course descriptions addressing "Diversity and Inclusiveness." CONCLUSIONS: We find that Canadian MPH programs may lack course offerings addressing core competency categories relating to diversity and inclusiveness, communication, and leadership. Our findings were limited in scope as we relied on program Web sites; thus, further research should explore course content in more depth than this course description analysis allowed and identify ways to close the MPH curricular gaps we identified.

A cross-sectional study of trauma certification and hospital referral region diversity: A system theory approach.

BACKGROUND: There are clear racial/ethnic disparities in the trauma care service delivery. However, no study has examined the relationships between structural determinants of trauma care designations (L-I through L-IV) or verification and social factors of the surrounding health region in the U.S. OBJECTIVE: This study examined the relationship between U.S. community segregation in a hospital referral region (HRR) and hospitals' attainment of trauma certification and trauma designation L-I/II. METHODS: Two-year retrospective analysis of 2,348 acute hospitals that participated in the Hospital Value-Based Purchasing (HVBP) Program. Multivariate Poisson and 1:2 matching ratio using Propensity Score Matching regressions were used. Our primary variables were composite segregation scores for each county-aggregated to the HRR level (n=303)-and hospital performance on the HVBP Program. RESULTS: Segregated HRRs are 69% and 40% less likely to have an increase in the number of hospitals with trauma care designations L-I/II and trauma certification, respectively. Our matching ratio showed that hospitals with trauma certification or hospitals with trauma care designations L-I/II were more likely to be within HRRs with lower community diversity. CONCLUSION: Our findings highlight that system disparities exist in trauma care. Research is needed to determine if other factors, such as resource allocation and reimbursement distribution, impact the availability of trauma facilities.

Hospital Partnerships in Population Health Initiatives.

Hospitals are expected to fulfill a role in the communities they serve by improving the health of the population in the community as mandated in the Affordable Care Act. One way hospitals achieve this is to create partnerships with diverse organizations, such as local public health departments, state/federal agencies, and other health care organizations. The aim of this study is to examine characteristics of hospitals that developed partnerships based on improving population health. This study utilized the 2015 Population Health Survey, American Hospital Association Database, and Dartmouth Atlas of Health Care. Hospital characteristics included size, ownership status, part of a system, teaching status location, Medicare percentage, Medicaid percentage, average stay length, and inpatient days per 1000 persons. Level of partnership was measured by the hospital's current working relationship with other hospitals/health care systems or local/state/other agencies. Univariate, bivariate, and multivariate regression analyses were used to analyze the relationship between hospital partnerships and organizational characteristics. Hospitals with strong relationships tend to be larger and not-for-profit hospitals, hospitals with system members and located in urban areas, and teaching-affiliated hospitals. This study also found hospital characteristics were related to hospitals' partnerships. Hospitals within health care systems and with high inpatient volume were more likely to report relationships that were stronger. This study provides a systematic and updated look at hospitals' partnership when looking at commitment to population health improvement and contributes to the literature by informing about the greater need to support rural and smaller hospitals with population health outreach activities.

Smoke-Free Policies and 30-Day Readmission Rates for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.

INTRODUCTION: Previous evidence has shown that smoke-free policies reduce hospital admissions due to respiratory causes, but the impact on 30-day readmission has not been determined. As 25 states in the U.S. have not adopted comprehensive smoke-free legislation, it is likely that patients return to an environment that increases risk of a secondary event. The aim of this study is to investigate the impact of smoke-free policies on 30-day readmission rates for adults aged ≥65 years following hospitalization for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease in the U.S. METHODS: Data from the U.S. Tobacco Control Laws Database, Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program, American Hospital Association, Area Health Resource File, and U.S. Census Bureau Current Population Survey were merged at the county level for years 2013-2016 and analyzed in 2018. Hierarchical Poisson regression models were utilized to calculate incidence rate ratios to determine the impact of full, partial, and no smoke-free policies on 30-day readmission rates after chronic obstructive pulmonary disease hospitalization. RESULTS: Multivariable analysis adjusting for both county and hospital characteristics revealed that the presence of full (incidence rate ratio=0.81, 95% CI=0.76, 0.88) and partial (incidence rate ratio=0.87, 95% CI=0.81, 0.92) smoke-free policies were associated with fewer 30-day readmissions for chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-related hospitalizations when compared with counties with no smoke-free policy. CONCLUSIONS: The implementation of smoke-free policies is an effective measure for reducing 30-day readmissions following hospitalization due to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, with stronger policies resulting in decreased risk. Efforts to reduce chronic obstructive pulmonary disease-related 30-day readmissions should include the implementation of smoke-free policies.

Medicare' Hospital-Acquired Condition Reduction Program and Community Diversity in the United States: The Need to Account for Racial and Ethnic Segregation.

This study investigated the association between community diversity within hospitals' referral region (HRR) and hospital-acquired conditions (HACs) incident rate among adults ages ≥ 65 years. HRR level (n = 274) HACs were examined and the analysis showed that high diverse communities (OR 1.48, 95% CI [1.15,1.91]) had higher adjusted odds than low diverse communities to score poorly on Domain 2, and increased odds of scoring poor on overall total HAC score. Although hospital quality of care is not intentionally segregated, its surrounding community is impacting its performance, thus policymakers need to accommodate the diversity of communities when developing pay-for-performance or merit-based initiatives.

Impact of hospitals' Referral Region racial and ethnic diversity on 30-day readmission rates of older adults.

Background: The Hospital Readmissions Reduction Program (HRRP) began decreasing Medicare payments to hospitals reporting high readmission rates for individuals over 65. Thus, financially incentivizing hospitals to improve quality performance on preventable readmissions. Well-established research indicates that minorities are more frequently readmitted to hospitals, but it is unknown if community diversity is associated with 30-day readmission rates. Objectives: To investigate the association between racial/ethnic diversity and hospitals' 30-day readmission rates. Methods: We linked the 2017 HRRP, American Hospital Association (AHA) database, Area Health Resource File, US Census Bureau Current Population Survey, and the Dartmouth Atlas HRR dataset to examine 30-day readmission rate for heart failure (HF), pneumonia (PN), acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and hip replacement (HR) surgery of 4,299 hospitals across 306 HRRs. Results: Our findings indicate a statistically significant negative relationship between diversity and 30-day readmission rates for HF, PN, AMI, and HR with a hospital referral region (HRR). Thus, hospitals located in HRRs with diverse populations are more likely to have higher 30-day readmission rates for all conditions under Medicare's HRRP Conclusion: Better discharge follow-up, interventions, and use of support staff aimed at meeting needs associated with differences in communities and cultures are likely to prove more fruitful than traditional one-size fits all approaches to care.

A community health case for psychiatric care: A cross-sectional study of county health rankings.

OBJECTIVES: To determine if there is an association between the provision of mental health services and county health rankings in the United States. METHODS: We used retrospective population-based, 2016 U.S. county level cross-sectional analysis to determine the association of mental health services provision on U.S. counties health rankings. The key dependent variables in this study were the county health factor rankings (CHR). The presence of inpatient, outpatient and other facilities which may provide mental health services are identified for each county. Multilevel mixed effects ordinal logistic regression models were used to account for nesting effects utilizing two levels of data which include hospital- and county-level data. RESULTS: Better county health rankings were associated with the presence of Outpatient services (OR = 0.69, 95% CI: 0.55-0.85) and Psychiatric hospital (OR = 0.55, 95% CI: 0.40-0.74). CONCLUSION: These findings suggest a significant association between psychiatric care and community health. Access to psychiatric services is associated with improved population health.

Association between hospital community services and county population health in the USA.

OBJECTIVES: Little research has utilized population level data to test the association between community health outcomes and (i) hospital-sponsored community services that facilitate access to care and (ii) hospital-sponsored community building services in the USA. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine these relationships. METHODS: A secondary data analysis of the 2016 County Health Rankings and American Hospital Association databases was conducted via zero-truncated negative Binomial regression. RESULTS: Findings indicate a statistically significant difference between the number of community healthcare access services and community building services with county's rank of health behavior. However, no statistically significant differences were found between the number of community healthcare access services and community building services with county rankings of length of life, quality of life or clinical care. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that quality measures of services may play a more important role in community health improvement and that there is opportunity for hospitals to revamp the way in which community health needs assessments are conducted. Additional federal action is needed to standardize hospital sponsored community health service data reporting so that practitioners, hospital administrators and researchers can more specifically define hospitals' role in public health protection in the USA.

Insight Into Health Care Services: A Characterization of Emergency Room Visits and Economic Hazards in the United States.

OBJECTIVE: This study explores the impact of economic hazard areas on hospital-based emergency departments to determine whether economically hazardous environments, characterized by the change of population, income per capita, and unemployment rate, experience a higher number of emergency room visits than areas of lower rated economic hazard risk in the United States. METHOD: A cross-sectional design was used of a nationally constructed data set of hospital-based emergency departments of over 6,000 hospitals in the United States. We identified our quality outcome measure as the emergency room visits rate within a hospital service area. We created the variable by dividing the number of emergency room visits by the population of the hospital services area in which the emergency room was located. RESULTS: Results indicate that there is a difference in the incident rate ratio of emergency room visits between environments considered to be experiencing greater amounts of hazard, compared to lower amounts of hazard. CONCLUSION: Hospital administrators and health policy-makers need to work in conjunction to focus efforts on public safety as a key objective in the delivery of emergency medical care. One crucial effort that hospital administrators need to focus on is improving emergency room capacity and efficiency as part of the disaster preparedness plan (Disaster Med Public Health Prep. 2019;13:470-475).