Managing the quality of primary health care in urban China: the impact of organizational and physician features.

BACKGROUND: Global health care quality improvement efforts have focussed on management practices. However, knowledge in primary care settings, especially in developing countries, such as China, is lacking. OBJECTIVE: To examine the organizational and physician features associated with health care quality in China's community health centres (CHCs). METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional survey of 224 primary care physicians (PCPs) in 38 CHCs in Jinan, Tianjin, Shenzhen, and Shanghai. Clinical and prevention care quality with a 5-level scale (1 = never, 5 = always) reported by the PCPs were used to measure the quality of care. Two-level hierarchical linear models were estimated to examine the organization and physician-level variables associated with primary care quality. RESULTS: The average clinical care quality score was 4.08 and 3.59 for preventative care out of 5. At the organizational level, organizational culture and organizational support were the strongest predictors of physician-reported quality of care. At the physician level, professional fulfilment, psychological safety, and organizational citizenship behaviour were positively associated with care quality. CONCLUSIONS: Chinese CHCs clinical quality ranked high by PCPs, but the quality of preventative care provision required improvement. To improve primary care quality, managers of CHCs should implement optimal organizational structures, supportive organizational cultures, and strong organizational support at the organization level and cultivate high professional fulfilment, safe, and trustful relationships with colleagues at the physician level.

Survival of patients who had cancer diagnosed through an emergency hospital admission: A retrospective matched case-comparison study in Australia.

BACKGROUND: Individuals diagnosed with cancer via emergency admission are likely to have poor outcomes. This study aims to identify cancer diagnosed through an emergency hospital admission and examine predictors associated with mortality within 12-months. METHOD: A population-based retrospective 1:1 propensity-matched case-comparison study of people who had an emergency versus a planned hospital admission with a principal diagnosis of cancer during 2013-2020 in New South Wales, Australia using linked hospital, cancer registry and mortality records. Conditional logistic regression examined predictors of mortality at 12-months. RESULTS: There were 28,502 matched case-comparisons. Individuals who had an emergency admission were four times more likely to die within 12-months (Odds Ratio (OR) 3.93; 95 % confidence interval (CI) 3.75-4.13) compared to individuals who had a planned admission for cancer. Older individuals, diagnosed with lung (OR 1.89; 95 %CI 1.36-2.63) or digestive organ, excluding colorectal (OR1.78; 95 %CI 1.30-2.43) cancers, where the degree of spread was metastatic (OR 3.61; 95 %CI 2.62-4.50), who had a mental disorder diagnosis (OR 2.08; 95 %CI 1.89-2.30), lived in rural (OR 1.27; 95 %CI 1.17-1.37) or more disadvantaged neighbourhoods had a higher likelihood of death within 12-months following an unplanned admission compared to referent groups. Females (OR 0.87; 95 %CI 0.81-0.93) had an 13 % lower likelihood of mortality within 12-months compared to males. CONCLUSIONS: While some emergency cancer admissions are not avoidable, the importance of preventive screening and promotion of help-seeking for early cancer symptoms should not be overlooked as mechanisms to reduce emergency admissions related to cancer and to improve cancer survival.

Patient, surgical and hospital factors predicting actual first-day mobilisation after hip fracture surgery: An observational cohort study.

OBJECTIVES: To examine patient, surgical and hospital factors associated with Day-1 postoperative mobility after hip fracture surgery in older adults. METHODS: A cohort study using Australia and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry was conducted. Participants were aged older than 50 years and underwent hip fracture surgery between 1 January 2020 and 31 December 2020 inclusive. The outcome was standing and step transferring out of bed onto a chair and/or walking Day-1 after hip fracture surgery. RESULTS: Mean age was 82 years and 68% were women. Of 12,318 patients with hip fracture, 5981 (49%) actually mobilised Day-1. Odds of actual first-day mobilisation were lower for individuals usually walking with either stick or crutch (OR = 0.71, 95% CI 0.62-0.82) or two aids or frame (OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.52-0.64) or wheelchair/bed bound (OR = 0.24, 95% CI 0.17-0.33); who had impaired cognition preadmission (OR = 0.57, 95% CI 0.51-0.64); from aged care facilities (OR = 0.59, 95% CI 0.52-0.67); had an American Society of Anaesthesiologists grade 2 (OR = 0.63, 95% CI 0.41-0.97), 3 (OR = 0.31, 95% CI 0.20-0.47) or 4 or 5 (OR = 0.21, 95% CI 0.14-0.32); surgery delay >48 h (OR = 0.81, 95% CI 0.71-0.91); and restricted/non-weight-bearing status immediately postoperatively (OR = 0.53, 95% CI 0.42-0.67). CONCLUSIONS: Both non-modifiable and modifiable patient and surgical factors influence first-day mobilisation after hip fracture surgery. Reducing time to surgery might assist future quality improvement efforts to increase Day-1 postoperative mobility.

Measuring clinician experience in value-based healthcare initiatives: a 10-item core clinician experience measure (CEM-10).

Objective Clinician's experiences of providing care are identified as a key outcome associated with value-based healthcare (VBHC). In contrast to patient-reported experience measures, measurement tools to capture clinician's experiences in relation to VBHC initiatives have received limited attention to date. Progressing from an initial 18-item clinician experience measure (CEM), we sought to develop and evaluate the reliability of a set of 10 core clinician experience measure items in the CEM-10. Methods A multi-method project was conducted using a consensus workshop with clinicians from a range of NSW Health local health districts to reduce the 18-item CEM to a short form 10-item core clinician experience measure (CEM-10). The CEM-10 was deployed with clinicians providing diabetes care, care for older adults and virtual care across all districts and care settings of New South Wales, Australia. Psychometric analysis was used to determine the internal consistency of the tool and its suitability for diverse clinical contexts. Results Consensus building sessions led to a rationalised 10-item tool, retaining the four domains of psychological safety (two items), quality of care (three items), clinician engagement (three items) and interprofessional collaboration (two items). Data from four clinician cohorts (n = 1029) demonstrated that the CEM-10 four-factor model produced a good fit to the data and high levels of reliability, with factor loadings ranging from 0.77 to 0.92, with Cronbach's alpha (range: 0.79-0.90) and composite reliability (range: 0.80-0.92). Conclusions The CEM-10 provides a core set of common clinician experience measurement items that can be used to compare clinician's experiences of providing care between and within cohorts. The CEM-10 may be supported by additional items relevant to particular initiatives when evaluating VBHC outcomes.

Marked variations in medical provider and out-of-pocket costs for radical prostatectomy procedures in Australia.

Objectives Unwarranted clinical variations in radical prostatectomy (RP) procedures are frequently reported, yet less attention is given to the variations in associated costs. This issue can further widen disparities in access to care and provoke questions about the overall value of the procedure. The present paper aimed to delve into the disparities in hospital, medical provider and out-of-pocket costs for RP procedures in Australia, discussing plausible causes and potential policy opportunities. Methods A retrospective cohort study using Medibank Private claims data for RP procedures conducted in Australian hospitals between 1 January 2015 and 31 December 2020 was undertaken. Results Considerable variations in both medical provider and out-of-pocket costs were observed across the country, with variations evident between different states or territories. Particularly striking were the discrepancies in the costs charged by medical providers, with a notable contrast between the 10th and 90th percentiles revealing a substantial difference of A$9925. Hospitals in Australia exhibited relatively comparable charges for RP procedures. Conclusions Initiatives such as enhancing transparency regarding individual medical provider costs and implementing fee regulations with healthcare providers may be useful in curbing the variations in RP procedure costs.

The impact of leader member exchange quality and differentiation on counterproductive and citizenship behavior in health care teams.

BACKGROUND: Organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) may increase service quality. In contrast, counterproductive work behavior (CWB) may undermine patient safety. Efforts to increase OCB and reduce CWB rely on a good understanding of their antecedents, yet there is a lack of research in health care to inform such endeavors. PURPOSE: The aim of this study was to investigate the role of leadership, specifically leader-member exchange (LMX), in reducing CWB and increasing OCB in health care teams. METHODOLOGY/APPROACH: Team survey data were collected from 75 teams in U.S. health services organizations. Polynomial regression and response surface analysis was used to investigate our hypotheses. RESULTS: For OCB, the response surface along the line of incongruence (a3) was positive and significant, and for CWB, a3 was negative and significant. CONCLUSION: The results of polynomial regression and response surface analysis indicate that OCB increases when LMX quality is high and that LMX differentiation is comparatively lower. In contrast, CWB increases when LMX differentiation is high, whereas LMX quality is lower. PRACTICE IMPLICATIONS: These findings provide useful suggestions to promote valuable extra-role behaviors in health care teams. Health care team leaders should aim to develop strong exchange relationships with all members if they wish to increase citizenship behavior and decrease counterproductive behavior. Building positive exchange relationships with only a few team members is likely to undermine citizenship behavior and increase counterproductive behavior.

Expanding access to fracture liaison services in Australia for people with minimal trauma fractures: a system dynamics modelling study.

OBJECTIVES: To project how many minimal trauma fractures could be averted in Australia by expanding the number and changing the operational characteristics of fracture liaison services (FLS). STUDY DESIGN: System dynamics modelling. SETTING, PARTICIPANTS: People aged 50 years or more who present to hospitals with minimal trauma fractures, Australia, 2020-31. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Numbers of all minimal trauma fractures and of hip fractures averted by increasing the FLS number (from 29 to 58 or 100), patient screening rate (from 30% to 60%), and capacity for accepting new patients (from 40 to 80 per service per month), and reducing the proportion of eligible patients who do not attend FLS (from 30% to 15%); cost per fracture averted. RESULTS: Our model projected a total of 2 441 320 minimal trauma fractures (258 680 hip fractures; 2 182 640 non-hip fractures) in people aged 50 years or older during 2020-31, including 1 211 646 second or later fractures. Increasing the FLS number to 100 averted a projected 5405 fractures (0.22%; $39 510 per fracture averted); doubling FLS capacity averted a projected 3674 fractures (0.15%; $35 835 per fracture averted). Our model projected that neither doubling the screening rate nor reducing by half the proportion of eligible patients who did not attend FLS alone would reduce the number of fractures. Increasing the FLS number to 100, the screening rate to 60%, and capacity to 80 new patients per service per month would together avert a projected 13 672 fractures (0.56%) at a cost of $42 828 per fracture averted. CONCLUSION: Our modelling indicates that increasing the number of hospital-based FLS and changing key operational characteristics would achieve only moderate reductions in the number of minimal trauma fractures among people aged 50 years or more, and the cost would be relatively high. Alternatives to specialist-led, hospital-based FLS should be explored.

Does improved patient care lead to higher treatment costs? A multicentre cost evaluation of a blunt chest injury care bundle.

BACKGROUND: Blunt chest injury is associated with significant adverse health outcomes. A chest injury care bundle (ChIP) was developed for patients with blunt chest injury presenting to the emergency department. ChIP implementation resulted in increased health service use, decreased unplanned Intensive Care Unit admissions and non-invasive ventilation use. In this paper, we report on the financial implications of implementing ChIP and quantify costs/savings. METHODS: This was a controlled pre-and post-test study with two intervention and two non-intervention sites. The primary outcome measure was the treatment cost of hospital admission. Costs are reported in Australian dollars (AUD). A generalised linear model (GLM) estimated patient episode treatment costs at ChIP intervention and non-intervention sites. Because healthcare cost data were positive-skewed, a gamma distribution and log-link function were applied. RESULTS: A total of 1705 patients were included in the cost analysis. The interaction (Phase x Treatment) was positive but insignificant (p = 0.45). The incremental cost per patient episode at ChIP intervention sites was estimated at $964 (95 % CI, -966 - 2895). The very wide confidence intervals reflect substantial differences in cost changes between individual sites Conclusions: The point estimate of the cost of the ChIP care bundle indicated an appreciable increase compared to standard care, but there is considerable variability between sites, rendering the finding statistically non-significant. The impact on short- and longer-term costs requires further quantification.

Potentially burdensome care at the end-of-life for cancer decedents: a retrospective population-wide study.

BACKGROUND: Variation persists in the quality of end-of-life-care (EOLC) for people with cancer. This study aims to describe the characteristics of, and examine factors associated with, indicators of potentially burdensome care provided in hospital, and use of hospital services in the last 12 months of life for people who had a death from cancer. METHOD: A population-based retrospective cohort study of people aged ≥ 20 years who died with a cancer-related cause of death during 2014-2019 in New South Wales, Australia using linked hospital, cancer registry and mortality records. Ten indicators of potentially burdensome care were examined. Multinominal logistic regression examined predictors of a composite measure of potentially burdensome care, consisting of > 1 ED presentation or > 1 hospital admission or ≥ 1 ICU admission within 30 days of death, or died in acute care. RESULTS: Of the 80,005 cancer-related deaths, 86.9% were hospitalised in the 12 months prior to death. Fifteen percent had > 1 ED presentation, 9.9% had > 1 hospital admission, 8.6% spent ≥ 14 days in hospital, 3.6% had ≥ 1 intensive care unit admission, and 1.2% received mechanical ventilation on ≥ 1 occasion in the last 30 days of life. Seventeen percent died in acute care. The potentially burdensome care composite measure identified 20.0% had 1 indicator, and 10.9% had ≥ 2 indicators of potentially burdensome care. Compared to having no indicators of potentially burdensome care, people who smoked, lived in rural areas, were most socially economically disadvantaged, and had their last admission in a private hospital were more likely to experience potentially burdensome care. Older people (≥ 55 years), females, people with 1 or ≥ 2 Charlson comorbidities, people with neurological cancers, and people who died in 2018-2019 were less likely to experience potentially burdensome care. Compared to people with head and neck cancer, people with all cancer types (except breast and neurological) were more likely to experience ≥ 2 indicators of potentially burdensome care versus none. CONCLUSION: This study shows the challenge of delivering health services at end-of-life. Opportunities to address potentially burdensome EOLC could involve taking a person-centric approach to integrate oncology and palliative care around individual needs and preferences.

The organization-level and physician-level factors associated with primary care physicians' confidence in pandemic response: A multilevel study in China.

Primary care physicians (PCPs) suffered from heavy workloads and health problems during COVID-19 pandemics, and building their confidence in pandemic response has great potential to improve their well-being and work performance. We identified the organizational factors associated with their confidence in pandemic response and proposed potential management levers to guide primary care response for the pandemic. We conducted a cross-sectional survey with 224 PCPs working in 38 community health centers in China. Guided by self-efficacy theory, organization-level factors (organizational structure and organizational culture) and physician-level factors (job skill variety, perceived organizational support, work-family conflict, and professional fulfillment) were selected, and two-level ordinal logit models were built to examine their association with PCPs' confidence in pandemic response. We found that hierarchical culture (OR = 3.51, P<0.05), perceived organizational support (OR = 2.36, P<0.05), job skill variety (OR = 1.86, P<0.05), and professional fulfillment (OR = 2.26, P<0.05) were positively associated with PCPs' confidence in pandemic response. However, the influence of organization structure and work-family conflict seemed limited. The study not only increases our understanding of the influence of organizational context on PCPs' pandemic response confidence, but also points out potential management levers for front-line primary care managers to enhance primary care pandemic response capacity.

Approaches for enhancing patient-reported experience measurement with ethnically diverse communities: a rapid evidence synthesis.

BACKGROUND: Patient-reported experience measures (PREMs) are used to drive and evaluate unit and organisational-level healthcare improvement, but also at a population level, these measures can be key indicators of healthcare quality. Current evidence indicates that ethnically diverse communities frequently experience poorer care quality and outcomes, with PREMs data required from this population to direct service improvement efforts. This review synthesises evidence of the methods and approaches used to promote participation in PREMs among ethnically diverse populations. METHODS: A rapid evidence appraisal (REA) methodology was utilised to identify the disparate literature on this topic. A search strategy was developed and applied to three major electronic databases in July 2022 (Medline; PsycINFO and CINAHL), in addition to websites of health agencies in Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development countries via grey literature searches. A narrative evidence synthesis was undertaken to address the review question. RESULTS: The review resulted in 97 included studies, comprised 86 articles from electronic database searches and 11 articles from the grey literature. Data extraction and synthesis identified five strategies used in PREM instruments and processes to enhance participation among ethnically diverse communities. Strategies applied sought to better inform communities about PREMs, to create accessible PREMs instruments, to support PREMs completion and to include culturally relevant topics. Several methods were used, predominantly drawing upon bicultural workers, translation, and community outreach to access and support communities at one or more stages of design or administration of PREMs. Limited evidence was available of the effectiveness of the identified methods and strategies. PREMs topics of trust, cultural responsiveness, care navigation and coordination were identified as pertinent to and frequently explored with this population. CONCLUSIONS: The findings provide a basis for a maturity model that may guide change to increase participation of ethnically diverse communities in PREMs. In the short-medium term, health systems and services must be able to recognise and respond to cultural and linguistic diversity in the population when applying existing PREMs. In the longer-term, by working in collaboration with ethnically diverse communities, systems and services may co-create adapted or novel PREMs that tackle the factors that currently inhibit uptake and completion among ethnically diverse communities.

The quality of care delivered to residents in long-term care in Australia: an indicator-based review of resident records (CareTrack Aged study).

BACKGROUND: This study estimated the prevalence of evidence-based care received by a population-based sample of Australian residents in long-term care (LTC) aged ≥ 65 years in 2021, measured by adherence to clinical practice guideline (CPG) recommendations. METHODS: Sixteen conditions/processes of care amendable to estimating evidence-based care at a population level were identified from prevalence data and CPGs. Candidate recommendations (n = 5609) were extracted from 139 CPGs which were converted to indicators. National experts in each condition rated the indicators via the RAND-UCLA Delphi process. For the 16 conditions, 236 evidence-based care indicators were ratified. A multi-stage sampling of LTC facilities and residents was undertaken. Trained aged-care nurses then undertook manual structured record reviews of care delivered between 1 March and 31 May 2021 (our record review period) to assess adherence with the indicators. RESULTS: Care received by 294 residents with 27,585 care encounters in 25 LTC facilities was evaluated. Residents received care for one to thirteen separate clinical conditions/processes of care (median = 10, mean = 9.7). Adherence to evidence-based care indicators was estimated at 53.2% (95% CI: 48.6, 57.7) ranging from a high of 81.3% (95% CI: 75.6, 86.3) for Bladder and Bowel to a low of 12.2% (95% CI: 1.6, 36.8) for Depression. Six conditions (skin integrity, end-of-life care, infection, sleep, medication, and depression) had less than 50% adherence with indicators. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first study of adherence to evidence-based care for people in LTC using multiple conditions and a standardised method. Vulnerable older people are not receiving evidence-based care for many physical problems, nor care to support their mental health nor for end-of-life care. The six conditions in which adherence with indicators was less than 50% could be the focus of improvement efforts.

Activating p53 abolishes self-renewal of quiescent leukaemic stem cells in residual CML disease.

Whilst it is recognised that targeting self-renewal is an effective way to functionally impair the quiescent leukaemic stem cells (LSC) that persist as residual disease in chronic myeloid leukaemia (CML), developing therapeutic strategies to achieve this have proved challenging. We demonstrate that the regulatory programmes of quiescent LSC in chronic phase CML are similar to that of embryonic stem cells, pointing to a role for wild type p53 in LSC self-renewal. In support of this, increasing p53 activity in primitive CML cells using an MDM2 inhibitor in combination with a tyrosine kinase inhibitor resulted in reduced CFC outputs and engraftment potential, followed by loss of multilineage priming potential and LSC exhaustion when combination treatment was discontinued. Our work provides evidence that targeting LSC self-renewal is exploitable in the clinic to irreversibly impair quiescent LSC function in CML residual disease - with the potential to enable more CML patients to discontinue therapy and remain in therapy-free remission.

Improving hip fracture care: A five-year review of the early contributors to the Australian and New Zealand Hip Fracture Registry.

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine temporal trends (2016-2020) in hip fracture care in Australian and New Zealand (ANZ) hospitals that started providing patient-level data to the ANZ Hip Fracture Registry (ANZHFR) on/before 1 January 2016 (early contributors). METHODS: Retrospective cohort study of early contributor hospitals (n = 24) to the ANZHFR. The study cohort included patients aged ≥50 years admitted with a low trauma hip fracture between 1 January 2016 and 31 December 2020 (n = 26,937). Annual performance against 11 quality indicators and 30- and 365-day mortality were examined. RESULTS: Compared to 2016/2017, year-on-year improvements were demonstrated for preoperative cognitive assessment (2020: OR 3.57, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 3.29-3.87) and nerve block use prior to surgery (2020: OR 4.62, 95% CI 4.17-5.11). Less consistent improvements over time from 2016/2017 were demonstrated for emergency department (ED) stay of <4 h (2017; 2020), pain assessment ≤30 min of ED presentation (2020), surgery ≤48 h (2020) and bone protection medication prescribed on discharge (2017-2020; 2020 OR 2.22, 95% CI 2.03-2.42). The odds of sustaining a hospital-acquired pressure injury increased in 2019-2020 compared to 2016. The odds of receiving an orthogeriatric model of care and being offered the opportunity to mobilise on Day 1 following surgery fluctuated. There was a reduction in 365-day mortality in 2020 compared to 2016 (OR 0.86, 95% CI 0.74-0.98), whereas 30-day mortality did not change. CONCLUSIONS: Several quality indicators improved over time in early contributor hospitals. Indicators that did not improve may be targets for future care improvement activities, including considering incentivised hip fracture care, which has previously been shown to improve care/outcomes. COVID-19 and reporting practices may have impacted the study findings.

Impact of mental disorders on unplanned readmissions for congestive heart failure patients: a population-level study.

AIMS: Reducing preventable hospitalization for congestive heart failure (CHF) patients is a challenge for health systems worldwide. CHF patients who also have a recent or ongoing mental disorder may have worse health outcomes compared with CHF patients with no mental disorders. This study examined the impact of mental disorders on 28 day unplanned readmissions of CHF patients. METHODS AND RESULTS: This retrospective cohort study used population-level linked public and private hospitalization and death data of adults aged ≥18 years who had a CHF admission in New South Wales, Australia, between 1 January 2014 and 31 December 2020. Individuals' mental disorder diagnosis and Charlson comorbidity and hospital frailty index scores were derived from admission records. Competing risk and cause-specific risk analyses were conducted to examine the impact of having a mental disorder diagnosis on all-cause hospital readmission. Of the 65 861 adults with index CHF admission discharged alive (mean age: 78.6 ± 12.1; 48% female), 19.2% (12 675) had at least one unplanned readmission within 28 days following discharge. Adults with CHF with a mental disorder diagnosis within 12 months had a higher risk of 28 day all-cause unplanned readmission [hazard ratio (HR): 1.21, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15-1.27, P-value < 0.001], particularly those with anxiety disorder (HR: 1.49, 95% CI: 1.35-1.65, P-value < 0.001). CHF patients aged ≥85 years (HR: 1.19, 95% CI: 1.11-1.28), having ≥3 other comorbidities (HR: 1.35, 95% CI: 1.25-1.46), and having an intermediate (HR: 1.34, 95% CI: 1.28-1.40) or high (HR: 1.37, 95% CI: 1.27-1.47) frailty score on admission had a higher risk of unplanned readmission. CHF patients with a mental disorder who have ≥3 other comorbidities and an intermediate frailty score had the highest probability of unplanned readmission (29.84%, 95% CI: 24.68-35.73%) after considering other patient-level factors and competing events. CONCLUSIONS: CHF patients who had a mental disorder diagnosis in the past 12 months are more likely to be readmitted compared with those without a mental disorder diagnosis. CHF patients with frailty and a mental disorder have the highest probability of readmission. Addressing mental health care services in CHF patient's discharge plan could potentially assist reduce unplanned readmissions.

Systematic review: What is the impact of triage implementation on clinical outcomes and process measures in low- and middle-income country emergency departments?

INTRODUCTION: Triage is widely regarded as an essential function of emergency care (EC) systems, especially in resource-limited settings. Through a systematic search and review of the literature, we investigated the effect of triage implementation on clinical outcomes and process measures in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) emergency departments (EDs). METHODS: Structured searches were conducted using MEDLINE, CENTRAL, EMBASE, CINAHL, and Global Health. Eligible articles identified through screening and full-text review underwent risk-of-bias assessment using the Newcastle-Ottawa Scale. The quality of evidence for each effect measure was summarized using GRADE. RESULTS: Among 10,394 articles identified through the search strategy, 58 underwent full-text review and 16 were included in the final synthesis. All utilized pre-/postintervention methods and a majority were single center. Effect measures included mortality, waiting time, length of stay, admission rate, and patient satisfaction. Of these, ED mortality and time to clinician assessment were evaluated most frequently. The majority of studies using these outcomes identified a positive effect, namely a reduction in deaths and waiting time among patients presenting for EC. The quality of the evidence was moderate for these measures but low or very low for all other outcomes and process indicators. CONCLUSIONS: There is moderate quality of evidence supporting an association between the introduction of triage and a reduction in deaths and waiting time. Although the available data support the value of triage in LMIC EDs, the risk of confounding and publication bias is significant. Future studies will benefit from more rigorous research methods.

Polygenic Risk Score Associates With Atherosclerotic Plaque Characteristics at Autopsy.

BACKGROUND: Polygenic risk scores (PRSs) for coronary artery disease (CAD) potentially improve cardiovascular risk prediction. However, their relationship with histopathologic features of CAD has never been examined systematically. METHODS: From 4327 subjects referred to CVPath by the State of Maryland Office Chief Medical Examiner for sudden death between 1994 and 2015, 2455 cases were randomly selected for genotyping. We generated PRS from 291 known CAD risk loci. Detailed histopathologic examination of the coronary arteries was performed in all subjects. The primary study outcome measurements were histopathologic plaque features determining severity of atherosclerosis, including %stenosis, calcification, thin-cap fibroatheromas, and thrombotic CAD. RESULTS: After exclusion of cases with insufficient DNA sample quality or with missing data, 954 cases (mean age, 48.8±14.7 years; 75.7% men) remained in the final study cohort. Subjects in the highest PRS quintile exhibited more severe atherosclerosis compared with subjects in the lowest quintile, with greater %stenosis (80.3%±27.0% versus 50.4%±38.7%; adjusted P<0.001) and a higher frequency of calcification (69.6% versus 35.8%; adjusted P=0.004) and thin-cap fibroatheroma (26.7% versus 9.5%; adjusted P=0.007). Even after adjustment for traditional CAD risk factors, subjects within the highest PRS quintile had higher odds of severe atherosclerosis (ie, ≥75% stenosis; adjusted odds ratio, 3.77 [95% CI, 2.10-6.78]; P<0.001) and plaque rupture (adjusted odds ratio, 4.05 [95% CI, 2.26-7.24]; P<0.001). Moreover, subjects within the highest quintile had higher odds of CAD-associated cause of death, especially among those aged ≤50 years (adjusted odds ratio, 4.08 [95% CI, 2.01-8.30]; P<0.001). No statistically significant associations were observed with plaque erosion after adjusting for covariates. CONCLUSIONS: This is the first autopsy study investigating associations between PRS and atherosclerosis severity at the histopathologic level in subjects with sudden death. Our pathological analysis suggests PRS correlates with plaque burden and features of advanced atherosclerosis and may be useful as a method for CAD risk stratification, especially in younger subjects.

The role of frailty risk for fracture-related hospital readmission and mortality after a hip fracture.

BACKGROUND: Frailty risk estimated using hospital administrative data may provide a useful clinical tool to identify older hip fracture patients at-risk of fracture-related readmissions and mortality. This study examined hip fracture hospitalisation temporal trends and explore the role of frailty risk in fracture-related readmission and mortality. METHODS: This retrospective cohort study was conducted using linked hospital admission and mortality data in New South Wales, Australia. Patients aged ≥65 years were admitted after a hip fracture between 2014 and 2021 for temporal trends and those admitted and discharged after a hip fracture in 2014-2018 for fracture-related readmission. The Hospital Frailty Risk Score was estimated, and patients were followed for at least 36 months after discharge. A semi-competing risk analysis was used to examine the associations of frailty with fracture-related readmission and/or mortality. RESULTS: Hip fracture hospitalisation rate was 472 per 100,000 and declined by 2.9 % (95 % confidence intervals (CI): -3.7 to -2.1) annually. Amongst 28,567 patients, 9.8 % were identified with low frailty risk, 39.4 %, intermediate frailty risk, and 50.6 % with high frailty risk. Patients with intermediate or high frailty risk had a higher chance of fracture-related readmission (Hazard ratios (HR): 1.33, 95 %CI: 1.21-1.47, HR: 1.65, 95 %CI: 1.49-1.83), death (HR: 1.50, 95 %CI: 1.38-1.63, HR: 1.80, 95 %CI: 1.65-1.96) and death post fracture-related readmission (HR: 1.32, 95 %CI: 1.12-1.56, HR: 1.56, 95 %CI: 1.32-1.84) than those with low frailty risk. CONCLUSIONS: It appears that frailty risk estimated using hospital administrative data can contribute to identify patients who could benefit from targeted interventions to prevent further fractures.

Professional care workforce: a rapid review of evidence supporting methods of recruitment, retention, safety, and education.

BACKGROUND: Across the care economy there are major shortages in the health and care workforce, as well as high rates of attrition and ill-defined career pathways. The aim of this study was to evaluate current evidence regarding methods to improve care worker recruitment, retention, safety, and education, for the professional care workforce. METHODS: A rapid review of comparative interventions designed to recruit, retain, educate and care for the professional workforce in the following sectors: disability, aged care, health, mental health, family and youth services, and early childhood education and care was conducted. Embase and MEDLINE databases were searched, and studies published between January 2015 and November 2022 were included. We used the Quality Assessment tool for Quantitative Studies and the PEDro tools to evaluate study quality. RESULTS: 5594 articles were initially screened and after applying the inclusion and exclusion criteria, 30 studies were included in the rapid review. Studies most frequently reported on the professional nursing, medical and allied health workforces. Some studies focused on the single domain of care worker education (n = 11) while most focused on multiple domains that combined education with recruitment strategies, retention strategies or a focus on worker safety. Study quality was comparatively low with a median PEDro score of 5/10, and 77% received a weak rating on the Quality Assessment tool for Quantitative Studies. Four new workforce strategies emerged; early career rural recruitment supports rural retention; workload management is essential for workforce well-being; learning must be contextually relevant; and there is a need to differentiate recruitment, retention, and education strategies for different professional health and care workforce categories as needs vary. CONCLUSIONS: Given the critical importance of recruiting and retaining a strong health and care workforce, there is an immediate need to develop a cohesive strategy to address workforce shortfalls. This paper presents initial evidence on different interventions to address this need, and to inform care workforce recruitment and retention. Rapid Review registration PROSPERO 2022 CRD42022371721 Available from: https://www.crd.york.ac.uk/prospero/display_record.php?ID=CRD42022371721.

Leadership effectiveness through coaching: Authentic and change-oriented leadership.

There has been an increasing shift towards individually owned leader development programs within organizations. Whilst leadership coaching is one of these and is gaining in popularity, the mechanisms of its effect remain poorly understood. We develop and investigate a model in which leadership coaching enhances leader effectiveness through coaching's positive effect on authentic and change-oriented leadership behaviours as well as self-efficacy. To assess the model, multi-source data were collected for organizational leaders (N = 70) pre- and post-coaching. To investigate mechanisms of coaching's effect, relations between latent change scores were assessed in structural equation modelling using partial least squares indicating that after accounting for base-line scores, coaching-related increases in authentic leadership behaviour has the largest total effect on leadership effectiveness.