Life After Surgery: Surgeon Assessments of Quality of Life Among Patients With Familial Adenomatous Polyposis.

BACKGROUND: Without prophylactic surgery, patients with familial adenomatous polyposis are at high risk for colorectal cancer development. Various surgical options for prophylaxis are available. Patient decision-making for preventative treatments is often influenced by the preferences of healthcare providers. OBJECTIVE: We determined surgeon preferences for the surgical options available to patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. DESIGN: We obtained preference estimates for postoperative health states from colorectal surgeons who had treated ≥10 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis. SETTINGS: Assessments were made at an annual meeting of the American Society of Colon and Rectal Surgeons. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Utilities were measured through the time trade-off method. We determined utilities for 3 procedures used for prophylaxis, including total proctocolectomy with permanent ileostomy, colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis, and total proctocolectomy with IPAA. We also assessed utilities for 2 short-term health states: 90 days with a temporary ileostomy and 2 years with a poorly functioning ileoanal pouch. RESULTS: Twenty-seven surgeons who had cared for >1700 patients with familial adenomatous polyposis participated in this study. The highest utility scores were provided for colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis (0.98). Lower utility scores were provided for total proctocolectomy with permanent ileostomy (0.87) and IPAA (0.89). The number of patients with familial adenomatous polyposis who were treated by participating surgeons did not influence these estimates; however, more-experienced surgeons gave lower utility scores for a poorly functioning ileoanal pouch than less-experienced surgeons (0.15, 0.50, and 0.25 for high-, medium-, and low-volume surgeons; p = 0.02). LIMITATIONS: This study was limited by the sample size. CONCLUSIONS: For patients with familial adenomatous polyposis and relative rectal sparing, surgeon preferences are greatest for colectomy with ileorectal anastomosis. Utility estimates provided by this study are important for understanding surgical decision-making and suggest a role for ileorectal anastomosis in appropriately selected patients. See Video Abstract at http://links.lww.com/DCR/A656.

Retail clinic versus office setting: do patients choose appropriate providers?

OBJECTIVE: To assess whether health plan members who used retail clinics chose that setting for minor conditions and continued to see other providers for more complex conditions. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective analysis of claims data in a commercially insured population. METHODS: Health plan enrollment data were used to identify and describe the analysis population. Episode Treatment Groups were used to identify members with chronic conditions and to analyze reasons for retail clinic use, complexity of retail clinic visits, and care for chronic conditions in non-retail clinic settings. Logistic regression was used to study predictors of retail clinic use. RESULTS: Retail clinic users differed significantly from nonusers. The most significant predictors of retail clinic use were age, sex, and proximity to a retail clinic. Episodes of care treated in the retail clinic appeared to be less complex than similar episodes treated in other settings. Chronically ill members who used the retail clinic saw another provider for their chronic condition at rates similar to or higher than those of members who did not use the retail clinic. CONCLUSIONS: Individuals may be able to identify when conditions are minor enough to be treated in a retail clinic and serious enough to be treated by a traditional provider.

Improving the imputation of race: evaluating the benefits of stratifying by age.

Health plans and other health care institutions may use indirect methods such as geocoding and surname analysis to estimate race, ethnicity, and socioeconomic status in an effort to measure disparities in care or target specific demographics. This study investigated whether stratifying by age improved imputations of race and ethnicity made through geocoding. Self-reported race and ethnicity from Medicaid enrollment records and from a health risk assessment administered by a large employer were used to validate imputation results from both an age-stratified model and a standard model. Sensitivity, specificity, and positive predictive value were calculated. Both approaches successfully imputed race and ethnicity for whites, blacks, Asians, and Hispanics. The age-stratified approach identified more blacks than did the unstratified approach, and correctly identified more blacks and whites. The two approaches worked equally well for identifying Asians and Hispanics. Age stratification may improve the accuracy of imputation methods, and help health care organizations to better understand the demographics of the people they serve.

Plan designs that encourage the use of generic drugs over brand-name drugs: an analysis of a free generic benefit.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the effect on adherence and medical care expenditures of a pharmacy benefit change that included free generic drugs and higher copayments for brand-name drugs. STUDY DESIGN: Quasi-experimental pre-post study of patients with ischemic heart disease (1286 control and 555 intervention) and patients with diabetes mellitus (4089 control and 1846 intervention). METHODS: Medical and pharmacy claims data were analyzed for continuously enrolled members from January 1, 2005, through December 31, 2008. A generalized linear model was used to predict costs as adherence changed. RESULTS: The rate of switching from brand-name drugs to generic drugs in the intervention group was not statistically different from that in the control group. The net change in adherence was higher only for the intervention group patients taking statins who switched to generic drugs, a 6.2% increase compared with an 8.5% decrease in the control group. The estimate of medical cost savings attributable to this benefit change was significant for only the metformin class of diabetes drugs. Improved adherence independent of this benefit change was estimated to reduce all-cause medical costs for patients taking sulfonylureas, metformin, and thiazolidinediones. CONCLUSIONS: Altering copayments for pharmaceuticals may affect the rate of conversion to generic drugs but is unlikely in and of itself to result in complete conversion. However, increasing adherence can result in net savings for specific diabetic drug classes, as savings from all-cause medical costs offset the increase in pharmacy costs.

Comparing quality of care between a consumer-directed health plan and a traditional plan: an analysis of HEDIS measures related to management of chronic diseases.

A cross-sectional, retrospective medical and pharmaceutical claims data analysis was conducted to determine if Healthcare Effectiveness Data and Information Set (HEDIS) measures related to care for chronic conditions differed between enrollees in a traditional comprehensive major medical plan (CMM) and a consumer-directed health plan (CDHP). Eleven HEDIS measures for 2006 were compared for CMM and CDHP enrollees in a health plan. Measures included care for persons with diabetes, asthma, depression, cardiovascular disease, and low back pain, and for persons taking persistent medications for specific conditions. In the CMM population, 1,238,949 members were eligible to be included; 131,763 members in the CDHP population were eligible. Statistical significance testing was performed. As measured by HEDIS, CDHP enrollees received higher quality of care than did CMM enrollees in areas related to low back pain, and eye exams and nephropathy screening for persons with diabetes. No significant differences were found between CDHP enrollees and CMM enrollees for measures describing medication management for persons with depression and asthma, annual monitoring for persons taking persistent medications, cholesterol management for persons with cardiovascular disease, or HbA1c testing and low-density lipoprotein screening for persons with diabetes. Enrollees in CDHPs who have chronic conditions received care at levels of quality equal to or better than CMM enrollees. The potential for increased financial responsibility in the CDHP plan did not appear to deter those enrollees from pursuing necessary care. Future research should control for the demographic factors thought to influence both selection into a plan design and quality of care.

More preventive care, and fewer emergency room visits and prescription drugs--health care utilization in a consumer-driven health plan.

Although consumer-driven health plans (CDHPs) have grown dramatically, the question of whether CDHPs have reduced health care costs has not been answered definitively. This article presents what the authors believe to be the first study to analyze a large sample of claims data and to look in detail at different types of utilization among enrollees in a CDHP and those in a traditional comprehensive major medical (CMM) plan. After adjusting for the finding that CDHP enrollees are both younger and healthier than those in CMM plans, the authors found that CDHP enrollees show no consistent or significant utilization differences for measures over which consumers have little control (e.g., inpatient stays); lower utilization for measures over which consumers have greater control (e.g., emergency room visits); and higher utilization of preventive services.

Trends in obesity-related counseling in primary care: 1995-2004.

OBJECTIVE: We sought to ascertain whether the percentage of visits in which physicians provided obesity-related counseling services increased between 1995 and 2004. METHOD: Data came from the 1995 to 2004 National Ambulatory Medical Care Survey, an annual national survey of visits to office-based physicians. Analyses are restricted to visits by adults to a primary care physician (PCP; general/family or internal medicine). The main outcome measure is the percentage of visits to physicians where patients were counseled about exercise, diet/nutrition or weight loss. RESULTS: Sample sizes ranged from 9,583 to 14,071. In 2003/2004, approximately 20% of visits to PCPs included counseling for diet/nutrition, 14% for exercise, and 6% for weight loss. Approximately 24% of visits included at least one of these types of counseling. The odds of receiving counseling for any of these services were 22% lower in 2001/2002 and 18% lower in 2003/2004 compared with 1995/1996. Patients who went to the doctor for weight-related concerns or with an obesity-related diagnosis were more likely to receive counseling than the general population. Longer visits were associated with greater probability of obesity-related counseling. CONCLUSIONS: Obesity-related counseling does not appear to be a substantial part of the services provided by physicians. Further efforts in developing interventions that can be used by physicians and demonstrating their effectiveness within clinical practice are needed.

The effectiveness of screening for obesity in primary care: weighing the evidence.

In response to growing alarm about the increase in the prevalence of obesity in the United States, several organizations have recommended that physicians screen their adult patients for this condition and initiate treatment. Screening can be an effective intervention when the condition is grave and prevalent, when an accurate test exists, when effective treatment exists, when the screening program itself does not pose undue risks, and when early detection and treatment improve outcomes. This article critically reviews the evidence supporting these criteria in the case of obesity in adults. It extends previous reviews by assessing the potential impact that uncertainties in the evidence base may have on the effectiveness a screening program. It also examines the feasibility of such a program. We conclude that following the recommendation to screen all adults for obesity is unlikely to improve outcomes.

Screening for depression in primary care: what do we still need to know?

The United States Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF) recently issued the recommendation that primary care physicians screen adult patients for depression. A policy to screen primary care patients for depression has appeal as a strategy to reduce the personal and societal costs of undiagnosed and untreated depression. Such appeal may be justified if the evidence supports the screening policy in three areas: effectiveness, cost-effectiveness, and feasibility. The USPSTF recommendation leaves many issues in each of these areas unresolved and physicians are left the choice of two important program characteristics: screening instrument and screening interval. We discuss how uncertainties in the screening protocol and treatment process affect whether screening is an effective and cost-effective use of resources with respect to other health interventions. We suggest that targeting screening to groups at a higher risk for depression may lead to a more effective use of health care resources. A screening program may not be feasible even if effectiveness and cost-effectiveness are optimized. We discuss uncertainties in the USPSTF recommendation that affect the feasibility of implementing such a program in physicians' practices.

Preventing HIV in injection drug users: choosing the best mix of interventions for the population.

Injection drug users (IDUs) transmit the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) via both needle sharing and sex. This analysis explores the effects of population risk behaviors, intervention effectiveness, intervention costs, and budget and capacity constraints when allocating funds between two prevention programs to maximize effectiveness. The two interventions, methadone maintenance and street outreach, address different types of risk behavior. We developed a model of the spread of HIV and divided IDUs into susceptible (uninfected) persons and infective persons and separately portrayed sex and injection risk. We simulated the epidemic in San Francisco, California, and New York City for periods from the mid-1980s to the mid-1990s and incorporated the behavioral effects of the two interventions. We used the simulation to find the allocation of a fixed budget to the two interventions that averted the greatest number of infections in the IDUs and their noninjecting sex partners. We assumed that interventions have increasing marginal costs. In the epidemic scenarios, our analysis found that the best allocation nearly always involves spending as much as possible on street outreach. This result is largely insensitive to variations in epidemic scenario, intervention efficacy, and cost. However, the absolute and relative benefits of the best allocation varied. In mid-1990s San Francisco, maximizing spending on outreach averted 3.5% of total HIV infections expected and 10 times the 0.3% from maximizing spending on treatment. In late 1980s New York City, the difference is five-fold (2.6% vs. 0.44%, respectively). Our analyses suggest that, even though prevention works better in higher risk scenarios, the choice of intervention mix is more important in the lower risk scenarios. Models and analyses such as those presented here may help decision makers adapt individual prevention programs to their own communities and to reallocate resources among programs to reflect the evolution of their own epidemics.