America's Opioid Ecosystem: How Leveraging System Interactions Can Help Curb Addiction, Overdose, and Other Harms.

Opioids play an outsized role in America's drug problems, but they also play a critically important role in medicine. Thus, they deserve special attention. Illegally manufactured opioids (such as fentanyl) are involved in a majority of U.S. drug overdoses, but the problems are broader and deeper than drug fatalities. Depending on the drugs involved, there can be myriad physical and mental health consequences associated with having a substance use disorder. And it is not just those using drugs who suffer. Substance use and related behaviors can significantly affect individuals' families, friends, employers, and wider communities. Efforts to address problems related to opioids are insufficient and sometimes contradictory. Researchers provide a nuanced assessment of America's opioid ecosystem, highlighting how leveraging system interactions can reduce addiction, overdose, suffering, and other harms. At the core of the opioid ecosystem are the individuals who use opioids and their families. Researchers also include detail on ten major components of the opioid ecosystem: substance use disorder treatment, harm reduction, medical care, the criminal legal system, illegal supply and supply control, first responders, the child welfare system, income support and homeless services, employment, and education. The primary audience for this study is policymakers, but it should also be useful for foundations looking for opportunities to create change that have often been overlooked. This study can help researchers better consider the full consequences of policy changes and help members of the media identify the dynamics of interactions that deserve more attention.

The Impact of Nurse Practitioner-Led Primary Care on Quality and Cost for Medicaid-Enrolled Patients in States With Pay Parity.

Studies have established that nurse practitioners (NPs) deliver primary care comparable to physicians in quality and cost, but most focus on Medicare, a program that reimburses NPs less than physicians. In this retrospective cohort study, we evaluated the quality and cost implications of receiving primary care from NPs compared to physicians in 14 states that reimburse NPs at the Medicaid fee-for-service (FFS) physician rate (i.e., pay parity). We linked national provider and practice data with Medicaid data for adults with diabetes and children with asthma (2012-2013). We attributed patients to primary care NPs and physicians based on 2012 evaluation & management claims. Using 2013 data, we constructed claims-based primary care quality measures and condition-specific costs of care for FFS enrollees. We estimated the effect of NP-led care on quality and costs using: (1) weighting to balance observable confounders and (2) an instrumental variable (IV) analysis using differential distance from patients' residences to primary care practices. Adults with diabetes received comparable quality of care from NPs and physicians at similar cost. Weighted results showed no differences between NP- and physician-attributed patients in receipt of recommended care or diabetes-related hospitalizations. For children with asthma, costs of NP-led care were lower but quality findings were mixed: NP-led care was associated with lower use of appropriate medications and higher rates of asthma-related emergency department visits but similar rates of asthma-related hospitalization. IV analyses revealed no evidence of differences in quality between NP- and physician-led care. Our findings suggest that in states with Medicaid pay parity, NP-led care is comparable to physician-led care for adults with diabetes, while associations between NP-led care and quality were mixed for children with asthma. Increased use of NP-led primary care may be cost-neutral or cost-saving, even under pay parity.

The quality of occupational healthcare for carpal tunnel syndrome, healthcare expenditures, and disability outcomes: A prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION/AIMS: In prior work, higher quality care for work-associated carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) was associated with improved symptoms, functional status, and overall health. We sought to examine whether quality of care is associated with healthcare expenditures or disability. METHODS: Among 343 adults with workers' compensation claims for CTS, we created patient-level aggregate quality scores for underuse (not receiving highly beneficial care) and overuse (receiving care for which risks exceed benefits). We assessed whether each aggregate quality score (0%-100%, 100% = better care) was associated with healthcare expenditures (18-mo expenditures, any anticipated need for future expenditures) or disability (days on temporary disability, permanent impairment rating at 18 mo). RESULTS: Mean aggregate quality scores were 77.8% (standard deviation [SD] 16.5%) for underuse and 89.2% (SD 11.0%) for overuse. An underuse score of 100% was associated with higher risk-adjusted 18-mo expenditures ($3672; 95% confidence interval [CI] $324 to $7021) but not with future expenditures (-0.07 percentage points; 95% CI -0.48 to 0.34), relative to a score of 0%. An overuse score of 100% was associated with lower 18-mo expenditures (-$4549, 95% CI -$8792 to -$306) and a modestly lower likelihood of future expenditures (-0.62 percentage points, 95% CI -1.23 to -0.02). Quality of care was not associated with disability. DISCUSSION: Improving quality of care could increase or lower short-term healthcare expenditures, depending on how often care is currently underused or overused. Future research is needed on quality of care in varied workers' compensation contexts, as well as effective and economical strategies for improving quality.

U.S. Department of Defense Disability Compensation Under a Fitness-for-Duty Evaluation Approach.

The joint U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) - Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) Integrated Disability Evaluation System is the process by which DoD determines fitness for duty and separation or retirement of service members because of disability. Service members who are evaluated for disability undergo a comprehensive medical examination to document all medical conditions and receive a disability rating for every condition documented during the exam. DoD and the VA use these ratings to determine the amount of disability compensation service members receive if they are determined to be unfit to continue serving and consequently medically discharged. Proposals for reforming the DoD compensation system have been considered in the past, but a rigorous evaluation of what those alternatives might look like and how they would affect service member benefits and costs to DoD has not been conducted. In this article, the authors describe their evaluation of four hypothetical alternative disability compensation approaches that would support a simpler disability evaluation process: compensating based on the current objectives of the DoD system (and using current benefit formulas), compensating on the basis of a military career, compensating on the basis of unfitting conditions, or compensating similar to U.S. allies. Each alternative reduces reliance on disability ratings for determining DoD disability compensation and focuses primarily on a single decision about whether a service member is fit to perform his or her duties. The authors evaluate the potential effects of each alternative on service member compensation, processing times, end strength, lost skills and experience, and readiness.

Use of Telehealth Across Pediatric Subspecialties Before and During the COVID-19 Pandemic.

Importance: The identification of variation in health care is important for quality improvement. Little is known about how different pediatric subspecialties are using telehealth and what is driving variation. Objective: To characterize trends in telehealth use before and during the COVID-19 pandemic across pediatric subspecialties and the association of delivery change with no-show rates and access disparities. Design, Setting, and Participants: In this cohort study, 8 large pediatric medical groups in California collaborated to share aggregate data on telehealth use for 11 pediatric subspecialties from January 1, 2019, to December 31, 2021. Main Outcomes and Measures: Monthly in-person and telehealth visits for 11 subspecialties, characteristics of patients participating in in-person and telehealth visits, and no-show rates. Monthly use rates per 1000 unique patients were calculated. To assess changes in no-show rates, a series of linear regression models that included fixed effects for medical groups and calendar month were used. The demographic characteristics of patients served in person during the prepandemic period were compared with those of patients who received in-person and telehealth care during the pandemic period. Results: In 2019, participating medical groups conducted 1.8 million visits with 549 306 unique patients younger than 18 years (228 120 [41.5%] White and 277 167 [50.5%] not Hispanic). A total of 72 928 patients (13.3%) preferred a language other than English, and 250 329 (45.6%) had Medicaid. In specialties with lower telehealth use (cardiology, orthopedics, urology, nephrology, and dermatology), telehealth visits ranged from 6% to 29% of total visits from May 1, 2020, to April 30, 2021. In specialties with higher telehealth use (genetics, behavioral health, pulmonology, endocrinology, gastroenterology, and neurology), telehealth constituted 38.8% to 73.0% of total visits. From the prepandemic to the pandemic periods, no-show rates slightly increased for lower-telehealth-use subspecialties (9.2% to 9.4%) and higher-telehealth-use subspecialties (13.0% to 15.3%), but adjusted differences (comparing lower-use and higher-use subspecialties) in changes were not statistically significant (difference, 2.5 percentage points; 95% CI, -1.2 to 6.3 percentage points; P = .15). Patients who preferred a language other than English constituted 6140 in-person visits (22.2%) vs 2707 telehealth visits (11.4%) in neurology (P < .001). Conclusions and Relevance: There was high variability in adoption of telehealth across subspecialties and in patterns of use over time. The documentation of variation in telehealth adoption can inform evolving telehealth policy for pediatric patients, including the appropriateness of telehealth for different patient needs and areas where additional tools are needed to promote appropriate use.

The Demand for Insurance and Rationale for a Mandate: Evidence from Workers' Compensation Insurance.

Workers' compensation insurance, which provides no-fault coverage for work-related injuries, is mandatory in nearly all states. We use administrative data from a unique market without a coverage mandate to estimate the demand for workers' compensation insurance, leveraging regulatory premium updates for identification. We find that a 1 percent increase in premiums leads to approximately a 0.3 percent decline in coverage. Drawing upon these estimates and data on costs, we examine potential justifications for government intervention to increase coverage. This analysis suggests that several forms of market failure-such as adverse selection, market power, and externalities-may not justify a mandate in this setting.

The Frequency and Economic Impact of Musculoskeletal Disorders for California Firefighters: Trends and Outcomes over the Past Decade.

Musculoskeletal disorders (MSDs) are the most common type of occupational injury or illness suffered by firefighters, so there is considerable interest among policymakers and stakeholders about how best to monitor, prevent, and treat firefighter MSDs. In this study, the authors update analyses from a 2010 RAND study on firefighters in California and consider the impacts of the 2013 workers' compensation reforms and the economic shocks of the late 2000s on outcomes for firefighters with MSDs. The California Department of Industrial Relations requested that the authors address a wide range of specific research questions on various aspects of firefighters' injury risk and outcomes in the workers' compensation system, from case mix and economic consequences to permanent disability rating and medical treatment patterns. The authors analyzed administrative data from the California workers' compensation system linked to data on earnings for workers injured between 2005 and 2015, with additional analyses to tailor the results to the new reforms. They compare firefighters with three groups of workers in broadly comparable occupations-police, other public-sector workers, and private-sector workers with job demands that resemble firefighting-and supplement the analysis using outside data. The authors found, among other things, that firefighters continue to face elevated risk of work-related MSDs and that earnings losses for firefighters worsened after the Great Recession of 2008-2009. Their findings will be of interest to policymakers in California and other states and to other audiences concerned with the occupational health and safety of firefighters.

The quality of electrodiagnostic tests for carpal tunnel syndrome: Implications for surgery, outcomes, and expenditures.

INTRODUCTION: The quality of electrodiagnostic tests may influence treatment decisions, particularly regarding surgery, affecting health outcomes and health-care expenditures. METHODS: We evaluated test quality among 338 adults with workers' compensation claims for carpal tunnel syndrome. Using simulations, we examined how it influences the appropriateness of surgery. Using regression, we evaluated associations with symptoms and functional limitations (Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire), overall health (12-item Short Form Health Survey version 2), actual receipt of surgery, and expenditures. RESULTS: In simulations, suboptimal quality tests rendered surgery inappropriate for 99 of 309 patients (+32 percentage points). In regression analyses, patients with the highest quality tests had larger declines in symptoms (-0.50 point; 95% confidence interval [CI], -0.89 to -0.12) and functional impairment (-0.42 point; 95% CI, -0.78 to -0.06) than patients with the lowest quality tests. Test quality was not associated with overall health, actual receipt of surgery, or expenditures. DISCUSSION: Test quality is pivotal to determining surgical appropriateness and associated with meaningful differences in symptoms and function.

Changes in hospital service demand, cost, and patient illness severity following health reform.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effects of the health insurance exchange and Medicaid coverage expansions on hospital inpatient and emergency department (ED) utilization rates, cost, and patient illness severity, and also to test the association between changes in outcomes and the size of the uninsured population eligible for coverage in states. DATA SOURCES: Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient and Emergency Department Databases, 2011-2015, Nielsen Demographic Data, and the American Community Survey. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study using fixed-effects regression to estimate the effects in expansion and nonexpansion states by age/sex demographic groups. FINDINGS: In Medicaid expansion states, rates of uninsured inpatient discharges and ED visits fell sharply in many demographic groups. For example, uninsured inpatient discharge rates across groups, except young females, decreased by ≥39 percent per capita on average in expansion states. In nonexpansion states, uninsured utilization rates remained unchanged or increased slightly (0-9.2 percent). Changes in all-payer and private insurance rates were more muted. Changes in inpatient costs per discharge were negative, and all-payer inpatient costs per discharge declined <6 percent in most age/sex groups. The size of the uninsured population eligible for coverage was strongly associated with changes in outcomes. For example, among males aged 35-54 years in expansion states, there was a 0.793 percent decrease in the uninsured discharge rate per unit increase in the coverage expansion ratio (the ratio of the size of the population eligible for coverage to the size of the previously covered population within an age/sex/payer/geographic group). CONCLUSIONS: Significant shifts in cost per discharge and patient severity were consistent with selective take-up of insurance. The "treatment intensity" of expansions may be useful for anticipating future effects.

Veterans' Health Insurance Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act and Implications of Repeal for the Department of Veterans Affairs.

This article describes the Affordable Care Act's (ACA's) effects on nonelderly veterans' insurance coverage and demand for Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) health care and assesses the coverage and VA utilization changes that could result from repealing the ACA. Although prior research has shown that the number of uninsured veterans fell after the ACA took effect, the implications of ACA repeal for veterans and, especially, for VA have received less attention. Besides providing a new coverage option to veterans who are not enrolled in VA, the ACA also had the potential to affect health care use among VA patients. Findings include the following: In 2013, prior to the major coverage expansions under the ACA, nearly one in ten nonelderly veterans were uninsured, lacking access to both VA coverage and non-VA health insurance. Uninsurance among nonelderly veterans fell by an adjusted 36 percent (3.3 percentage points) after implementation of the ACA, from 9.1 percent in 2013 to 5.8 percent in 2015. By increasing non-VA health insurance coverage for VA patients, the ACA likely reduced demand for VA care; the authors estimate that, if the gains in insurance coverage that occurred between 2013 and 2015 had not occurred, nonelderly veterans would have used about 1 percent more VA health care in 2015: 125,000 more office visits, 1,500 more inpatient surgeries, and 375,000 more prescriptions. Recent congressional proposals to repeal and replace the ACA would increase the number of uninsured nonelderly veterans and further increase demand for VA health care.

Changes in Hospital Inpatient Utilization Following Health Care Reform.

OBJECTIVE: To estimate the effects of 2014 Medicaid expansions on inpatient outcomes. DATA SOURCES: Health Care Cost and Utilization Project State Inpatient Databases, 2011-2014; population and unemployment estimates. STUDY DESIGN: Retrospective study estimating effects of Medicaid expansions using difference-in-differences regression. Outcomes included total admissions, referral-sensitive surgical and preventable admissions, length of stay, cost, and patient illness severity. FINDINGS: In 2014 quarter four, compared with nonexpansion states, Medicaid admissions increased (28.5 percent, p = .006), and uninsured and private admissions decreased (-55.1 percent, p = .001, and -6.6 percent, p = .052), whereas all-payer admissions showed little change. Uninsured expansion effects were negative for preventable admissions (-24.4 percent, p = .068), length of stay (-9.3 percent, p = .039), total cost (-9.2 percent, p = .128), and illness severity (-4.5 percent, p = .397). Significant positive expansion effects were found for Medicaid referral-sensitive surgeries (11.8 percent, p = .021) and patient illness severity (2.3 percent, p = .015). Private and all-payer expansion effects for outcomes other than admission volume were small and mainly nonsignificant (p > .05). CONCLUSION: Medicaid expansions did not change all-payer admission volumes, but they were associated with increased Medicaid and decreased uninsured volumes. Results suggest those previously uninsured with greater needs for inpatient services were most likely to gain coverage. Compositional changes in uninsured and Medicaid admissions may be due to selection.

Quality of care and patient-reported outcomes in carpal tunnel syndrome: A prospective observational study.

INTRODUCTION: Higher quality care for carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) may be associated with better outcomes. METHODS: This prospective observational study recruited adults diagnosed with CTS from 30 occupational health centers, evaluated physicians' adherence to recommended care processes, and assessed results of the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire (BCTQ) and Short Form Health Survey version 2 (SF-12v2) at recruitment and at 18 months. RESULTS: Among 343 individuals, receiving better care (80th vs. 20th percentile for adherence) was associated with greater improvements in BCTQ Symptom Severity scores (-0.18, 95% confidence interval [CI] -0.32 to -0.05), BCTQ Functional Status scores (-0.21, 95% CI -0.34 to -0.08), and SF12-v2 Physical Component scores (1.75, 95% CI 0.33-3.16). Symptoms improved more when physicians assessed and managed activity, patients underwent necessary surgery, and employers adjusted job tasks. DISCUSSION: Efforts should be made to ensure that patients with CTS receive essential care processes including necessary surgery and activity assessment and management. Muscle Nerve 57: 896-904, 2018.

Quality of Care for Work-Associated Carpal Tunnel Syndrome.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate the quality of care provided to individuals with workers' compensation claims related to Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) and identify patient characteristics associated with receiving better care. METHODS: We recruited subjects with new claims for CTS from 30 occupational clinics affiliated with Kaiser Permanente Northern California. We applied 45 process-oriented quality measures to 477 subjects' medical records, and performed multivariate logistic regression to identify patient characteristics associated with quality. RESULTS: Overall, 81.6% of care adhered to recommended standards. Certain tasks related to assessing and managing activity were underused. Patients with classic/probable Katz diagrams, positive electrodiagnostic tests, and higher incomes received better care. However, age, sex, and race/ethnicity were not associated with quality. CONCLUSIONS: Care processes for work-associated CTS frequently adhered to quality measures. Clinical factors were more strongly associated with quality than demographic and socioeconomic ones.

Assessing the Value of High-Quality Care for Work-Associated Carpal Tunnel Syndrome in a Large Integrated Health Care System: Study Design.

CONTEXT: Little is known about quality of care for occupational health disorders, although it may affect worker health and workers' compensation costs. Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is a common work-associated condition that causes substantial disability. OBJECTIVE: To describe the design of a study that is assessing quality of care for work-associated CTS and associations with clinical outcomes and costs. DESIGN: Prospective observational study of 477 individuals with new workers' compensation claims for CTS without acute trauma who were treated at 30 occupational health clinics from 2011 to 2013 and followed for 18 months. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Timing of key clinical events, adherence to 45 quality measures, changes in scores on the Boston Carpal Tunnel Questionnaire and 12-item Short Form Health Survey Version 2 (SF-12v2), and costs associated with medical care and disability. RESULTS: Two hundred sixty-seven subjects (56%) received a diagnosis of CTS and had claims filed around the first visit to occupational health, 104 (22%) received a diagnosis before that visit and claim, and 98 (21%) received a diagnosis or had claims filed after that visit. One hundred seventy-eight (37%) subjects had time off work, which started around the time of surgery in 147 (83%) cases and lasted a median of 41 days (interquartile range = 42 days). CONCLUSIONS: The timing of diagnosis varied, but time off work was generally short and related to surgery. If associations of quality of care with key medical, economic, and quality-of-life outcomes are identified for work-associated CTS, systematic efforts to evaluate and improve quality of medical care for this condition are warranted.