Differences in Health Care Utilization for Asthma by Children with Medicaid versus Private Insurance.

Asthma is the most common chronic disease in children, disproportionately affects families with lower incomes, and is a leading reason for acute care visits and hospitalizations. This retrospective cohort study used the Massachusetts All Payer Claims Database (2014-2018) to examine differences in acute care utilization and quality of care for asthma between Medicaid- and privately insured children in Massachusetts. Outcomes included acute care use (emergency department [ED] or hospitalization), ED visits with asthma, routine asthma visits, and filled prescriptions for asthma medications. Multivariable logistic regression was used to account for differences in demographics, ZIP codes, health status, and asthma severity. Overall, 10.0% of Medicaid-insured children and 5.6% of privately insured were classified as having asthma. Among 317,596 child-year observations for children with asthma, 64.4% were insured by Medicaid. Medicaid-insured children had higher rates of any acute care use (50.4% vs. 30.0%) and ED visits with an asthma diagnosis (27.2% vs. 13.3%) compared to privately insured children. Only 65.4% of Medicaid enrollees had at least one routine asthma visit compared to 74.3% of privately insured children. Most children received at least one asthma medication (88.6% Medicaid vs. 83.3% privately insured), but a higher percentage of Medicaid-insured children received at least one rescue medication (84.0% vs. 73.7%), and a lower percentage of Medicaid-insured (46.1% vs. 49.2%) received a controller medication. These results suggest that opportunities for improvement in childhood asthma persist, particularly for children insured by Medicaid.

Treatment of pediatric behavioral health patients with intravenous and intramuscular chemical restraints: Results from a nationwide sample of emergency departments.

BACKGROUND: Behavioral health crises in pediatric emergency department (ED) patients are increasingly common. Chemical restraints can be utilized for patients who present imminent danger to self or others. We sought to describe the use of intravenous (IV)/intramuscular (IM) chemical restraints for pediatric behavioral health ED patients across a nationwide sample of hospitals and describe factors associated with restraint use. METHODS: This was a retrospective study of patients ages 8-17 treated at 822 EDs contributing data to the Premier Healthcare Database between January 1, 2018, and December 31, 2020, with a behavioral health discharge diagnosis. The primary outcome was the use of IV/IM chemical restraint medication. We developed a hierarchical model to examine patient and hospital-level factors associated with treatment with IV/IM chemical restraint medications. RESULTS: Of 630,384 cases, 4.8% received IV/IM chemical restraint. Patient factors associated with higher odds of chemical restraint were older age (ages 13-17 years [adjusted odds ratio {AOR} 1.53, 95% confidence interval {CI} 1.48-1.58]), anxiety disorders (AOR 1.69, 95% CI 1.64-1.74), disruptive disorders (AOR 1.61, 95% CI 1.53-1.69), suicide/self-injury (AOR 1.3, 95% CI 1.26-1.34), substance use (AOR 1.24, 95% CI 1.20-1.28), and bipolar disorder (AOR 1.23, 95% CI 1.17-1.30). Participants with complex comorbidities were more likely to receive chemical restraint (AOR 1.32, 95% CI 1.26-1.39). After patient and hospital factors were adjusted for, the median OR indicating the influence of the individual hospital on the odds of chemical restraint was 1.43 (95% CI 1.40-1.47). CONCLUSIONS: We found that age and certain behavioral health diagnoses were associated with receipt of IV/IM chemical restraint during pediatric behavioral health ED visits. Additionally, whether a patient was treated with chemical restraints was strongly influenced by the hospital to which they presented for treatment.

Use of Mechanical Ventilation Across 3 Countries.

Importance: The ability to provide invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV) is a mainstay of modern intensive care; however, whether rates of IMV vary among countries is unclear. Objective: To estimate the per capita rates of IMV in adults across 3 high-income countries with large variation in per capita intensive care unit (ICU) bed availability. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cohort study examined 2018 data of patients aged 20 years or older who received IMV in England, Canada, and the US. Exposure: The country in which IMV was received. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was the age-standardized rate of IMV and ICU admissions in each country. Rates were stratified by age, specific diagnoses (acute myocardial infarction, pulmonary embolus, upper gastrointestinal bleed), and comorbidities (dementia, dialysis dependence). Data analyses were conducted between January 1, 2021, and December 1, 2022. Results: The study included 59 873 hospital admissions with IMV in England (median [IQR] patient age, 61 [47-72] years; 59% men, 41% women), 70 250 in Canada (median [IQR] patient age, 65 [54-74] years; 64% men, 36% women), and 1 614 768 in the US (median [IQR] patient age, 65 [54-74] years; 57% men, 43% women). The age-standardized rate per 100 000 population of IMV was the lowest in England (131; 95% CI, 130-132) compared with Canada (290; 95% CI, 288-292) and the US (614; 95% CI, 614-615). Stratified by age, per capita rates of IMV were more similar across countries among younger patients and diverged markedly in older patients. Among patients aged 80 years or older, the crude rate of IMV per 100 000 population was highest in the US (1788; 95% CI, 1781-1796) compared with Canada (694; 95% CI, 679-709) and England (209; 95% CI, 203-214). Concerning measured comorbidities, 6.3% of admitted patients who received IMV in the US had a diagnosis of dementia (vs 1.4% in England and 1.3% in Canada). Similarly, 5.6% of admitted patients in the US were dependent on dialysis prior to receiving IMV (vs 1.3% in England and 0.3% in Canada). Conclusions and Relevance: This cohort study found that patients in the US received IMV at a rate 4 times higher than in England and twice that in Canada in 2018. The greatest divergence was in the use of IMV among older adults, and patient characteristics among those who received IMV varied markedly. The differences in overall use of IMV among these countries highlight the need to better understand patient-, clinician-, and systems-level choices associated with the varied use of a limited and expensive resource.

Influenza Vaccinations Among Privately and Publicly Insured Children With Asthma.

OBJECTIVE: Annual influenza vaccination rates for children remain well below the Healthy People 2030 target of 70%. We aimed to compare influenza vaccination rates for children with asthma by insurance type and to identify associated factors. METHODS: This cross-sectional study examined influenza vaccination rates for children with asthma by insurance type, age, year, and disease status using the Massachusetts All Payer Claims Database (2014-2018). We used multivariable logistic regression to estimate the probability of vaccination accounting for child and insurance characteristics. RESULTS: The sample included 317,596 child-year observations for children with asthma in 2015-18. Fewer than half of children with asthma received influenza vaccinations; 51.3% among privately insured and 45.1% among Medicaid insured. Risk modeling reduced, but did not eliminate, this gap; privately insured children were 3.7 percentage points (pp) more likely to receive an influenza vaccination than Medicaid-insured children (95% confidence interval [CI]: 2.9-4.5pp). Risk modeling also found persistent asthma was associated with more vaccinations (6.7pp higher; 95% CI: 6.2-7.2pp), as was younger age. The regression-adjusted probability of influenza vaccination in a non-office setting was 3.2pp higher in 2018 than 2015 (95% CI: 2.2-4.2pp), and significantly lower for children with Medicaid. CONCLUSIONS: Despite clear recommendations for annual influenza vaccinations for children with asthma, low rates persist, particularly for children with Medicaid. Offering vaccines in non-office settings such as retail pharmacies may reduce barriers, but we did not observe increased vaccination rates in the first years after this policy change.

The Association of Frailty With Long-Term Outcomes in Patients With Acute Respiratory Failure Treated With Noninvasive Ventilation.

The objective of this study was to investigate the prevalence and impact of frailty on mortality in patients with acute respiratory failure (ARF) treated with noninvasive ventilation (NIV). This was a single-center, prospective study of patients who developed ARF (irrespective of etiology) and were treated with NIV support. Frailty was assessed using the Clinical Frailty Scale (CFS). We modeled the relationship of CFS with one-year mortality using Cox proportional hazards regression, adjusting for other clinical and demographic characteristics. Of the 166 patients enrolled, 48% had moderate to severe frailty. These patients were more likely to be female (67% versus 33%) and on oxygen therapy at home (46% versus 28%). The median CFS score was 5 (interquartile range (IQR): 5-6). Moderate to severe frailty was associated with a 60% higher risk of one-year mortality (hazard ratio (HR): 1.63, 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.15-2.31). Frailty assessment may identify patients in need of ventilatory support who are at increased risk of mortality and may be an important factor to consider when discussing goals of care in this vulnerable population.

Variation in Pediatric Asthmonia Diagnosis and Outcomes among Hospitalized Children.

Rationale: Although <5% of children hospitalized with an asthma exacerbation have pneumonia that can be radiographically confirmed, at some hospitals, an asthma-pneumonia co-diagnosis is so common that the term "asthmonia" is used to describe the phenomenon. High rates of asthmonia diagnosis may incur unwarranted health care costs and contribute to unnecessary antibiotic prescribing. Objectives: To characterize hospital variation in rates of pediatric asthmonia diagnosis and analyze associations between hospitals' asthmonia diagnosis rates and clinical outcomes. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional analysis of 274 hospitals contributing to the Premier Healthcare Database. Children and adolescents 2-17 years of age were included if they were hospitalized with an asthma exacerbation from 10/1/2015 to 6/30/2018. Asthmonia was defined as a discharge diagnosis of pneumonia in a patient with an asthma exacerbation. To compute hospital-level risk-standardized asthmonia rates, hierarchical generalized linear models with hospital random effects were estimated, adjusting for patient characteristics. The median odds ratio was calculated to quantify the effect of hospital-level clustering on asthmonia diagnosis. Hospitals were stratified into quartiles based on risk-standardized asthmonia diagnosis rates to identify associated hospital characteristics. Generalized linear models, adjusting for hospital characteristics, were developed to compute associations between hospital risk-standardized rates and clinical outcomes. Results: Of 24,606 asthma exacerbations, 19,402 (78.9%) were diagnosed with asthma alone and 5,204 (21.1%) received asthma-pneumonia co-diagnoses. The hospital median risk-adjusted asthmonia diagnosis rate was 20.9% (interquartile range, 16.2-27.2%; range, 8.4-55.9%). The median odds ratio was 1.75 (95% confidence interval, 1.63-1.86). Compared with hospitals in the lowest quartile of asthma-pneumonia co-diagnosis, those in the highest quartile were more likely to be smaller, nonteaching, rural hospitals with minimal subspecialty support (all P < 0.001). Hospitals with high rates of risk-standardized asthmonia diagnosis had greater antibiotic use, more prolonged lengths of stay, and higher costs, with no significant differences in risk of transfer or readmission. Conclusions: Marked variation exists in rates of asthmonia diagnosis, and the hospital of admission is one of the strongest predictors of diagnosis. Efforts to reduce rates of unwarranted asthmonia diagnosis are needed, particularly at small, rural, nonteaching hospitals with minimal pediatric specialty support.

Unnecessary antibiotic prescribing in children hospitalised for asthma exacerbation: a retrospective national cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Antibiotic resistance represents a worldwide public health threat. Characterising prescribing patterns for conditions for which antibiotics have no role can inform antimicrobial stewardship efforts. Asthma is among the most common non-infectious diseases in children and results in 100 000 hospitalisations annually in the USA. We sought to identify the rate of antibiotic prescribing in children hospitalised for asthma exacerbations, and to characterise patient and hospital factors associated with receipt of antibiotics. METHODS: Children and adolescents aged 2-17 years admitted to hospital between 1 October 2015 and 30 June 2018 with an asthma exacerbation were identified from the Premier Alliance Database. After excluding hospitalisations for which antibiotics appeared to have been justified, we assessed receipt and duration of antibiotic treatments during the hospital stay. We developed a hierarchical logistic regression model to identify patient and hospital factors associated with antibiotic treatment. For each hospital with at least 10 asthma cases we computed the percentage of cases receiving antibiotic treatment. RESULTS: 23 129 hospital stays met inclusion criteria; in 3329 (14%) of these, antibiotics were prescribed without clear indication. Hospital prescribing rates varied widely (range 0%-95%), with 25% of hospitals prescribing antibiotics at a rate of 27.5% or more. Patient factors most strongly associated with receipt of antibiotics included the presence of a complex chronic condition (OR: 2.4, 95% CI 2.1 to 2.9; p<0.0001) and admission to the intensive care unit compared with a general medical-surgical bed (OR: 1.6, 95% CI 1.5 to 1.9; p<0.0001). Hospitalisation at general hospitals with minimum paediatric specialty support conferred a nearly threefold higher odds of antibiotic treatment (OR: 2.9, 95% CI 1.5 to 5.6; p<0.0001). CONCLUSIONS: These findings illustrate an opportunity to reduce unnecessary exposure to antibiotics in children hospitalised with asthma, particularly in general hospitals where three-quarters of children in the USA receive their hospital-based care.

Use of Vasoactive Medications after Cardiac Surgery in the United States.

Rationale: Patients undergoing cardiac surgery often require vasopressor or inotropic ("vasoactive") medications, but patterns of postoperative use are not well described.Objectives: This study aimed to describe vasoactive medication administration throughout hospitalization for cardiac surgery, to identify patient- and hospital-level factors associated with postoperative use, and to quantify variation in treatment patterns among hospitals.Methods: Retrospective study using the Premier Healthcare Database. The cohort included adult patients who underwent coronary artery bypass grafting or open valve repair or replacement (or in combination) from January 1, 2016, to June 30, 2018. Primary outcome was receipt of vasoactive medication(s) on the first postoperative day (POD1). We identified patient- and hospital-level factors associated with receipt of vasoactive medications using multilevel mixed-effects logistic regression modeling. We calculated adjusted median odds ratios to determine the extent to which receipt of vasoactive medications on POD1 was determined by each hospital, then calculated quotients of Akaike Information Criteria to compare the relative contributions of patient and hospital characteristics and individual hospitals with observed variation.Results: Among 104,963 adults in 294 hospitals, 95,992 (92.2%) received vasoactive medication(s) during hospitalization; 30,851 (29.7%) received treatment on POD1, most commonly norepinephrine (n = 11,427, 37.0%). A median of 29.0% (range, 0.0-94.4%) of patients in each hospital received vasoactive drug(s) on POD1. After adjustment, hospital of admission was associated with twofold increased odds of receipt of any vasoactive medication on POD1 (adjusted median odds ratio, 2.07; 95% confidence interval, 1.93-2.21). Admitting hospital contributed more to observed variation in POD1 vasoactive medication use than patient or hospital characteristics (quotients of Akaike Information Criteria 0.58, 0.44, and <0.001, respectively).Conclusions: Nearly all cardiac surgical patients receive vasoactive medications during hospitalization; however, only one-third receive treatment on POD1, with significant variability by institution. Further research is needed to understand the causes of variability across hospitals and whether these differences are associated with outcomes.

Outpatient Management of Patients Following Diagnosis of Acute Pulmonary Embolism.

OBJECTIVE: While guidelines recommend outpatient management of patients with low-risk pulmonary embolism (PE), little is known about the disposition of patients with PE diagnosed in United States emergency departments (EDs). We sought to determine disposition practices and subsequent health care utilization in patients with acute PE in U.S. EDs. METHODS: This was a retrospective cohort study of adult ED patients with a new diagnosis of acute PE treated at 740 U.S. acute care hospitals from July 1, 2016, through June 30, 2018. The primary outcome was the initial disposition following an ED visit for acute PE. Additional measures included hospital cost and 30-day revisit rate to the ED. RESULTS: A total of 61,070 cases were included in the overall cohort, of which 4.1% of new cases of PE were discharged from the ED. The median hospital-specific proportion of patients discharged was 3.1% (interquartile range = 0.8%-6.8%). The median odds ratio, representing the importance of the hospital in initial disposition decisions, was 2.21 (95% confidence interval = 2.05 to 2.37), which was greater than any patient-level factor with the exception of concurrent ED diagnosis of hypoxemia/respiratory failure, shock, or hypotension. Within 30 days of discharge, 17.9% of discharged cases had an ED return visit to the ED only and 10.3% of patients were hospitalized. Of the 30-day ED return visits in patients initially managed as outpatients, 1.3% had a bleeding-associated diagnosis. CONCLUSION: Despite guidelines promoting outpatient management, few patients are currently discharged home in the United States; however, practice varies widely across hospitals. Return visit rates were high but most did not result in hospitalization.

The Association of Nicotine Replacement Therapy With Outcomes Among Smokers Hospitalized for a Major Surgical Procedure.

BACKGROUND: There are concerns that starting nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) in the immediate perioperative period may negatively impact wound healing. We investigated the association of NRT with postoperative outcomes among smokers hospitalized for a surgical procedure. METHODS: This was a retrospective study in 552 hospitals of active smokers hospitalized between January 1, 2015 and December 31, 2016 for a major surgical procedure (Medicare Severity Diagnosis-Related Group expected length of stay, ≥ 2 days). We analyzed the association of receipt of NRT within 2 days of admission with a composite outcome of inpatient complications and with other outcomes. We developed a propensity score for receipt of NRT and examined differences in outcomes in a propensity-matched cohort. RESULTS: Of 147,506 active smokers, 25,651 (17.4%) were prescribed NRT within 2 days of admission. Patients treated with NRT were younger; less likely to be black or Hispanic; more likely to have Medicaid; and more likely to have a diagnosis of alcohol or other substance use disorder, or COPD, compared with those who were not treated. In the propensity-matched analysis, there was no association between receipt of NRT and in-hospital complications (OR, 0.99; 95% CI, 0.93-1.05), mortality (OR, 0.84; 95% CI, 0.68-1.04), all-cause 30-day readmissions (OR, 1.02; 95% CI, 0.97-1.07), or 30-day readmission for wound complications (OR, 0.96; 95% CI, 0.86-1.07). CONCLUSIONS: This is the first large observational study of surgical patients to demonstrate that perioperative NRT is not associated with adverse outcomes after surgery. These results strengthen the evidence that NRT should be prescribed routinely in the perioperative period.

Risk Factors for Severe Opioid-Related Adverse Events in a National Cohort of Medical Hospitalizations.

BACKGROUND: Opioids are a leading cause of adverse drug events in the hospital. Guidelines recommend that physicians assess the risks of opioids and discuss them with patients when considering opioid use. There are no studies examining patient- and prescribing-related risk factors for opioid-related adverse drug events (ORADEs) in hospitalized medical patients. OBJECTIVE: To identify independent risk factors for severe ORADEs in hospitalized medical patients. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. PATIENTS: Medical patients hospitalized at US, non-federal, and acute care facilities, with at least one pharmacy charge for an opioid during hospitalization. We excluded patients with metastatic malignancy, hospice, or palliative care billing codes. MAIN MEASURES: We used Cox proportional hazards modeling to identify risk factors for severe ORADEs, defined by a pharmacy charge for naloxone. Candidate risk factors were chosen a priori, based on clinical grounds and prior literature. KEY RESULTS: Among 731,208 hospitalizations (median age 60, 56.5% female), a severe ORADE occurred in 2727 (0.4%). Independent risk factors included patient characteristics (advanced age, female gender), comorbidities (congestive heart failure, opioid abuse/dependence, non-opioid drug abuse/dependence, psychosis, depression, obstructive sleep apnea), organ failures on admission (respiratory failure, shock/hypotension, renal failure, hepatic failure, acidosis, and neurologic failure), medication co-administrations (antipsychotics and short-acting benzodiazepines), and characteristics of the opioid prescriptions themselves (total dose for the day, parenteral route of administration, and receipt of multiple types of opioids in a day). Although a risk prediction model derived from these factors performed well on stratified k-fold cross-validation (average c-statistics 0.68-0.71), the low incidence of the outcome limited the positive predictive value of the risk score. CONCLUSIONS: In this national cohort of medical patients, we identified several risk factors for ORADEs that can be used to inform physician decision-making, conversations with patients about risk, and development and targeting of harm reduction strategies for at-risk populations.

Association of Patient and Visit Characteristics With Rate and Timing of Urologic Procedures for Patients Discharged From the Emergency Department With Renal Colic.

Importance: Little is known about the timing of urologic interventions in patients with renal colic discharged from the emergency department. Understanding patients' likelihood of a subsequent urologic intervention could inform decision-making in this population. Objectives: To examine the rate and timing of urologic procedures performed after an emergency department visit for renal colic and the factors associated with receipt of an intervention. Design, Setting, and Participants: This retrospective cohort study used the Massachusetts All Payers Claims Database to identify patients 18 to 64 years of age who were seen in a Massachusetts emergency department for renal colic from January 1, 2011, to October 31, 2014, Patients were identified via International Classification of Diseases, Ninth Revision codes, and all medical care was linked, enabling identification of subsequent health care use. Data analysis was performed from January 1, 2017, to December 31, 2018. Main Outcomes and Measures: The main outcome was receipt of urologic procedure within 60 days. Secondary outcomes included rates of return emergency department visit and urologic and primary care follow-up. Results: A total of 66 218 unique index visits by 55 314 patients (mean [SD] age, 42.6 [12.4] years; 33 590 [50.7%] female; 25 411 [38.4%] Medicaid insured) were included in the study. A total of 5851 patients (8.8%) had visits resulting in admission at the index encounter, and 1774 (2.7%) had visits resulting in a urologic procedure during that admission. Of the 60 367 patient visits resulting in discharge from the emergency department, 3018 (5.0%) led to a urologic procedure within 7 days, 4407 (7.3%) within 14 days, 5916 (9.8%) within 28 days, and 7667 (12.7%) within 60 days. A total of 3226 visits (5.3%) led to a subsequent emergency department visit within 7 days and 6792 (11.3%) within 60 days. For the entire cohort (admitted and discharged patients), 39 189 (59.2%) had contact with a urologist or primary care practitioner within 60 days. Having Medicaid-only insurance was associated with lower rates of urologic procedures (odds ratio, 0.70; 95% CI, 0.66-0.74) and urologic follow-up (5.6% vs 8.8%; P < .001) and higher rates of primary care follow-up (59.2% vs 47.2%; P < .001) compared with patients with all other insurance types. Conclusions and Relevance: In this cohort study, most adult patients younger than 65 years who were discharged from the emergency department with a diagnosis of renal colic did not undergo a procedure or see a urologist within 60 days. This finding has implications for both the emergency department and outpatient treatment of these patients.

Examining the "Repletion Reflex": The Association between Serum Potassium and Outcomes in Hospitalized Patients with Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: In patients hospitalized with heart failure (HF) exacerbations, physicians routinely supplement potassium to maintain levels ≥4.0 mEq/L. The evidence basis for this practice is relatively weak. We aimed to evaluate the association between serum potassium levels and outcomes in patients hospitalized with HF. METHODS: We identified patients admitted with acute HF exacerbations to hospitals that contributed to an electronic health record-derived dataset. In a subset of patients with normal admission serum potassium (3.5-5.0 mEq/L), we averaged serum potassium values during a 72-hour exposure window and categorized as follows: <4.0 mEq/L (low normal), 4.0-4.5 mEq/L (medium normal), and >4.5 mEq/L (high normal). We created multivariable models examining associations between these categories and outcomes. RESULTS: We included 4,995 patients: 2,080 (41.6%), 2,326 (46.6%), and 589 (11.8%) in the <4.0, 4.0-4.5, and >4.5 mEq/L cohorts, respectively. After adjustment for demographics, comorbidities, and presenting severity, we observed no difference in outcomes between the low and medium normal groups. Compared to patients with levels <4.0 mEq/L, patients with a potassium level of >4.5 mEq/L had a longer length of stay (median of 0.6 days; 95% CI = 0.1 to 1.0) but did not have statistically significant increases in mortality (OR [odds ratio] = 1.51; 95% CI = 0.97 to 2.36) or transfers to the intensive care unit (OR = 1.78; 95% CI = 0.98 to 3.26). CONCLUSIONS: Inpatients with heart failure who had mean serum potassium levels of <4.0 showed similar outcomes to those with mean serum potassium values of 4.0-4.5. Compared with mean serum potassium level of <4.0, mean serum levels of >4.5 may be associated with increased risk of poor outcomes.

Association of Antibiotic Treatment With Outcomes in Patients Hospitalized for an Asthma Exacerbation Treated With Systemic Corticosteroids.

Importance: Although professional society guidelines discourage use of empirical antibiotics in the treatment of asthma exacerbation, high antibiotic prescribing rates have been recorded in the United States and elsewhere. Objective: To determine the association of antibiotic treatment with outcomes among patients hospitalized for asthma and treated with corticosteroids. Design, Setting, and Participants: Retrospective cohort study of data of 19 811 adults hospitalized for asthma exacerbation and treated with systemic corticosteroids in 542 US acute care hospitals from January 1, 2015, through December 31, 2016. Exposures: Early antibiotic treatment, defined as an treatment with an antibiotic initiated during the first 2 days of hospitalization and prescribed for a minimum of 2 days. Main Outcomes and Measures: The primary outcome measure was hospital length of stay. Other measures were treatment failure (initiation of mechanical ventilation, transfer to the intensive care unit after hospital day 2, in-hospital mortality, or readmission for asthma) within 30 days of discharge, hospital costs, and antibiotic-related diarrhea. Multivariable adjustment, propensity score matching, propensity weighting, and instrumental variable analysis were used to assess the association of antibiotic treatment with outcomes. Results: Of the 19 811 patients, the median (interquartile range [IQR]) age was 46 (34-59) years, 14 389 (72.6%) were women, 8771 (44.3%) were white, and Medicare was the primary form of health insurance for 5120 (25.8%). Antibiotics were prescribed for 8788 patients (44.4%). Compared with patients not treated with antibiotics, treated patients were older (median [IQR] age, 48 [36-61] vs 45 [32-57] years), more likely to be white (48.6% vs 40.9%) and smokers (6.6% vs 5.3%), and had a higher number of comorbidities (eg, congestive heart failure, 6.2% vs 5.8%). Those treated with antibiotics had a significantly longer hospital stay (median [IQR], 4 [3-5] vs 3 [2-4] days) and a similar rate of treatment failure (5.4% vs 5.8%). In propensity score-matched analysis, receipt of antibiotics was associated with a 29% longer hospital stay (length of stay ratio, 1.29; 95% CI, 1.27-1.31) and higher cost of hospitalization (median [IQR] cost, $4776 [$3219-$7373] vs $3641 [$2346-$5942]) but with no difference in the risk of treatment failure (propensity score-matched OR, 0.95; 95% CI, 0.82-1.11). Multivariable adjustment, propensity score weighting, and instrumental variable analysis as well as several sensitivity analyses yielded similar results. Conclusions and Relevance: Antibiotic therapy may be associated with a longer hospital length of stay, higher hospital cost, and similar risk of treatment failure. These results highlight the need to reduce inappropriate antibiotic prescribing among patients hospitalized for asthma.

Use of Inpatient Palliative Care Services in Patients With Advanced Cancer Receiving Critical Care Therapies.

Background: Invasive mechanical ventilation (IMV), dialysis for acute kidney failure, and other critical care therapies (CCTs) are associated with a high risk for complications in patients with metastatic cancer. Inpatient palliative care (IPC) can assist in assessing patients' preferences for life-prolonging treatment at the end of life. This study investigated the use pattern of IPC, outcomes (in-hospital mortality, length of stay [LOS], discharge destination, and cost of care), and predictors of IPC use in patients with metastatic cancer who received CCTs. We hypothesized that IPC services are underused in this cohort. Methods: In this retrospective cohort study, we used the 2010 California State Inpatient Databases to identify adults with metastatic cancer who received CCTs that are common and reliably coded (IMV, tracheostomy, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy tube, dialysis for acute kidney failure, and total parenteral nutrition). We determined IPC use in all patients, in those who received IMV, and across 4 cancer subtypes (lung, breast, colorectal, and genitourinary). Outcomes were assessed based on IPC use. Multivariable analyses were used to investigate factors associated with IPC use. Results: We identified 5,862 hospitalizations, 19.8% of which used IPC services. IPC use varied across cancer subtypes (lung, 28.3%; breast, 22.4%; colorectal, 12.8%; genitourinary, 16.1%; P<.01). Patients who received and did not receive IPC services had high in-hospital mortality rates (63.9% and 29.8%, respectively), and costs of care and LOS were lower in survivors who received IPC compared with those who did not. Predictors of IPC use were lung cancer (vs colorectal or genitourinary cancer), higher comorbidity score, do-not-resuscitate status on admission or within 24 hours of admission, infections (vs cancer-related diagnoses), and higher hospital bed count. Conclusions: Use of IPC was low in the cohort who received CCTs with poor outcomes, although data on outpatient palliative care services is lacking. Predictors of IPC use may be used to identify patients who may benefit from these services.

Mortality Measures to Profile Hospital Performance for Patients With Septic Shock.

OBJECTIVES: Sepsis care is becoming a more common target for hospital performance measurement, but few studies have evaluated the acceptability of sepsis or septic shock mortality as a potential performance measure. In the absence of a gold standard to identify septic shock in claims data, we assessed agreement and stability of hospital mortality performance under different case definitions. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: U.S. acute care hospitals. PATIENTS: Hospitalized with septic shock at admission, identified by either implicit diagnosis criteria (charges for antibiotics, cultures, and vasopressors) or by explicit International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, codes. INTERVENTIONS: None. MEASUREMENTS AND MAIN RESULTS: We used hierarchical logistic regression models to determine hospital risk-standardized mortality rates and hospital performance outliers. We assessed agreement in hospital mortality rankings when septic shock cases were identified by either explicit International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, codes or implicit diagnosis criteria. Kappa statistics and intraclass correlation coefficients were used to assess agreement in hospital risk-standardized mortality and hospital outlier status, respectively. Fifty-six thousand six-hundred seventy-three patients in 308 hospitals fulfilled at least one case definition for septic shock, whereas 19,136 (33.8%) met both the explicit International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, and implicit septic shock definition. Hospitals varied widely in risk-standardized septic shock mortality (interquartile range of implicit diagnosis mortality: 25.4-33.5%; International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, diagnosis: 30.2-38.0%). The median absolute difference in hospital ranking between septic shock cohorts defined by International Classification of Diseases, 9th revision, versus implicit criteria was 37 places (interquartile range, 16-70), with an intraclass correlation coefficient of 0.72, p value of less than 0.001; agreement between case definitions for identification of outlier hospitals was moderate (kappa, 0.44 [95% CI, 0.30-0.58]). CONCLUSIONS: Risk-standardized septic shock mortality rates varied considerably between hospitals, suggesting that septic shock is an important performance target. However, efforts to profile hospital performance were sensitive to septic shock case definitions, suggesting that septic shock mortality is not currently ready for widespread use as a hospital quality measure.

Derivation and Validation of an In-Hospital Mortality Prediction Model Suitable for Profiling Hospital Performance in Heart Failure.

BACKGROUND: Comparing heart failure (HF) outcomes across hospitals requires adequate risk adjustment. We aimed to develop and validate a model that can be used to compare quality of HF care across hospitals. METHODS AND RESULTS: We included patients with HF aged ≥18 years admitted to one of 433 hospitals that participated in the Premier Inc Data Warehouse. This model (Premier) contained patient demographics, comorbidities, and acute conditions present on admission, derived from administrative and billing records. In a separate data set derived from electronic health records, we validated the Premier model by comparing hospital risk-standardized mortality rates calculated with the Premier model to those calculated with a validated clinical model containing laboratory data (LAPS [Laboratory-Based Acute Physiology Score]). Among the 200 832 admissions in the Premier Inc Data Warehouse, inpatient mortality was 4.0%. The model showed acceptable discrimination in the warehouse data (C statistic 0.75; 95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.76). In the validation data set, both the Premier model and the LAPS models showed acceptable discrimination (C statistic: Premier: 0.76 [95% confidence interval, 0.74-0.77]; LAPS: 0.78 [95% confidence interval, 0.76-0.80]). Risk-standardized mortality rates for both models ranged from 2% to 7%. A linear regression equation describing the association between Premier- and LAPS-specific mortality rates revealed a regression line with a slope of 0.71 (SE: 0.07). The correlation coefficient of the standardized mortality rates from the 2 models was 0.82. CONCLUSIONS: Compared with a validated model derived from clinical data, an HF mortality model derived from administrative data showed highly correlated risk-standardized mortality rate estimates, suggesting it could be used to identify high- and low-performing hospitals for HF care.

Hospital and Community Characteristics Associated With Pediatric Direct Admission to Hospital.

OBJECTIVES: One quarter of pediatric hospitalizations begin as direct admissions, defined as hospitalization without receiving care in the hospital's emergency department (ED). Direct admission rates are highly variable across hospitals, yet previous studies have not examined reasons for this variation. We aimed to determine the relationships between hospital and community factors and pediatric direct admission rates, and to evaluate the degree to which these characteristics explain variation in risk-adjusted direct admission rates. METHODS: We conducted a cross-sectional study of the Healthcare Cost and Utilization Project's Kids Inpatient Database, American Hospital Association Database, and Area Health Resource File, including children <18 years of age who were admitted for a medical hospitalization in states contributing data to all data sets. Using hierarchical generalized linear modeling, we generated risk-adjusted direct admission rates and used generalized linear models to assess the association of hospital and community characteristics with these risk-adjusted rates. RESULTS: We included 211,458 children discharged from 933 hospitals and 26 states; 20.2% were admitted directly. One-fifth of the variance in risk-adjusted direct admission rates was attributed to observed hospital and community factors. The greatest proportion of this explained variance was related to ED volume (37%), volume of pediatric hospitalizations (27%), and size of the pediatrician workforce (12%). CONCLUSIONS: Direct admission rates were associated with several hospital and community characteristics, but the majority of variation in hospitals' direct admission rates was not explained by these factors. These findings suggest opportunities for diverse hospital types to develop the infrastructure and communication systems necessary to support pediatric direct admissions.

Hospital Procalcitonin Testing and Antibiotic Treatment of Patients Admitted for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Exacerbation.

RATIONALE: Randomized trials suggest that assessment of serum procalcitonin (PCT) levels can be used to safely limit antibiotic use among patients hospitalized for exacerbations of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). OBJECTIVES: To determine the impact of PCT testing on antibiotic treatment of patients hospitalized for exacerbations of COPD in routine practice. METHODS: We conducted a series of cross-sectional and longitudinal multivariable analyses using data from 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2014 from a sample of 505 U.S. hospitals. RESULTS: Of 203,177 patients hospitalized for COPD exacerbation in 2013 to 2014, nearly 9 out of 10 were treated with antibiotics. Hospital PCT testing rates ranged from 0 to 83%. In cross-sectional analysis, there was a weak negative association between the rate of PCT testing and risk-adjusted rates of antibiotic initiation (Spearman correlation, -0.12; P = 0.005); each 10-point increase in the percentage of patients undergoing PCT testing was associated with a 0.7% decline in risk-adjusted antibiotic use (P = 0.001). There was no association between hospital rates of PCT testing and duration of antibiotic treatment. In a longitudinal analysis, comparing treatment patterns in 2009 to 2011 and 2013 to 2014, we did not observe a significant difference in the change in antibiotic treatment rates or duration of therapy between hospitals that had adopted PCT testing compared with those that had not. CONCLUSIONS: As currently implemented, PCT testing appears to have had little impact on decisions to initiate antibiotic therapy or on duration of treatment for COPD exacerbations. Implementation research is necessary to translate the promising outcomes from PCT testing observed in randomized trials into clinical practice.