Integrating Patient Education Into the Glaucoma Clinical Encounter: A Lean Analysis.

PURPOSE: The main purpose of this study was to use Lean analysis to identify how often and when wait times occur during a glaucoma visit to identify opportunities for additional patient engagement. METHODS: This prospective observational time-motion study measured process and wait times for 77 patient visits from 12 ophthalmologists at an academic glaucoma clinic over a 3-month period. Value stream maps visually diagramed the process of a clinical visit from the patient's perspective. Descriptive statistics were calculated for process times, wait times, and the frequency of 10+ minute wait times during each part of the visit. Key stakeholders participated in a root cause analysis to identify reasons for long wait times. The main outcome measure was average times (hours: minutes: seconds) for process times and wait times. RESULTS: Twenty-nine new visit (NV) patients and 48 return visit (RV) patients were included. Total time in clinic was 187.1±44.5 (mean±SD) minutes for NV patients and 102.0±44.7 minutes for RV patients. Wait time for NV patients was 63.7±33.4 minutes (33.1% of total appointment time) and for RV patients was 52.6±31.6 minutes (49.4% of the total appointment time). All NV patients and 87.5% of RV patients had at least one 10+ minute wait time during their clinic visit and the majority (75.9% NV, 60.4% RV) had >1. CONCLUSIONS: Currently, sufficient wait time exists during the visit for key portions of glaucoma education such as teaching eye drop instillation.

Spouse and Child Availability for Newly Disabled Older Adults: Socioeconomic Differences and Potential Role of Residential Proximity.

OBJECTIVES: To examine the potential role of child and spousal availability in facilitating community-based care for disabled older adults. METHOD: We used the Health and Retirement Study, a nationally representative longitudinal study of older adults. The analysis sample included older adults who were nondisabled at baseline, but who then developed at least one activity of daily living (ADL) limitation over the subsequent 2-year period (N = 2,094). Using multivariate, multinomial logistic regression, we examined the association of child and spouse availability prior to disablement of the older adults with ADL care receipt status after the onset of disablement, after adjusting for other sociodemographic and clinical characteristics. RESULTS: Lower socioeconomic status (SES) was associated with less availability of a spouse but greater availability of children at baseline. Compared with older adults who had no children nearby (i.e., all children lived further than 30 miles), older adults who had at least one child living with or near them prior to the onset of the ADL limitation were less likely to go to a nursing home (adjusted odds ratio [AOR]: 0.26 for coresident; AOR: 0.44 for 1- 30 miles) and less likely to depend on formal care (AOR: 0.39 for coresident; AOR: 0.51 for 1-30 miles) after the onset of new ADL limitation/s. DISCUSSION: Understanding SES variations in the informal care resources, and potential role of child geographic availability, may inform the development of cost-effective community-based care programs and policies.

Older Adults' Residential Proximity to Their Children: Changes After Cardiovascular Events.

OBJECTIVES: To assess changes in family residential proximity after a first cardiovascular (CV) event among older adults and to identify families most likely to experience such moves. METHOD: Using a nationally representative longitudinal study of older adults in the United States, we identified respondents with no prior diagnosis of CV disease (CVD). We examined subsequent development of stroke, heart attack, and/or heart failure among these older adults and examined changes in their residential proximity to their closest child before and after the CV event. We then compared the likelihood of changes in proximity between families with and without CV events. Finally, we determined which types of families are most likely to relocate following a CV event. RESULTS: Having a first CV event increases the 2-year predicted probability of children and adult parents moving in with and closer to each other (relative risk ratio = 1.61 and 1.55, respectively). Families are especially likely to move after a first CV event if the older person experiencing the event is spouseless or has a daughter. DISCUSSION: CVD is a leading cause of disability, which in turn creates a significant need for personal care among older adults. Assessment of changes in family residential proximity responding to CV events is important to fully understand the consequences of older adults' CV events including the cost of caregiving.

Factors influencing cost-related nonadherence to medication in older adults: a conceptually based approach.

OBJECTIVE: Although multiple noncost factors likely influence a patient's propensity to forego treatment in the face of cost pressures, little is known about how patients' sociodemographic characteristics, physical and behavioral health comorbidities, and prescription regimens influence cost-related nonadherence (CRN) to medications. We sought to determine both financial and nonfinancial factors associated with CRN in a nationally representative sample of older adults. METHODS: We used a conceptual model developed by Piette and colleagues that describes financial and nonfinancial factors that could increase someone's risk of CRN, including income, comorbidities, and medication regimen complexity. We used data from the 2004 wave of the Health and Retirement Study and the 2005 HRS Prescription Drug Study to examine the influence of factors within each of these domains on measures of CRN (including not filling, stopping, or skipping doses) in a nationally representative sample of Americans age 65+ in 2005. RESULTS: Of the 3071 respondents who met study criteria, 20% reported some form of CRN in 2005. As in prior studies, indicators of financial stress such as higher out-of-pocket payments for medications and lower net worth were significantly associated with CRN in multivariable analyses. Controlling for these economic pressures, relatively younger respondents (ages 65-74) and depressive symptoms were consistent independent risk factors for CRN. CONCLUSIONS: Noncost factors influenced patients' propensity to forego treatment even in the context of cost concerns. Future research encompassing clinician and health system factors should identify additional determinants of CRN beyond patients' cost pressures.