Primary Care Access for All: A Roadmap for Addressing the Primary Care Crisis in Rhode Island.

BACKGROUND: Primary care in Rhode Island is in crisis. The dearth of primary care providers is already affecting access to services and the situation is likely to worsen unless major steps are taken. There are inadequate numbers of trainees in primary care medical residencies, nurse practitioner (NP) and physician assistant (PA) training programs who plan to practice primary care in our state. The Care Transformation Collaborative of RI (CTC-RI) has assembled a broadly representative task force of physicians, NPs, PAs, and others to build a strong and robust primary care delivery system across the state that recruits, trains, retains, and sustains primary care providers. Study Methods and Design: Program directors from all primary care medical residencies, NP, and PA programs were asked to provide data on their programs, including the number of new trainees per year, total enrollment, and information on recent year graduates, including the total number, the number entering primary care, and the number entering primary care who plan to practice in RI. PRIMARY RESULTS: Of the 106 graduates from primary care residencies in RI in academic year 2002-23, only 15 (14%) planned to provide primary care in Rhode Island. Similarly, of the 144 NP and PA graduates in primary care programs, only 48 (33%) planned to provide primary care in the state. PRINCIPAL CONCLUSIONS: Given the high rate of primary care provider burnout, reduction in patient care hours, and retirement, primary care access will be further eroded unless major steps are taken. The CTC-RI Task Force on Primary Care Provider Workforce has produced a strategic roadmap to address these issues.

Rhode Island's investment in primary care transformation: A case study.

INTRODUCTION: Rhode Island has received national recognition as a leader in statewide, multipayer, multistakeholder initiatives that focus on investments in primary care as a strategy to build a strong delivery system foundation that delivers high-quality, affordable health care. METHOD: For this case study we summarize key structural, process and outcomes factors and lessons learned from internal and external evaluations and project based and stakeholder-engaged quality improvement efforts that helped Rhode Island become the most improved U.S. health system over the past 5 years. RESULTS: Rhode Island's Office of the Insurance Commissioner through a collaborative process contractually established per-member, per-month payments to practices that engaged in the statewide transformation program to the patient-centered medical home model of care and paid incentives for achieving quality, patient experience, and hospital utilization targets. DISCUSSION: Critical lessons learned include the importance of engaging stakeholders in systems change, measuring and monitoring primary care spending, and continuous learning and best-practice sharing. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2019 APA, all rights reserved).

Care Transformation Collaborative of Rhode Island: Building a Strong Foundation for Comprehensive, High-Quality Affordable Care.

As the Patient Centered Medical Home (PCMH) model has evolved nationally and in Rhode Island, there has been increased recognition that PCMH has not been sufficient to achieve desired cost and quality goals. In this article, we describe the evolving concept of "comprehensive primary care" in Rhode Island, which includes addressing the behavioral health and social determinants of health (SDOH) needs of patients. These needs are identified through systematic screening and dedicated care management and care coordination for patients who present with complex needs.

Integrated behavioral health practice facilitation in patient centered medical homes: A promising application.

INTRODUCTION: The purpose of this study was to assess the degree of behavioral health (BH) integration change in patient-centered medical homes (PCMHs) when using a practice facilitator (PF) specially trained in implementing integrated care and how a quasi-experimental design assists in this process. METHOD: Twelve PCMHs, 8 Federally Qualified Health Centers and 4 private practices, with varying degrees of BH services participated in this study. The degree of BH integration was assessed with a quasi-experimental design using the Maine Health Access Foundation's Site Self Assessment (MeHAF SSA) at baseline and after implementing site-specific BH services. The sites tracked completion of unique objectively measured goals being implemented using the Goal Attainment Scale (GAS) score. RESULTS: At the conclusion of the study, sites saw a statistically significant increase in the level of BH integration from a baseline of 2.73 (SD = 0.44) to a postintervention score of 3.49 (SD = 0.22) with improvements from mild-moderate overall integration to moderate-advanced overall integration (p < .001). In addition, 10 out of the 12 sites achieved successful implementation of unique goals with assistance from the PF. DISCUSSION: This study provides the first quasi-experimental/pretest-posttest evidence utilizing real-world data that the practice facilitation method is an effective solution toward increasing the degree of BH integration. This paper describes the real-world efforts to evaluate the degree of BH integration change in PCMHs when using a PF with content expertise in BH integration within primary care. (PsycINFO Database Record

Algorithm for the anesthetic management of cesarean delivery in patients with unsatisfactory labor epidural analgesia.

The management of a patient presenting with unsatisfactory labor epidural analgesia poses a severe challenge for the anesthetist wanting to provide safe anesthetic care for a cesarean delivery. Early recognition of unsatisfactory labor analgesia allows for replacement of the epidural catheter. The decision to convert labor epidural analgesia to anesthesia for cesarean delivery is based on the urgency of the cesarean delivery, airway examination, and the existence of a residual sensory and motor block.  We suggest an algorithm which is implemented in our department, based on the urgency of the cesarean delivery.

Flood volcanism in the northern high latitudes of Mercury revealed by MESSENGER.

MESSENGER observations from Mercury orbit reveal that a large contiguous expanse of smooth plains covers much of Mercury's high northern latitudes and occupies more than 6% of the planet's surface area. These plains are smooth, embay other landforms, are distinct in color, show several flow features, and partially or completely bury impact craters, the sizes of which indicate plains thicknesses of more than 1 kilometer and multiple phases of emplacement. These characteristics, as well as associated features, interpreted to have formed by thermal erosion, indicate emplacement in a flood-basalt style, consistent with x-ray spectrometric data indicating surface compositions intermediate between those of basalts and komatiites. The plains formed after the Caloris impact basin, confirming that volcanism was a globally extensive process in Mercury's post-heavy bombardment era.

Hollows on Mercury: MESSENGER evidence for geologically recent volatile-related activity.

High-resolution images of Mercury's surface from orbit reveal that many bright deposits within impact craters exhibit fresh-appearing, irregular, shallow, rimless depressions. The depressions, or hollows, range from tens of meters to a few kilometers across, and many have high-reflectance interiors and halos. The host rocks, which are associated with crater central peaks, peak rings, floors, and walls, are interpreted to have been excavated from depth by the crater-forming process. The most likely formation mechanisms for the hollows involve recent loss of volatiles through some combination of sublimation, space weathering, outgassing, or pyroclastic volcanism. These features support the inference that Mercury's interior contains higher abundances of volatile materials than predicted by most scenarios for the formation of the solar system's innermost planet.

Relative importance of gait vs. joint positioning on hip contact forces after total hip replacement.

Implant loosening is a common indication for total hip replacement (THR) revision. High contact forces and implant twisting moments are thought to be associated with implant loosening. Relationships between joint positioning and hip forces, or outcomes, have been investigated through in vivo and in vitro modalities. Relationships between hip forces and gait are less understood, despite repeated findings that gait following a THR does not fully return to normal. We tested the hypothesis that gait parameters would be better predictors of implant force (peak contact forces and peak twisting moment during walking) than joint positioning parameters. Subjects underwent gait analysis, hip force modeling, and measurement of clinical radiographs 1 year after successful THR surgery. Gait parameters were consistently more influential in determining hip forces. Alone, gait explained as much as 67% of the variation in force, compared to a maximum of 33% by joint geometry. Combinations of gait and joint positioning parameters together explained up to 86% of the variation in hip force parameters. Results suggest that gait may provide a valuable postoperatively modifiable target to improve hip loads and potentially reduce the risk for implant loosening.

Do gait adaptations during stair climbing result in changes in implant forces in subjects with total hip replacements compared to normal subjects?

BACKGROUND: The study objective was to identify gait abnormalities and their relationships to hip loading during stair climbing after total hip replacement. HYPOTHESES: (1) total hip replacement subjects would have significantly lower dynamic hip range of motion and peak external moments during stair climbing compared to normal subjects and (2) the peak twisting moment about the long axis of the implant and peak hip forces would be significantly reduced in subjects with total hip replacements compared to normal subjects. METHODS: Gait parameters during a stair climbing task were measured for 15 total hip replacement subjects and 15 matched normal subjects. Forces were predicted using an analytical model. FINDINGS: The peak external adduction moment for the total hip replacement subjects was 25% less than normal (P=0.001). The external rotation moment was 26% less than normal (P=0.029) but the extension moment was 77.5% higher in the total hip subjects than in normal subjects (P=0.004). The peak twisting moment and first peak contact force were 18% and 14% lower in the total hip group compared to normal (P=0.090 and P=0.055, respectively). The second peak force was nearly equal (P=0.424) between the two groups. INTERPRETATION: Stair climbing biomechanics differ from normal in subjects with total hip replacements, however these unconscious alterations do not abnormally increase the hip loads during this activity. More work is necessary to determine exactly what constitutes optimal stair climbing biomechanics for patients with total hip replacements.

Preoperative gait adaptations persist one year after surgery in clinically well-functioning total hip replacement patients.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate whether preoperative gait adaptations persist one year after THR in the same set of subjects. The hypothesis tested was that hip dynamic range of motion and peak external moments during walking return to normal after THR. Hip kinematics and kinetics were measured for 28 subjects before and one year after THR and compared to those of 25 subjects with radiographically normal hips. All THR subjects improved clinically after surgery with Harris hip scores improving from 33-85 (average 53) to 61-100 (average 95) (sign test p<0.001). Preoperatively dynamic hip range of motion (ROM), and all peak external moments were reduced compared to normal (Mann-Whitney p< or =0.040). Improvement was seen in the ROM and all but the frontal plane, and external rotation peak moments (Friedman p< or =0.023). The preoperative and postoperative values of the ROM, and peak flexion, abduction and external rotation moments were all significantly correlated (Spearman p<0.020) indicating a possible learned effect from before THR surgery. Postoperative THR subjects continued to have a significantly lower than normal ROM, and peak adduction and peak internal rotation moments (Mann-Whitney p< or =0.003). Despite good to excellent clinical functional outcome, gait in THR patients does not return to normal by one year after surgery. Aggressive muscle strengthening is currently not emphasized after THR surgery. Some THR patients may benefit from more intensive rehabilitation before and after surgery.

The relationship between toe-out angle during gait and progression of medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis.

BACKGROUND: A greater knee adduction moment increases risk of medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA) progression. Greater toe-out during gait shifts the ground reaction force vector closer to the centre of the knee, reducing the adduction moment. The present study was designed to test whether greater toe-out is associated with lower likelihood of medial OA progression. METHODS: Baseline assessments included: kinematic/kinetic gait parameters using an optoelectronic camera system, force platform and inverse dynamics to calculate three-dimensional external knee moments; toe-out angle (formed by the line connecting heel strike and toe-off plantar surface centres of pressure and the forward progression line; knee pain; and full-limb alignment. Knee x-rays (semi-flexed) were obtained at baseline and at 18 months, with progression noted as medial joint space grade worsening. With logistic regression, odds ratios (ORs) for progression/5 degrees toe-out were estimated. RESULTS: In the 56 subjects (59% women, mean age 66.6 years, body mass index (BMI) 29), baseline toe-out angle was less in knees with than without progression (difference -4.4, 95% CI -8.5 to -0.3). Greater toe-out was associated with reduced likelihood of progression (OR 0.60, 95% CI 0.37 to 0.98). Adjusting for age, gender, BMI, pain severity and disease severity, the OR was 0.62, 95% CI 0.36 to 1.06. Adjusting for adduction moment (second peak), the OR was 0.72, 95% CI 0.40 to 1.28. CONCLUSIONS: Osteoarthritic knees that progressed had less toeing-out than knees without progression. Greater toe-out was associated with a lower likelihood of progression. Adjustment for covariates did not alter the OR, although the 95% CI included 1. Further adjustment for adduction moment did alter the OR, consistent with the possibility that a mechanism of the effect may be via lowering of the adduction moment.

Hip abduction moment and protection against medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis progression.

OBJECTIVE: To test the hypothesis that a greater peak internal hip abduction moment is associated with a reduced likelihood of ipsilateral medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA) progression. METHODS: Fifty-seven persons with knee OA (by definite osteophyte presence and symptoms) were evaluated. Baseline assessments included kinematic and kinetic gait parameters, obtained with an optoelectronic camera system and force platform, with inverse dynamics used to calculate 3-dimensional moments at the joints; pain, using a separate visual analog scale for each knee; and alignment, using full-limb radiographs. Radiographs of the knee in a semiflexed position, with fluoroscopic confirmation of tibial rim alignment, were obtained at baseline and 18 months later. Disease progression was defined as worsening of the grade of medial joint space narrowing. Logistic regression obtained with generalized estimating equations was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for progression per unit of hip abduction moment, after excluding knees with the worst joint space grade at baseline (which could not progress). RESULTS: The 57 participants (63% women) with mild to moderate OA had a mean age of 67 years and a mean body mass index of 29. A greater internal hip abduction moment during gait was associated with a reduced likelihood of medial tibiofemoral OA progression, with OR/unit hip abduction moment of 0.52 and a 95% confidence interval (95% CI) of 0.32-0.85. This protective effect persisted after adjustment for age, sex, walking speed, knee pain severity, physical activity, varus malalignment severity, hip OA presence, and hip OA symptom presence, with an adjusted OR of 0.43 a 95% CI of 0.22-0.81. CONCLUSION: A greater hip abduction moment during gait at baseline protected against ipsilateral medial OA progression from baseline to 18 months. The likelihood of medial tibiofemoral OA progression was reduced 50% per 1 unit of hip abduction moment.

Overview of publicly funded managed behavioral health care.

Using MEDLINE and other Internet sources, the authors perform a systematic review of published literature. A total of 109 articles and reports are identified and reviewed that address the development, implementation, outcomes, and trends related to Managed behavioral health care (MBHC). MBHC remains a work in progress. States have implemented their MBHC programs in a number of ways, making interstate comparisons challenging. While managed behavioral health care can lower costs and increase access, ongoing concerns about MBHC include potential incentives to under-treat those with more severe conditions due to the nature of risk-based contracting, the tendency to focus on acute care, difficulties assuring quality and outcomes consistently across regions, and a potential cost-shift to other public agencies or systems. Success factors for MBHC programs appear to include stakeholder involvement in program and policy development, effective contract development and management, and rate adequacy.

Thrust during ambulation and the progression of knee osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether the presence of varus thrust at baseline increases the risk of progression of medial tibiofemoral osteoarthritis (OA), whether knees with thrust have a greater adduction moment, whether thrust has any additional impact on top of static varus, and whether thrust is associated with poor physical function outcome. METHODS: Two hundred thirty-seven patients with knee OA (definite osteophytes and symptoms) underwent baseline gait observation to assess varus thrust and full-limb radiography to assess alignment. Sixty-four of these 237 patients also underwent quantitative gait analysis to determine the maximum knee adduction moment. Two hundred thirty patients (97%) returned for followup at 18 months. At baseline and 18 months, the 230 participants had semiflexed, fluoroscopically confirmed knee radiographs (with progression defined as worsening of medial joint space grade); self-reported and performance-based measures of function were also assessed. Logistic regression with generalized estimating equations was used to estimate odds ratios (ORs) for medial OA progression, after excluding knees that were not at risk for progression. RESULTS: Varus thrust was present in 67 of 401 knees. Thrust increased 4-fold (age-, sex-, body mass index-, and pain-adjusted OR 3.96, 95% confidence interval [95% CI] 2.11-7.43) the odds of medial progression, with some reduction after further adjustment for varus alignment severity. In varus-aligned knees, thrust increased the odds of OA progression 3-fold (adjusted OR 3.17, 95% CI 1.60-6.31). In the gait substudy, the adduction moment was greater in knees with a thrust compared with knees without a thrust. Having a thrust in both knees versus neither knee was associated with a 2-fold increase in the OR for poor physical function outcome (P not significant). CONCLUSION: Varus thrust is a potent risk factor, identifiable by simple gait observation, for disease progression in the medial compartment, the most common site of OA involvement at the knee. Varus thrust may also predict poor physical function outcome. Varus thrust increased the odds of progression among varus-aligned knees considered separately, suggesting that knees with a thrust are a subset of varus-aligned knees at particularly high risk for progression of OA.

Potential strategies to reduce medial compartment loading in patients with knee osteoarthritis of varying severity: reduced walking speed.

OBJECTIVE: To determine whether reducing walking speed is a strategy used by patients with knee osteoarthritis (OA) of varying disease severity to reduce the maximum knee adduction moment. METHODS: Self-selected walking speeds and maximum knee adduction moments of 44 patients with medial tibiofemoral OA of varying disease severity, as assessed by using the Kellgren/Lawrence grade, were compared with those of 44 asymptomatic control subjects matched for sex, age, height, and weight. RESULTS: Differences in self-selected normal walking speed explained only 8.9% of the variation in maximum knee adduction moment for the group of patients with knee OA. The severity of the disease influenced the adduction moment-walking speed relationship; the individual slopes of this relationship were significantly greater in patients with less severe OA than in asymptomatic matched control subjects. Self-selected walking speed did not differ between patients with knee OA, regardless of the severity, and asymptomatic control subjects. However, knees with more-severe OA had significantly greater adduction moments (mean +/- SD 3.80 +/- 0.89% body weight x height) and were in more varus alignment (6.0 +/- 4.5 degrees ) than knees with less-severe OA (2.94 +/- 0.70% body weight x height; and 0.0 +/- 2.9 degrees, respectively). CONCLUSION: Patients with less-severe OA adapt a walking style that differs from that of patients with more-severe OA and controls. This walking style is associated with the potential to reduce the adduction moment when walking at slower speeds and could be linked to decreased disease severity.

Critical role of platelet P-selectin in the response to arterial injury in apolipoprotein-E-deficient mice.

OBJECTIVE: Mice deficient in apolipoprotein-E (apoE-/-) experience severe hypercholesterolemia that is exacerbated by a high-fat Western-type diet and atherosclerotic lesions spontaneously develop. In addition, we have reported that deficiency of P-selectin dramatically protects against neointimal lesion formation after arterial injury in apoE-/- mice. To define the mechanism, bone marrow transplantation (BMT) after lethal irradiation was used to generate apoE-/- chimeric mice deficient in platelet, but not endothelial, P-selectin. METHODS AND RESULTS: Mice underwent vascular injury and were euthanized 4 weeks later. Absence of platelet P-selectin (pPS) expression in apoE-/- mice after BMT was confirmed by flow cytometry and Western blot analysis. Lack of pPS in apoE-/- mice resulted in a 62% reduction in neointimal area (45 000+/-27 000 versus 17 000+/-13 000 microm2, P<0.000001) and a 30% reduction (P<0.02) in macrophage infiltration, compared with control apoE-/- BMT. Absence of pPS was also associated with a reduction in plaque neovascularization as compared with pPS-competent controls (0/8 versus 3/8, P<0.05). CONCLUSIONS: Lack of pPS significantly attenuates macrophage recruitment and neointimal lesion formation, indicating that pPS on platelets lining the vessel wall plays a critical role in inflammation after wire-withdrawal injury of the carotid artery in apoE-/- mice.

Dynamic loads are determinants of peak bone mass.

This study investigated the association between non-invasive measurements of bone mass and markers of dynamic and static hip joint loads in subjects expected to be at peak bone mass. The bone mineral density (BMD) and bone mineral content (BMC) of three proximal femoral sites (neck, greater trochanter, and total) were measured by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry, and the peak external joint moments at the hip during walking and jogging were calculated from gait analyses of 31 normal human subjects ranging in age from 30 to 49 years (18 females, 13 males). Various multiple regression analyses were performed to determine how much of the variance in BMD and BMC was explained by height, body mass, and the peak hip joint moments. In total, the models explained up to 40% of the variance in BMD and 58% of the variance in BMC. Inclusion of height or body mass did not increase the explanatory power of the models for BMD and explained no more than 8% of the total variance in BMC once the joint moments from walking were allowed to enter the models. These data support the hypothesis that variance in peak bone mass is associated with variance in dynamic hip loads largely independent of the effect of static factors such as height and body mass.

Asymmetric knee loading in advanced unilateral hip osteoarthritis.

OBJECTIVE: Subjects with unilateral end-stage hip osteoarthritis (OA) who undergo total hip replacement (THR) preferentially require subsequent replacement of the contralateral knee compared with the ipsilateral knee. We investigated whether this nonrandom, preferential evolution of lower extremity OA from the hip to the contralateral knee joint may be related to asymmetries in dynamic joint loading at the knees, particularly the peak external knee adduction moment, which has been associated with the progression of knee OA. METHODS: Gait analysis was performed on 50 subjects who were preoperative for unilateral THR. Twenty-two of these subjects were reevaluated postoperatively 10-23 months after undergoing successful THR. At each analysis, dynamic joint loads in the contralateral knee were compared with those in the ipsilateral knee. RESULTS: Prior to THR, the peak external knee adduction moment and peak medial compartment load were significantly higher in the contralateral knee. This asymmetry persisted after THR. CONCLUSION: Subjects with unilateral end-stage hip OA preferentially require subsequent replacement of the contralateral knee, as compared with the ipsilateral knee. Among patients with unilateral end-stage hip OA, the contralateral knee is subjected to higher dynamic joint loads than is the ipsilateral knee, and this asymmetric loading persists long after subjects have undergone successful THR. Biomechanical factors appear to be involved in the multiarticular evolution of OA of the lower extremities.

Use of a lateral offset short-leg walking cast before high tibial osteotomy.

The clinical results after high tibial osteotomy for the treatment of symptomatic varus gonarthrosis are unpredictable. Although preoperative gait analysis has been shown to be useful in predicting successful outcome after high tibial osteotomy, there are no readily available preoperative clinical tests for predicting success. The authors did a study to determine the effects of an offset short-leg walking cast as a potential predictor of clinical success after high tibial osteotomy. Specifically, the authors evaluated the effect of an offset short-leg walking cast on pain relief and changes in the peak external adduction moments in patients with symptomatic varus gonarthrosis indicated for high tibial osteotomy. Nineteen consecutive patients indicated for high tibial osteotomy were enrolled and completed the study. All patients had precast gait analysis to determine baseline parameters. Immediately after gait analysis, a short-leg lateral offset walking cast was applied and worn for 3 days to allow time for adaptation. Gait analysis then was repeated. Western Ontario and McMaster Universities Osteoarthritis Index pain scores were obtained before and after the cast was applied. The cast resulted in a mean reduction in pain of 53%, and a mean reduction in the peak external adduction moment of 36% in the 17 of 19 patients who tolerated the cast. The reduction in pain was correlated with the reduction in the peak adduction moment (r = 0.63). The authors conclude that an offset short-leg walking cast results in pain reduction that correlates with changes in external adduction moments about the knee. Therefore, an offset short-leg walking cast may prove to be an effective tool for predicting patients who ultimately will benefit from valgus high tibial osteotomy.