Referring and Specialist Physician Gender and Specialist Billing.

Importance: While a gender pay gap in medicine has been well documented, relatively little research has addressed mechanisms that mediate gender differences in referral income for specialists. Objective: To examine gender-based disparities in medical and surgical specialist referrals in Ontario, Canada. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study included referrals for specialist care ascertained from Ontario Health Insurance Plan physician billings for fiscal year 2018 to 2019. Participants were specialist physicians who received new patient consultations from April 1, 2018, to March 31, 2019, and the associated referring physicians. Data were analyzed from April 2018 to March 2020, including a 12-month follow-up period. Exposures: Specialist and referring physician gender (female or male). Main Outcomes and Measures: Revenue per referral was defined based on an episode-of-care approach as total billings for a 12-month period from the initial consultation. Mean total billings for female and male specialists were compared and the differential divided into the portion owing to referral volume vs referral revenue. Difference-in-differences multivariable regression analysis was used to estimate gender-based differences in revenue per referral. For each referring physician, gender-based differences in referral patterns were examined using case-control analysis, in which specialists who received a referral were compared with matched control specialists who did not receive a referral. This analysis considered the gender of the specialist and concordance between the gender of the referring physician and specialist, among other characteristics. Results: Of 7 621 365 new referrals, 32 824 referring physicians, of whom 13 512 (41.2%) were female (mean [SD] age, 46.3 [11.6] years) and 19 312 (58.8%) were male (mean [SD] age, 52.9 [13.5] years), made referrals to 13 582 specialists, of whom 4890 (36.0%) were female (mean [SD] age, 45.6 [11.0] years) and 8692 (64.0%) were male (mean [SD] age, 51.8 [13.0] years). Male specialists received more mean (SD) referrals than did female specialists (633 [666] vs 433 [515]), and the mean (SD) revenue per referral was higher for males ($350 [$474]) compared with females ($316 [$393]). Adjusted analysis demonstrated a -4.7% (95% CI, -4.9% to -4.5%) difference in the revenue per referral between male and female specialists. Multivariable regression analysis found that physicians referred more often to specialists of the same gender (odds ratio, 1.04; 95% CI, 1.03-1.04) but had higher odds of referring to male specialists (odds ratio, 1.10; 95% CI, 1.09-1.11). Conclusions and Relevance: In this cross-sectional study of the gender pay gap in specialist referral income, the number and revenue from referrals received differed by gender, as did the odds of receiving a referral from a physician of the same gender. Future research should examine the effectiveness of different policies to address this gap, such as a centralized, gender-blinded referral system.

Association between virtual primary care and emergency department use during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: Uptake of virtual care increased substantially during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. The aim of this study was to evaluate whether a shift from in-person to virtual visits by primary care physicians was associated with increased use of emergency departments among their enrolled patients. METHODS: We conducted an observational study of monthly virtual visits and emergency department visits from Apr. 1, 2020, to Mar. 31, 2021, using administrative data from Ontario, Canada. We used multivariable regression analysis to estimate the association between the proportion of a physician's visits that were delivered virtually and the number of emergency department visits among their enrolled patients. RESULTS: The proportion of virtual visits was higher among female, younger and urban physicians, and the number of emergency department visits was lower among patients of female and urban physicians. In an unadjusted analysis, a 1% increase in a physician's proportion of virtual visits was found to be associated with 11.0 (95% confidence interval [CI] 10.1-11.8) fewer emergency department visits per 1000 rostered patients. After controlling for covariates, we observed no statistically significant change in emergency department visits per 1% increase in the proportion of virtual visits (0.2, 95% CI -0.5 to 0.9). INTERPRETATION: We did not find evidence that patients substituted emergency department visits in the context of decreased availability of in-person care with their family physician during the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Future research should focus on the long-term impact of virtual care on access and quality of patient care.

COVID-19 and the duration of operating room procedures in Ontario: a population-based retrospective study.

BACKGROUND: Studies have estimated that a large backlog of procedures was generated by emergency measures implemented in Ontario, Canada, at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, when nonessential and scheduled procedures were postponed. Understanding the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the time needed to perform a procedure may help to determine the resources needed to tackle the substantial backlog caused by the deferral of cases. The purpose of this study was to examine the duration of operating room (OR) procedures before and after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic to inform planning around changes in required resources. METHODS: A population-based, retrospective cohort study was conducted using Ontario Health Insurance Plan claims data and other administrative health care data from Apr. 1, 2019, to Sept. 30, 2020. Statistical analysis was conducted using multivariate regression, with procedure duration as the outcome variable. RESULTS: Results showed that the average duration of nonelective procedures increased by 34 minutes during the COVID-19 period and by 19 minutes after the resumption of scheduled procedures. Controlling for physician, patient and hospital characteristics, and the procedure code submitted, procedure duration increased by 12 minutes in the nonelective COVID-19 period and by 5 minutes when scheduled procedures resumed, compared with the pre-COVID-19 period. CONCLUSION: Procedures may take longer in the COVID-19 period. This will affect wait times, which had already increased because of the deferral of procedures at the beginning of the pandemic, and will have an impact on Ontario's ability to provide patients with timely care.

Impact of the COVID-19 pandemic upon self-reported physician burnout in Ontario, Canada: evidence from a repeated cross-sectional survey.

OBJECTIVES: To estimate the impact of the SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) pandemic on levels of burnout among physicians in Ontario, Canada, and to understand physician perceptions of the contributors and solutions to burnout. DESIGN: Repeated cross-sectional survey. SETTING: Active and retired physicians, residents and medical students in Canada's largest province were invited to participate in an online survey via an email newsletter. PARTICIPANTS: In the first survey wave (March 2020), 1400 members responded (representing 76.3% of those who could be confirmed to have received the survey and 3.1% of total membership). In the second wave (March 2021), 2638 responded (75.9% of confirmed survey recipients and 5.8% of membership). KEY OUTCOME MEASURE: Level of burnout was assessed using a validated, single-item, self-defined burnout measure where options ranged from 1 (no symptoms of burnout) to 5 (completely burned out). RESULTS: The overall rate of high levels of burnout (self-reported levels 4-5) increased from 28.0% in 2020 (99% CI: 24.3% to 31.7%) to 34.7% in 2021 (99% CI: 31.8% to 37.7%), a 1-year increase of 6.8 percentage points (p<0.01). After a full year of practising during the COVID-19 pandemic, respondents ranked 'patient expectations/patient accountability', 'reporting and administrative obligations' and 'practice environment' as the three factors that contributed most to burnout. Respondents ranked 'streamline and reduce required documentation/administrative work', 'provide fair compensation' and 'improve work-life balance' as the three most important solutions. CONCLUSIONS: During the first 12 months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Ontario, prevalence of high levels of burnout had significantly increased. The contributors and solutions ranked highest by physicians were system-level or organisational in nature.

Health-care utilization and costs in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus in the United Kingdom: a real-world observational retrospective cohort analysis.

OBJECTIVE: The aim was to describe direct health-care costs for adults with SLE in the UK over time and by disease severity and encounter type. METHODS: Patients aged ≥18 years with SLE were identified using the linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink-Hospital Episode Statistics database from January 2005 to December 2017. Patients were classified as having mild, moderate or severe disease using an adapted claims-based algorithm based on prescriptions and co-morbid conditions. We estimated all-cause health-care costs and incremental costs associated with each year of follow-up compared with a baseline year, adjusting for age, sex, disease severity and co-morbid conditions (2017 UK pounds). RESULTS: We identified 802 patients; 369 (46.0%) with mild, 345 (43.0%) moderate and 88 (11.0%) severe disease. The mean all-cause cost increased in the 3 years before diagnosis, peaked in the first year after diagnosis and remained high. The adjusted total mean annual increase in costs per patient was £4476 (95% CI: £3809, £5143) greater in the year of diagnosis compared with the baseline year (P < 0.0001). The increase in costs per year was 4.7- and 1.6-fold higher among patients with severe SLE compared with those with mild and moderate SLE, respectively. Primary care utilization was the leading component of costs during the first year after diagnosis. CONCLUSION: The health-care costs for patients with SLE in the UK are substantial, remain high after diagnosis and increase with increasing severity. Future research should assess whether earlier diagnosis and treatment might reduce disease severity and associated high health-care costs.

Disparities in Physician Compensation by Gender in Ontario, Canada.

Importance: Men and women should earn equal pay for equal work. An examination of the magnitude of pay disparities could inform strategies for remediation. Objective: To examine gender-based differences in pay within a large, comprehensive physician population practicing within a variety of payment systems. Design, Setting, and Participants: This cross-sectional study used data from the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) in the 2017 to 2018 fiscal year to estimate differences in gross payments between men and women physicians in Ontario, Canada. Pay gaps were calculated annually and daily. Regression analyses were used to control for observable practice characteristics that could account for individual differences in daily pay. In Canada's largest province, Ontario, medical services are predominantly provided by self-employed physicians who bill the province's single payer, OHIP. All physicians who submitted claims to OHIP were included. Data were analyzed from January 2020 to July 2021. Exposures: Physician gender, obtained from the OHIP Corporate Provider Database. Gender is recorded as male or female. Main Outcomes and Measures: Gross clinical payments were tabulated for individual physicians on a daily and annual basis in conjunction with each physician's practice characteristics, setting, and specialty. Results: A total of 31 481 physicians were included in the study sample (12 604 [40.0%] women; 18 877 [60.0%] men; mean [SD] time since graduation, 23.3 [13.6] years), representing 99% of active physicians in Ontario. The unadjusted differences in clinical payments between male and female physicians were 32.8% (95% CI, 30.8%-34.6%) annually and 22.5% (95% CI, 21.2%-23.8%) daily. After accounting for practice characteristics, region, and specialty, the overall daily payment gap was 13.5% (95% CI, 12.3%-14.8%). The pay gap persisted with differing magnitudes when examined by specialty (ranging from 6.6% to 37.6%), practice setting (8.3% to 17.2%), payment model (13.4% to 22.8% for family medicine; 8.0% to 11.6% for other specialties), and rurality (8.0% to 16.5%). Conclusions and Relevance: This cross-sectional study examined differences in magnitude of annual and daily payment gaps and between unadjusted and adjusted gaps. Comparing the gaps for different specialties, geography, and payment systems illustrated the complexity of the issue by showing that the pay gap varied for physicians in different practice settings. As such, multiple directed interventions will be necessary to ensure that all physicians are paid equally for equal work, regardless of gender.

Disease severity, flares and treatment patterns in adults with systemic lupus erythematosus in the UK: a real-world observational retrospective cohort analysis.

OBJECTIVES: The aim was to characterize disease severity, clinical manifestations, treatment patterns and flares in a longitudinal cohort of adults with SLE in the UK. METHODS: Adults with SLE were identified in the Clinical Practice Research Datalink-Hospital Episode Statistics database (1 January 2005-31 December 2017). Patients were required to have ≥12 months of data before and after the index date (earliest SLE diagnosis date available). SLE disease severity and flares were classified using adapted claims-based algorithms, which are based on SLE-related conditions, medications and health-service use. RESULTS: Of 802 patients, 369 had mild, 345 moderate and 88 severe SLE at baseline. A total of 692 initiated treatment in the first year after diagnosis. Five hundred and fifty-seven received antimalarials, 203 immunosuppressants and 416 oral CSs. Information on biologic use in hospitals was unavailable. The mean (S.d.) time to initiating any medication was 177 (385.3) days. The median time to first flare was 63 days (95% CI: 57, 71). At least one flare was experienced by 750 of 802 patients during follow-up; the first flare was mild for 549 of 750, moderate for 116 of 750 and severe for 85 of 750. The mean (S.d.) annual overall flare rate (year 1) was 3.5 (2.5). A shorter median time to first flare was significantly associated with moderate/severe disease (P < 0.001) and clinical manifestations (P < 0.001). CONCLUSION: Our findings suggest some delay in the initiation of SLE treatment. Most patients experience a flare within 2 months of diagnosis. Early treatment might delay or reduce the severity of the first SLE flare and might translate to slower disease progression, lower accrual of organ damage and better outcomes.

Adoption of a laboratory EMR system and inappropriate laboratory testing in Ontario: a cross-sectional observational study.

BACKGROUND: Electronic medical record (EMR) systems have the potential to facilitate appropriate laboratory testing. We examined three common medical tests in primary care-hemoglobin A1c (HbA1c), lipid, and thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH)- to assess whether adoption of a laboratory EMR system in Ontario had an impact on the rate of inappropriate testing among primary care physicians. METHODS: We used FY2016-17 population-level laboratory data to estimate the association between adoption of a laboratory EMR system and the rate of inappropriate testing. Inappropriate testing was assessed based on recommendations for screening, monitoring, and follow-up that take into account risk factors related to patient age and certain clinical conditions. To overcome the problem of potential endogeneity of physician choice to use the EMR, the EMR penetration rate in the physician's geographical area of practice was used as an instrumental variable in an ordinary least squares (OLS) regression. We then simulated the change in the rate of inappropriate testing, by physician payment model, as the EMR penetration rate increased from the baseline percentage. RESULTS: The simulation models showed that an increase in the rate of EMR penetration from a baseline average was associated with a statistically significant decrease in inappropriate hbA1c and lipid testing, but a statistically insignificant increase in inappropriate TSH testing. The impact of EMR penetration also varied by payment model. CONCLUSIONS: This study demonstrated a positive association between availability of an EMR system and appropriate service utilization. Varying impacts of the EMR system availability by primary care payment model may be reflective of different incentives or attributes inherent in payment models. Policies to encourage physicians to increase their use of laboratory EMR systems could improve the quality and continuity of patient care.

Trends in prevalence of chronic disease and multimorbidity in Ontario, Canada.

BACKGROUND: New case-mix tools from the Canadian Institute for Health Information offer a novel way of exploring the prevalence of chronic disease and multimorbidity using diagnostic data. We took a comprehensive approach to determine whether the prevalence of chronic disease and multimorbidity has been rising in Ontario, Canada. METHODS: In this observational study, we applied case-mix methodology to a population-based cohort. We used 10 years of patient-level data (fiscal years 2008/09 to 2017/18) from multiple care settings to compute the rolling 5-year prevalence of 85 chronic diseases and multimorbidity (i.e., the co-occurrence of 2 or more diagnoses). Diseases were further classified based on type and severity. We report both crude and age- and sex-standardized trends. RESULTS: The number of patients with chronic disease increased by 11.0% over the 10-year study period to 9.8 million in 2017/18, and the number with multimorbidity increased 12.2% to 6.5 million. Overall increases from 2008/09 to 2017/18 in the crude prevalence of chronic conditions and multimorbidity were driven by population aging. After adjustments for age and sex, the prevalence of patients with ≥ 1 chronic conditions decreased from 70.2% to 69.1%, and the prevalence of multimorbidity decreased from 47.1% to 45.6%. This downward trend was concentrated in minor and moderate diseases, whereas the prevalence of many major chronic diseases rose, along with instances of extreme multimorbidity (≥ 8 conditions). Age- and sex-standardized resource intensity weights, which reflect relative expected costs associated with patient diagnostic profiles, increased 4.6%. INTERPRETATION: Evidence of an upward trend in the prevalence of chronic disease was mixed. However, the change in case mix toward more serious conditions, along with increasing patient resource intensity weights overall, may portend a future need for population health management and increased health system spending above that predicted by population aging.

Effect of Strict and Soft Policy Interventions on Laboratory Diagnostic Testing in Ontario, Canada: A Bayesian Structural Time Series Analysis.

Applications of behavioral economics targeted at optimizing laboratory utilization among physicians have been implemented in Ontario through different types of nonfinancial interventions. Strict policy interventions restrict Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP) payment for tests to patients with specific conditions or limit ordering to particular physician specialties, while soft policy interventions involve modifications to the laboratory requisition form. This study evaluates the effectiveness of these interventions in terms of changing physician ordering behavior for eight tests that were subject to a strict or soft policy intervention during the study period. We use a Bayesian structural time series model applied to Ontario laboratory claims data for FY2006 through FY2017. Results show a 16-75% reduction in laboratory services with a strict policy intervention and an 8-36% reduction in laboratory services with a soft policy intervention. Although the overall magnitude of change was smaller for soft policy interventions, interventions designed with soft or strict policy mechanisms addressing laboratory utilization management are effective at influencing physicians' test ordering behavior.

Use of the Population Grouping Methodology of the Canadian Institute for Health Information to predict high-cost health system users in Ontario.

BACKGROUND: Prior research has consistently shown that the heaviest users account for a disproportionate share of health care costs. As such, predicting high-cost users may be a precondition for cost containment. We evaluated the ability of a new health risk predictive modelling tool, which was developed by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI), to identify future high-cost cases. METHODS: We ran the CIHI model using administrative health care data for Ontario (fiscal years 2014/15 and 2015/16) to predict the risk, for each individual in the study population, of being a high-cost user 1 year in the future. We also estimated actual costs for the prediction period. We evaluated model performance for selected percentiles of cost based on the discrimination and calibration of the model. RESULTS: A total of 11 684 427 individuals were included in the analysis. Overall, 10% of this population had annual costs exceeding $3050 per person in fiscal year 2016/17, accounting for 71.6% of total expenditures; 5% had costs above $6374 (58.2% of total expenditures); and 1% exceeded $22 995 (30.5% of total expenditures). Model performance increased with higher cost thresholds. The c-statistic was 0.78 (reasonable), 0.81 (strong) and 0.86 (very strong) at the 10%, 5% and 1% cost thresholds, respectively. INTERPRETATION: The CIHI Population Grouping Methodology was designed to predict the average user of health care services, yet performed adequately for predicting high-cost users. Although we recommend the development of a purpose-designed tool to improve model performance, the existing CIHI Population Grouping Methodology may be used - as is or in concert with additional information - for many applications requiring prediction of future high-cost users.

Persistent postoperative pain and healthcare costs associated with instrumented and non-instrumented spinal surgery: a case-control study.

PURPOSE: To compare rates of persistent postoperative pain (PPP) after lumbar spine surgery-commonly known as Failed Back Surgery Syndrome-and healthcare costs for instrumented lumbar spinal fusion versus decompression/discectomy. METHODS: The UK population-based healthcare data from the Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) database from NHS Digital and the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) were queried to identify patients with PPP following lumbar spinal surgery. Rates of PPP were calculated by type of surgery (instrumented and non-instrumented). Total healthcare costs associated with the surgery and covering the 24-month period after index hospital discharge were estimated using standard methods for classifying health care encounters into major categories of health care resource utilization (i.e., inpatient hospital stays, outpatient clinic visits, accident and emergency attendances, primary care encounters, and medications prescribed in primary care) and applying the appropriate unit costs (expressed in 2013 GBP). RESULTS: Increasing the complexity of surgery with instrumentation was not associated with an increased rate of PPP. However, 2-year healthcare costs following discharge after surgery are significantly higher among patients who underwent instrumented surgery compared with decompression/discectomy. CONCLUSIONS: Although there is a not insubstantial risk of ongoing pain following spine surgery, with 1-in-5 patients experiencing PPP within 2 years of surgery, the underlying indications for surgical modality and related choice of surgical procedure do not, by itself, appear to be a driving factor.

Using Diagnoses to Estimate Health Care Cost Risk in Canada.

OBJECTIVE: Until recently, the options for summarizing Canadian patient complexity were limited to health risk predictive modeling tools developed outside of Canada. This study aims to validate a new model created by the Canadian Institute for Health Information (CIHI) for Canada's health care environment. RESEARCH DESIGN: This was a cohort study. SUBJECTS: The rolling population eligible for coverage under Ontario's Universal Provincial Health Insurance Program in the fiscal years (FYs) 2006/2007-2016/2017 (12-13 million annually) comprised the subjects. MEASURES: To evaluate model performance, we compared predicted cost risk at the individual level, on the basis of diagnosis history, with estimates of actual patient-level cost using "out-of-the-box" cost weights created by running the CIHI software "as is." We next considered whether performance could be improved by recalibrating the model weights, censoring outliers, or adding prior cost. RESULTS: We were able to closely match model performance reported by CIHI for their 2010-2012 development sample (concurrent R=48.0%; prospective R=8.9%) and show that performance improved over time (concurrent R=51.9%; prospective R=9.7% in 2014-2016). Recalibrating the model did not substantively affect prospective period performance, even with the addition of prior cost and censoring of cost outliers. However, censoring substantively improved concurrent period explanatory power (from R=53.6% to 66.7%). CONCLUSIONS: We validated the CIHI model for 2 periods, FYs 2010/2011-2012/2013 and FYs 2014/2015-2016/2017. Out-of-the-box model performance for Ontario was as good as that reported by CIHI for the development sample based on 3-province data (British Columbia, Alberta, and Ontario). We found that performance was robust to variations in model specification, data sources, and time.

Costs of gastrointestinal bleeding events in atrial fibrillation: a UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink study.

Aim: To estimate the healthcare costs attributable to gastrointestinal (GI) bleeds in nonvalvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF) patients. Material & methods: A difference-in-differences approach was used in which NVAF patients suffering a (GI) bleed were propensity score matched to those not suffering a GI bleed, and the difference in healthcare costs in the year prior to the GI bleed and the subsequent 3 years was compared between the two groups. Results: The mean cost attributable to GI bleeds was £3989 (p < 0.0001) in the year of the bleed and £1816 (p = 0.001) in the subsequent year. Attributable costs arose primarily from inpatient visits. Conclusion: GI bleeds among NVAF patients are associated with significant healthcare costs up to 2 years following the bleed.

Reoperation following lumbar spinal surgery: costs and outcomes in a UK population cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).

PURPOSE: To assess the likelihood of persistent postoperative pain (PPP) following reoperation after lumbar surgery and to estimate associated healthcare costs. METHODS: This is a retrospective cohort study using two linked UK databases: Hospital Episode Statistics and UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink. Costs and outcomes associated with reoperation were evaluated over a 2-year postoperative period using multivariate logistic regression for cases who underwent reoperation and controls who did not, based on demographics, index surgery type, smoking status, and pre-index comorbidities using propensity score matching. RESULTS: Risk factors associated with reoperation included younger age and the presence of diabetes with complications or rheumatic disease. The rate of PPP after reoperation was much higher than after index surgery, with 79 of 200 (39.5%; 95% CI 32.5%, 46.5%) participants experiencing ongoing pain compared with 983 of 5022 (19.5%; 95% CI 18.5%, 20.7%) after index surgery. Mean costs in the 2 years following reoperation were £1889 higher (95% CI £2, £3809) than for patients with PPP who did not undergo repeat surgery over an equivalent follow-up period. With the cost of reoperation itself included, the mean cost difference for patients who underwent reoperation compared with matched controls rose to £7221 (95% CI £5273, £9206). CONCLUSIONS: High rates of PPP and associated healthcare costs suggest that returning to the operating room is a complex and challenging decision. Spinal surgeons should review whether the potential benefits of additional surgery are justified when other approaches to managing and relieving chronic pain have demonstrated superior outcomes. These slides can be retrieved under Electronic Supplementary Material.

Short- and long-term cost and utilization of health care resources in Parkinson's disease in the UK.

BACKGROUND: There is currently no robust long-term data on costs of treating patients with Parkinson's disease. The objective of this study was to report levels of health care utilization and associated costs in the 10 years after diagnosis among PD patients in the United Kingdom. METHODS: We undertook a retrospective population-based cohort study using linked data from the UK Clinical Practice Research Datalink and Hospital Episode Statistics databases. Total health care costs of PD patients were compared with those of a control group of patients without PD selected using 1:1 propensity score matching based on age, sex, and comorbidity. RESULTS: Between 1994 and 2013, 7271 PD patients who met study inclusion criteria were identified in linked Clinical Practice Research Datalink-Hospital Episode Statistics; 7060 were matched with controls. The mean annual health care cost difference (at 2013 costs) between PD patients and controls was £2471 (US$3716) per patient in the first year postdiagnosis (P < 0.001), increasing to £4004 (US$6021) per patient (P < 0.001) 10 years following diagnosis because of higher levels of use across all categories of health care utilization. Costs in patients with markers of advanced PD (ie, presence of levodopa-equivalent daily dose > 1100 mg, dyskinesias, falls, dementia, psychosis, hospital admission primarily due to PD, or nursing home placement) were on average higher by £1069 (US$1608) per patient than those with PD without these markers. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides comprehensive estimates of health care costs in PD patients based on routinely collected data. Health care costs attributable to PD increase in the year following diagnosis and are higher for patients with indicators of advanced disease. © 2018 International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society.

The economic burden of cancer care in Canada: a population-based cost study.

BACKGROUND: Resource and cost issues are a growing concern in health care. Thus, it is important to have an accurate estimate of the economic burden of care. Previous work has estimated the economic burden of cancer care for Canada; however, there is some concern this estimate is too low. The objective of this analysis was to provide a comprehensive revised estimate of this burden. METHODS: We used a case-control prevalence-based approach to estimate direct annual cancer costs from 2005 to 2012. We used patient-level administrative health care data from Ontario to correctly attribute health care costs to cancer. We employed the net cost method (cost difference between patients with cancer and control subjects without cancer) to account for costs directly and indirectly related to cancer and its sequelae. Using average patient-level cost estimates from Ontario, we applied proportions from national health expenditures data to obtain the economic burden of cancer care for Canada. All costs were adjusted to 2015 Canadian dollars. RESULTS: Costs of cancer care rose steadily over our analysis period, from $2.9 billion in 2005 to $7.5 billion in 2012, mostly owing to the increase in costs of hospital-based care. Most expenditures for health care services increased over time, with chemotherapy and radiation therapy expenditures accounting for the largest increases over the study period. Our cost estimates were larger than those in the Economic Burden of Illness in Canada 2005-2008 report for every year except 2005 and 2006. INTERPRETATION: The economic burden of cancer care in Canada is substantial. Further research is needed to understand how the economic burden of cancer compares to that of other diseases.

The incidence and healthcare costs of persistent postoperative pain following lumbar spine surgery in the UK: a cohort study using the Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES).

OBJECTIVE: To characterise incidence and healthcare costs associated with persistent postoperative pain (PPP) following lumbar surgery. DESIGN: Retrospective, population-based cohort study. SETTING: Clinical Practice Research Datalink (CPRD) and Hospital Episode Statistics (HES) databases. PARTICIPANTS: Population-based cohort of 10 216 adults who underwent lumbar surgery in England from 1997/1998 through 2011/2012 and had at least 1 year of presurgery data and 2 years of postoperative follow-up data in the linked CPRD-HES. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOMES MEASURES: Incidence and total healthcare costs over 2, 5 and 10 years attributable to persistent PPP following initial lumbar surgery. RESULTS: The rate of individuals undergoing lumbar surgery in the CPRD-HES linked data doubled over the 15-year study period, fiscal years 1997/1998 to 2011/2012, from 2.5 to 4.9 per 10 000 adults. Over the most recent 5-year period (2007/2008 to 2011/2012), on average 20.8% (95% CI 19.7% to 21.9%) of lumbar surgery patients met criteria for PPP. Rates of healthcare usage were significantly higher for patients with PPP across all types of care. Over 2 years following initial spine surgery, the mean cost difference between patients with and without PPP was £5383 (95% CI £4872 to £5916). Over 5 and 10 years following initial spine surgery, the mean cost difference between patients with and without PPP increased to £10 195 (95% CI £8726 to £11 669) and £14 318 (95% CI £8386 to £19 771), respectively. Extrapolated to the UK population, we estimate that nearly 5000 adults experience PPP after spine surgery annually, with each new cohort costing the UK National Health Service in excess of £70 million over the first 10 years alone. CONCLUSIONS: Persistent pain affects more than one-in-five lumbar surgery patients and accounts for substantial long-term healthcare costs. There is a need for formal, evidence-based guidelines for a coherent, coordinated management strategy for patients with continuing pain after lumbar surgery.

Relationship between initial therapy and blood pressure control for high-risk hypertension patients in the UK: a retrospective cohort study from the THIN general practice database.

OBJECTIVE: To examine the UK practice patterns in treating newly diagnosed hypertension and to determine whether subgroups of high-risk patients are more or less likely to follow particular therapeutic protocols and to reach blood pressure goals. DESIGN: Retrospective cohort study. SETTING: This study examined adults in The Health Improvement Network (THIN) UK general practice medical records database who were initiated on medication for hypertension. PARTICIPANTS: 48 131 patients with essential hypertension diagnosed between 2008 and 2010 who were registered with a participating practice for a minimum of 13 months prior to, and 6 months following, initiation of therapy. We excluded patients with gestational hypertension or secondary hypertension. Patients were classified into risk groups based on blood pressure readings and comorbid conditions. PRIMARY AND SECONDARY OUTCOME MEASURES: Odds of receiving single versus fixed or free-drug combination therapy and odds of achieving blood pressure control were assessed using multivariable logistic regression. RESULTS: The vast majority of patients (95.8%) were initiated on single drug therapy. Patients with high cardiovascular risk (patients with grade 2-3 hypertension or those with high normal/grade 1 hypertension plus at least one cardiovascular condition pretreatment) had a statistically significant benefit of starting immediately on combination therapy when blood pressure control was the desired goal (OR: 1.23; 95% CI: 1.06 to 1.42) but, surprisingly, were less likely than patients with no risk factors to receive combination therapy (OR: 0.53; 95% CI: 0.47 to 0.59). CONCLUSIONS: Our results suggest that combination therapy may be indicated for patients with high cardiovascular risk, who accounted for 60.6% of our study population. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence guideline CG34 of 2006 (in effect during the study period) recommended starting with single drug class therapy for most patients, and this advice does seem to have been followed even in cases where a more aggressive approach might have been considered.

Cost-effectiveness of helicopter versus ground emergency medical services for trauma scene transport in the United States.

STUDY OBJECTIVE: We determine the minimum mortality reduction that helicopter emergency medical services (EMS) should provide relative to ground EMS for the scene transport of trauma victims to offset higher costs, inherent transport risks, and inevitable overtriage of patients with minor injury. METHODS: We developed a decision-analytic model to compare the costs and outcomes of helicopter versus ground EMS transport to a trauma center from a societal perspective during a patient's lifetime. We determined the mortality reduction needed to make helicopter transport cost less than $100,000 and $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained compared with ground EMS. Model inputs were derived from the National Study on the Costs and Outcomes of Trauma, National Trauma Data Bank, Medicare reimbursements, and literature. We assessed robustness with probabilistic sensitivity analyses. RESULTS: Helicopter EMS must provide a minimum of a 15% relative risk reduction in mortality (1.3 lives saved/100 patients with the mean characteristics of the National Study on the Costs and Outcomes of Trauma cohort) to cost less than $100,000 per quality-adjusted life-year gained and a reduction of at least 30% (3.3 lives saved/100 patients) to cost less than $50,000 per quality-adjusted life-year. Helicopter EMS becomes more cost-effective with significant reductions in patients with minor injury who are triaged to air transport or if long-term disability outcomes are improved. CONCLUSION: Helicopter EMS needs to provide at least a 15% mortality reduction or a measurable improvement in long-term disability to compare favorably with other interventions considered cost-effective. Given current evidence, it is not clear that helicopter EMS achieves this mortality or disability reduction. Reducing overtriage of patients with minor injury to helicopter EMS would improve its cost-effectiveness.