The impact of electronic medical record implementation on the outpatient volumes of a midsize academic center.

BACKGROUND: Despite the proposed clinical advantages of electronic medical records (EMRs), many questions remain regarding how EMRs may limit the number of patients a provider can see on a day-to-day basis. In this study, we measured the impact of EMR implementation on outpatient volumes in the setting of a midsize academic medical center (AMC) in the southeast. METHODS: The AMC outpatient visit volumes of two 12-month periods, one before and one after the EMR implementation, were collected. The mean monthly outpatient visits before and after EMR implementation were compared using the 2-tailed Student t test without assumption for equal variance. We also normalized the total annual visits to the number of full-time equivalent physicians. Power calculation was performed to measure type II error whenever P value was greater than 0.05. RESULTS: There was an 8.37% increase in total outpatient visits after EMR implementation, with the monthly number of patients seen increasing from a mean (SD) of 25,763.75 (1673.96) to 27,919.92 (2229.07) (P = 0.018). However, this increase disappears when normalized to full-time equivalent. After conducting multiple subunit analyses of a multiphysician primary care clinic (Family Medicine), specialty clinic (Plastic Surgery), and single-physician specialty clinic (Pediatric Plastic Surgery), we also did not find a statistically significant difference in outpatient clinic volumes after EMR implementation. CONCLUSIONS: Despite the burdensome time requirements many physicians subjectively attribute to EMRs, this study shows that the EMR has not really caused a statistically significant decrease in outpatient volumes in the setting of a midsize AMC.

Variations in the utilization of immediate post-mastectomy breast reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: For female breast cancer (BC) patients undergoing mastectomy, post-mastectomy breast reconstruction (PMBR) confers significant psychosocial benefits and improved cosmetic outcomes. The objective of this study is to explore whether the utilization of PMBR varies by race, marital status, and geographical location of the patient. METHODS: Women ≥18 years old who underwent mastectomy for breast cancer diagnosed between 2000 and 2014 were eligible. Women with inflammatory BC, Stage IV BC diagnoses, and bilateral BC were excluded. Multivariable logistic regression, adjusting for patient and cancer characteristics, were used to assess the association between of race, marital status, and region on immediate PMBR utilization. RESULTS: 321,206 women were included and 24% underwent immediate PMBR (<4 months after mastectomy). Compared to white women, black and other non-white women (OR 0.67, 95% CI 0.65, 0.70 and OR 0.52, 95% CI 0.50, 0.53, respectively) were significantly less likely to receive PMBR. Additionally, women who were single (OR 0.72, 95% CI 0.70, 0.75) or no longer married (OR 0.84, 95% CI 0.82, 0.86) were significantly less likely to undergo breast reconstruction, compared to married women. Regional differences were also seen, with women in the Northeast (OR 2.11, 95% CI 2.05,2.17), Midwest (OR 1.53, 95% CI 1.48, 1.58) and South (OR 1.20, 95%CI 1.17, 1.23) all being more likely to undergo breast reconstruction compared to the West. DISCUSSION: Significant variations exist in the utilization of post-mastectomy breast reconstruction across race, marital status or geographical location of the patient. Further research is needed to elucidate these differences and identify areas for intervention to increase awareness, and access to reconstruction for all breast cancer patients.

Role of Age, Tumor Grade, and Radiation Therapy on Immediate Postmastectomy Breast Reconstruction.

BACKGROUND: Despite the psychological benefits and oncologic safety of postmastectomy breast reconstruction, most breast cancer patients do not undergo reconstruction. To better understand the patterns of breast reconstruction usage, it is important to identify the clinicopathologic factors associated with immediate breast reconstruction (IBR), and whether modification of the reconstruction incidence when stratified by patient- or cancer-related factors exists in the breast cancer population. The primary objectives were to determine whether the incidence of immediate postmastectomy breast reconstruction varies across age, and whether the tumor grade or radiation therapy modify the effect of age on the incidence of immediate breast reconstruction. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Using the Surveillance, Epidemiology, and End Results database, we identified women who had undergone mastectomy for breast cancer from 2000 to 2014. Inverse probability of treatment-weighted log-binomial regression was used to estimate the effect of age on IBR after accounting for potential confounding by patient demographic data and cancer characteristics. Potential effect measure modification by tumor grade and radiation therapy on the age-IBR relationship was also assessed. RESULTS: Of 321,206 women, 77,798 (24.2%) had undergone IBR. Age was significantly associated with IBR prevalence (P < .0001), with younger women more likely to undergo IBR. Both tumor grade (P < .0001) and radiation therapy (P < .0001) modified the effect of age on IBR. CONCLUSION: Compared with their older counterparts, younger breast cancer patients were more likely to undergo IBR, and both tumor grade and radiation therapy were differentially associated with the likelihood of IBR across patient age.